If I liked Hogwarts Legacy...

[jamfirstcreamsecond]

Hello!

I've never gamed but, on impulse bought a PS5 especially for Hogwarts Legacy. And, I loved it so looking for recommendations.

I want something that is open world as loved just exploring. I don't mind some combat but I don't want it to be the entire focus so, some interesting little side quests would be great.

I've heard good things about Elden Ring but then some reviews say that it's hugely complicated and there is only one difficulty setting. I fear that I would be stuck on level one forever! My hand eye co.ordination isn't what it used to be!

I'd be so grateful for any or all ideas. Thanks in advance.

Elder scrolls Skyrim! It's an older game, but a fantastic open world.

Grand theft auto San Andrea's is also open world, but very different in content.

Elden ring, is a very good game, but a bit too combo button bashy for my liking.

Unchartered has similar puzzler adventure vibes, but isn't open world.

Divinity original sin is great. If you have someone to play with, DOS2 is one of the best co op games we've played.

Honestly I have found that open world does tend to involve combat, but you can turn the difficulty setting down. Witcher 3 is great, and I absolutely loved God of War (the 2018 game) - despite the name it was incredibly moving.

Fallout!!

You need Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. but unfortunately you also need to pay a Nintendo Switch to go with the PS5 😄

Definitely not elden ring! Great game but those type of games are extremely difficult. You could try god of war or horizon zero dawn? You can play on the easiest difficulty which is story mode so whilst there is combat it doesn’t get in the way of the story.

Thank you all so much!

Skyrim was in my list so good to see it recommended.

Going to Google Fallout, Witcher 3 and God of War now.

Horizon Zero Dawn - does involve a fair bit of combat but lots of side quests.

do you have someone to game with? If so please play It Takes Two it’s fantastic!

Can second witcher 3. There's a reason it wo won game of the year. The combat is easy enough on a low difficulty and has a puzzle solving element e.g. using the right sword/shell for your enemy.

The side quests are second to none. I started one where I think I had to find someones lost chicken, ended up on a frikin continent spanning epic journey. The only game I have stopped mid journey to admire the scenery, absolutely stunning!

Ooh I’m going to look at some of these too. I absolutely loved Hogwarts Legacy despite not being a gamer at all. I’m not sure any other game will give me the same joy though because I think it was my familiarity with that world that made it so much fun.

Red Dead Redemption 2. Fantastic main story, loads of random encounters and side quests. Also a huge beautiful world to explore. Just stick with it until after the prologue, which can be a bit frustrating.

Red dead redemption 2 is very open world and there is combat but the way the world is set up is just amazing.

Also fallout 4 and Skyrim. Just put the difficulty to easy

Definitely Skyrim. It’s beautiful. I started a game because I wanted to pick flowers and make potions. There is a bit of combat, I had to fight a bear quite early on and made DH do it. A few days later I was playing Skyrim again and went looking got into a fight, DH asked if I wanted him to do it but I pulled out my poison and magical mace and told him I’d handle it!

I would also say lego. The older ones are less open world but some of the new ones are huge open world games. Harry Potter lego is a little bit open world with some side quests. However, DC villains and the new lego are both open world with side missions and a main mission. The new lego Star Wars one is massive and there is a lot you can explore with it. The lego games can be cooperative too if you want to play with someone else but you can play single player too.

Hey OP, DP is a major gamer working in the industry. He worked on Hogwarts Legacy so was thrilled to hear you enjoyed it!

I asked him for recommendations and he’s collated a good little list if you liked HL:
The Witcher 3
Skyrim
Oblivion (old but gold)
Zelda Breath of the Wild
Red Dead Redemption 2

He agreed that Elden Ring (and all games by “FromSoftware”) are designed to be difficult so definitely not the thing if you’re after exploration over combat.

Hope that helps!

The only other video games I gelled with in the way I loved Hogwarts Legacy are Lara Croft Tombraider: Legend (if you have a PS2!) and Harry Potter Lego (which you can probably pick up cheaply, as it’s an old game now. It’s a bit silly and not hard and there are some free parts to explore.

I’ve also been interested in Persona 5 and one of my friends loves it, but I don’t have first hand experience.

Horizon zero dawn and Horizon forbidden west were great. I also enjoyed Assassins Creed Origins.

I was going to say this! I love exploring in games and have loved hogwarts legacy and botw.

I think I might try spider man next.

Haha. Your husband is partly to blame for the distinct lack of housework currently taking place! I play when my husband goes to bed and he did complain (laughingly) that all he can hear is "stupefy" coming from the front room.

Re Lego. I"m currently going through the star wars game. Loving that too. Not sure if it's the familiarity with the franchise or the humour but, many hours have been spent on it.

So far. I've got Skyrim and Watcher 3 on my shortlist. I've got some birthday money so might even get both.

Thank you everyone. You've all been so helpful. I never thought, as a 50 year old female, I would get into gaming. But, here we are...and I love it.

I have actually considered this! Love a bit of Zelda.
How many consoles is too many???

Another recommendation for Witcher 3.

but Red Dead 2, I was so invested in that story it was like living a movie. Beautiful gameplay and storytelling. And an easy mode so I didn’t constantly die in fights.

Oh that was brilliant!

I have 5 in front of me right now...