The Most Engrossing Video Game Worlds

[Ancient Mariner]

Hello all! Which video game worlds do you find the most engrossing? Be it the immersive and rich backstory, or gorgeous maps and level layouts underpinning a thought provoking game, we have all most likely come across a game world we can't help but be fascinated with.

The game worlds that have really impressed me belong to Metro 2033 and Bioshock. An underwater utopia replete with scientific wonders and a spectacular fall from grace? I am immediately hooked. In regards to Metro 2033 it would have been so easy for the game to regress into a derivative corridor shooter as the game more or less takes place in dreary tunnels and corridors, yet the game comes off as inspired. The chilling above ground world, now desolate with distant rifle shots echoing in the distance is haunting and each tunnel seems as though it has been imbued with an otherworldly quality, as if the nuclear horrors fractured the laws of our natural world. Dishonored also deserves a mention as Dunwall is an incredibly rich setting.

 

[The Madman]

'The City' from the Thief series. It's just got such a distinct vibe to it, with all these mishmash languages, dialects, cultures and beliefs in such a tight environment. Never played another game with a setting quite like it.

Full credit to the STALKER series as well with Chernobyl and area, another game where there's just nothing else quite like it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Best world development/lore/backstory: Tamriel from The Elder Scrolls, or Britannia from Ultima. Both worlds had 20+ years of development and world building poured into them, and both felt rich, deep, and full of meaningful history.

Most immersive from a technical/visual point of view: STALKER's Zone, or Dark Souls' Lordran. Both games absolutely soak their environments in atmosphere.

Best mise-en-scene/indirect storytelling through environment: The Bioshock series, with a heavy nod to the Fallout games that so clearly inspired them. I don't know if there's a game that can tell a story with a single screenshot like the Bioshocks can.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Rapture from BioShock is certainly a contender. It's simply a wonderful and engaging look into a society meant for the greatest brought down by its own hubris, unchecked genius, and conflicting ideas. Every area found ways to draw me in and look to find out more about the area and Rapture in general. The only thing I have against it is that it is rather disjointed, and the connections between all the places you visit is rather loose at best. Consequently, it doesn't really feel like a complete world, just a few random areas pulled out for us to a glimpse into the world. That's not to say that it doesn't do a good job with what it has, as it does a fantastic job with what it has, but it also doesn't do a good job of making it feel complete and connected. At the very least, it is deserving of an honorable mention.

After that, it comes down to The Zone from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the Bionis/Mechonis of Xenoblade Chronicles.

The Zone was wonderful in a bleak, post-apocalypse sense. The game did a fantastic job of making the world feel almost real and giving the sense that the player was just one semi-important part of it rather than the one it centered around. Prior to reaching points where the difficulty just completely faded away due to how powerful your armor and weapons were, there was a constant sense of tension yet desire to get out exploring to see if you could somehow locate a stash of weapons or a new, powerful artifact. Also, all the other characters, even enemies, felt like they were actually living in the world and you were just among them, not that they were a few odd people just thrown in to make the world seem populated. It was an interesting experience, and while the Metro games came close to delivering a similar one, their more linear nature made it harder to appreciate compared to The Zone.

In the case of the Bionis/Mechonis, this is almost entirely different than The Zone. It was just so easy to appreciate the world's beauty and landscape, and exploring every part of it either for quests or just to do it was just enjoyable to do. The scenery constantly wowed me, and the scale never failed to make me feel like I was part of a massive world without being so large that travel became a chore. The vast tree of interconnected characters was enjoyable to interact with and see how relationships developed over the course of the game, particularly for characters that were a little more important to the longer side quests. However, part of me thinks the music is what really got me, since it always got me in the mood for each area that I visited. Still, the scenery, strong sense of exploration, and just feeling like part of a large, interconnected world were all strong points themselves.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

The DotA map. The map forces at least as many strategic decisions as the characters, and the breakable trees allow the players to take unexpected options. The river splitting the two sides, the asymmetric 'jungle', the two bases... it all just fits together into my most memorable gaming location.

 

[IrenIvy]

"Bioshock", "Metro" and "Thief" were all named already, so
1) Dunwall in "Dishonored" and especially the whole Outsider-is-a-source-of-magic thing.
2) Limbo in DmC: Devil May Cry, which has a very rich feeling to it and very well designed.
3) World of "Bastion", - even by pieces that were left from it was a very interesting world
4) I liked that weird cosmology of "Darksiders" I and II, although some actual levels were baffling (why a city where everybody can fly needs portals to get from one courtyard to another?)
5) Enthropic feel of "Primordia" (not much to speak about level design here)
6) Also some levels in "Heretic", "Heretic 2" and "Hexen". I still remember misty forest level very fondly.

I don't list Vampire the Masquerade and Planescape because I played them as pen-and-paper versions before I played them as video games.


captcha is "full house"

 

[Elfgore]

For me, The Elder Scrolls. The lore is just awesome when you get down into it and everything about is just high fantasy to the max. We have several types of were creatures, a japanese-influenced content, and the more gods than you can count.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

The only thing I have against it is that it is rather disjointed, and the connections between all the places you visit is rather loose at best. Consequently, it doesn't really feel like a complete world, just a few random areas pulled out for us to a glimpse into the world.

I can't really argue with that, the game is great in many ways but the city does not feel like a cohesive whole at times. Perhaps if Irrational had more development time or increased technological capabilities back in 2007 there could have been increased exploration or perhaps they could have had you actually travel through the bathyspheres, rather than them merely being areas where you load up a new level. That being said, what the game does provide is quite unique and beautiful, Fort Frolic and Arcadia are perhaps some of my favourite levels of all time. Also, in line with your criticisms about a disjointed feel, it seems as though the developers shoe horned some of the last areas into the game (I'm looking at you proving grounds).

As for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I've heard nothing but good things about it and have really wanted to play it. If I recall correctly, Metro 2033 draws pretty heavily from it, even the intrepid metro dwellers who scavenge supplies off the surface world are referred to as stalkers.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

I used to think that it was to do with how much you could learn about your environment. So I could get really involved in Dragon Age and Mass effect and similar games just by talking to everyone and finding out as much information as I could possible.

But after playing Terraria, I instead think that it is just, for me at least, to do with time invested. I do really find myself getting lost in playing Terraria - I'm not even sure why I like that game, maybe the simplicity of mining and the calmness of it is quite therapeutic? Hours can go by with me playing that game and I really don't notice, so I'd definitely say that I feel 'engrossed', but there is next to nothing of a story or dialogue or any of that kind of content that helps me get engrossed in the case of rpgs.

So I definitely don't have to learn a lot about the world I'm playing in to get lost in it.

 

[Artea]

Lordran (Dark Souls)

Sigil, the City of Doors, and the entirety of the Planescape universe (Planescape: Torment)

 

[Dandark]

I love the STALKER series when it comes to atmosphere and just wandering around the environment. I love playing STALKER and just wandering around roleplaying, exploring the zone and listening to other STALKERS. It's great to arrive at a populated camp and night and join the others sitting around the campfire while one of them plays a guitar, the mods I have force me to need food and sleep as well so I usually take this time to eat and mess around with my inventory sorting through what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of, all to the sound of a guitar and chatting STALKERS in the background.

I better stop before I write an essay about how great STALKER is when it doesn't crash every minute.

For Lore though I usually find myself really enjoying the Elder scrolls universe. It has such a rich universe full of lore and you can take it to whatever level you want. I can just play Skyrim and roleplay my character as they become guildmaster of the thieves guild and roleplay their efforts to expand it.

You can then go higher and start looking at the history of the various empires and races, the kind of lore you find in the books. Then if that isn't enough you can start looking into the lore surrounding the Gods and how the world was created, eventually you learn about the very fabric of existence and how you can alter it.

It's full of interesting stuff so I can usually always find something in the ES universe interesting.

 

[WindKnight]

Citadel Station and the Von Braun from system shock 1 and 2. All the way through both games I kept wishing I could have visited both during happier days.

 

[Kingjackl]

Aside from the obvious Rapture, the Metro and City 17, I'm a huge fan of the Capital Wasteland. There's a lot of pathos in that first look at the world outside Vault 101 and when you explored, it felt like there was something interesting over each hill. It's funny how the Mojave in Fallout New Vegas never quite captured the same feeling despite the game being deeper and better written overall.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Specifically the Stockyard Escape.

The black silhouette against the poisonous green methane gas of Rupture Farms, slowly transitioning to the comforting dark, cool night sky is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

 

[Rich Webb]

Not an original answer by any means but I can explain it. Super Metroid

To give a little context. I used to play every game I had through all the console eras with my brothers. We used to play games like Alex Kidd, SMB3 and Sonic on rotation. If you die, pass the controller to the left. I feel so sorry for what my parents had to put up with as a result of this.

But for some reason, with Super Metroid, I only ever played the game by myself. I always seem to remember playing it in the dark a lot too. I got a strange kick from being a bit scared by it and imagining I'm exploring these alien space caves alone. It's one of the only games that I think I found myself truly immersed in. The wonderful thing is that even when I play it on virtual console all the time as a 28 year old, I can still tap into that feeling I had when I very first played it.

 

[Akiraking]

For me it would have to be Final Fantasy X's world of Spira, admittedly I could probably list many other worlds that I found engrossing like the Fallout games and many other RPGs but I have been recently playing FFX after never finishing it as a child and it is just such an interesting world. The main reason why it is interesting is you don't get sent off to save the world in an obvious way you just get a ride with some people going on a pilgrimage and travel through multiple islands and as you go you learn about the culture of Spira. I am not that far in so I am sure it is not just a tour as the story is starting to change already but I have enjoyed the few places I have passed and I really felt connected to each place I stopped at.

 

[aozgolo]

Azeroth from Warcraft (Any of them). Whether you cared much for it or not, Azeroth while technically being a largely derivative work from Warhammer manages to make it it's own with great amounts of lore and history for virtually every character, location, and enemy type. There's a lot of fun to be had exploring this world and it's colorful history.


Tamriel was already mentioned but the sheer volume of lore that exists for this world is quite staggering, with the major chunk of it being contained solely in written texts found in-game.

 

['Record Stops.']

Since no One else said it...

Za Warudo(The World) From the .HACK Project. Already the video game gets a running start with the fact that it's a JRPG based off of MMORPG's, but what really makes it amazing is just how in depth the MMORPG setting and story can get. On top of an amazing storyline written by the genius behind the Ghost In the Shell Movie, we have character designs by the guy behind Evangelion, and a pretty funky fantasy/techno soundtrack. The customize your own level by word concept that has an increasingly large amount of words to use, that in turn change everything from the items you find to the enemies you fight and the environments of the field itself, along with the five different servers that up the level and loot, basically means you could theoretically never see an end to how many places you can go to grind on and explore. Ranging from corporate conspiracies in the real world, an expanded fantasy world that paints a very meta setting for the characters involved, and some good old Ghost in the Shell inspired philosophical leanings and technological questions, the story aspect is VERY strong.

 

[Alcamonic]

City 17 from Half Life 2. Honestly, there was not much of a contest.

Feeling the harshness of the empire prosecuting and executing civilians, throwing them out on the streets like garbage, giant tripods walking around. People saying things like "Oh, I hope they won't come here next...", the uprise of a resistance movement. I could go on, but you get the main idea.