I’m looking for any games on PC (preferably Steam) that plays like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Mainly, I’m looking for large, open-world games, with lots of things to do, with an over-arching narrative/destination available. Think Minecraft, with but an actual definitive objective to complete.
I’m aware of Fromsoft’s work (Elden Ring), but I’m looking for non-soulslike games.
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Ocean horn 1 + 2
Honestly. Try Dragon Age Inquisition. It isn’t “open world”, but it has MASSIVE regions (that people complained were too big). Lot’s to explore, plenty of side quests and puzzles. A base you can customize. Armor too.
Edit: Honestly, play on easy if the combat is too annoying.
Horizon Zero Dawn is on steam. Amazing game. Open world. I haven’t played the second one yet but I need to.
I really don’t get the appeal of Horizon Zero Dawn. I made it more than halfway through and then I quit.
It just felt like I have played the exact same game before just with another coat of paint. It felt completely uninspired gameplay-wise.
You shoot dinosaurs with a bow. Also, the storytelling.
The story gets really dumb at the end. Plus, the final boss is a type of robot you kill about a dozen of on the way to it, yet for some reason it’s super powered
Agreed, Horizon: Zero Dawn is a truly excellent game. It’s saddled with the usual Ubisoft design elements (map full of things to tick off, towers to unlock areas, etc), but none of that gets in the way of how fun the gameplay is and how good the story is.
It’s one of the few video game stories that has really, really stuck with me. Some moments in that game are genuine gut punches that will leave you reeling.
They both check the boxes here. First one I got near complete. The second one I’m still working through. Lots to do.
I believe it’s the first 3D game I ever got all of the things in. All the little items and collectathon stuff. Germany I don’t do that I don’t really care enough but I just enjoyed walking around the world and sniping and setting traps enough that it was worth it. Even the DLC was great and worth it
How I understand. I can’t imagine having to collect every item in Germany
lol I didn’t even notice that. I believe I meant generally. But I guess now I got to take a flight and it’s going to be a while. Wish me luck
Viel glück ! Auf wiedersehen !
Slowly working on my newgame+ run. This game is 10/10
Palworld full release is coming next month
There was one called Immortals Fenyx Rising that I remember being quite similar to BotW. Unfortunately it’s Ubisoft
Occasionally Ubisoft will make something worth playing. Immortals: Fenix Rising is one of them. It’s BotW without weapon breaking and no weather to make travel miserable.
I worked on that one, it still makes me happy to see good comments about it, and annoyed that ubi went on to cancel the sequel.
And refreshingly light and humourous dialogue
Ubisoft makes good games that they then riddle with bloat and grindy upgrade paths to encourage micro transactions.
That’s a fun one. The DLC is pretty cool too.
Just looked it up on wikipedia, one of the negative comments on it was that it was considered too similar to BoTW 😂
In my opinion it is good that we have alternatives on other platforms, not just buying switch.
Unfortunately it’s Ubisoft
The reason why I don’t buy and play the game on Steam is, it “Requires 3rd-Party Account: Ubisoft Connect Account”. Didn’t even bother purchasing it for 4 Euros because of that.
The Outer Wilds
All due respect to the other recommendations in this thread (The Witcher 3 is in my top 3 favorite games ever), but I get the sense you’re looking for a similar vibe - that self-paced, quiet, almost lonely exploration where, though you do have a goal, the point of the game is to wander the world and discover things. While most of these recs (and most open world games in general, so it’s understandable) have a strong story focus, The Outer Wilds will give you that quiet, unguided exploration BoTW does so well.
(And I know explicitly turned down souls-likes, but Elden Ring also hits that vibe super well. If you’re really stuck for something to play, it might be worth a try with one of the magic-focused builds that significantly reduce the skill needed)
Exactly, Shadow of the Colossus is a better recommendation than Genshin Impact because of this. I’d also like to give a shoutout to some metroidvanias that fit the vibe and have big maps and lots of abilities like Aquaria and Knytt Underground.
Seconding this. Regardless of what op is looking for everyone should at least give outer wilds a try. Beautiful game.
I personally could not get into the gameplay loop of that game. Not a fan of the whole groundhog day thing. Also, the game is nothing like BOTW lol.
I see you got down voted but I completely agree. It’s absolutely nothing like a Zelda game (Majoras mask, maybe? But barely). And I also couldn’t get into it. It’s the kinda game you need to write down everything you discovered and then slowly piece together the puzzle - and one mess up and you need to start all over. I didn’t find it relaxing at all
If they are looking for what you just described, then I would have to recommend Animal Well
I’ll definitely look into this. Thanks!
3rd this,
Great game don’t look it up just play it. It’s awesome
Immortals: Fenyx Rising
Here is a few I can think of that are a bit similar
- Sable
- Bastion
- Planet of Lana
- A Short Hike
- Spirit of the North
- TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight
- AER Memories of Old
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Btw, you should definitely try Elden ring if you haven’t already
Bastion is so fucking good
I really enjoyed Sable. It’s not the biggest or most complicated game, but it’s beautiful, thoughtfully written, and really pulls you into its world. I loved just zooming across the wastes on my bike wondering what I would explore next. Incredibly chill.
Planet of Lana, while kinda neat, is a linear story. There are almost no places to explore other than the scripted path. It’s not even a Metroidvania, so I don’t think it belongs on this list. With that said, the story is pretty interesting and I played and beat it and look forward more to PoL 2.
I would imagine horizon zero dawn and the Witcher would be what you’re looking for.
Horizon zero dawn is live action breath of the wild
Crimson desert. You’ll never finish it.
Probably because you’ll just get tired of it. After the initial whiz bang faded, the HUGE beautifully rendered world was not enough to carry the absolutely dogshit story, repetitive unvaried encounters, and overwhelming plethora of shallow, poorly explained systems.
Enshrouded
Enshrouded and Palworld feel a lot like BotW/TotK to me, but better overall gameplay and worse dungeon puzzles!
I went straight from BotW to Elden Ring and ER was like exploring BotW but every part of the map had interesting things everywhere, made BotW feel really empty in comparison.
This game keeps on giving.
Ugh I got to the last biome and loved it sooo much, then got HEAVY (like 80+ hours a week, recovering from almost dying irl lul) into modding Valheim after playing 200 hours of vanilla. I’m now almost 1000 into Valheim and taking a lil break.
Waiting now for Enshrounded to go 1.0, and starting over. Sooooo psyched!
dude, glad you made it! 🤘
Thank yoooou! <3 It was very interesting!
Never tried an opiate before (by choice—I’ve tried everything else!) but they asked me if I wanted something for pain, and after my partner chastising me a lil bit about me minimizing my pain (“oh, I’m at a six or so” “RAI, you’ve been curled into a ball crying for two days. YOU’RE IN HOSPITAL!” “…okay, maybe a nine. I’m still conscious so it’s probably fine”) I said I’d love that. They injected me with morphene which was neat, then a later nurse was like “oh strange, they marked you down to get (other type of thing with morphene in the name but more words before it), do you want to change or stay with what you’ve got? It’s quite a bit stronger.” I figured I’ll proooobably (and very hopefully) never have that chance/option again, so I happily agreed. That was a very floaty week.
I haven’t seen Sable suggested, but it’s a very pleasant indie game with a lot of BotW in its DNA. It’s not as large and content filled as some of these suggestions but it does have a great sense of style and is more tonally similar to Zelda.
I’ve found Palworld to be a lot like that, and it’s hitting 1.0 in July or so.
Palworld isn’t bad, but I feel like it doesn’t respect my time with how grindy it is. It’s about as grindy as some major MMOs, which isn’t what I’m looking for right now.
As I played I slowly increased the exp rate via the settings so that it wasnt such a grind. There are also mods that can help reduce the grind of different things not just experience related
I don’t recall it being any more grindy than Minecraft, but I absolutely get that. No point in working all day, then coming home and doing something that feels like just as big a chore.
Palworld is so good. Feels like everyone forgot about it but the game just gets better and better
I kind of cringe at suggesting this, but Genshin Impact is if Breath of the Wild used a gatcha payment model instead of $60 up front.
But with a lot more yapping
I played for a couple of hundred hours a few years ago and didn’t spend any money at all on it. It’s perfectly fine to just ignore the gatcha stuff outside of the free pulls (or whatever it’s called) you get every now and then. I also don’t like Anime at all but this was one of the few things where it was alright.
yeah I’m not into anime art, but Genshin’s landscapes are breathtakingly atmospheric
