Why do people like "exploration" or "maze" games?

[opa-opa]

I'd say Metal Gear Solid (the first, not the inferior part 2), comes about as close to the perfect mix of "experience" and challenge that I've seen.

There's some exploration, but it's not excessive. You can backtrack and go visit all the places you've already been too, but there is no real need to. The game is overall pretty linear, but still succeeds in providing an incredibly immersive "experience", while encouraging creative thinking at the same time. And the boss battles provide quite a bit of challenge. It's simply a masterpiece of game design.

[Chakan]

I hope you're kidding, opa-opa. MGS wasn't very challenging at all, and featured forced back-tracking that at least annoyed me somewhat.

[Stone]

Originally posted by Chakan
I hope you're kidding, opa-opa. MGS wasn't very challenging at all, and featured forced back-tracking that at least annoyed me somewhat.

MDK 2 is far closer to an ideal mix of action, story, and exploration than any other game I can think of or that I have played - and I mean leagues closer.

Every time I go back and play a bit of MDK2, I become more in awe of the game - it's near-perfect, IMO.

[opa-opa]

Yeah it wasn't too challenging overall as games go, but there were isolated parts of the game that required a fair amount of skill, such as the boss fights. And that's what I prefer...I want the "challenge" of the game to be in the action/fighting aspect, not in the exploration/item collecting aspect....if I have to be stuck/frustrated by a game's challeng, I'd rather it be because I could not beat a boss, rather than not being able to find an item because I missed exploring some spot....

And I don't remember that much backtracking. You had to maybe go back 2 or 3 screens a few times to pick up items, but it was never to the extent of something like Metroid or SOTN.

[Jeremy]

opa-opa, here are a few examples in which creative thinking can be used in the game.
WWF No Mercy
Grand Theft Auto III
GTA: VC
Super Mario Bros.

[GameCynic]

Indeed, Metal Gear Solid is a perfect example. Other games like Super Metroid, Panzer Dragoon Zwi, Half Life, and Deus Ex are great expamples. They are challenging games, but they provide a wonderous experience because the worlds they belong in are such finely crafted, believable places. (I'll secretly add Halo to that list).

Oh and for creative thinking, look no further than Deus Ex (or most Warren Spectre games for that matter).

[Stone]

I think a lot of you overrate the challenge of a game like Super Metroid or Metal Gear Solid - did your inability to get through a part for lack of gaming skill ever really frustrate you while you were playing those games? I breezed through both, and never felt like I really encountered any sort of gaming challenge - it was difficult to stay interested in the game, but that's about it...just too simplistic. That scene where you jam on a button to deal with torture always stands out in my mind as being representative of the game when I think back on MGS1.

Half-Life and Deus Ex aren't "exploration" games, but, yeah, I guess they're effective combinations - effective because both games could be quite challenging at times.

[burgundy]

I found that Draygon and Ridley were tough in Super Metroid - the former only before I knew of the grapple beam trick.

MGS has variable difficulty, so unless you've beaten it on its hardest setting (and it doesn't sound like you would have bothered), I don't see why you're complaining.

[opa-opa]

Well, I haven't found a really "challenging" console game since probably Ghouls and Ghosts on the Genesis(not counting 2D shooters like Mars Matrix).... so I think MGS is about "average" as far as relative difficulty goes these days....

[Ste-Von]

Wow, I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned ICO yet. That game is incredible. It's all about exploring, but there's nothing to collect, no life bar, no inventory, and you can't even really die.

The really great thing about this game, though, it that all the puzzles MAKE SENSE. They all fit the environment and gameplay perfectly, and I never questioned why I was flipping a lever or pushing a block, because everything just felt natural. It really felt good completing puzzles in this game, because I always knew they were being solved through my intellect and reasoning, rahter than some seemingly random solution.

I realized this game was something special because it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played, and I don't even like these kinds of games. So I guess I'm just trying to say that even people who don't like exploration heavy games should try it out. It should be pretty cheap, too.