There is one aspect of game design that has been annoying me ever since it became the hip new popular thing to do: open-world games.
Everyone says that open-world games are huge! “Wow there’s so much to do!” everyone says. “I can’t believe I can travel anywhere!” they exclaim.
No! It’s all a trick! Open world games aren’t huge! In fact, many of them are smaller than most linear games!
Roam freely with this curated selection of the best open-world games on the Nintendo Switch, featuring both mainstream titles and hidden gems.
Explore the top 5 best open world games of all time, from Elden Ring to Red Dead Redemption 2, in this captivating gaming journey.
Currently replaying the Witcher 3, next gen upgrade style. Touissant still drops my jaw.
I have it in my backlog.. i will play it one day!!
I also can see people agree RDR2 is the best of all time. Still playing it today I’m still mesmerized by it.
There has been four open world games I enjoyed: Elden Ring, Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild. Red Dead, GTA, Witcher, Skyrim and Oblivion etc. were all extremely tedious fetch fests or set piece style games.
Elden Ring was awesome for just being Dark Souls open world game, Days Gone had such a great set up, tense atmosphere and the Hordes were incredible, and Horizon ZD was absolutely great at storytelling in its locations and is absolutely stunning to look at. Breath of the Wild had such a soothing atmosphere that it was pure therapy to play after a tough day spent in the business world.
RDR2 looks great, plays poorly, character is very hard to control and is very gimmicky. GTA is made for 12-year olds, but tries to somehow cater to older audiences as well, didn't enjoy it at all. In both of those games you play as a mass murderer, which always sets me off. Witcher 3 had okayish side stories and locations, but I enjoyed 1 and 2 more due to their focus, the series didn't need an open-world. Skyrim was a total fetch quest and writing was just so bad I could not go on, same for Oblivion.
RDR2 pays poorly? Just give it time and every other game will seem to you like a joke in comparison.
I bought RDR2 almost at release, i found the character stiff cause i was used to Horizon and gave up for a long period.. then decided to jump back into it last year and i cannot play anything else.. disgusted me of other games, that’s the danger with this game
Most of the games has an open world dynamics in some way. But should every game has to be open world?
No. And the reality is that most games are not open world. Even if being open gives gamers more of the world to explore in, open isn't necessary for a great game or a great story. I think the writer already knows this though.
Really depends on the game
I don't think games like Call of duty would benefit from it, and I hated Uncharted doing it
no
it depends how the devs make the game. a bland open world is just as bad as a very strict and bland linear game.
I'd disagree that "most games are open world." Most games are not open world. Massive AA and AAA RPG style games are mostly open world and for those I think it makes sense.
If you don't like open world games then don't play them.
Seems it never occurred to the OP that people enjoy the downtime in open world games where you can relax and enjoy the world. I find it more boring when there is non stop action around every corner, which he seems to want.
There are different game genre's for a reason - players like different things.
Interesting view and I can understand it. alot of side missions in open world games are just the same, with the occasional difference. Though the Author should have included some ideas on how to improve on this. That said I enjoy both type of games.
The problem with linear games is, they don't offer any freedom. God of war is a good example of a linear game done right.
Traveling and exploring are two very different things. Writer should know that. And many games have time limits on their quests other than Majora's Mask. Writer should know that, too.