I just got finished with beating Riven for the first time. I adored the way the game seeped into my real life with pages of notes about the world I was discovering. Are there any other games that can match this feeling? That really work best when you have a journal in hand?
EverQuest - especially in the classic era (99-02) fit this for me. The quests were delivered through unsaved text interactions with no quest log type feature - epic weapon quests were notorious for requiring detailed notes, notably prior to any walkthrough websites being available. There were also no maps and players were compelled to draw their own for zones and dungeons. I filled multiple Franklin-Covey (sp?) leather journals during my adventures and look at them with much nostalgia.
My most recent such games were Her Story and Return of the Obra Dinn.
During Her Story I ended up with an A5 sheet full of keyword ideas I wanted to search the recordings for.
Obra Dinn had me draw multiple iterations of a ship deck while trying to figure out who was likely to sleep in which hammock :D
Animal Well.
Probably not what you’re looking for, but Elite Dangerous. I’m about to print out pictures of the controls just to teach myself to use them.
I would bet others like EVE Online for the bill better.
I use paper because the game tends to crash when I tab out to figure out where I was supposed to go. And then it won’t launch again until I restart my computer.
I usually wrote a lot of scribbles for Stardew Valley, at least when trying to go for perfection.
Heaven’s Vault feels like it should have its own journal, but it really didn’t.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! could use a notebook at points or at least scrap paper.
Steam Workshop 😭
I hear Lorelei and The Laser Eyes was specifically designed around the idea of the player using a physical notepad to help solve the puzzles. Recently released and reviewed strongly, you should check it out if not already on your radar.
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It definitely does, and I’ll second the recommendation, but at least one set of puzzles only really requires the the notepad because they didn’t give you sufficient software tools in game, not because it couldn’t be done well in game.
Riven is one of my favorite games and IMO the best of the Myst series of games. My recommendation is Outer Wilds, which doesn’t necessarily require real life note taking although you could. However it is a fantastic puzzle/exploration game that is easily on par with Riven, and will hit that same vibe of learning more and more about the world and using that knowledge to progress. Trust me, its very worth it. Also get the DLC too!
Seconded, though I would advise getting the DLC after completing the main game.
The legend of grimrock 1,2. I have pages of notes and a hand drawn map on gridpaper for them!
Fairune 2 and Submachine: Legacy were the last two where I needed to take notes.
For Submachine, I was mainly writing down coordinates of locations where I figured I could come back to use an item later, or information from signs that might be useful in a later puzzle.
For Fairune, I had to make multiple maps on graph paper to keep track of all of the things I wasn’t sure how to solve or needed to come back to with new items.
I have also been writing down some numbers for System Shock, but I haven’t finished that one yet, and I’m not sure if the note taking will need to be any more extensive.
Tunic!
The “final” puzzle took a whole page of paper. It was brilliant
The loading page was some straight up bullshit though.
So many instances of…
“…no…nooo… NOOO”
Then it works
I still smile whenever I stumble upon these pages of my college block
Tunic
Elite Dangerous
Death Stranding
Why Death Stranding? I don’t understand this one…
I kept some paper logs of what was needed where. Mostly for building things, but also for deliveries. I was trying to be relatively efficient in hauling stuff around.
Tunic 💯💯
I’ve wanted to do this for awhile with a RPG - you might have convinced me to do this on the next one I pick up.
The last game I recall breaking out pen and paper for was Tunic. You can definitely beat the story without, but the later puzzles call for it.
For me with this ADD, a lot, honestly. But, if you’ve ever tried your hand at breeding in Ark, you kinda understand what is like to be a CPA in tax season.
