A Lesson in Cartography in Potato Land (2012)

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Needless to say, Kingdom Come ended up with fast travel, but it's implemented quite tastefully - you have to discover fast travel points, as is common in all RPGs these days, and travelling (especially at night or through risky areas) always represents a risk of being ambushed.

It's definitely a game that rewards exploration, not just with finding random chests or gathering dumb resources for crafting etc, but exactly as the post hopes - because it's beautiful and atmospheric. I found myself spending a lot of time hunting in the game, not because I needed to, but just because it was nice to be out in nature. The game is 5 years old but (perhaps with the exception of RDR2) I don't think a single RPG since has got so much right in one game.

You might want to give a stab at Elden Ring.

It doesn't capture exactly the sense of "being out in nature", but the exploration part ("omg there is another thing here?") is definitely there and it's nailed.

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