Game you think have the best universe?

[Ommamar]

I have been playing The Outer Worlds quite a bit as well as watching others stream the content I have already been through plus reading peoples thoughts and reactions on the Obsidian forums. One thing I noticed is there seems to be a lot of buy in to the story and universe. To the point where people are getting personally upset at fictional characters and the factions involved. While I find the dialogue serviceable and the tongue in cheek universe created enjoyable I am not getting this reaction. I am curious if you are or have had this reaction to a video game? I would also like to hear what you think the best universe creation was in a video game. At the moment to me it is a tie between Planescape: Torment and System Shock 2.

[Ralzar]

Back in the day I would answer Planescape Torment as well. But when I re-played it a few years ago I found the actual game to be an intolerable slog. Which has made me reconsider how much I love that game. Still though, it was a hell of a lot more interesting than most RPGs.

My favorite world would probably be Mass Effect 1. The sequels were okay, but the first one built the world. It had a really interesting sci-fi setting that wasn't some dystopian or utopian world. It felt more like a realistic setting where people are good and bad. Things generally move forards, but can have some pretty severe setbacks. It was a LOT closer to Star Trek, Babylon 5 and other sci-fi series that managed to do actual mature storylines (and by mature I mean emotionally and philosophically mature, not sex & violence).

Other than that, I was really impressed by Star War: Knight Of The Old Republic. I was never a Star Wars fan. I didn't hate it, it was just never a big thing for me. That game made me like the setting a lot more than the movies ever did.



And finally, when we're talking worlds and settings: I'm an old-school Warhammer Fantasy nerd. It will always be the fantasy setting that all other fantasy settings have to measure up to for me. It's a setting so rich in flavor and possibility for different stories that most other fantasy settings feel superficial to me.

[Hazelnut]

Same - that's why, however good the story & dialog may be, I've never got very far through Torment.

I suspect people are getting invested in TOW because of the writing, which most games are not used to. Npc's with actual personalities, not just amusement park perma-smile facsimiles.

For me the best game worlds are: Fallout 1, Stalker series, Half Life 1+2, SShock 2, Deus Ex. Shout out to Dragon Age Oranges too.

[Jay_H]

Oh wow, Deus Ex. A game so immersive you actually feel like you're walking through the streets of New York, not a little hand-designed parcel made by a computer programmer. Deus Ex is a huge winner for me.

Though this opens up the question on what "best" means. Most likable? Most realistic? Most immersive?

[Ommamar]

I agree best is subjective and can actually change with in an individual preferences over time, as Ralzar pointed out with Planescape Torment. There are also some games that build a great universe that later games seem to lessen these would be game universes like Ultima, the Elder Scrolls, and Fallout. I really try to accept each game on its own merits but sometimes it is hard to do especially if a game universe really grabbed me when I first made contact with it. Then if things get stream lined and compressed instead of expanded on I get put off by the changes.

Mass Effect 1-3 are high on my list as well the first did a good job of building the universe while 2 did some game play changes that made sense and added to the experience then 3 ended things well for me.

The first Knights of the old republic game was very well done after that things went down hill. Star War Galaxies initial release did a decent job of capturing the feel of the universe then they revamped it and screwed it up. Bioware's attempt at making an online version did a decent job of keeping the story but they should of limited it to a 4-8 player system instead of the Multiplayer aspect.

The only Warhammer game I got into was the Online version that Mythic put out it was a shame to see it shut down.

Deus ex was a good game that I think influenced a lot of games all the way up to CyberPunk 2077 but I only lightly played it. Along those lines the only two scifi/steampunk universes I really got into was Shadow Run and Arcanum, both had a very free system that gave a system that let you come at objectives and problems in many different ways.

The only other one that comes to mind that really felt like a universe with a continuous thread through many games was Wizardry particularly 6-8, It was really awesome when those games came out to be able to keep the same characters and parties throughout all 3 games. It is very hard for me to play Wizardry 6, 7 is a little better then I think 8 is where it really shined. While it was going on I was blown away by the concept and it really has a universe with a ton of lore with a weird mix of science and magic working in conjunction with each other.