Are Open Worlds too Open?

[Benji]

I mean, if you're going to do all the side quests before main story then you will literally be going forever, since many sidequests are recurring

[Robsturgh]

...brb finding son.

[Pizza]

I wish radiant quests were marked as such and could be left off the quest list for that reason. It's pretty easy to tell now, but there were a few at the beginning where I would do a thing and hear "thanks, now do that same thing somewhere else" with the Minuteman and Brotherhood and get annoyed.

[Benji]

Yeah, that drives me up the wall. Have seperate tabs for "Main", "Brotherhood", "Minutemen" etc, and give radiant their own section too.

[KevinStorm]

9 hours ago, Plubby said:

Wut. Half the map on Fallout 3 is linear. Once you cross into the city, there's only one way to get to places.

In my experience, I have not much enjoyed "open world" games because I like to be told a story. I get my game enjoyment from how the story is told to me. When I play a game like...heck, even Call of Duty...I enjoy being told "You are *character*, then investing myself in that character, taken from place to place and be told my story. I don't care much for open world games that don't "end" when the main story finishes (At least Fallout 3 and NV did that).

The biggest problem I have playing open worldish games like Fallout is that it's great having the freedom to dally and do side quests at my leisure as I go through the main storyline, but I never know when to then get on with the main story. Also because I can go anywhere, I can stumble upon higher-level areas before I'm "meant to". Usually when I play through these games I struggle to do anything other than "roleplay myself". I guess I've just lost my childhood imagination.  I'm starting to enjoy games like Fallout more, but these are still quasi-open-world compared to stuff like GTA - at least IMO.

I never got to the city.  I did a ton of side questy stuff and got bored with it because it felt like most of the game I was just running somewhere.

[Krone]

I adored the GTA series for it's open world. 3 was good but felt really small whereas Vice City felt the same size but had a nice mixture of side missions and what have you. But San Andreas will always be my favorite one just due to it's sheer size and ability to see all the different environments.

Oblivion and Skyrim from TES franchise were amazing too just because of how immersive it was. Granted in an RPG like that, you can also level up a plethora or skills and spend hours on end not only doing that but hunting for that one incredible piece of loot. I would rank Oblivion over Skyrim just because of the overall feel of the game, from it's character screens to it's story. Not to say Skyrim wasn't unbelievable, but Oblivion always holds a special place in my heart.

Personally, I prefer open worlds just because as has been said, you can really get your money's worth out of it and enjoy a lot of different aspects. Whether it's seeing cool sights, finding that hidden treasure, fighting off enemies, or leveling yourself up, I always felt entrenched in this huge fictional world with more stories than just the main quest.

[Draevyn]

I think Open Worlds are great for those who have time to play video games like that. I think part of the reason I'm not so fond of them is that I don't have the time to really sit and play and appreciate how awesome it really is. I feel like I'm turning into that adult that merely plays sports games or something.

[apsham]

Just Cause 3 is kind of harshing my open world buzz at this point in time - they added even more cool ways to move about the map, but if you aren't using those methods you are entirely crippled. It's weird. I mean zipping and gliding and parachuting is pretty fun all things considered.. but Rico can't jump higher than a pop can and his movement speed is pretty pathetic as well. I kind of snapped out of that and started to explore around - but outside of designated "fun zones" (aka, enemy bases or towns) there really isn't much of anything to collect or destroy.

[KevinStorm]

13 hours ago, Forky The Snowman said:

I think Open Worlds are great for those who have time to play video games like that. I think part of the reason I'm not so fond of them is that I don't have the time to really sit and play and appreciate how awesome it really is. I feel like I'm turning into that adult that merely plays sports games or something.

It's like we're the same person.

[Cymbols]

I fucking love open world games. Especially if it isn't like railroaded in forcing me to go a certain direction. Like, take the Fallout games for example. In Fallout 3, when you leave the vault for the first time and the camera adjusts to the bright lights and you can just see all around you in the distance, and straight away from the off you can just pick a direction and walk, and I love it. New Vegas as well, you leave the Doctor's place, and you can go wherever you want. Granted, I went the stupid way and got fucked over by Giant Radscorpions north of Goodsprings but that isn't the point!

Skyrim is fucking awesome for it as well, though now I'm sad that I can't play it anymore b/c my laptop is awful.

Oh, and GTA single player is great for the scale. Multiplayer a bit less so when it spawns you miles away from the people you're trying to sticky bomb...

[Bobfoc]

I've thought of something that often bothers me about certain open world games, and that's the traversal of areas with steep gradients. I don't know if it's just because I don't have a great sense of direction, but I frequently find myself getting frustrated when trying to navigate regions of high ground, usually mountain ranges, and I end up taking a maddeningly long detour in an attempt to find a point at which I can ascend. Dragon Age: Inquisition was the most recent game I played that fell foul of this sticking point, and it was made worse by the fact that, when you enter a new area, you don't have access to the full map, so you can't even look to see where the path up the mountain starts. It's just a really annoying piece of level design that forms a needless obstacle in front of your waypoint, and it's enough to make me want to stop playing at times.

[Your Mom]

On 12/4/2015, 3:25:01, Bobfoc said:

I've thought of something that often bothers me about certain open world games, and that's the traversal of areas with steep gradients. I don't know if it's just because I don't have a great sense of direction, but I frequently find myself getting frustrated when trying to navigate regions of high ground, usually mountain ranges, and I end up taking a maddeningly long detour in an attempt to find a point at which I can ascend. Dragon Age: Inquisition was the most recent game I played that fell foul of this sticking point, and it was made worse by the fact that, when you enter a new area, you don't have access to the full map, so you can't even look to see where the path up the mountain starts. It's just a really annoying piece of level design that forms a needless obstacle in front of your waypoint, and it's enough to make me want to stop playing at times.

Oh man I have that problem all the time! I hate it!