What games include a place with a strong sense of “home” in character?

[StaceyPowers]

What are some games where your base/camp/house/city/etc. actually feels like “home” as opposed to just a place where you live? I’m speaking here specifically about a sense of in-character “home,” not homey feelings you might have about the place out of character as the player.

[Empire]

For me, Witcher 3 and its DLC eventually became what you're looking for, I found that after a few of those sunken chests and things I skipped them and focused on the main quests and side quests, which almost all are very fleshed out and well done. Witcher 3 is still a great game (which I still have to finish). It was a positive surprise in contrast to other games in the same genre, but sometimes I still found the world to be too large, sometimes containing mostly filler content. RDR2 is something I'll definitely try when it comes out for PC.

A second would be Red Dead Redemption 1, but Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like it'll have the same feel. I will say that even if you're not typically into westerns, RDR/RDR2 are well done. Games that aren't as open world but gave me the same feeling were the Tomb Raider reboot series (trilogy), Uncharted Series, and Last of Us 

 

[Tonberry]

3 hours ago, Empire said:

For me, Witcher 3 and its DLC eventually became what you're looking for, I found that after a few of those sunken chests and things I skipped them and focused on the main quests and side quests, which almost all are very fleshed out and well done. Witcher 3 is still a great game (which I still have to finish). It was a positive surprise in contrast to other games in the same genre, but sometimes I still found the world to be too large, sometimes containing mostly filler content. RDR2 is something I'll definitely try when it comes out for PC.

A second would be Red Dead Redemption 1, but Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like it'll have the same feel. I will say that even if you're not typically into westerns, RDR/RDR2 are well done. Games that aren't as open world but gave me the same feeling were the Tomb Raider reboot series (trilogy), Uncharted Series, and Last of Us 

 

Seconding Read Dead Redemption 2. It may be pretty rough around the edges, but you really get to learn to feel like a family in that game, so that when you come home to your encampment, it really does feel like you have been away for a long time, what with all the people in your gang wondering where you've been and how you can interact with stuff.

[Moonface]

LittleBigPlanet always lets you customize your pod with decorations to give it a personal touch, as well as your personal planet, moon, and scene background which are always seen out of the pod window. Never customized my pod but did do the other stuff and always liked that it was the first thing you see when loading into the game. You can also set your UI color which affects the initial loading screen too, so the game has your personal touches to it that come before absolutely anything else. I don't know any other game that comes that close. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has you start in your personal home, and the main menu shows your island and inhabitants, which comes close but the loading screen before reaching the main menu is vanilla so it loses out to LBP on that front.

 

Breath of the Wild is another one I liked for this because you get a side quest to purchase and help renovate a house, and while the end result is the same for everyone you at least get to show off some weapons on the walls of your choosing so you do get to personalize it a little. It just stands out to me because going into the quest you don't realize it'll end up as your personal place in the world that you outright own, especially since it isn't really a thing in Zelda games to buy and own a property.

[Justin11]

All of the Sims games i have played had that feeling, it's a simulator and was made exactly to give the satisfaction of building , customizing and managing your own home and the world around you.

[Scorpion]

"Stardew Valley" creates a true sense of home with its community bonds, while "Firewatch" deepens connections through its immersive storytelling.