Sandbox Games - Ended By Boredom?

[The-Great-One]

It is a phrase we've all heard and one popularized with the release of Grand Theft Auto III. We can debate on who did what and at what point (hello Shenmue and Chrono Trigger), but Grand Theft Auto III made this more mainstream.

Then we have The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A lot of you know these games and have played them extensively. Then you also have Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Both of these were played extensively as well. I made a Top 10 Favorite Video Games list (which needs to be updated by the way) and I saw these games be put on a lot of people's lists.

With Fallout 4 being released and the hype train going at full-steam I have to ask this question. How many people here pick these games up afterwards and truly replay them?

My brother tends to attack me for not playing a lot of modern games saying I need to play Skyrim and Fallout, due to their complex stories, characters, and landscapes. I've watched my brother and my friends play these games and I find nothing appealing about them, so I haven't really played them and don't really feel the urge to pick them up. Granted I love Grand Theft Auto, but not The Elder Scrolls or Fallout series.

A lot of people (which include a number of Newgrounds members) seem to love these games and I just don't get why. Because I tend to see a lot of hype behind these games and people who have played them go on about the endless possibilities. How many of you tend to pick it back up again and replay them? If not then why?

Questions of the Day
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?
2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?
3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?
4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

[Dean]

Questions of the Day
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?

Yes. I've played Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. Admittedly, not much of Arena and Daggerfall but I wanted to check out the older games in the series. I've also played Fallout, Fallout 3 (plus all DLC), New Vegas and 4.

I think it's generally the worlds themselves that I find so appealing, as oppose to the plots/character development type stuff. The thing I enjoy about all those games is that if I was to go back and play any of them, I'm almost certain I'd discover something new that I didn't see the last time. There's just something fun about exploring these worlds.

2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?

Of the games I listed above, I've played the following multiple times (not always to completion): Fallout, Fallout 3, New Vegas, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim. Fallout 3 and Oblivion in particular are games that I've probably had at least 5 characters on each.

3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?

Yes, because Bethesda have become one of the developers that I most look forward to releasing a new game. Given how much I loved Fallout 3, I had to get Fallout 4.

4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

Tough one to answer but it will definitely be one of the games I've mentioned above. In terms of my favourite at time of release, it would probably be Fallout 3 or Oblivion, but I'm not sure I'd hold them in such high regard if I was to replay them now given that the series have advanced technically since then.

[Chdonga]

I've never been a huge fan of sandbox games. Like, I just don't see the appeal to a game where you're free to see every corner of the game's world right from the get-go. Even Jak II locked you out of sections until you completed story missions. I've enjoyed the Yakuza series from what little I've played, but that's because the world map isn't excessively large. That's my biggest issue with sandbox games. The maps are always too big for how little content they usually contain.

Instead of getting Fallout 4, I picked up the GTA trilogy the other day. I like Vice City's 80s aesthetic as well as San Andreas's ghetto 90s aesthetic, but once that novelty wears off I'll probably never pick them up again. I doubt I'll pick up GTA 3 because of how uninspired Liberty City is.

I've never been a fan of Western RPGs, let alone ones that take place in a Tolkien-esque medieval setting. I hear Morrowind had some great, almost alien looking environments, but I haven't played that one yet.

At 11/13/15 04:04 AM, The-Great-One wrote: Questions of the Day
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?

I've played Oblivion and Skyrim. I've also played Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. Already explained why I didn't like Oblivion or Skyrim. I think I would've liked Fallout if there were more random enemy encounters. Too often I found myself walking for what felt like hours and I'd rarely encounter something that I couldn't instagib. I liked having 1920s music as ambiance though.

2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?

Not a single one.

3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?

No because I don't own an 8th gen console and there's no way in hell I can run that shit on my 4-year-old prebuilt laptop.

4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

Does LittleBigPlanet's level editor count? I spent almost all of highschool just dicking about in Create Mode, making vehicles and devices with nothing but rotators and pistons. Good times were had.

[Painbringer]

I've replayed all of the San Andreas and GTA IV story missions. But only because my Xbox 360 got "stolen" and I felt the need to finish the games again.

One thing I didn't do the second time in IV is go around shooting all 200 pigeons. Ah well.

[orangebomb]

At 11/13/15 04:04 AM, The-Great-One wrote: Questions of the Day
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?

I haven't played an Elder Scrolls game before, I wasn't a much of a fan of Middle Ages fantasy settings as I find them dull. Fallout on the other hand is a franchise that I enjoy much more because of the aesthetics of a futuristic post-apocalyptic with a 50's style.

2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?

Only with New Vegas.

3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?

I have not gotten Fallout 4 yet, because I don't have an eighth generation console yet. I'll probably get F4 once I get one.(most likely a PS4)

4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

As much as I like Fallout 3/New Vegas and GTA, My favorite sandbox game would be Saints Row 2 and 4. Both games are all about fun without sacrificing gameplay or aesthetics, and I have never really have been bored playing either game.

[AliceMako]

At 11/13/15 04:04 AM, The-Great-One wrote:
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?

TES since Arena, only one i missed out on wholesale was Oblivion cus at the time i lacked a pc that was up to snuff cus life and by the time i did i had other priorities anyway and then Skyrim happened which is still sucessfully nursing me perdiocially. I like swords and sorcery and every entry in this franchise has been virtually peerless in it's day, they're just all that.

I only played the first 2 Fallouts and not to any great degree, i remember them being good fun though.

2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?

Pretty sure Arena ate this one endless summer and during the latter years of high school Daggerfall was this religion me and most of my classmates had signed up for. Often enough i'd say, i still fire up Skyrim periodically and it was already well over a year before i ever started modding.

3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?

Part 3 had an entertaining intro/tutorial thing and beyond that was this instant dullsville and i'm kinda done with anything even vaguely resembling fps, i just could not care less for it. Why do i want to fill my brain with visions of the world gone to hell in a handbasket anyway? When there's wizards and amazons and elves and dragons and fuck yeah to be had instead.

4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

Being a simpleton helps me enjoy GTAIV , for months on end sometimes, just running people over and picking fights in the street nevar evar gets old. I'm leery of booting it up though as i'll lose time in my day and i still haven't looked at V which i really ought to at some point. Still Skyrim trumps it by a wide enough margin, they need to hurry up and announce TES 6.

[Auz]

Well, if you ever want to try them out, I think Fallout 3 and Skyrim are good starting points to get introduced into these series. Oblivion is not too dated yet. Morrowind you should probably only pick up if you enjoyed the more modern ES games.

At 11/13/15 04:04 AM, The-Great-One wrote: Questions of the Day
1. Have you played any games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series? If so what is appealing about them to you? If not then why?

I've played Elder Scrolls III, IV and V and Fallout 1, 2, 3 and New Vegas. Apart from Fallout 2 I have beaten all of them. I want to play ES: Daggerfall as well someday.

The main appeal to me is the free exploration. I have so much fun running around in these massive worlds for hundreds of hours and still having new stuff to find and new stuff to do. The freedom to build your character almost any way you want it is also something I enjoy a lot.

2. If you have played games from The Elder Scrolls/Fallout series how many times have you decided to replay or revisit them?

For all the Elder Scrolls games I've started a second character at some point with which I made it about halfway into the main quest again. With my first characters I like to try and finish the game 100%, but with my second characters I have more specific goals in mind. Like playing a warrior or thief class, which is usually not my preferred style in RPGs.

I have not really revisited the Fallout games. I've played Fallout 3 the most, but I still feel like I got plenty of stuff to do in that game. I'll probably make a second character someday. I care less about New Vegas, but maybe I'll replay it someday as well.

3. Have you gotten Fallout 4? If not then why?

No, not yet. Primary reason being that my current laptop is old junk by now, but also because I don't mind waiting for the complete edition. The game will probably be a lot cheaper by next year as well.

4. What is your favorite sandbox game of all time and why?

Tough one. Perhaps Oblivion because it's the first game that introduced me to these massive overworld RPGs. But I do like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games about equally much.