Hello, in the recent years I find myself willing to spend much less time and energy on games, but I do still enjoy them. Oftentimes I end up quitting a new game I tried out relatively early on, because I’m encountering some block, grind, non-optional boring side quest, empty open world, uninteresting clutter or details that I have to manage, or similar. Like, I just wanna play the actual game play, see how the story continues, and visit those areas that were designed with care. Not worry where on the map I can sell the glimbrunses I collected so I can buy a 37% stronger glarpidifice that I’ll need to beat the next glutrey after which I’m allowed to continue the main story.

Sorry if this turned into some kind of a rant, but I hope it’s understandable what I’m looking for and what I meant by fluff. Some games that have fulfilled this for me during the last years:

  • Stray
  • Skyrim (there’s a lot of fluff you can worry about in Skyrim, but the thing is you don’t have to worry about it, you can also just walk in any direction and see what situation you wind up in, at least for the first 10-20h of a playthrough, which IMO is enough time for a game anyway)
  • Life is Strange
  • Some Pokémon ROM hacks where the difficulty spikes were not too harsh

Looking forward to hear your suggestions :) Games where there is some fluff but you’re allowed to just ignore it are also fine, but not having any fluff is preferred. Bonus points for anything on the Xbox game pass.

  • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
    28·
    11 hours ago

    OUTER WILDS!

    • zero fluff. every piece of text and every setpiece is in service to the main story.
    • no gating. you can go everywhere from moment one.
    • no grinding. no combat at all, in fact.
    • no time pressure. it may seem like it, but don’t worry.
    • the big mystery requires understanding the world and the story, rather than fighting a difficult battle
    • it will make you cry
    • El_Scapacabra@lemmy.zipEnglish
      3·
      4 hours ago

      I got pretty far with this one and really enjoyed it, and then I spent days trying to get past those goddamn anglerfish and failing over and over again, so I just gave up at that point.

      • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
        2·
        3 hours ago

        same! turns out you can make it a lot easier for yourself by observation. for example, there are only two of them you actually need to manoeuvre around. also, that entire section takes three to five minutes, but you have like twelve, so it’s fine to take it slow. finally, you can mark your destination from the log to get its location.

    • saimen@feddit.orgEnglish
      4·
      7 hours ago

      Just reading this somehow gave me goosebumps and made me tear up. Such an incredible and unique game.

    • Peter_Arbeitsloser@feddit.orgEnglish
      6·
      8 hours ago

      I couldn’t bring myself to finishing it because “the timer” stressed me so much :( I loved everything else about it so much.

      • njm1314@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        Timer? Can you elaborate a bit? I was thinking of getting it but I fucking loathe time limits in games.

        • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
          1·
          2 hours ago

          without spoiling the details, it’s a bit like groundhog day, or majoras mask.

          i always encourage people to take it slow and drink in the world with ow, and that applies because of the “limit”. which isn’t a limit, you can play as long as you’d like. think of it more as a pomodoro timer. it’s also very well signposted.

      • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
        2·
        8 hours ago

        understandable, it took me a few times for it to click. i have the same problem with games that count days; i can’t get myself to finish disco elysium or blue prince because the counter going up makes me think i will run out of time, even though you never do.

        • Peter_Arbeitsloser@feddit.orgEnglish
          51·
          8 hours ago

          Its so interesting how different people perceive these things. Disco Elysium was so stress free for me, I didn’t really think the day counter did anything. With Outer Wilds I think its really the anticipation of what I know is inevitable to come. And then I nervously wait for all those cues that tell me how much time has passed already… And yeah, very stressy for me, haha. Still, I should really push myself to finish it sometime because I’m really curious how it all ties up.

          • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
            1·
            8 hours ago

            maybe it’s reflective of the personality of the player. i can never get to bed at a reasonable hour and i’ve heard a theory that some people have that problem because the mind thinks that the sooner the next day begins the less time they have to themselves.