This is exclusively the type of games I play now except for 'sport' related titles. Rim World, Dwarf Fortress, Kenshi, Caves of Qud are all fantastic narrative

This is exclusively the type of games I play now except for 'sport' related titles. Rim World, Dwarf Fortress, Kenshi, Caves of Qud are all fantastic narrative generators and give you a crazy amount of freedom. Another type of game I've fallen in love with that I don't remember being around when I was a kid is automation games like Factorio or Satisfactory. Gives you that open world feeling + exploring but you're not just running errands or slaying dragons.