Best virtual worlds in games?

Do more Metroidvania-esque games like Maze of Galious count? Because if so, Maze of Galious is definitely a prime example, and something like Golvellius would probably count too (there are the "stages" in that game, but 90% of your time is spent exploring the overworld, and the overworld is massive!).

In terms of more obscure games, the first two that come to mind are A Life M36 Planet, and Borfes and the Five Devils. The former is kind of like a sci-fi take on Maze of Galious, but with more of a story, and its world is very well-realized and laid out in a very unique way that makes it really fun to explore and endlessly atmospheric. And the latter is a Golvellius/Zelda-like game, but with an absolutely MASSIVE world to explore that just... honestly seems like it never ends. It's the most open-world of open-world games I've played on the whole system so far, I think.

Casio's Youkai Yashiki (Ghost House) is pretty good for this too, though the world isn't particularly HUGE in that one.

Technically, I think the Metal Gear games would both count, since your primary goal in both of them is to infiltrate a base -- and "infiltrate" is just a fancy word for "wander/explore, but be secret about it."

Inca seems like it would count for sure -- that's a lesser-known but pretty OK tape game.

Another good tape game that would count is Livingstone Supongo.

And another is Time Trax, which is definitely the best of the three I've named here.

Jackie Chan's Project A2 is a pretty great example of an adventure game where wandering around is a primary goal, since you're trying to explore various buildings and find missing people in their various rooms.

Midnight Brothers isn't a great game IMHO, but would also count.

Then there's Iligks Episode IV, Sofia (great underrated game!), and a whole slew of homebrew games like Slender, Teodoro No Sabe Volar, La Corona Encantada, Children of the Night, Caos Begins, Sword of IANNA...

...Really, I think the MSX has a lot of games that fall into this category, though the parameters of the category are a little tough to nail down, since I'm not sure how many of the games I've just named actually count for what you're suggesting.

-Tom

I love Maze of Galios. It has a lot of exploration. For me it is the previous game of Castlevania.

I also agree with livingstone supongo, I have never finished it.

Another game with a lot of exploration and puzzles that I did not finish is Head over heels. Another isometric game following the same philosophy is Batman.

There are certainly MSX games that managed to have huge maps with lots of graphical diversity, which brings up an RPG that might qualify for this list: Pumpkin Adventure 3! That game's world is pretty enormous, but also incredibly varied and detailed. And it really impressed me how well it managed to retain its sense of place throughout -- you always knew roughly where you were in relation to everything else, because the maps all fit together really well.

I don't think RPGs are quite what the TC had in mind with this topic, but if any RPG I've played on the MSX counts, it has to be Pumpkin Adventure 3.

...Though honestly, Rune Worth is pretty good in that sense as well. It, too, has a really distinct sense of place to it, with each town and each dungeon having a very distinctive feel that really makes it clear where in the world you are.

Also, good call on Batman and Head Over Heels! The other classic isometric platformers would all quality as well, too, I think: Knight Lore, Alien 8, etc. (Though I could never get into them as much as Batman and Head Over Heels due to how NOISY they are! I wish every enemy and action in the game didn't make annoying high-pitched beeping sounds!)

-Tom

I think Pumpkin Adventure II and all following Umax RPGs were directly inspired by Dragon Slayer VI.

I almost mentioned Malaya no Hihou! That game is really underrated. The only reason it might not apply is because it's split into stages, but each stage is SO HUGE. You really spend a lot of time exploring them, and it's incredibly engaging!

Good call on Life On Mars, too. I wonder how you know about that game, though? Heheh! (Life On Earth is looking really nice, BTW!)

-Tom