Walking simulators and what's wrong with them

I really want to enjoy walking sims but i cant. I love games with good story and then Gone Home and Layers of fear were massive let downs... Gone Home at least had some good music. I only trully enjoyed Stanleys Parabale becouse of the humor.

I really enjoy good storytelling in walking simulators. Perhaps my favorite walking simulator is Firewatch. I also enjoyed SOMA, What Remains of Edith Finch, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, The Stanley Parable, Leaving Lyndow and The Cursed Forest. Everybody's Gone to Rapture is #1 on my wishlist for a long time. But walking simulators have not yet actualized even half of their potential. I believe we can expect deeper mix of walking simulators and decision making games like life is strange in the future, decisions with an actual influence on explored game world over time.

I always understood "walking simulator" to be a disparaging term for story driven games that were too focused on a story that wasn't immersive or well told and had no other interesting mechanics. Otherwise they'd be similar to the King's Quest series or be called adventure games (in the idea of the old point and click games being somewhat story focused).

There isn't a problem with a game being focused on story but it is important to remember games and movies/TV are different mediums. You can tell a story through a video game but you have to make sure the player feels involved or somehow otherwise invested otherwise it isn't really being played, it's being watched, and you may as well just make a video.

Have you played everyones gone to the rapture? I also loved that one.

Also I still need to pick up firewatch and edith filch. Will hopefully grab them in the summer sale.

OP's list:

• What Remains of Edith Finch - already on wishlist
• The Fidelio Incident - already on wishlist
• Firewatch - already on wishlist
• Virginia - added to wishlist (THANKS!)
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - beautiful game with some interesting game mechanics!
• The Stanley Parable - freaking hysterical! Loved it!
• The Beginner's Guide - already on wishlist
• Layers of Fear - returned to wishlist (was afraid it would be gory, which is why I'd removed it)

My addition:

• Oxenfree - My review

Have high hopes for:

• Perception
• Cradle
• Submerged (Own, have it dl'd)

I'm hoarding walking simulators for when I get my hands on a HTC Vive. Some of them are enjoyable though but I would like to experience them in VR pretty much.

Dayz is a walking simulator currently at this state too.

Excluding Virginia(because there's people in the game), all of the "walking simulator" examples you gave are specifically made so that you're alone within the world/environment you're in e.g. Vanishing of Ethan Carter(but you see people in a sense, to avoid spoilers) and FireWatch as it being a big part of the story and theme. Regardless of the reason, that's just how they are and they implement the feeling of being alone / an empty area in the world as part of the story overall.

Sorry, just wanted to point that out. There's nothing wrong with it. I see it more as a person experience with the environment rather than personal experience with other characters/NPCS.

EDIT: I guess what I'm saying is that most of the ones that you can pick out of the "well-known" group are generally just made to be a lonely personal experience, and most likely because they wanted it to be like that. You'd think that if someone wanted to create an atmosphere the opposite of being alone, they'd do it.

I did voted 'nay' because I really don't get interestd in those games. Own a few, tried a few more with friends. I just can't play it without dozing.
That said....
Stanley Parable is one of the best games I've ever played. And until you posted it, I never realized that it was a walking sim game. I guess that means something.

I don't think it's always due to budget constraints. Some walking sims, like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, had a relatively big art budget. I think it's more a matter of genre conventions. Most walking sims wants to build a sense of mystery, and you uncover more of what happened as you walk along. It's easier to build a story around this in a mostly empty environment rather than one bustling with people. Hopefully someone will realize that you don't have to stick strictly to genre conventions in the future, and move the genre beyond what it is today.

what's wrong with them

They have no gameplay.

I enjoy Walking Simulators a lot but I admit I didn't play many of them. I just finished Leaving Lyndow today and I really liked it, I only wish it was a bit longer. I'm looking forward to playing Everybody's Gone to the Rapture but I heard that it has a very wonky save system in addition to rather slow movement speed so it's highly possible to lose hours of progress (especially important for achievement hunters/completionists like me) so I'm kinda alienated.

Get Call of the Wild. Some hunting mechanics added as a bonus.
(but read the reviews, 20% talk about walking simulator)

If you want the walking simulator experience with a mix of gameplay, give Spirits of Xanadu a try. You're still exploring and figuring out what happened, while solving problems, but there are threats from robots. So not exactly interactive with other characters, but a little different model of gameplay, and very well done indie game imho.

Event[0] has alot of walking sim elements, but added a computer AI to the story. Not sure if that means it's no longer a walking sim, but it plays alot like one. I enjoyed it alot.

I'd also recommend giving Lifeless Planet a try. It has some platforming and puzzles, but still a walking sim at heart although exploration is not as well rewarded as it could've been.

Proteus is also one maybe to try, although it wasn't as memorable to me. Also, the Old City Leviathon has some incredible imagery, but not much interactivity. I keep thinking of examples. Kairo is a cool exploration game from before when walking sims became a thing, but that's pretty much what it is.

Also, maybe try Cat Interstellar for a little different take with some tasks to do, but still an exploration based experience.

You didn't mention Gone Home, but have likely played it. It's more an explore a big house and learn the story, but highly interactive environments. Stanley Parable and Vanishing of Ethan Carter are very good and effective games imho. I got caught up an didn't pursue the meta-game from Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist (from makers of Stanley Parable), but I'm going to get back to it at one point. I still have the link on my browser... but it's another take on the genre.

I have much of what you've listed on my wish list

I think the reason why 'walking simulator' games don't have much direct human interaction is because, quite simply, our AI and animation isn't up to a level that can compete with the level of solo immersion. Even with the best of animation technology and the highest of budgets, blending the motion naturally together, getting the timings right, and then properly linking it with not only a functional AI but something believably alive? That's a real harsh task.

With just the player character and their environment as the focal entities, it's easier to draw the player in deeper and quicker. Direct interactions are often limited to just spoken or written word (phonecalls, diaries, Firewatch radio), and only very briefly are physical presences used. The longer we stay visually exposed to adjacent living things, the more we have to pick up on the tiny hiccups that remind us it's just a game. The odd moment in a walking animation, the uncomfortable pause and blank stare while an AI isn't triggered, a repeating unnecessary task, they only have to happen once for the flow of awesomeness to be interrupted. In games that focus heavier on gameplay, they don't have to worry so much about those hiccups of immersion because they'll be everywhere, so can risk greater exposure without having such a severe effect. Narrative or ambient games have to be far more careful of this, and walking simulators don't often have much gameplay to distract or lead with. Oxenfree is pretty much a form of walking simulator, but due to its stylisation and side-on camera it doesn't have to worry about direct player immersion, because it's not trying to directly drag us into the shoes of a character, but rather it treats us as a witness to the story.

Still, the idea of a more organic walking simulator would be great. Despite the difficulty and crypticness of Rainworld, I absolutely adored it due to wordless journey aspect. Team Ico made games that were so powerful because they deliberately omitted spoken language as a focal point, focusing on body language and environment to tell the tale. Game design is weird though, and it can have an opposite effect. Without any direct interaction it can have a kind of uncanny valley effect, where you start wondering exactly why you haven't seen anyone.

Finding that balance is hard.