Before I started writing this post, I was working on a list of games and genres I enjoyed to give you a better understanding of my tastes. While that post will have to wait a bit longer, one thing that is going to be pretty clear going forward is that I'm a massive fantasy nerd. To this day, the three The Lord of the Rings films are some of my favorite movies of all time and basically inspired me to pursue filmmaking as my career. (In case you didn't read my first post, I do actually work in the film and TV industry rather than games, at least for now.) A lot of my favorite games are also fantasy themed in some way, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which was so good that I even read all of the books the games are based on. (Too bad the Netflix adaptation isn't nearly as great.)
Still, in my opinion, no video game has truly captured that epic feeling of a long journey across a fantasy world that J. R. R. Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's films convey. There are a lot of fantasy video games with vast open worlds that you can explore or great stories and memorable characters, like the aforementioned Witcher game which has all three. There are also challenging fantasy games like the Dark Souls franchise that many think of as some of the best games ever made and can definitely feel like one hell of a journey after completion. Still, while they are all good, even excellent experiences, they lack something that the kid in me has wanted for a long time. Some part of that maybe the fact that many of them either have you backtrack and revisit old areas constantly, or that they're more focused on combat than the actual traversing part of the experience. In most games, moving from point A to point B is simply the means of getting you from one combat encounter or story moment to the next. Which makes sense from a game design perspective, because fighting is fun and challenging, while in most games moving forward simply means pressing either W on your keyboard or moving an analog stick on a gamepad.
My mission with this text is to pitch a fantasy game that's more about the actual journey than it is about the destination. A Journey To Remember.
Part 1: About The Journey, Not The Destination
What if there was a fantasy game, where you have a single objective from beginning to end, and the whole game is just about getting from A to B across a vast landscape, with the singular goal always in mind and in sight? (In fact, a bit like in the game simply called Journey.) Similar to how basically the whole point of all three Lord of the Rings movies is really only about getting the Ring from the peaceful Shire to the fiery pit of Mount Doom. And what if, instead of the challenge of the game being only about defeating enemies or solving puzzles, it would actually be as much about the travelling itself.
As anyone who has ever gone on a long hiking trip would tell you, walking in more rural areas with a heavy backpack without paved paths can be quite an experience and challenge all in of itself. In fact, this whole idea for a game came fresh into my mind once again when I recently went on two separate hiking trips in national parks with a group of my friends. Especially in a forest or a rocky place, you have to be constantly mindful of where you step to avoid tripping, or else you could twist an ankle or worse. That goes double for trying to actually climb a mountain. You also need to plan your routes well on longer trips, find good spots to camp and rest, and keep yourself well hydrated and energized all while rationing your supplies in order not to run out of water or food too early. And that's if the weather's good and you don't get rain, snow or a horrible storm that slows you down and saps all of your energy. Not that sunny weather is necessarily good either, as if it's too hot, you'll sweat and get dehydrated quicker.
After my hiking trips, I was inspired to finally buy Hideo Kojima's latest game Death Stranding, as it's been sometimes described as a game that captures the challenge of traversal when walking long distances. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the game is all about being a mail deliveryman in a post-apocalyptic world. Most of the actual gameplay is simply moving cargo from A to B across rough terrain, either on foot or by using some kind of a vehicle. During my playthrough, I usually opted for the former, as I preferred the challenge of navigating the wilderness on foot, and in a world with almost no roads but a lot of rocks and other obstacles, most of the time using a vehicle was more trouble than it was worth. And after all, I was looking for a game to fill the hiking high that I had gotten from my recent trips. (The literal kind, not drug induced ones.) Surprisingly, the game was indeed a fairly good representation of what hiking can feel like. Sure, in real life there aren't ghostly monsters from the afterlife trying to kill you or crazed mailmen coming after your cargo with weapons (at least that I know of), but it was still similar enough.
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| Me about to climb over that mountain in Death Stranding (2019) while carrying a different kind of cargo. |
What might initially seem like an incredibly boring game about walking, becomes a lot more involved once you get past the initial tutorial. How Death Stranding does this is by actually building game mechanics to make the traversal more in-depth than just pressing forward. The most noticeable example would be the balancing act the player has to do. The terrain of Death Stranding's world lacks roads and is full of rocks, steep cliffs, rushing rivers and other obstacles that can cause the main character of Sam (voiced by and modeled after Norman Reedus) to lose his balance and fall over, causing damage to himself and the heavy cargo he's carrying. This can be countered by holding either of the triggers on the PlayStation controller, switching Sam's balance to either left or right respectively. By holding both triggers at the same time, Sam holds his backpack with both hands and keeps himself more balanced, but it also slows him down and obviously requires you as the player to keep holding those triggers the whole time. In effect, this makes the seemingly simple act of walking an exercise in finding the right balance (no pun intended) of choosing between safety and speed. A more cautious player that takes into account the more optimal terrain and holds both triggers down almost the whole time for the best balance might be slower than someone who rushes with little regard for their safety, but is often ultimately rewarded with a better grade for delivering their cargo with less damage. The player can also use tools like ladders and ropes to get over obstacles that could otherwise prove impossible on foot. Additionally, Sam has a stamina bar that drains faster when doing more physically demanding things like walking up a hill or crossing a river, and if it runs out, he's unable to run and might fall over easier or get swept away with the water current. It can be temporarily filled by drinking from his canteen, but his stamina can only be fully restored by resting at a safe house. Together with other hazards like the previously mentioned enemies and a deadly rain that causes anything it touches to age faster, all these elements make delivering mail a challenge where the player needs to plan out their routes ahead of time, pack appropriately for their journey and stay aware of their surroundings when on the move. Which in turn sounds quite a lot like hiking in many ways.
Now picture a game where instead of delivering mail back and forth in a futuristic post-apocalypse, you take elements of Death Stranding into a fantasy adventure across a vast landscape with different biomes and unique encounters. Mixed in with some light survival mechanics, you basically have the ultimate Lord of the Rings simulator but just in a different world with its own characters and story.
Part 2: How it could work
If you've played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher 3, Elden Ring or even something like Final Fantasy XV (or 15 in plain English), you probably spent a lot of time moving across the world, doing quests, finding cool side objectives on the way and fighting a number of random enemies you encountered. However, if I asked you to recount your time with the game as a cohesive story, you probably would find it quite difficult to do. Most likely you would tell me either about the main story's plot points or try to pick specific memories from your gameplay like "I found this weird cave and then there was a huge spider that killed me instantly" or something along those lines. But it would be quite a fractured, messy tale full of unmemorable filler where you revisit the same towns, talk to a lot of the same people and fight the same monsters, over and over again, while gaining better gear and leveling up. Of course it was still fun when you played it, but a lot of it would probably blend together. Same with even something a bit more linear like Dark Souls, but instead it would be a lot of "I fought this one boss 20 times before I finally beat him."
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| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015). |
Of course, a lot of this comes down to the medium of games and also how they're made. It's smart for a game developer to get as much content out of the same locations and assets they've made, using a somewhat repetitive but engaging gameplay loop to give the player more bang for their buck. It's all about getting as much value and fun as you can with less development time and money. On the flipside, it often leads to games with a lot of filler to pad out the runtime. This too is something that Death Stranding does a lot.
In my game, there would be one key rule: no forced backtracking. Once you've moved on from a location, the game never asks you to return to it. It's all about the momentum, the journey and the unique moments and places encountered on their path.
What I would like to see in this fictional game I'll just call A Journey To Remember, is instead of a big open world or a linear path, more of an hybrid of the two concept. Imagine the game world as a long, almost straight stretch of land between two points of interest, the beginning and the end. Now the player could freely choose their way from one end to the other like in an open world game, but the actual play area would be more linear and narrow instead of wide. All the while the player would have a map that they could use to track their progress throughout the game and how far they are from the end, and even see the path they've taken dotted down like in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or, well, Death Stranding. While the objective of the game would be the same for every player, they would be free to decide how to get there. Some routes could be potentially shorter and faster, but more dangerous or require some tool or resource to use them, like needing money to buy a ferry trip across a deep and wide river.
When it comes to the challenge, first and foremost would be the environment itself. As mentioned earlier, I would take some inspiration from Death Stranding, while not just ripping them out of that game without care. First of all, I would probably alter the balance mechanic. In my game, you wouldn't be hauling cargo, but you would still need to carry a rather heavy backpack filled with supplies in addition to other gear like weapons and armor. This would mean that there is still a risk of falling when crossing rough terrain, but I might most likely alter the actual mechanic from holding buttons to more something akin to a reaction test or quicktime event. In practice, if the player would encounter any seemingly hazardous terrain like a forest bed filled with large roots, an ice-covered lake or a tree trunk going over a rushing river, they would once again choose between speed and safety. On more difficult spots, the player would have an increased chance of falling the faster they move, especially if they try to sprint. However, the player could risk it by going faster and with good enough reflexes save themselves by quickly pressing a button (like X on PlayStation or A on Xbox) if they are about to fall. Alternatively, they could always try to find another, less dangerous path. Should they fail, they might get hurt and even damage their gear.
The stamina mechanic I would keep pretty much the same way it is in Death Stranding. When doing more tiring things like climbing, swimming or running, the player character would not only burn through their temporary stamina faster, but also slowly eat away their long term energy reserve. The longer they would go without resting, the less stamina they would have to use in the short term. And should the stamina run out, they would automatically fail any reaction test and fall over, but also move a lot slower, until they could even pass out from exhaustion. Both the short and long term stamina reserve could be filled by drinking or eating to a point, but only sleep could fully restore them to their max. Sleeping could be done by setting up a campfire in a safe spot (while using resources to do so) or renting a room at an inn, should a player encounter one on their path. Sleeping would be also the only way to save a game other than quitting to the main menu.
When it comes to what supplies the player would need to have for their journey, I think the game could have very light survival mechanics. For example, there wouldn't be separate thirst and hunger meters to keep track of, but both water and food would be necessary to keep the character's condition in good order. Somewhat similar to how the Viking-themed survival game Valheim and Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 do it, the character would not starve to death if they don't eat or drink, but doing so would provide a temporary bonus to their health and also fill out a bit of their stamina.
The player's gear would also be a factor, for example heavier armor or warmer clothes obviously would provide more protection from either enemies or the environment, but they would slow the character down and cause them to drain their stamina faster. Same with other resources like food and drink: more supplies would be heavier to carry in the short term but provide more benefits in the long term. All the while other things like cold or hot weather and getting wet from either rain or swimming would also affect the player character's overall stats.
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| Bad weather like snowstorms are also an obstacle in Death Stranding. |
On their journey, the player could either gather their supplies from the environment by doing things like finding branches and chopping down small trees for campfires, hunting animals or fishing in the lakes and rivers they come across. Alternatively, they could instead buy supplies from any small villages and inns they visit, although money could be hard to come by unless the player sells other supplies they have or small trinkets, treasures and other valuables they find.
When it comes to other game mechanics, they game would probably have combat and enemy encounters against all manner of people, beasts and monsters. The enemies could be anything from bandits seeking to rob lone travelers to hungry wolves and even more fantastical creatures like a dragon. But the game shouldn't be padded full of repetitive fights against the same enemies over and over again, and instead the encounters should be sparse, unique and most of all memorable. It's all about reinforcing the idea of the game being a journey, and every player should have their own. Or at least, something that feels unique and personal to them, as they picked their route and might have met people and enemies that other players never even saw on their playthrough. Great for replay value as well.
Part 3: The story and theme
While I don't think it's perhaps necessary for me to lay out my idea for a possible story for the game, I'll still try to come up with a quick pitch. After all, the journey in itself would be hardly very meaningful if it wasn't for something.
So, here's one option. As much as I don't think the game would necessarily need a very deep and complicated plot, that does not mean the game could not be emotionally impactful. Perhaps the game could simply be about life... And death. The journey, in essence, and all that entails.
Perhaps the main character is a dying, widowed and poor farmer who hears about a holy temple on top of a far-away mountain. The mountain, visible in the horizon, has been something the farmer has always seen but never gone to. In fact, he has barely ever left his small home village or seen much of the world. With not much time left and having really never lived or experienced any adventures, the farmer decides that as one his final deed, he will go and visit the sanctuary.
The player could either go to each one of neighboring villagers to say their goodbyes or simply leave without saying anything, but regardless they would then start their adventure with a single, seemingly simple goal in mind. Get to that temple, whatever it takes. All the while the disease would get worse slowly over time. In addition to a gradual, visual change in the player character the sickness would begin to affect the gameplay, slowly reducing the maximum health and stamina the character has even after resting. In a way, instead of making the game more difficult as it goes on by just introducing harder enemies, the game would instead have almost like a reverse leveling up mechanic, where the main character gets weaker over time. While not doing it too drastically to make the game way too frustrating or even impossible to beat after a certain amount of time has passed, it would serve as both a narrative and mechanical reminder that the player should keep moving forward. Still, the game should also make sure to remind the player to breathe and not rush too fast, as otherwise they might not really even stop to appreciate the journey itself. There could be moments where a friendly NPC (non-playable character) could encourage the player to simply sit with them for a while and take in their environment and contemplate everything they've seen until that point.
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Sometimes it's good to simply sit down and live in the moment.
Picture from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. |
At the end of their journey, there would be no miracle remedy or divine healing to that could cure the illness. Instead, only acceptance and appreciation for the journey the farmer has been on. I can already picture the final screen, where the farmer sits down on the mountain top, literally and figuratively looking back to where they have come from and what they have gone through with the sun setting in the horizon, until they fall over into a peaceful, eternal slumber. Their body has fought to get to this point, and is now able to finally rest.
Conclusion
Well, I hope that anyone finds this in any way entertaining of perhaps even inspiring. I would be definitely interested to hear if you find my idea interesting or if there is a game you think that might capture something similar.
While that was just one possible direction the game could take, I of course believe that an experienced developer and storyteller could do so much more with this kind of concept. I'm not going to pretend it's even necessarily unique in any way, as there are games that have done similar things with their mechanics and story. But I have yet to play one that captures all these elements in the way I imagine them.
As always, I must reiterate that I am not a game developer and I do not ever intend to make this game a reality. After all, it's just a Gaming Daydream.
