LogFAQs > #979582417

PaperSplash posted...

Okay, but couldn't that simply be an argument for better open world games, not against open worlds themselves?

Have you paid attention to the industry at all for the last couple decades? If you had, you wouldnt ask that question.

Publishers are the ones with all the money to fund games, and money is all they care about. Thats why the Rockstsr / Ubisoft open world checklist collectathon formula took over in the first place, because its easy to repeat and it sells well.

They arent going to give developers the time or resources to lovingly craft a world solely for the sake of making a better game, because they dont give two shits if the game is a 2 out of 10 if they think it might do Madden, FIFA, or COD numbers.

Its also just much harder to do a good open world game in terms of world design. Ive been playing them for decades, and I would cite exactly 4 open world games in that regard:

1. Morrowind
2. Fallout: New Vegas
3. Witcher 3
4. Elden Ring

I cant think of any others Id even say are designed well, much less excellently.

Meanwhile, BioShock 1 and 2, the original Deus Ex, Thief 1 and 2. Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight and its sequels, and many other non-open-world games are masterclasses in atmosphere and level design, giving you plenty of exploration and freedom within the levels themselves, because having a level to design lets you do that far more easily.