Can you folks recommend a game like Fallout 3 or Skyrim?

[eulalia]

@Reply

Fable: Sort of, but not very open.
Dishonored: Completely linear, and RPG-lite at best.
Vampire: Heard really great things about this game, played it for a couple of hours, but couldn’t get into it because it was so dated.
War in the North: No, nothing open about it at all. Action hack-n-slash, RPG lite. Still an orc-bashing blast, though!

I don’t think Divinity 2 has been mentioned yet, but it’s an excellent under-the-radar RPG with a mostly open world, lots of side quests, and much better combat than TES.

Saints Row 3 and 4 are both a lot of fun too. There is a main quest but also lots of side quests and side things to do. Funny too.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 are basically an old-school version of Mass Effect, using D&D rules instead of first-person-shooting. A lot of fun and exploration, and freedom to do quests in different orders.

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If you’re not limited to first-person games:

Dragon Age 1 & 2
Neverwinter 1 & 2

They’re more like 2.5D games… not first person, a 3D rotatable camera with optional 3rd person following.

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If you don’t mind ONE flat game like Fallout 1, you should try Planescape Torment. It is IMO the best game ever written, and especially if you like quests and storylines rather than combat. So much to explore and see and learn and feel… I think PST is as close to art as games ever got.

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What about MMOs? Most of them have a lot of side quests. They’re all very grindy, sadly, but if you like exploration in particular I would recommend The Secret World. The Elder Scrolls online is another contender, but it’s pretty bland and basically WOW in Tamriel, with dodging.

I picked up The Secret World when it was on sale on steam recently, and I’ve been having a good time except for finding a bug or two that should not be there in a game that’s been out this long. Today’s was pretty bad, a mob that kept respawning as soon as I killed it, and then when it killed me it would also respawn when I did, still aggro’d, at the respawn point, which was totally out of its normal range. It even continued after I logged out while dead and logged back in. I hope the next time I log in the thing is not still there as it makes the game un-playable.

Sorry for the rant, I actually think it’s a good game other than this bit.

[eulalia]

My son has been playing Dragon Age: Inquisition and it looks really good. I’ll probably get that one too eventually. I was reading somewhere that if you haven’t played through the earlier Dragon Age games you will miss things and some things maybe won’t make sense.

[Jophiel]

@eulalia

I was reading somewhere that if you haven’t played through the earlier Dragon Age games you will miss things and some things maybe won’t make sense.

If you have a Bachelor in Dragon Age Sciences, you’ll miss some things and some things won’t make sense.

It’s a very fun and well done game, but the plot is pretty sprawling and can feel pretty loose sometimes.

[Ike_Witt]

@Jophiel

If you have a Bachelor in Dragon Age Sciences, you’ll miss some things and some things won’t make sense.

It’s a very fun and well done game, but the plot is pretty sprawling and can feel pretty loose sometimes.

Not to mention, the fact that the second game seemed only distantly related to the first.

[Pork_Rind]

@eulalia

My son has been playing Dragon Age: Inquisition and it looks really good. I’ll probably get that one too eventually. I was reading somewhere that if you haven’t played through the earlier Dragon Age games you will miss things and some things maybe won’t make sense.

I haven’t started playing yet, but this sure seems to be a pretty comprehensive summary of the story to date.

[clairobscur]

@Hodge

I never played the first one, but I LOVED The Witcher 2. I’m eagerly awaiting the 3rd one, which is due out sometime later this year.

I loved it, but it doesn’t fit at all the OP requirement of an open world. You have to go along with the story, and can’t leave a place before you have finished this part of the story. Nor can you come back later.

The witcher 3, next year, will be an open world game, on the other hand.