Games

Metroid and Legend of Zelda I and II for NES.

You want the absolute "guide damn it" example? Try playing the OG Dragon Quest games. They're nonlinear by nature and there's a spot in 2 (or was it 3) where you need to literally check an unmarked floor for an item. No indicator, save maybe a vague NPC dialogue in another part of the planet that didn't get adequately translated in English so you're truly aimless.

Jedi Fallen Order has no fast travel and the map sucks, do you often end up lost or backtracking.

Divinity Original Sin is also one that doesn't guide the player particularly well.

Final Fantasy 7 has a lot of mini versions of this moment because the level art is rarely distinguished from the actual terrain you can interact with so sometimes you kinda get stuck until you realise that this time that little ramp is actually something your supposed to walk up rather than un-interactable scenery like all those previous times.

Try Platoon on the NES, you get bombarded by ennemies while you have to find your way through this abomination of a maze!

DOOM

Fuck your Blue Key.

I would say many games with procedural generated worlds, like Minecraft, No Man's Sky, etc. Where the main task is deciding where do I go next, where do I settle down, maybe there is some better place over the next hill, next planet, etc.

There are other games, where it is also sometimes not quite clear what to do next. Like games have a lot of progression and rebuilding of stuff that was done before because of it. Like Satisfactory, Factorio, etc.

And on a more literal sense, where you actually redo the game over and over to progress, like The Stanley Parable or Outer Wilds.

Some games have a very labyrinthine level design, where it also isn't really clear what to do next, like Dark Souls, Subnautica, etc.

Or environment puzzles, where you have to figure out how to progress, like the Myst series, Riven, etc.

Subnautica and Hollow Knight spring to mind

For me it's always been Zelda games.

I actually like those a lot. Just listing some in no particular order:

• Metroid Prime Series
• Dark Souls Series half the time
• Resident Evil 1, 2 and maybe 8
• Hollow Knight
• Castlevania Symphony of the Night
• Outer Wilds

Divinity: Original Sin 1. took about eighty odd hours to get to the door that says sorry mate, not enough magic stones

Myst.

Riven.

Myst III Exile

every Metroid or Castlevania game, to the point metroidvania is a genre.

The Outer Worlds is a perfect example of this in the best way possible.

It feels like such a silly example now that I know the game, but tales of symphonia made me give up for about three years before coming back and beating it. There's a section where you're supposed to go to a specific city to progress, but there's a semi-secret long way around that lets you experience a different character's story early. Well, I somehow sucked at following directions and went the semi-secret way, and then couldn't figure out how to get ANYWHERE that let you do anything. I wandered around the same continent for several months (playing a few hours a week) before moving on.

Animal Well, but that's kinda the point

Half Life 2 for me

Fallout 1: If you play it going in blind and don't look up help, a first playthrough can be stressful early on if you don't know how much progress you are making on the time limited main quest.

Kenshi: The game doesn't have quests or main goals, so it is up to the player to figure out what they want and how to get it. Certain game areas are lethally dangerous, factions can be angered if you don't figure out their customs, and even in less lethal areas being beaten and crippled by bandits is a real problem.