[Threadfin]

Good post Skybird, and we share a similar outlook. You mention Fallout 4 and whilst I was late to that party, I still have dropped 400 hours in to it. The gameworld is great. I've long since finished the main quest (in survival mode) and now I just exist in it. Almost level 100 now which is great. No level cap has enabled me to stay engaged throughout the run, since there's always a new perk point around the corner. Survival mode grants a big bonus on combat XP, so it makes for fast leveling to reach 95 at this point.

I played Stalker COP's Misery mod the same way, just existing in the world, with little attention paid to moving the story forward or completing missions. More of a life in the zone sim than a game, ya know?

Way of the Hunter has really nice maps (Idaho and Transylvania), that feel huge. I think in actual size they are close to something like GTA's Los Santos, but with no helicopters and fleets of supercars it feels way bigger. The terrain is excellent and varied, with subtle shifts in the biomes as you move between lowland marsh, lowland forest, grassland, highland forest and mountains for example. That's a minimum expectation for this sort of game, and they've done a fine job of it.