I could totally be misremembering, but I seem to recall the Ezio trilogy being praised for accurate cities. So not the original originals, but probably some of the best.

This used to be unironically true, to an extent. Especially with the original games.

The whole We Were Here series is marvelous. Asymmetrical co-op puzzle games. My friend and I’s recent games list looks very similar to this.

We also do a lot of single player games with one of us streaming over discord. When it’s a slow-burn puzzle or mystery game, it doesn’t really matter who is actually controlling.

For those types, I really recommend Return of the Obra Dinn. We’re currently working our way through the entire Frogwares Sherlock Holmes collection. The old ones are so terrible, which is a greatness all by itself.