rainking187
Member
Just Cause 2. It took so long to get anywhere that I ended up getting bored and quitting the game.
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Games where big environments were detriments
- Thread starter Alphahawk
- Start date
Radical Edward
Member
How else is a man going to listen to all his cassette tapes with DD riding shotgun?
Elite Dangerous can suffer from this.
On the one hand, it's inherent in its vision of what space travel is that getting to places takes up alot of your time. Travel and exploration can be the cornerstones of some peoples experiences.
However you can end up travelling for long stretches of time without anything else to really do. With a bit of know how and committed searching you can find combat or mining opportunities but it can feel repetitive and barren at times.
But then, is that the point?
On the one hand, it's inherent in its vision of what space travel is that getting to places takes up alot of your time. Travel and exploration can be the cornerstones of some peoples experiences.
However you can end up travelling for long stretches of time without anything else to really do. With a bit of know how and committed searching you can find combat or mining opportunities but it can feel repetitive and barren at times.
But then, is that the point?
ForkNetwork
Banned
Banjo Tooie used big, expansive worlds to its advantage.
KratosEnergyDrink
Member
You know that there is fast travel in the game?
CrimsonSquall
Member
I like GTA V
Otakumegane
Member
Xenoblade X. Sylvaum.
The white area really. The rest of the areas have a particular landmark or dedign focus but sylvaum really starts feeling like the same thing over and over.
The white area really. The rest of the areas have a particular landmark or dedign focus but sylvaum really starts feeling like the same thing over and over.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I'm not a fan of open world games for the most part, so the big expansive areas or the playgrounds are just not my thing. Arkham City, Burnout Paradise... two off the top of my head because the previous games (Asylum, Takedown) were some of my favorites.
Funnily enough a lot of people never realize this until quite a while in. I didn't realize this myself until I was near the end of the Satori Marsh.
Bl@de
Member
You can skip traveling with returning to the helicopter (via menu) after every mission. Load times are 2-3 seconds with an SSD. Traveling was never a problem in MGSV for me. Never had to.
jacob armitage
Banned
I've never been able to finish Banjo Tooie. I adore the first entry, but the second one's levels were just so big and sprawling and often felt unfocused.
I know people love it, i wish i was one of them. I must have played through half the game a dozen times or so over the years trying to get it to click.
I know people love it, i wish i was one of them. I must have played through half the game a dozen times or so over the years trying to get it to click.
Yeah, I preferred the more linear levels in Killzone 2/3. Shadow Fall gave you more room to experiment, but the levels themselves were pretty dull.
Bubbavelli
Banned
Hotline Miami 2.
During my original playthrough, i didnt mind the huge levels too much. I was just happy to get more Hotline Miami. I played a couple weeks ago and man they get frustrating, especially when you die to one of the last enemies
Still a great game though
During my original playthrough, i didnt mind the huge levels too much. I was just happy to get more Hotline Miami. I played a couple weeks ago and man they get frustrating, especially when you die to one of the last enemies
Still a great game though
MasterMenace
Member
I knew this would be a DA:I thread the moment I read the title.
I was right, lmfao.
I was right, lmfao.
billythemule
Member
I disagree with the far away statement. I'm rarely put right next to a mission zone. I usually need to spend at least a minute getting to a location, be it running or using some sort of transport, and that's after taking the mindnumbingly slow chopper ride. When you go from one shitty extract the VIP mission to another you realize that a lot of your time is being spent on doing nothing at all. As for taking the chopper to the next available mission, just use the menu to exit to the ACC and then go from there. As soon as you fulton somebody and get a confirmation, your progress is saved.
Far Cry 2.
The premise is cool, but the constantly respawning checkpoints and enemies made getting around super annoying. No (proper) quick travel also hurt alot, could've been well and immersively implemented with some kind of taxi service where you had to pay for.
Also TES games. Yeah, it's cool that there is sometimes unique stuff hidden inside random places, but after the novelty at the beginning wears off there is no real incentive to go in there.
The premise is cool, but the constantly respawning checkpoints and enemies made getting around super annoying. No (proper) quick travel also hurt alot, could've been well and immersively implemented with some kind of taxi service where you had to pay for.
Also TES games. Yeah, it's cool that there is sometimes unique stuff hidden inside random places, but after the novelty at the beginning wears off there is no real incentive to go in there.
User 479360
Banned
MGSV
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
CecilRousso
Member
Far Cry 3 - There shouldn't have been a second island. The game was big enough of as it was already, but if you wanted to beat the game and see the ending, you had to go through the a worse version of the first island, that of course included an awful "stealth" mission.
All the efforts they put into the second Island should just have gone to make the first one better.
And the awful save system didn't help either island.
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Leave the Hinterlands isn't a useful advice, when the other areas are the same, and often even worse. And all of them are way too big for their own good.
All the efforts they put into the second Island should just have gone to make the first one better.
And the awful save system didn't help either island.
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Leave the Hinterlands isn't a useful advice, when the other areas are the same, and often even worse. And all of them are way too big for their own good.
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
i agree that they might have gone a bit overboard with all the ?'s but even if they weren't there i still think a lot of the map was put to good use. i only did some ?'s if i was bored but other than that i felt i got to explore a lot of each map thanks to main/secondary quests and witcher contracts which are definitely not junk.
Melchiah
Member
Another vote for Dragon Age: Inquisition, and post-Arkham Asylum Batman games. I'd also add Witcher 3 among those. I probably wouldn't have quitted the game early on, if it had a more confined and less daunting world.
Huh? Most of the levels were confined. The ones that weren't, added variety to the game. Personally, I completed KZ:SF, and enjoyed it despite of its flaws (stealth, defense and rail sections), but didn't even complete the demo of Doom. If the former had a Pro patch, I'd revisit it.
Huh? Most of the levels were confined. The ones that weren't, added variety to the game. Personally, I completed KZ:SF, and enjoyed it despite of its flaws (stealth, defense and rail sections), but didn't even complete the demo of Doom. If the former had a Pro patch, I'd revisit it.
Darkstorne
Member
I think DA:I's issue was quantity over quality. I'd have been happier if there were fewer locations, but with much more interesting and relevant quests to do in them. I'd have even been happy if Hinterlands was double the size in that situation.
I don't think it was the environments that were DA:I's problem, but the reasons for being in them. When 95% of the content had very little (and at times nothing at all) to do with the main story, that becomes a huge problem and leads to players getting bored.
Jangowuzhere
Banned
Honestly, I see this as a positive.
I really liked being able to listen to music or story tapes while I made by way to my next location. I would hate that stuff completely if the only viable location to listen to that stuff was just on the chopper.
Pretty much
The environments in DA:I are beautiful. It was a legitimate joy to explore those locations, they just looked so damn good. Unfortunately, when 80% of the quests are filler and not engaging, it sours the entire experience.
Unknown One
Member
MGSV got my vote. The whole open world design was a detriment to the story, encounters, and the overall pacing of the game. Instead of having a simple point A to B, you have to go through hoops like going back to the chopper and loading the next mission or finding a box fast travel method. In a lot of the case, box travel requires you to run to the box traveling areas.
The open world was mostly barren and having explored it for 100+ hours it feels extremely empty. Most of the patrols are at camps or bases. It does have a truck going from camp to camp, but that's it.
Getting caught feels inconsequential as well because you could easily run out of the base and hide. They won't chase after you since they are mostly confined to 1 base.
The design was a mess for open world.
The open world was mostly barren and having explored it for 100+ hours it feels extremely empty. Most of the patrols are at camps or bases. It does have a truck going from camp to camp, but that's it.
Getting caught feels inconsequential as well because you could easily run out of the base and hide. They won't chase after you since they are mostly confined to 1 base.
The design was a mess for open world.
Yes there was. My enjoyment.
Switch Back 9
a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Hitman is a perfect example of why smaller, thoroughly designed levels full of actual content will always be better than a giant open world filled with nothing.
Pretty much every open world game I've played over the last few years has been pretty but ultimately shallow nothingness.
Pretty much every open world game I've played over the last few years has been pretty but ultimately shallow nothingness.
BossDarkseid
Member
There was an interview where they said they wanted to have a 3D version of Baldurs Gate 2 in terms of size and amount if content etc.
Obviously the problem is huge 3D spaces are not that fun to run around if there is comparatively little quality content that feels somewhat throwaway.
I feel like Mass Effect wont be as bad purely because of the Mako...having a fast and mobile vehicle will make it feel smaller. Content on the other hand...they have good goals since they said they deliberately wanted to avoid DAI's problem and wanted every sidequest to feel designed.
chillybright
Banned
The open ocean is inherently more adventurous than a field you can see all the way across anyway. Sailing for a few minutes into uncharted waters, the island silhouette popping in on the horizon that made you go "WTF is that?", that's why Wind Waker works better.
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
Mirror's Edge Catalyst.
I think the open world really took a lot of charm and fun out of the first game. The fun for me in the first game was fast moving gameplay and you didn't have to think about where you wanted to go, you just went. Opening the world up in Catalyst was a detriment to me. That style of game is the last one I wanted slowed down, and secondly, the open world was useless anyway, because I kept taking the same dull routes everywhere, it got so tiring very quickly.
I think the open world really took a lot of charm and fun out of the first game. The fun for me in the first game was fast moving gameplay and you didn't have to think about where you wanted to go, you just went. Opening the world up in Catalyst was a detriment to me. That style of game is the last one I wanted slowed down, and secondly, the open world was useless anyway, because I kept taking the same dull routes everywhere, it got so tiring very quickly.
Fbh
Member
Most of them to be honest.
Size is easily one of the most dull and boring ways to design and sell your games. Not many things get me less excited for a game than a dev using the "Our new game is X times bigger than our previous one" argument.
It's also funny how it's allways aassociated with exploration when in fact most open world games have terrible exploration which 90% of the time comes down to following the waypoint or GPS on your mini map.
Meanwhile smaller and more carefully designed environments offer more fun and rewarding exploration. Discovering all the secrets and things to find in an area in the souls franchise is just so much better than walking through large chunks of nothing to find the 20th nearly identical cave in Skyrim, exploring and gaining acces to every location in the hub world of Deus Ex Mankind divided is way more fun than running towards icons on the map in Assassins Creed syndicate.
Rockstar games are some of the few ones where the open world often feels fun. Because their games, GTA in particular, seem to be as much about screwing around in the world as they are about following your GPS in missions
Size is easily one of the most dull and boring ways to design and sell your games. Not many things get me less excited for a game than a dev using the "Our new game is X times bigger than our previous one" argument.
It's also funny how it's allways aassociated with exploration when in fact most open world games have terrible exploration which 90% of the time comes down to following the waypoint or GPS on your mini map.
Meanwhile smaller and more carefully designed environments offer more fun and rewarding exploration. Discovering all the secrets and things to find in an area in the souls franchise is just so much better than walking through large chunks of nothing to find the 20th nearly identical cave in Skyrim, exploring and gaining acces to every location in the hub world of Deus Ex Mankind divided is way more fun than running towards icons on the map in Assassins Creed syndicate.
Rockstar games are some of the few ones where the open world often feels fun. Because their games, GTA in particular, seem to be as much about screwing around in the world as they are about following your GPS in missions
bati
Member
Why does this keep getting posted? Did YOU make it out of the Hinterlands? Because the other zones are just as bad, many even worse because they're more bland.
Mariokart Wii says hi.
Neff
Member
I can think of few open world games which didn't feel like they were wasting my time so they could participate in the PR dick measuring contest mandated by the genre these days.
Fallout 3 was my first open world experience and I loved it. The one thing Fallout does better than any open world series is interiors. It's very good at suggesting an explorable world beneath what you immediately see.
I actually didn't have a problem with MGSV's size, the tapes filled travel time nicely and I actually preferred them to the normal codec conversations. Plus the larger camps were so well designed that I always looked forward to them.
Dragon's Dogma got the balance of content vs scale exactly right. I always found I was discovering new, interesting things and making worthy navigational decisions.
I'm looking to Breath of the Wild to show what open world games are really capable of.
Fallout 3 was my first open world experience and I loved it. The one thing Fallout does better than any open world series is interiors. It's very good at suggesting an explorable world beneath what you immediately see.
I actually didn't have a problem with MGSV's size, the tapes filled travel time nicely and I actually preferred them to the normal codec conversations. Plus the larger camps were so well designed that I always looked forward to them.
Dragon's Dogma got the balance of content vs scale exactly right. I always found I was discovering new, interesting things and making worthy navigational decisions.
I'm looking to Breath of the Wild to show what open world games are really capable of.
matrix-cat
Member
MGSV being open world is only to its detriment. A Ground Zeroes style of setup, with discrete levels that you'd just fly to, picking your entry point, would have been so much better. The whole open world concept results in so many needless flaws in that game:
- Why are there a million mindless copy and pasted side missions? Gotta fill that open world, I guess. Game would have been infinitely better if they dropped the current Side Ops entirely, downgraded all 30-something Main Ops that have precisely dick to do with the actual story of the game to Side Ops, and left the 20-ish Main Ops that actually move the story forward as the main story.
- Why do I have to wait for everything? Waiting for development timers, waiting for the helicopter to pick me up, waiting for supplies to drop? Well, there has to be something to do while you're schlepping about in an empty open world with no fast travel. Gotta have that accurate simulation of the crushing monotony of existence.
- Why is the story told in the form of shitty radio plays you have to listen to on cassette? Again, to give you something to keep you awake when you're commuting between interesting parts of the game. "Boss, remember that thing we talked about off-screen? I've made you a cassette tape to tell you about it even though you were fucking there."
- Why are there a million mindless copy and pasted side missions? Gotta fill that open world, I guess. Game would have been infinitely better if they dropped the current Side Ops entirely, downgraded all 30-something Main Ops that have precisely dick to do with the actual story of the game to Side Ops, and left the 20-ish Main Ops that actually move the story forward as the main story.
- Why do I have to wait for everything? Waiting for development timers, waiting for the helicopter to pick me up, waiting for supplies to drop? Well, there has to be something to do while you're schlepping about in an empty open world with no fast travel. Gotta have that accurate simulation of the crushing monotony of existence.
- Why is the story told in the form of shitty radio plays you have to listen to on cassette? Again, to give you something to keep you awake when you're commuting between interesting parts of the game. "Boss, remember that thing we talked about off-screen? I've made you a cassette tape to tell you about it even though you were fucking there."
Phreakuency
Banned
MGS 5.
Empty, boring, pointless.
Empty, boring, pointless.
I agree with the Twilight Princess-sentiment. It was truly just bigger because they were able to make it bigger. And I'm not even convinced that "they were able to make it bigger" is entirely correct; they had to compromise a lot to get it to that size. The world is highly sectioned off with long, tight corridors to load the big fields, and several separate areas with load times in between.
I would've been worried for Breath of the Wild, but they seem to have gotten it right this time. The world appears to be fully seamless with little in terms of loading, and everything seems to be designed around the idea of a big world, with so much interactivity with objects and plenty of options in terms of traversing it.
I would've been worried for Breath of the Wild, but they seem to have gotten it right this time. The world appears to be fully seamless with little in terms of loading, and everything seems to be designed around the idea of a big world, with so much interactivity with objects and plenty of options in terms of traversing it.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I always thought the map size in Just Cause 2 was too big. It was extremely impressive on a technical level, but I would have preferred something smaller and a bit more densely packed with meaningful locations.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I thought the map size was perfect. It felt like a real place and it was extremely dense but wasn't overly large. I haven't tried driving end-to-end, but I'd bet it takes probably no more than about 7 or 8 minutes to drive from say the airport in Los Santos to the town on the opposite side of the map.
SpinningBirdKick
Banned
Racing games (all of them) that have long lap times.
I don't want to run laps that take 2-3 minutes and have to do at least three of them for the course.
Sega Rally nailed it with ~50 secs to 1 minute for the whole course and Daytona's multiple short laps that around ~20 seconds.
Bigger isn't always better but it can be more tedious.
I don't want to run laps that take 2-3 minutes and have to do at least three of them for the course.
Sega Rally nailed it with ~50 secs to 1 minute for the whole course and Daytona's multiple short laps that around ~20 seconds.
Bigger isn't always better but it can be more tedious.