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[zenosparadox]

Confirms appetite for large, hollow games.

Spoiler

Not my favorite type of game, to be honest. It would be nice if something other than sports and open world games crowded the top 10.

 

[SerTapTap]

Not a fan of this, fortunately I'm not a fan of Ubisoft games either though so this shouldn't really affect me.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

why is it that these big open world games, the actual "story" missions are ruthlessly linear. Like GTAV, I gotta climb this crane and check out the boat. I have to climb to a SPECIFIC part of the crane, point in this direction, then pull out the camera as the text guides me along each and every step of the way.

on top of the game controlling like hot ass all the time. Walking, running, airplane controls, submarine controls...I remember when they said they had Max Payne 3 combat. LMAO the most struggle 3rd person shooter controls I've played in years.

Its like, "We don't do anything great, but we do EVERY THING". But whats the point when its hundreds of mediocre things?

 

[nib95]

That comparison couldn't be less apt. One of the sections of Witcher 3 is the size of Skyrim, if not bigger, for better or worse.

Of course, I'm not suggesting Destiny is even remotely as large as The Witcher 3 or Skyrim, just that it's broken up in to different open world areas intentionally by design.

 

[Surface of Me]

Being open world doesn't mean you can't have more confined interior locations, nor a mixture of some more linear objectives. Destiny very much has open world level design. It's actually similar to Witcher 3 in that it has several separate large open world areas, instead of one giant one.

Disagree. Destiny's level design is very much linear. They lay out paths in the levels that lead to a building and you very rarely stray off them.

 

[vpance]

The illusion of freedom plus the to-do list F2P style tasks that lulls people into conflating busywork with valuable gameplay is a formula that many will happily suck down for years to come, even on Gaf. Also a lot of people will overlook a game's weak points if its got dat big open world.

 

[Canucked]

Ubisoft: half of 2014 best sellers open world. "4.99 unlocks the other best sellers on your world map."

 

[nib95]

Disagree. Destiny's level design is very much linear. They lay out paths in the levels that lead to a building and you very rarely stray off them.

I disagree with that. Whilst this may be true for main story missions, the side objectives and patrols have you exploring all over the different locations. It's very much explore everywhere, complete your bounties wherever or however, and collect everything you can in the process.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

More freedom... to climb more towers.

But as long as the games sell by the truckload Ubi will keep on pumping them out at frightening rates.

 

[DarkJedi24]

Bethesda crafts their giant open worlds to craft emergent player stories and experiences. Ubisoft crafts their giant open worlds to have big numbers on press releases.

Very little difference between Ubisoft and Bethesda open worlds in terms of structure. Hypocritical post much.

 

[Stillmatic]

Disagree. Destiny's level design is very much linear. They lay out paths in the levels that lead to a building and you very rarely stray off them.

I'd classify Destiny as open world. Each planet you can go anywhere at any time.

 

[digitalrelic]

Meh, I really hope that open world games don't start becoming the majority. I love GTA, The Elder Scrolls, and Red Dead Redemption as much as the next guy, but some of the finest gaming experience ever made have come from linear experiences. I prefer linear games to open world, personally.

 

[Uno Venova]

Can't wait to clear out more icons on my mini-map.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Meh, I really hope that open world games don't start becoming the majority. I love GTA, The Elder Scrolls, and Red Dead Redemption as much as the next guy, but some of the finest gaming experience ever made have come from linear experiences. I prefer linear games to open world, personally.

That's a bad word now, PR/Marketing doesnt like it.

 

[legacyzero]

Hell, even fucking MINECRAFT offers LIGHT YEARS better a open world game than Ubi can ever dream of.

Bethesda crafts their giant open worlds to craft emergent player stories and experiences. Ubisoft crafts their giant open worlds to have big numbers on press releases.

Yep.

 

[Hatchtag]

Good on Ubi, can't wait for Nintendo to try their hand at that with Zelda.

There's a reason all the best Zeldas are 2D .

 

[Windom Earle]

Freedom in Ubi open world games? LMAO.

 

[DarkJedi24]

Hell, even fucking MINECRAFT offers LIGHT YEARS better a open world game than Ubi can ever dream of.

Certainly not in terms of gameplay. Minecraft is less of a game and more of a Lego set.

 

[Timeaisis]

I wonder when people will stop reacting so positively to open world. It happened to me last year with Shadow of Mordor. I just realized the game was so boring. It was built like a mobile game. A checklist of objectives to complete to fill some bars.

 

[zma1013]

Does this mean we're going to get even more tower climbing games from them?

 

[GitarooMan]

I liked Far Cry 4, AC Unity and The Crew *shrug*. I don't obsessively do every single thing in these worlds but I like being able to pick and choose as I travel around. Even though it wasn't a best seller, I thought The Crew was a fantastic open world to drive around in with all types of terrain and environments.

 

[Oersted]

Ubisoft: Half of 2014 best sellers open world; ...
Yves Guillemot stated his company estimates that 30% of 2014 console games were open world...

Huh?

 

[IcyEyes]

I like Ubi's games, but maybe because my approach to their games ...

Hell, even fucking MINECRAFT offers LIGHT YEARS better a open world game than Ubi can ever dream of.

 

[PaleFolklore]

If that means more games that require to climb a tower to synchronize part of the map they can shove that open world game right up their ass.

 

[ShinMaruku]

I love this gonna over mine open world and the revolt will be delicious.

 

[DarkJedi24]

I wonder when people will stop reacting so positively to open world. It happened to me last year with Shadow of Mordor. I just realized the game was so boring. It was built like a mobile game. A checklist of objectives to complete to fill some bars.

RPG mechanics are now passe huh? The best games of last year were arguably Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4. At least the numbers support these as being in demand.

With games like Batman, Witcher, The Phantom Pain, Fallout, Just Cause, Mad Max, Tomb Raider and Uncharted 4 all open world type games, clearly the best stuff coming down the pipe is all open world. The sentiments in this thread are fascinating, but everyone the hate for Ubisoft is as popular as their games lol.

Edit: Forgot about Dragon Age Inquisition being at the top of last year as well.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I love the freedom of choosing between the same five or six "missions", repeated though out a massive map.

 

[Insane Metal]

I mean

What are the options?

 

[Finale Fireworker]

But I like linear games. I want more linear games with strong narratives. Open world games have exhausted me. I don't get anything unique out of them anymore.

Red Dead Redemption is one of my top three favorite games. Give me open-world games like that, where the summation of your independent exploration and otherwise mundane activities forms a larger picture. A picture that is a tapestry of player-driven experiences that serve only to paint the larger tapestry of the grand themes, narrative, or world the player is exploring.

Don't give me a giant map with pointless events, side missions, and collectibles that serve no purpose other than to bloat the runtime or label the game as "open world."

BioShock, yes.
Assassin's Creed, no.

 

[Overside]

The responses in this thread please me.

 

[NullPointer]

We need NEW open world experiences, not the same old mission templates we've played in every last one of them but on a larger map.

Player choice, persistence of player actions, a smartly designed world for gameplay that rewards the player for getting to know it well, and alerts or chases that amount to more than randomly spawning enemies would be a nice start.

Mercenaries 2 had wonderful shifts of the world map as different factions - aided by the player - took over territory. Crackdown had bosses that when taken out affected the resources available to the gang members throughout the city. Assassins Creed 2 brought us Borgia Towers, and like the bases in Far Cry 3 and 4 make for some nice on-the-map activities, but even those are just small skirmishes in these games, completed in 45 seconds to a small cinematic before putting another notch on the map. All of these are nice ideas that could be fleshed out far more.

The open world concept has only been scratched - there's far more opportunities to be found there, and the limitation is first and foremost one of imagination.

 

[Celegus]

So much nope I can barely contain it all.

 

[Industrialist]

Linear games. Please. Write a game and then let me play it without having to play side-missions that have no bearing on anything other than the advertised gameplay time.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I don't mind open world, but geez there's been some bad examples of how to do it lately.
Which is a problem when they still tend to be very big titles & sellers. When the open world aspect feels like nothing more than adding time to your product there's a issue.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

i don't really buy ubi games so it won't affect me I guess, but i for one don't want anymore open world games.

I lose focus and get no where in them. they all feel very samey.

Spoiler

RDR was amazing though

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Yes, more freedom.

With the refined patented Ubisoft open world formula, you too can make your very own "open world" game with the user creating their own personal "defined experience"*!

*terms subject to change, player experiences heavily scripted and defined by Ubisoft

 

[DarkJedi24]

We need NEW open world experiences, not the same old mission templates we've played in every last one of them but on a larger map.

Player choice, persistence of player actions, a smartly designed world for gameplay that rewards the player for getting to know it well, and alerts or chases that amount to more than randomly spawning enemies would be a nice start.

Mercenaries 2 had wonderful shifts of the world map as different factions - aided by the player - took over territory. Crackdown had bosses that when taken out affected the resources available to the gang members throughout the city. Assassins Creed 2 brought us Borgia Towers, and like the bases in Far Cry 3 and 4 make for some nice on-the-map activities, but even those are just small skirmishes in these games, completed in 45 seconds to a small cinematic before putting another notch on the map. All of these are nice ideas that could be fleshed out far more.

The open world concept has only been scratched - there's far more opportunities to be found there, and the limitation is first and foremost one of imagination.

It would be great to have Mercenaries come back honestly. I hope that even with Pandemic gone that the series can one day return.

 

[Dead]

ubi soft formula is awesome. Best value in gaming.

They just need differentiate between their brands more. Each property should have its own activities. They shouldn't be juggling content between franchises.

 

[NullPointer]

It would be great to have Mercenaries come back honestly. I hope that even with Pandemic gone that the series can one day return.

Man, I would love that, even in a post Just Cause 2 world.

Another one I should've mentioned was the promise of Watch_Dogs, though not the execution for the most part. There are some good ideas here and there that could use some exploration, but it felt like a bad GTA clone in too many ways.

 

[Data West]

I don't know, they're probably right in one sense because I feel like the only fun I have in their games is exploring places captured from specfiic time periods and reading the codexs(before they ruined them with shit snark)

now they just need to get the Rockstar thing down and make the missions enjoyable for me as well. They're like the opposite of Saints Row where the world is pretty breath taking but the missions are so frustrating due to boring stories, characters and frustrating controls.

 

[Raonak]

I feel very burnt out on openworld games. Especially the ubisoft like ones; so much cheap, repeated content. I totally miss focused linear games. :/

I think stuff like Arkham Asylum and Bloodborne, and even, Pokemon, does it best.
It gives you the freedom of an openworld game, but the polish and level design that linear games do. You're basically going through interconnected linear chunks.

 

[Astral Dog]

Not a big fan of huge open world games (less Ubisoft open games). the last two i enjoyed were GTA V and Xenoblade..

Like you can make something that has enough freedom, but still feels lively and i appreciate when they have enough direction to lead the player, interesting missions, cutscenes,dungeons etc a little more focused.

(I guess it depends on the game.)

I think stuff like Arkham Asylum and Bloodborne, and even, Pokemon, does it best.
It gives you the freedom of an openworld game, but the polish and level design that linear games do. You're basically going through interconnected linear chunks.

Agreed, above all a polished experience.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I feel very burnt out on openworld games. Especially the ubisoft like ones; so much cheap, repeated content. I totally miss focused linear games. :/

I think stuff like Arkham Asylum and Bloodborne, and even, Pokemon, does it best.
It gives you the freedom of an openworld game, but the polish and level design that linear games do. You're basically going through interconnected linear chunks.

It's probably alot easier to just make an open world rather than creating deep gameplay mechanics and expertly crafted levels like Bloodbourne.

 

[Nothing1016]

isn't this kinda a self fulfilling prophecy? More companies are making open world games therefore there are more open world games to sell. I'm probably wrong. lol

 

[d00d3n]

But are you drawing the right conclusion here, Ubi? Those games were also sprinkled with collectible trinkets. Isn't that what people really want?!?

 

[legacyzero]

True statement. You have no idea.

 

[DarkJedi24]

Man, I would love that, even in a post Just Cause 2 world.

Another one I should've mentioned was the promise of Watch_Dogs, though not the execution for the most part. There are some good ideas here and there that could use some exploration, but it felt like a bad GTA clone in too many ways.

Yeah if Watch_Dogs had just tried to be its own game there could have been much more potential realized. The hacking mechanics were undercooked IMO, and certainly going for being a direct GTA competitor didn't lead to favorable comparisons. If they had gone all in on the hacking as the primary focus, I think it would have been much more compelling. Driving and shooting dragged it down.

 

[GoonerTRON]

I do love open world games. My top 3 are all open world.
But I love a good focused story as well, like Bioshock Infinite and Last of Us.

 

[Hip Hop]

I am glad this is a thing.

Can't get enough of it.

 

[Kinyou]

Does this mean they'll focus even more on open world? Because I can't really imagine how Ubisoft could focus even more on open world.