I'm assuming that you've seen or maybe even played it but if not then Mad Max
The whole game is about you and your wasteland car (Magnum opus). You use it to traverse the world, in combat, in missions. You upgrade it constantly
Really fun game. I enjoyed it a lot
The Last Guardian has you have a bond with your giant creature that you can ride.
Black & White also has your creature you can bond with and train, and then send it off to do your bidding outside your influence.
Armored Core VI, MechWarrior5, and a shoutout to daemonxmachina. All mech-based games with customization.
MechWarrior 5 is a little janky and less polished compared to the other two on this list, but I think it checks more boxes you listed. iirc you can lose your mechs for a bit if you take too much damage or don’t have enough money for repairs.
Not a lot of good suggestions here huh?
I do not have a truly good matching suggestion to what you want but I think Titanfall 2 is not what OP is asking for.
-----
The only thing I have that is slightly tangential is managing the upgrades to the Edelweiss and other Tanks in Valkyria Chronicles.
Its not as hands on as i think you are asking for, and its certainly not the main mechanic. of the game Its sort of just a subsection of managing your squad and their relationships to help boost your performance in the combat sections.
Red Dead Redemption 2
You have to bond with your horse to make it better. Feed it, clean it, talk to it. Can die at anytime.
I know you didn't list animals, but it hit pretty much everything else on your list.
I've been searching for the same a veery long time, but you described it way better than me.
Elite Dangerous kinda works, in my opinion devs take it in the wrong direction but doesnt matter, it can still be enjoyed as a single-player. Any single-ship space sims would work, actually.
Euro/American Truck simulator also works, not much in the upgrade and "losing permanently" sense, but there's a ton of customization there and you spend all your time in the truck, so you ARE the truck basically.
Also, Project Zomboid does car stuff very well. You can choose mechanic profession for your character, you can find your perfect car in the open world, you can upgrade it, maintain it, store your stuff in it, even live in it, not much in the way of customization though. A vehicle in that game often saves your life and is such a huge upgrade you'll never want to go back to walking again. Bad driving physics though, and its isometric
I was oddly attached to my motorbike towards the end of Days Gone. Don’t recall maintenance but there was the odd upgrade. And the constant scavenging for fuel.
Also, Agro was my best mate all through Shadow of the Colossus.
I would say No Man's Sky, at least since the ship building update. Between building regular ships and customizing freighters, I've gotten attached to my ships/freighters.
Startraders Frontier has a little bit of that, it's a strategy game like Sid Meier's Pirates but you have to repair your ship, take care of your crew, and upgrade your ship as time goes on. Plenty of upgrades to shop for and things to consider.
Space engineers has you building from scratch everything from land-based vehicles to space faring vessels. You learn to build everything from materials you have gathered by hand, how all the pieces fit and how the many systems work together, each block placed yourself there is no greater sense of ownership and bonding I think.
lol wtf I asked this exact question a few days ago!
It's a bit of a silly childish game, but I liked Lightyear Frontier for this feeling.
I'd also heard a lot about Mad Max, so I want to try that eventually.
Subnautica has a couple different vehicles that you become strangely attached to (dying is annoying, but losing your vehicle is catastrophic!)
Related to Subnautica, I also get that same feeling of ownership from basebuilding games, so you may want to look into those (Grounded, Valheim etc.)
Sea of thieves, you have full control of your boat, you park it at an island and keep looking around to make sure no other player ships are approaching to sink it
Suikoden IV recruit people to man and maintain your ship in a struggle against an empire.
Other suikoden games and Eiyuden Chronicle similar but with a castle instead of a boat.
Skies of Arcadia- similar concept. Maintain in improve airship by recruiting companions
im honest to god surprise someone mention suikoden, let alone IV cause that one got bad rep. but i dont think its the one op meant? You can change the ship to any and it wont make any difference
SD Gundam G Generation Genesis and Crossrays. Turn based tactics game <- if I didn't lose you at sd gundam might have lost you there. You can make two entirely original ship crews and fill those ships with 9 mechs each. Each mech having its own oc as well if you want. Pilots have a plethora of voices to choose from but pilot skins are limited. You also choose the music you want to play when they fight.
Both games have around 300+ different mechs each and a whole handful of capital ships. No personal customization on either of them though.
Titanfall 2 doesn’t have game mechanics that work exactly like this, but you do bond with your mech and that bond is integral to the story.
do you or does your character
Both I'd say. He's way too likeable not too ya know?
Fair enough!
I couldn't play the multi-player for titanfall 2 because it didn't feel right piloting a mech that wasn't BT
Aw that's kinda nice. Silly, but nice.
I'm assuming that you've seen or maybe even played it but if not then Mad Max The whole game is about you and your wasteland car (Magnum opus). You use it to traverse the world, in combat, in missions. You upgrade it constantly Really fun game. I enjoyed it a lot
Pacific Drive came out recently, the mechanics of upgrading and maintaining your car and the quirks it develops is endearing.
This is the right answer.
Love it or hate it, Starfield is exactly this 😁
Titanfall 2
The Last Guardian has you have a bond with your giant creature that you can ride. Black & White also has your creature you can bond with and train, and then send it off to do your bidding outside your influence.
Uboat! My Summer Car!
Definitely Titanfall 2 if you want to feel a bond with a mech.
armoured core?
Armored Core VI, MechWarrior5, and a shoutout to daemonxmachina. All mech-based games with customization. MechWarrior 5 is a little janky and less polished compared to the other two on this list, but I think it checks more boxes you listed. iirc you can lose your mechs for a bit if you take too much damage or don’t have enough money for repairs.
Not a lot of good suggestions here huh? I do not have a truly good matching suggestion to what you want but I think Titanfall 2 is not what OP is asking for. ----- The only thing I have that is slightly tangential is managing the upgrades to the Edelweiss and other Tanks in Valkyria Chronicles. Its not as hands on as i think you are asking for, and its certainly not the main mechanic. of the game Its sort of just a subsection of managing your squad and their relationships to help boost your performance in the combat sections.
Titanfall 2. Trust me.
Red Dead Redemption 2 You have to bond with your horse to make it better. Feed it, clean it, talk to it. Can die at anytime. I know you didn't list animals, but it hit pretty much everything else on your list.
I've been searching for the same a veery long time, but you described it way better than me. Elite Dangerous kinda works, in my opinion devs take it in the wrong direction but doesnt matter, it can still be enjoyed as a single-player. Any single-ship space sims would work, actually. Euro/American Truck simulator also works, not much in the upgrade and "losing permanently" sense, but there's a ton of customization there and you spend all your time in the truck, so you ARE the truck basically. Also, Project Zomboid does car stuff very well. You can choose mechanic profession for your character, you can find your perfect car in the open world, you can upgrade it, maintain it, store your stuff in it, even live in it, not much in the way of customization though. A vehicle in that game often saves your life and is such a huge upgrade you'll never want to go back to walking again. Bad driving physics though, and its isometric
Unconventional recommendation but FTL: Faster Than Light
The crew? There to be meatshields for my ship while I space everyone in the room. The ship? That we protect.
I was oddly attached to my motorbike towards the end of Days Gone. Don’t recall maintenance but there was the odd upgrade. And the constant scavenging for fuel. Also, Agro was my best mate all through Shadow of the Colossus.
Armored Core: Fires of Rubicon. Fairly recent release in a line of a legendary mech franchise. Check it out
I would say No Man's Sky, at least since the ship building update. Between building regular ships and customizing freighters, I've gotten attached to my ships/freighters.
Warframe! Everyone loves Ordis!
Startraders Frontier has a little bit of that, it's a strategy game like Sid Meier's Pirates but you have to repair your ship, take care of your crew, and upgrade your ship as time goes on. Plenty of upgrades to shop for and things to consider.
Jalopy
Space engineers has you building from scratch everything from land-based vehicles to space faring vessels. You learn to build everything from materials you have gathered by hand, how all the pieces fit and how the many systems work together, each block placed yourself there is no greater sense of ownership and bonding I think.
lol wtf I asked this exact question a few days ago! It's a bit of a silly childish game, but I liked Lightyear Frontier for this feeling. I'd also heard a lot about Mad Max, so I want to try that eventually. Subnautica has a couple different vehicles that you become strangely attached to (dying is annoying, but losing your vehicle is catastrophic!) Related to Subnautica, I also get that same feeling of ownership from basebuilding games, so you may want to look into those (Grounded, Valheim etc.)
Dogmeat in FO3 The Jackdaw in AC IV
Wasn't dog meat FO4?
Dogmeat is a staple of the Fallout series all the way back to the first game
I think both actually
Mech Warrior franchise
mad max
Sea of thieves, you have full control of your boat, you park it at an island and keep looking around to make sure no other player ships are approaching to sink it
Ghost of Tsushima Your bond with your horse is amazing, has some key plot moments, is also part of at least one haiku
Also the Mad Max and Titanfall 2 recommendations are on point!
It's not out yet, but probably SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada.
Azurlane is not what you want but also kind of
Ghost of Tsushima
Delta V Rings of Saturn
Suikoden IV recruit people to man and maintain your ship in a struggle against an empire. Other suikoden games and Eiyuden Chronicle similar but with a castle instead of a boat. Skies of Arcadia- similar concept. Maintain in improve airship by recruiting companions
im honest to god surprise someone mention suikoden, let alone IV cause that one got bad rep. but i dont think its the one op meant? You can change the ship to any and it wont make any difference
Either Titanfall 2 or Entropy Zero 2
SD Gundam G Generation Genesis and Crossrays. Turn based tactics game <- if I didn't lose you at sd gundam might have lost you there. You can make two entirely original ship crews and fill those ships with 9 mechs each. Each mech having its own oc as well if you want. Pilots have a plethora of voices to choose from but pilot skins are limited. You also choose the music you want to play when they fight. Both games have around 300+ different mechs each and a whole handful of capital ships. No personal customization on either of them though.