SvennoJ said:
Zkuq said:
I didn't think Journey was a walking simulator, but it was mentioned here, and I liked it quite a bit. I also don't think Death Stranding counts, but if it does, it's another strong contender. Firewatch is another game that feels too interactive to be a walking simulator in my opinion, and it was pretty good, but I liked both Journey and Death Stranding better.
The only pure walking simulator I think I've played is Dear Esther, and I didn't really like it. It had its redeeming qualities, but I wasn't exactly a fan. It's definitely not something I'd like to call my favourite, although as the only pure walking simulator I've played, it kind of gets that role too. |
The definition of walking simulator is
"A genre of adventure games where the primary focus is on movement and exploration"
Death Stranding doesn't cut it, combat rules it out. Journey and Firewatch do fit.
Dear Esther is often said to be the pioneer of walking simulators, yet they go all the way back to The Forest on ZX Spectrum. Dear Esther was first release in 2008 as a source mod for HL2 called Esther at the time. Yume Nikki came before that in 2004.
Esther was great at its time, but imo surpassed by The vanishing of Ethan Carter.
One hidden gem on PSVR is Here They Lie, hampered by low resolution but oddly weird and fantastic.
It must have done something right for it to still be vivid in my memories.
Walking simulators are perfect for VR. |
Maybe Journey and Firewatch 'officially' fit the bill, but they definitely don't fit my understanding of a walking simulator. Of course evidently I'm no expert on walking simulators. On the other hand, say, half of Death Stranding fits the description just as well (but the other half doesn't). My point? I don't think I really have one, I don't really care much to argue about what is usually considered a walking simulator and what isn't, since there already seems to be a pretty widely agreed consensus. Still, the borders of the genre don't really seem to be clear to everyone, as is also evident in this thread. I would guess it's because it's not a genre all that many people are very familiar with.
