Do you ever find yourself REALLY loving games with oceans in them?

[thejboy88]

It's a little something that I've been mulling over for some time now. I've played many games over the years, and yet there is one kind that seems to have a particular grip on my mind; games with oceans in them. Granted, I love many other kinds of games, but I never find myself playing them for long. But put a sea or ocean in it, and suddenly I'm on it for hours.

Wind Waker. Sunless Sea. Bioshock. Stranded Deep. Even that old manta tech demo for the PS1. For whatever reason, ocean games have this kind of hypnotic effect on me, making me want to play just that little bit longer. It's especially odd when you consider that I don't particularly like being near oceans in real life.

So yeah, just wondering if I'm alone in this little quirk.

 

[Cyncial_Huggy]

No, Final Fantasy 8 there was a trailer and there was an ocean. Oceans remind me of Final Fantasy VIII. Final Fantasy VIII depresses me. So, no. Sorry.

 

[Foolery]

Nope, not alone. I'm a sucker for almost any and all water environments. You know how people used to ***** about the Water Temple in OOT? That's my favourite dungeon in the game, next to Ganon's Tower. Wind Waker also happens to be my favourite 3D Zelda. When I played Final Fantasy 14, I chose Maelstrom as my grand company because it was pirate-themed, and is located in a coastal region.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I love oceans. Moreso, I love sailing. It's the underwater that I'm not a fan of.

 

[Neverhoodian]

It all depends on the presentation. I couldn't get enough of sailing the sea in Wind Waker, and I found the ambiance of the underwater levels in Donkey Kong Country and to be sublime. Hell, my non-gaming parents would often request I play such levels from the latter back in the day because they loved the music so much (can't say I blame them).

That said, other water levels are some of my least favorite segments of games. Typically all it takes is the inclusion of stressful breath meters, claustrophobic level design and/or large invincible beasties chasing after you.

Basically, focus on the sense of adventure and wonder the sea can evoke and you're golden. Focus on the black inky depths and its Cthulian denizens and we have a problem.

 

[Xeros]

The ocean is simultaneously my best friend and worst enemy when it comes to games. They make for fantastic environments, but gods help you when there's some serious shit just beneath the surface.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Same here. Oceans are vast bodies that remind us of our insignificance on this lucky rock. Water owns this planet while we just try to live inbetween its' cracks They scare and intrigue me. They make great paintings too.
Anyone ever get to play Ecco the dolphin on dreamcast? It took forever to find a copy, but worth the wait for its' chellow ocean wallowing. That is an IP in dire need of a current gen reboot.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I do find myself liking ocean and beach related areas in gaming. Yet, I really dislike both in real life. I find a day at the beach to be overrated, and I am terrified of the open water of the ocean. I guess being able to explore a neat oceanic environment from the safety of dry land is lots of fun.

I love Super Mario Sunshine for example. Running and swimming around a tropical island is incredibly fun in a video game setting, but I would be pretty bored on Isle Delfino personally if it was a real place.

 

[gigastar]

Cant say i particlarly care about large bodies of water.

Sure if the game takes place on top of, next to or even in one, thats cool and all but its not going to factor into how i would rate the game.

 

[Hawki]

Wind Waker is a prime example, and would be not only my favorite LoZ game, but my favorite game of all time. And sailing was a large part of that. Even after getting the ability to warp between locations from the fairy, I found myself choosing to sail from place to place. Heck, I even loved the Triforce pieces quest, in part because of the opportunity to sail/explore more. The music, the mecahnics, the 'feeling'...yeah.

 

[Remus]

I prefer lakes. Lakes with mountain vistas, villages, bridges, waves lapping against your boat during a storm, aww fuck it, I'm going back to playing Witcher 3!

 

[IOwnTheSpire]

Whenever I replay KotOR and enter the temple on the unknown world, I stop to look out the window at the ocean for a bit before continuing.

 

[RelexCryo]

It's a little something that I've been mulling over for some time now. I've played many games over the years, and yet there is one kind that seems to have a particular grip on my mind; games with oceans in them. Granted, I love many other kinds of games, but I never find myself playing them for long. But put a sea or ocean in it, and suddenly I'm on it for hours.

Wind Waker. Sunless Sea. Bioshock. Stranded Deep. Even that old manta tech demo for the PS1. For whatever reason, ocean games have this kind of hypnotic effect on me, making me want to play just that little bit longer. It's especially odd when you consider that I don't particularly like being near oceans in real life.

So yeah, just wondering if I'm alone in this little quirk.

I feel kind of the same, used to really like Treasures of The Deep for PS1. But That game got kind of annoying after awhile. I drew the line at mazes with currents that prevent you from moving backwards. What is the point of a super-expensive, top of the line submarine that I have to save up tons of money for, if it can't even swim against a current?

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Yes. That's why I love Wind Waker, and never minded the sailing (the ocean at least has an excuse for being vast and empty, unlike the vast and empty fields in some of the other Zelda games.)

Maybe it has to do with me living on a small island myself, but I love games having to do with traveling oceans on a ship to different islands. It's also why I like Suikoden IV.

 

[Fox12]

I would love for there to be more games set in the ocean. Or, at least, on the ocean. I always loved the look of Blue Submarine No. 6, for instance, as an aesthetic.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

Does Skies of Arcadia count? I really liked that game for its atmosphere.
What I'd really like to see is some kind of waterworld survival game where you could build stuff on the ocean, you know abandoned oil rigs giant ships sailing, if you managed to work in werewolves somehow I would probably buy that game without bothering to look at reviews.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

Hell no.

I don't particularly dislike a game because it has a sizable waterfront, but I definitely don't like virtual oceans. This is probably because earlier adventure games taught me to treat open water with fear, suspicion, and the compulsion to jump out of the water and rapidly mash the attack button in the hope that I can pull off the split-second perfection required to punch a lurker shark again. Usually can't.

Be it for big beasties or cement shoes, falling in the water generally meant death, something that was so ingrained into me that I still don't like swimming even in games where I've never even been threatened by water. I know the sea in Saint's Row 4 is just kinda there because it has to be, but that doesn't silence the paranoia that I'll be insta-killed without warning the second I decide to hold still.

Fable 2's waters may not have any danger either, but that doesn't make the "Only death awaits you in the open sea" that pops up whenever you try to swim out too far any less creepy.

 

[Drathnoxis]

No, oceans aren't really a feature that get me excited about games. I'm not against them either, though. I guess they work pretty well sometimes.

 

[sageoftruth]

Not really. In real life, I'm more of a forest person. In games, an abundance of plantlife can be pretty alluring to me.