I’ve been revisiting anno 2205, infamously the ugly duckling of the Anno series of RTS games. I don’t mind so much the fact that it’s different, lacks customisation and random map generation - I’m bothered because the game is so slow to progress through on challenge settings, and it feels like a game designed just to artificially waste your time; in other anno games, you can always pull tricks to dig yourself out of economic crisis - selling off assets and surplus goods, completing quests for other parties, or taking loans. 2205 is very very confined in terms of what you can do to financially recover in the early game and forces you into a lot of military events.
Sounds like I should try Elden Ring then. Though I loved BOTW.
There are a lot of things about Elden Ring that are great, but they’re just not for me. Like the whole gross aesthetic or the sweaty-rolly-dodgy combat. None of that works for me.
But in terms of creating an actual meaningfully open world, it’s a fucking masterpiece. I was constantly, constantly astounded at how full the world was. If that’s something you value, I can’t recommend it enough.