I miss the feeling of being lost in video games. The thrill of exploring the unknown in an unfamiliar land has always drawn me to old and new games. Lately, though, games have taken a much more accessible approach to exploration, offering minimaps, yellow paint, and sometimes even massive arrows pointing us toward the next objective.
While I appreciate these accessibility options, I want to feel like I’m discovering things for myself rather than relying on a guiding hand. Of course, this isn’t an issue for players who want to go from point A to B, but as someone who grew up playing games with little to no guidance, I know there’s a certain magic in being lost—having no idea where to go and figuring it out along the way.
It can sometimes be frustrating when you don’t know where to look. I remember the first time I played Dark Souls and completely missed the Catacombs section leading to Gravelord Nito and the Tomb of the Giants. When I realized it existed, I had already defeated several bosses on the other side of the map.
Elden Ring’s underground city of Nokron was a highlight for me—a testament to the game’s incredible sense of discovery. I was aimlessly wandering through Mistwood when I stumbled upon what felt like the longest elevator ride in history. At the bottom, I found an underground city shimmering with stars and multiple arrows embedded in my body.
In Kingdom Hearts 1, the Deep Jungle map was particularly frustrating. Sora had no clear guidance on where to find those apes. I had the trio swinging and climbing through treetops repeatedly, hoping to trigger a cuscene. Back then, you couldn’t even skip cutscenes.
Open-world games typically avoid this kind of aimless exploration, filling their maps with towers and markers that make navigation far more forgiving. However, the modern Zelda games—particularly Breath of the Wild—recapture that sense of discovery. There’s no strict objective, just the freedom to wander and stumble upon something special—or maybe even an unexpected boss fight hidden in a corner. That said, I did find the Sheikah Sensor a bit annoying.
Mobius Digital’s Outer Wilds is another fantastic example. It thrives on exploration and discovery, taking it further by placing you in a simulated solar system with orbiting planets and asteroids. It’s a fascinating adventure, and I highly recommend it to anyone curious about science fiction.
Being lost forces me to reflect on my mistakes. Did I forget to do something? Wasn’t there a switch I activated just a minute ago? Older games could make this process frustrating, but modern games can approach it differently—with less reliance on UI guidance and more diegetic elements, like world-integrated compasses. Elden Ring does this brilliantly with the Light of the Erdtree guiding players from Sites of Grace.
Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic, but I want that magic back in modern games—less yellow paint, fewer question marks, and no constant guidance markers. I want to be lost. I don’t want to be led to the next objective. But to each their own, I suppose.