(I imagine the short answer for many is “extensive mods,” but I’m on PS4 so my choices in that area are a bit limited.)
I got really into Skyrim when I was unemployed during the summer of 2020. I’ve probably put in close to 1,000 hours to date. I still love the game, but unfortunately I’m now so familiar with the questlines, enemies, dungeons, and dialogue that it’s hard for me to continue enjoying it. Even if I put it down for 4-5 months, I still find myself a little burned out because I know it too well by this point.
Some might ask, “Why try to keep playing, then?” and it’s a fair question. Basically, I still like the mechanics of the game. I still enjoy a good dungeon crawl. Archery is an incredibly satisfying combat skill and I haven’t been able to find another game that’s quite as fun for archery. And tbh, Skyrim has become a comfort game for me when I need an alternate world to slip into for a few hours. I want to keep enjoying it. I’m just not sure how anymore.
For other players who’ve logged a lot of hours, I’m curious to know: How do you keep the experience fresh and interesting for yourself? Are there different RP strategies that you take? Do you mod the hell out of your game? Do you just embrace and enjoy the familiarity?
Fallout: New Vegas is on the same engine and satisfies the dungeon crawl loop condition flawlessly. Additionally it’s one of the better written rpgs of it’s type with a ton to get invested in.
Oblivion is good if you can get around it’s mild clunkiness by today’s standards. Morrowind is supposed to be amazing if you can get around it’s clunkiness (though I’ve never been able to. maybe someday they’ll make a remaster)
All the modern Fallouts are great. While NV is my favourite, I can recommend them all to satisfy this gameplay style itch. That includes Fallout 76. Despite the onlineness of that title, the single player gameplay is pretty much identical.
Elder Scrolls Online is a bit more different and has more of an obvious MMO feel to it, but it still is a lot of fun for single player exploration. And the sheer size of the ESO world is insane. It’s really great for getting to explore the places we’ve only heard mentioned in the earlier Elder Scrolls titles. The single player quests are still quite well done. And if you enjoy doing dungeons with other humans, the dungeons are fantastic and have great lore. It’s one of the best MMOs out there. ESO will easily eat up a thousand hours. I loved the shit out of it and need to return sometime.
I’ve heard a lot about F:NV. Maybe it’s finally time to give it a try!
Oblivion is an amazing game that’s hampered by its horrendous level scaling. You basically have to run through the main quest as quickly as possible and try to keep yourself under level 5 or so, or it becomes absolutely impossible. After that, once the main quest is done, you can start really levelling and more fully enjoying things.
Morowind is an amazing game, but it’s incredibly unforgiving and takes dedication. It can take dozens of hours before you ever start feeling like you have a handle on it.