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What open-world games on Steam have satisfying movement, like Arkham Knight or Spider-Man?

I want to grapple, glide, wall run, etc around a big open world. What are some games you think are fun for that?

I picked up Sunset Overdrive on a sale, and the rail grinding is fine I guess, but it's just not clicking with me.

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  • Dying Light's movement is phenomenal, a must play IMO due to its awesome parkour movement systten.

  • Dying Light had a mediocre story and repetitive gameplay, but the parkour mechanic was what made it interesting in the long run. Jumping around and climbing stuff was so satisfying.

    As for side scrollers, Ori might not be the most difficult platformer I've ever played, but it certainly was the most fun, thanks in no short part to the fluid and dynamic movement of the main character. The camera is also very wide, to allow you to see the road ahead clearly, which is not something that all platformers do right, surprisingly enough.

  • This one is slightly less on target, but I'm really intrigued by a free demo I found this week called Exo Rally Championship. It's a rally car game, but set in exotic little exoplanetary environments. The movement looks really interesting especially because you're not just in a low-grav setting, you also have 360⁰ jets you can use to assist in steering or course-correction midair.

  • I haven't played the PC version, but I expect it's the same as the console version: Prototype (from Activision in 2009; there's another game listed with the same title). The story is utter garbage, but everything about the moment to moment gameplay is great, and it definitely checks the boxes you're looking for. I never played the sequel, because it re-used the same map, and that's a lot like playing a Mario game with all of the same levels as the one before it, but this first game rules.

    If you have access to something that can play Xbox 360 games, I'd also highly recommend the first Crackdown.

    • Oh yeah, I remember seeing that one, but I never got around to trying it. Sort of a grimdark/knockoff Venom version of Infamous, yeah?

      • I believe it has a direct lineage from a game based on The Hulk called Ultimate Destruction, and you can feel that. You're super jumping, gliding, and sort of like Venom, consuming people to pose as them. There are missions with a stealth element, but other times you're throwing tanks at helicopters. Holding the run button will have you effortlessly doing cartwheels off the tops of cars and wall running straight up skyscrapers.

  • Warframe has some of the best movement in a game ever. Not exactly an MMORPG, not exactly Open World, but definitely space ninjas on crack.

    Also, it can be played completely free. There is a paid currency model (platinum), but it's tradeable between players (so you can trade items and earn Platinum), and most non-cosmetic items are obtainable through gameplay.

    It's been around since the early 2010s but keeps evolving and manages outperform AAA titles on the regular. If you like high fantasy sci-fi cosmic horror madness on drugs that won't be invented for another 100 centuries or so, give it a shot.

    • Also came to suggest Warframe, but u beat me to it :D yeah it's slow to get going.. but that's the cool thing about it. You can drop it when it gets tedious and come back when you feel like it. Imho the long crafting times are good, it means you have to come back in 3 days and have something to look forward to. And instant gratification can get boring, so I really like the pacing.

    • There's so much I want to like about Warframe, but last time I tried it I couldn't get any sense of what a new player's supposed to do to start progressing, or to get the story in a comprehensible way. The build timers also made me sad. I got all the parts, just give me the Rhino.

      Still though, "We All Lift Together" is a certified banger.

      • Warframe has been making updates to the new player experience the last couple updates. Removing annoying grinds for things, changing things so new players are on more equal footing.

        As for direction, I'll tell you what I wish I knew when I started.

        1. Do the main storyline quests, they eventually unlock really cool rewards or weekly rewards opportunities that give all sorts of goodies. Some main story quests, are locked behind reaching certain planets on the star chart.
        2. Complete the star chart, at your own pace. Getting to new planets is always good. By that I mean do every mission on a planet at least once. It will unlock the Steel Path, which is all the same shit with more and tougher enemies. Yay bigger horder! But the real reason to play it is steel path has double drop rates for resources and mods, so less grind.
        3. Focus on fun. Don't overally focus on that next weapon or upgrade. It will still be there. Focus on the mission types you like. Grind at your own pace. If you a grind is really getting you down, go do something else. There is so much to do!
        4. Understand the weird mastery system. Its a weird system at first. Basically, when you level up a weapon it doesn't get better. It gets more upgrade capacity. You will need to go in and put in mods or upgrades to make the weapon more pew pew. There is more to the mastery system too but that is enough for now.
        5. Trade shit on warframe.market. you can make so much plat to buy the stuff you want. I'm too the point where I mainly trade to buy cosmetic upgrades to look cool!
      • Fair point. I've played it on and off for years now, and I still have no fucking clue where the game wants me to go (although it's a lot better now than it used to be). The storyline is... complex to say the least, and the game doesn't do much to drive you an particular direction. Progression is also lateral, not vertical, so while you have a wide variety of options and directions to explore, they can be shallow and overwhelming at the same time.

        On the plus side of that, every time I come back, it's like a new game, but with the same combat / movement that got me addicted back when it was nothing but grind.

        And agreed - their music production is definitely spot-on.

      • I tried it years ago and soon saw that you need to start paying or progress gets difficult. Immediately deleted it.

  • Okay this is a little off script since it's not an open world game, but if you're only looking for satisfying movement you should take a look at Neon White. Just be warned that the writing is... on the cringier side. But that doesn't really matter in the end.

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