Post your favorite underutilized game locations

[Second Duke Revier]

Have you ever ran into an area, level, or general space in a video game that you thought was really cool, only to be disappointed when the game ended up sending you away from it too early?

I had that exact experience with Terranigma, a game I began playing after hearing word that it was basically Illusion of Gaia, but better in almost every way. The world the protagonist starts in has exceptional vibes - a frozen, barren land with huge crystals, a mysteriously dark, yet oddly compelling "sky", rivers of glowing lava, huge imposing towers of stone, and his hometown, a solitary village, tucked away in the middle of it all. Imagine my reaction, then, when I realized all of this was just a huge prologue area that the game cuts off after its first hour or so. I mean, look at it:

How could you not do more with a world as mysterious and inviting as this?

 

[jpfriction]

Welcome to the real world, jerk, hope you didn’t like that regenerating HP mechanic.

Probably the little bubbles of the past you get in the desert area of Skyward Sword. Seems like a nice place, wish I could hang out there.

 

[balder the brave]

- Aboard a pirate ship (Final Fantasy X)
- Inside a museum (Bioshock Infinite)
- On a little tiny planet with strong gravity (Super Mario Galaxy)
- In an amusement park (Overwatch)

 

[gogglebob]

2300 AD from Chrono Trigger is my immediate thought. Love to adventure across that land with ruins exploring, seed/hope grabbing, and Johnny-racing. You pick up your robot buddy... and damn near everything else in that epoch is either a retread (Mother's robo lab may as well be the same as Robo's dungeon) or something that just kind of doesn't fit elsewhere in the plot (sewers, Death Mountain). An advanced civilization a couple of centuries after it got wrecked by a space bug? Unlimited potential for scenarios there. But it feels like much more time and effort is given over to 600 AD or alike. I can get swords and sorcery anywhere! I want a sword kid from the past fighting mutant rejects from the future!

Also mentions of Final Fantasy X remind me that the Al Bhed are presented as a wildly deviant civilization from the rest of Spira, and I think their actual city gets two whole screens.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Love a platformer where there’s water just floating in the air.

 

[Violentvixen]

I can't think of a specific one right now but there have been so many towns/cities in games where I wanted to go down a street or wanted to do more in that area than just visit two shops and talk to two NPCs. I feel like many games have detailed city backgrounds and invisible barrier sidestreets that make me sad when I can't interact with them.

 

[Kazin]

Ooh, fun topic. Agreed with gogglebob about 2300 AD in Chrono Trigger. Let me think...

Hyrule under the sea in Wind Waker comes to mind. I mean what we get is super cool, but what is it like beyond Hyrule Castle and Ganon's Castle?

The weird liminal space between the Lost Woods at the beginning of Majora's Mask and Clock Town. Maybe a little postgame taste, or something. Although, it's probably for the best it's a pretty ambiguous area.

I'm replaying Final Fantasy VII at the moment (the original on PS1, though it's the Beacause Retranslation for a different flavor), and I want to see more of Midgar, even though we get to see a lot of it. I did play the remake, and that was pretty neat (although the stupid motorcycle section and guy is not what I meant, Square), particularly Jessie's family home. Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Shinra's headquarters.

Speaking of FF, I always thought there wasn't enough Zozo. Sure, we get a full dungeon there and some secret stuff, but it barely feels like a town, and not just because there's random battles there. The World of Ruin version in particular should be far crazier, dangerous and more interesting than it is.

 

[MetManMas]

Even though they're basically just places for cutscene exposition to happen I would've loved to have seen more of Earth and the Planet Styx from the first Star Ocean game.

Also the various towns and cities in SaGa Frontier.

 

[Voncaster]

I feel like further adventures in Maniac Mansion are needed ASAP.

 

[Beowulf]

I always thought the little side worlds in Final Fantasy Legend needed more to them. And wanted to see the rest of the civilized world in Breath of Fire 3.

 

[FelixSH]

I think I just can agree with Kazin on Midgar in FF VII. I don't need to spend the whole game there (I feel like traveling the world, seeing how Shinra ruined everything, everywhere, is essential), but especially the upper part would be very interesting to explore. I understand that the people in the lower parts, in the slums, have it bad. But the original never tells us about the lives of the people up there. Especially when Rufus is in power, and he promises to rule through fear, unlike his father. Like, how good is the life up there? Do these people live in constant fear of losing their privileges? Is it a police state? I always wanted to know more about that part.

I haven't played FF VII Remake, and I think it does a bit of that. But it seems like it wasn't as much as I would have wanted.

 

[Adrenaline]

Despite turning a six hour section of a game into a full release, you don't see much of Midgar in FF VII Remake that wasn't in the original.

 

[FelixSH]

What a waste. Oh well, I'm sure I would still love it.

 

[Bongo]

In Final Fantasy VII Remake, there is one chapter where you go to a middle-class residential area on top of the plate. It deliberately avoids showing much of the culture there, but the density of the environment design is such that you can still draw some inferences.

 

[RT-55J]

I wish Overdrive Ostrich's desert base level in Mega Man X2 was more than 20 seconds long. I love the vibe and the ride chaser, but otherwise there's not much to it.

 

[Baudshaw]

Definitely the Gerudo Highlands in BOTW, it feels there isn't much to do there compared to how large it is. It's interesting how it has some of the highest peaks in the whole map.

TOTK is a bit more interesting, a lot of areas get focus, but in general I feel like the Hyrule Castle depths should've been more of a massive, grand dungeon. It's certainly impressive now, but I think it could've been expanded more.

Sky is a bit interesting, I think Isle of Dawn is massively underutilized, especially after you complete it for the first time. I wish it got more love with how calm and beautiful it is.

 

[Baudshaw]

As for Minecraft, I think the Deep Dark (more of a biome than a location) could be expanded a bit more. It still feels a bit hard to properly take advantage of without a massive cave sweep.

Golden Ridge in Celeste is a clear favorite, and I think the natural, serene, and colorful aspects of it should've been transferred to other parts of the game as well.

Finally, I think the Petal Isles in Super Mario Wonder. I think it should've been a large centerpiece of the game, with slight influences from each of the worlds.

 

[Olli]

The island-sized inhabited giant robots of Xenoblade are pretty neat tbh

 

[Second Duke Revier]

Golden Ridge in Celeste is a clear favorite, and I think the natural, serene, and colorful aspects of it should've been transferred to other parts of the game as well.

+1 for the Ridge, while not as narratively strong as other levels, it absolutely captures the vibe of a charming, yet stoic and lonely place brilliantly.

 

[Poster]

I wanted to see more of Bevelle in Final Fantasy X instead of the two(?) screens we got.

 

[nataeryn]

The big bridge from FF5. That epic music kicks in and then before you know it, its over.

 

[Paul le Fou]

Airships! Air! Ships! MORE AIRSHIPS!!! One of my favorite things is when 1. You get an airship 2. You can walk around inside of it 3. There's lots of stuff to do onboard.

I don't like having to fight while I'm onboard my airship, but I'm down for an airship as a level/dungeon. And of course, airship battles like Skies of Arcadia are great.

The island-sized inhabited giant robots of Xenoblade are pretty neat tbh

Some of my favorites. Although the entire game takes place on them, so I dunno if they're underutilized... Still awesome though.

Also the various towns and cities in SaGa Frontier.

Oh damn, yeah, that's a good one. Each one is a world but we only get to visit maybe 1-2 locations from each world!

 

[ThricebornPhoenix]

Airships! Air! Ships! MORE AIRSHIPS!!! One of my favorite things is when 1. You get an airship 2. You can walk around inside of it 3. There's lots of stuff to do onboard.

Subnautica has waterships (Cyclops and Sea Truck) and they are great, but they don't quite reach the same heights.

 

[Purple]

Chunks of a jazz era Paris floating in a void is something I've seen in a surprising number of games I suppose, but one that should be in more of them because it's great.

Also more horror stuff in mundane settings you could see yourself wandering around in totally mundane contexts, like the first half or so of Silent Hill 1, or the bits of The Forest where you'd never guess what sort of game it is.

 

[Second Duke Revier]

The miniature towns in Soul Blazer. They are as surreal as they are goofy.

And yes, I'm playing through all of the Gaia trilogy, thank you for noticing.

 

[Beowulf]

The miniature towns in Soul Blazer. They are as surreal as they are goofy.

And yes, I'm playing through all of the Gaia trilogy, thank you for noticing.

I feel like I'm always torn between "I want more of each game in that trilogy" and "they're just the right length already."