What videogames are you playing in 2026?

[Reynard]

I played it recently and some of the mission cutscenes early on are very long and cannot be skipped. The other subsystems (gambling, hunting, foraging, camp chores) are all optional for the main story.

Edit: I should say that bonafide cutscenes can be skipped but there are missions where you have to follow a character and listen to dialogue or else fail the mission, and those can be very long.

The point was I was asking for a game with a Skyrim like play loop: pick a direction toward a marker on the map, walk that way and explore, shoot some bandits or fight a monster or whatever, see a little story painted in campsites and skeletons, repeat.

 

[MarkB]

I am still having trouble finding the right game. I need something with a short, fun play loop that is also wide open. My personal Platonic Ideal here is Skyrim/Fallout4, but i have played them both to death. I was very sad that Starfield was not that same experience, and as much as Elden Ring has great exploration and environmental storytelling, I can't abide Souls like combat. It might be Diablo4 except I loathe the boss fights.

Have you tried Avowed? It has a fairly large environmental exploration element interspersed with its various quests and side quests, and you can easily while away some time doing nothing very much if you're not into engaging with the main plot right now.

 

[MarkB]

Isn't it full of mandatory cut scenes and mandatory slow-ass subsystems like hunting and making camp and stuff?

It has a certain "cowboy simulator" aspect to it such that you need to do a degree of routine upkeep to keep your character in tip-top condition. It's less extreme than survival modes in games like Fallout 4 but still in a similar vein.

 

[Parmandur]

Oh, I thought you had played it and that is why you were suggesting it.

Nah, it isn't on Switch 2 yet, but I know it is in the zone of games you were mentioning.

 

[Parmandur]

The point was I was asking for a game with a Skyrim like play loop: pick a direction toward a marker on the map, walk that way and explore, shoot some bandits or fight a monster or whatever, see a little story painted in campsites and skeletons, repeat.

Well, yes, it is that...?

 

[Artamo]

The point was I was asking for a game with a Skyrim like play loop: pick a direction toward a marker on the map, walk that way and explore, shoot some bandits or fight a monster or whatever, see a little story painted in campsites and skeletons, repeat.

Closest one that I know of that has that is Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.

 

[Artamo]

Well, yes, it is that...?

I think he’s looking for as minimal story as possible versus the exploration and simple combat aspect. I don’t think RDR2 qualifies for that.

 

[Reynard]

Closest one that I know of that has that is Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.

I really want to try those but alas I do not own a Switch. If only Nintendo released those for PC.

 

[SkidAce]

The point was I was asking for a game with a Skyrim like play loop: pick a direction toward a marker on the map, walk that way and explore, shoot some bandits or fight a monster or whatever, see a little story painted in campsites and skeletons, repeat.

Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

[Reynard]

Have you tried Avowed? It has a fairly large environmental exploration element interspersed with its various quests and side quests, and you can easily while away some time doing nothing very much if you're not into engaging with the main plot right now.

I should reload avowed. i got about 10 hours in before the companions annoyed me to death. Or go back to Outer Worlds 2, but it did not really hook me the first tiem around (after maybe 8 hours).