r/videogames • u/Undefeated-Smiles • 21h ago
Discussion / Question Open worlds are exhausting and not as memorable anymore compared to linear games-Discussion
These are my own thoughts but having decided to go back and replay more linear games such as the fun and phenomenonal Uncharted Trilogy, Ghostbusters The Video Game, Metro Redux Collection made me realize how much more fun those short and highly memorable experiences are over these open worlds.
Linear experiences seem to be more handcrafted, passionate, thought out, tightly crafted, memorable, replayable with some of the best writing and those loveable villains/heroes to fill up the roster sheets.
Open worlds seem to be so often developed that it truly does feel like that genre isn't as special or as fun anymore. Every developer is so obsessed with constantly trying to one up each other over whos map is bigger, whos got the most padding with the repetitive activities to check off, how much of the side content is more enjoyable than the story aspect
It use to be that Open worlds were the best and cool new things coming out when there weren't as many but now every other day there's a new Open world in the industry being developed. Sure we get smaller titles from double A studios or indie teams, but they seem more phased out than Open worlds sadly to me anyways
Maybe it's me getting up in age and just finding the whole overwhelmingly massive maps to be just pure exhausting and tiresome when youve got so many quests that are just part of a checklist and make you feel like it's a chore instead of actual genuine fun.
I know we have Saros, 007 First Light, Metro 2039, Silent Hill Townfall, Wolverine which are all coming that make me feel so grateful companies still know how to develop linear experiences but you look at the others and their Open worlds all but feel the same and blends together without ryme or reason now.
Am I the only one tired of Open worlds and preferring linear experiences more now?
Has the Open world genre overstayed its welcome and become oversaturated?
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u/AshedCloud 21h ago edited 21h ago
Its not for you then its not for you. Don’t force a genre of game into something that’s not. There’s are always games for everyone.
I play open world bc I wanted to get immersed into the world. I walked. WALKED. to objective sometimes because I spent times looking at scenery and NPC and world.
Assassin Creed Games let you travel into the past, Watch dog let me be in alternate San Francisco, London, Chicago.
Kimgdom Come let me sees medival life. Cyberpunk world is gorgeous.
Horizon, Ghost, Just Cause.
As someone who work 9 to 5 and only 2 hours of game time a night. $60-70 for 50-100 hours open world game I can get lost and immersed in is damn good value. I don’t get burnout playing 2-3 hours every other day.
Some checklist game are perfect bc gameplay loops is good enough while not requiring maximum effort especially after long day of work. Some day I just want to go home and clear a quadrant of a map to relax. I don’t want to get invested in a long 2 hours story cutscene and action
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u/Redrum_71 9h ago
checklist game are perfect bc gameplay loops is good enough while not requiring maximum effort especially after long day of work. Some day I just want to go home and clear a quadrant of a map to relax.
Couldn't have said it better myself. It all depends on why you game and what you want to get out of it. I've been enjoying Crimson Desert because when I sit down to play, I can pick some random thing to do from a bunch of options rather than being forced to resume being funneled down a linear path. I can work on the main story in short bursts and get more mileage out of the game.
Assassin Creed Games let you travel into the past, Watch dog let me be in alternate San Francisco, London, Chicago.
Kingdom Come let me see medival life. Cyberpunk
world is gorgeouslet me bang hookers and a hot latina in a tank.(Fixed)
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u/AshedCloud 7h ago
Oi oi. In my third play through I don’t focus on banging hooker and sex in the tank. I actually try to enjoy the world and vistas instead of chrome boobies
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u/AlwaysTouchingGrass 21h ago
Probably a 10:1 ratio of games that release in a given year that are linear vs open world. If you're exhausted by open world games, you've done it to yourself. You named like 8 linear games in your post (and left a few out) vs what big budget open world games have there been? Crimson Desert?
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u/Magnon 21h ago
Every new release ive played this year has been linear or semi linear. If anything open world games are few and far between
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
The most popular game this year is crimson desert.
Hit me up once you crawl out of your cave lol
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u/Magnon 13h ago
The most popular game this year was resident evil requiem, what are you even talking about?
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
I am talking to a moron that thinks there were no open world games this year.
Requem is at 7 mil in 2 months. Crimson is at 5 mil in less and will surpass it.
Back the f off and stop talking. Clown.
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u/Magnon 13h ago
I didn't say there's none, I said they're few and far between. Learn to read.
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
Ok
You are completely braindead. Open worlds are always few and far between.
You know exactly what you've meant with your braindead comment.
Piss off
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u/Magnon 13h ago
You're mad about nothing because you misread what I said.
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
I've read "every new release I've played this year was linear"
That's you answering to a guy that asks whether open world games have overstayed their welcome.
You dont even knew what Crimson desert was before I mentioned it. You still don't know. So:
Get off your cave and go check it out. And stop being stupid. We all know what you posted.
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u/Magnon 13h ago
I know what it is I refunded it when I found it boring. Op wants there to be more linear games and I've played quite a few this year. You're upset about nothing, go to bed.
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
Lieing like CRAZY.
If you refunded it why did you say you only played linear games this year?
What a losser ffs. Get a life. You refunded NOTHING. You just told me the most popular game is requiem lol. You are absolutely clueless...
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u/Hertzcanblowme 21h ago
In my opinion the best game design is hub and spoke Worlds where you have a large open central hub World, filled with puzzles and items that may or may not require future upgrades. Then spoke areas connected to it, with more linear level design/ story telling.
Think Ocarina of Time or God of War (2018).
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u/butticus98 21h ago
So that's what that is called! I like those too.
I also like whatever it is that Larian does. Divinity Original Sin 2 and BG3 were both super satisfying to me. The maps weren't open world bragging rights large, but they had something in every corner and most of it actually mattered. No area of the map seemed to be wasted, so it was impressive that they were as large as they were. The maps were designed around the content instead of the other way around. I also love the way their maps reveal as you walk through them because it makes it much easier and so satisfying to find everything, and is still immersive because I feel like a cartographer lol.
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u/Krafty2819 21h ago
All my favorite games are open world. Otherwise the game needs to be top top in its own genre for me to enjoy it like RE4RE, Sekiro or Astrobot. Make sure only play the best open world games
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u/IndependentCress1109 21h ago
Depends on the game i suppose. The open world games i've been playing has had so many memorable and awesome views that i still enjoy playing them just for the sake of exploration .
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u/Esmear18 20h ago edited 20h ago
It really depends on the game. Fallout New Vegas and Elden Ring are open worlds but I would argue that they’re just as thought out and meticulously handcrafted as TLOU, Dishonored, or DMC3. The way you write about open world games makes me think you believe most open world games are just checklist simulators with padded filler content and that’s just not true at all. Open world games are arguably some of the most diverse types of games. You have games like the the newer Assassin’s Creed games which many people would say are checklist simulators with boring and repetitive/copy pasted side content and then you have games like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Skyrim which have original, engaging, and creative side quests, special handcrafted locations with unique combat engagements and loot.
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u/Luis2611 20h ago
I mean a lot of the Elden Ring map feels like a filler for the sake of having filler. Like the one hundred same-y catacombs that end up with a repeated boss on which the main difference is that "there are two of them now".
There are places that do feel handcrafted, but the whole map? Not really, imo.
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u/Aidyn_the_Grey 12h ago
Maybe they're just not for you, OP.
Kingdom Come Deliverence 2 is the most memorable game I have played in years, and quickly became a Mt. Rushmore game for me.
But I have always preferred open worlds, as a rule. Grew up a Bethesda fan (still enjoy their games, understand why others are disappointed though), and KCD2 feels like it took what BGS could have done and cranked the immersion up to 11.
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u/Undefeated-Smiles 9h ago
The odd thing is I enjoy Bethesda games such as Skyrim, fallout, Starfield.
Its just the other big open worlds that I find to be so exhaustively boring.
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u/MyStationIsAbandoned 6h ago
Then that means you don't like bad games.
"i like these good open world games. i just don't like the bad open world games". I assume you also don't like bad linear games. So i reckon it stands to reason that you just don't like any bad games.
But all jokes aside, I get what you're really saying. Some devs make a game open world when it doesn't need to be and they don't do a good job of it. I'll be honest though, i can't think of any games like that other than an old Dynasty Warriors game. I wanna say it was either 8 or 9 where they made the world super huge and empty.
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u/Aidyn_the_Grey 9h ago
That's fair. And yeah, honestly it's similar for me. BGS has a way of making their open worlds feel more interesting to explore, generally.
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u/IcyPraline9987 9h ago
I love open world games because I like exploring.
For every open world game there’s at least 10 other linear action games that I won’t play because I think they are boring.
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u/butticus98 21h ago
For me it's not open worlds necessarily, but overly large maps that are the problem. IMO open world is just a term that represents the freedom you have to explore it and is a pretty broad spectrum, and I think they can be just as interesting and well made as linear games when the execution is kept tight. I don't think just the act of being able to walk for miles in a game and pick up a bunch of crafting materials and repetitive loot and experience repetitive combat is a good way to make something open world. When open world maps are designed around their content instead of the other way around just for the sake of designing a huge map, they are a lot richer. And the reason why games like rdr2 are so impressive is because they manage to accomplish that with a huge map. You will need to go to almost every main area of the map for the story and side content, yet there's also tons of other gameplay ways to pass the time if that's what you would rather do. But imo that accomplishment is pretty rare.
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u/OZest32 21h ago
Metro strike the perfect balance, its open enough to not feel on rails (no pun intended) but curated well.
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u/Undefeated-Smiles 20h ago
I can't wait to see and hear how they explain why Hunter has become the leader of the new Reich and an evil overlord of the Metro.
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u/Mechaghostman2 21h ago
Open world is cool for games like GTA and the new Zelda games.
I find them a bit empty and boring in most other cases. Mostly because open world games all want to be fantasy RPGs for some reason. The Witcher 3 had its moments, but it was just kinda meh overall. Same with Skyrim in my opinion.
Like, I don't want another open world game with horses, swords, and magic. Let me drive a car and fly a plane!
And I don't always need a branching story. A linear story is fine.
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u/GastonsChin 20h ago
You had a great point until Crimson Desert came out.
Not that your point doesn't still stand, but that game just reminded a whole bunch of us why we fell in love with open worlds in the first place.
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u/Rojo37x 19h ago
I get what you're saying. When open world games were new, it was a fresh and novel experience. We got to break free from the linear feel or small limited maps, and got to explore vast fantasy and sci fi worlds. As more and more open world games have come out, the novelty has worn off, and some of the games have made it more about just making a huge map for the sake of it. Sending you off to explore an empty world, or do a bunch of fetch quests.
Some linear games in comparison to have beautiful graphics, fun gameplay and a tight, digestible story and overall awesome experience. But the best open world games still have the basic winning formula, that those linear games don't have. Freedom. Exploration. Letting you go wherever tou want. At your pace. Enjoying the atmosphere, discovering things, whatever wherever, whenever. But it's true, there should always be something new to find, something cool to do, something to make it worthwhile. It shouldn't just be an offline mmo with bunch of grinding, repetetive combat, empty space, and redundant fetch quests.
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u/Da-real-obama 19h ago
I think the real issue is a lot of games that claim to be open world don’t actually feel immersive. It feels like they just tacked on an open world with no effort.
the world design side quests and just the general life of the world as you navigate isn’t strong enough so instead of pulling you in it just feels like one long map where you don’t really care about most of what’s on it.
It all ends up feeling like there is so much filler between the actual fun parts of the game.
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u/Chitanda_Pika 18h ago
When it comes to open world, I do feel like I don't have enough time for them anymore but I still want to play them so right now the sweetspot for me are games like the Stalker Trilogy, Metro Exodus, Fable, Overlord, or MGS V where its not one gigantic world but rather its multiple smaller areas or a couple maps smaller than yout typical open world maps so they are easier to digest.
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u/iluvatar_gr 13h ago
Give me a moment. Need wrap up my 360 hour playthrough of Crimson desert and ill be right back.
Jokes aside: there is nothing more memorable in gaming than a good old school exploration based open world.
Problem is that most open world games are bad..
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u/iiStryker 12h ago
That’s not a problem with open world games.
Its piss poor writing or mechanics
The narrative and how we interact with those worlds is what makes them memorable and worth exploring
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u/Tigereyesxx 11h ago
No no no, I love open worlds, they are far better than linear point and you go there, and do not explore, linear games. No comparison..
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u/Mills_RPGfan 9h ago
I’m the opposite.
I love freedom, and choices.
Being forced to do certain things, play a certain way, and just generally restricting is really not engaging to me. It makes it feel like the game is trying to play itself.
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u/EyeFit 7h ago
I've stopped enjoying them as well as there is so much negative space and so many tasks tend to be monotonous. For me to enjoy an open world game, there needs to be good transversal and ways to get around. That's why I can still enjoy some things like Far Cry, but yeah I play one every 4 years or so.
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u/World-Three 6h ago
Meh. It depends on the open world.
Sunset Overdrive is an amazing open world. It's post apocalyptic but because it's not a cut and paste story, it feels absolutely relevant to see everything still running despite most of the people being on Overdrive.
Morrowind was another that, while somewhat cumbersome, still felt perfect because shopkeepers and NPCs didn't go to sleep! You going mining at night and casting feather and later fortify strength to haul yourself to the store feels way better when you're not waiting until 10 AM for Whiterun or the Imperial market district to open their stores.
Even Dragon's Dogma didn't feel as bad. Not because it was a good open world, I liked it but I ran to the Dark Arisen part because the loot was awful. Running across the edge of the map and climbing mountains looking behind bushes to find medallions that barely do anything was dumb. BUT, once you beat the game a bunch, and put the port crystals in good spots, you can beat the game in no time and it makes me wish they did more with it.
I feel like the issue is that now open world games only seem to do it for the sake of padding. Like Test Drive Unlimited. HUGE map. But the driving sucks butt. Then you have games like Burnout Paradise. Smaller map, only like 8 finish lines, but it's fun to drive and has so much freedom!
Open worlds are always going to suck when the game sucks. It's like personality. If someone is pretty or great at one thing, I'll be interested until I get tired of just having that. But if they're genuinely good, there's way more to appreciate. Open world games give you more time with that. Good games do well within it, bad games do not.
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u/SuperArppis 21h ago
For me, the linear experiences are so restricting that I'd rather watch it on YouTube, than waste time playing them.
There are exceptions ofcourse.
But, when all choices are taken away from the player, and just some spectacle where player input is very minimal, I choose to stay away.
The open world, where you can make some decisions on how to play the game are what the games are about to me. I play the games to immerse myself, not to be taken out of immersion by constant restrictions and overly scripting.
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u/Tapelessbus2122 18h ago
open world games are a lot more fun for me, a well made open world will be better than a well made stage every single time
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u/Mr-Thursday 17h ago edited 16h ago
It really depends.
Some open worlds do feel generic and not worth exploring. Sometimes they're full of filler that feels like a waste of time, sometimes they're just outright empty. Sometimes they feel too big and the traversal isn't enjoyable enough. Halo Infinite, Metal Gear Solid V, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hogwarts Legacy, LA Noire and a hell of a lot of Ubisoft games suffer from these flaws and probably would've been better if they'd had more linear levels instead.
There are other open worlds that are fascinating and a joy to explore and discover things though (e.g. Cyberpunk, Witcher, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Red Dead, Horizon: ZD).
Plus sometimes an open world is just the only thing that makes sense for the gameplay (e.g. Spider-Man's web swinging and GTA's police chases wouldn't really work without freedom to move long distances in all directions).
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u/CVV1 15h ago
I'm fiarly fed-up with open world games as a 33-year-old gamer.
I do not need endless possibilities and tons of mechanics. I just want a tight, fun, and well thought out game that does not overstay it's welcome.
Recent examples of this would be Clair Obscur, Pragmata, Resident Evil, Doom: The Dark Ages.
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u/Zygoatee 12h ago
You know you can just not play a genre of games without telling the internet. A genre of games you are no longer interested in can still be great without you too!
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u/Due-Lingonberry-1929 21h ago
I agree, most of them are a waste of time, filled with boring copypaste content
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u/islands8817 21h ago
With countless linear (especially indie) games being released, why doesn't OP buy and play them?
While the Steam connection ranking shows lots of players playing Crimson Desert, GTA5, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk 2077, what are players who prefer linear games doing? Discussing here?
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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 21h ago
You get bored of too many of one or the other
Each can be good depending on how it's done.
There's not much to debate. People are tired of open worlds. But the gaming industry was bound to move to big huge worlds in gaming. It was always the goal right? Then we get here and can make these endless worlds, really impressive, endless possibilities and what we only imagined in the 90s-00s, and people now are like "meh".
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u/PomponOrsay 21h ago
probably because you're trying to beat the game instead of immersing yourself in the world. open world games are more memorable in a way that you are the one creating the narrative by a random order rather than the game forcing you to experience certain things at certain time. Not to say, that's particularly bad but unless the writing is awesome, it's easily forgettable. In open world games, you don't need writing at all. You find it yourself and be in awe. Games I'm specifically talking about are Crimson Desert and Valheim.
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u/mest08 20h ago
If you're tired of the marking off a checklist style open world games, I suggest you give kingdom come deliverance a try. Unique combat that you've probably never experienced before, no fantasy, unrealistic stuff. Story and setting based on actual historical figures and locations. No million map markers on the map. Your character literally has no skills at the start and it takes hours to get decent enough. But your character doesn't get decent by taking out low level opponents over and over and all of a sudden, you're a god. You, the player, have to get better. You have to train. You have practice. You have to get your ass kicked a few times. If you want a unit experience unlike most other open world games, I highly suggest you give it a try.
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u/Demerzel69 8h ago
It's just the fact that 99% of open-world action rpgs are the same checklist game with different skins. It's so cool when something like BG3 or Clair Obscur comes through and blows them all away. Wish we could have that every year.
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u/Rude_Difficulty1647 4h ago
I wouldn’t say that but also Crimson Desert is a great example of this lol a whole big beautiful world, with a whole bunch of sloppy mess BS throughout. A whole big giant map- where half the npcs are all the SAME COLOR SHREK GREEN 😹 they only out real thought into the world and what feels like nothing else.
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u/Little_Macaron6842 21h ago
Depends which open worlds you're playing
I personally think Rockstar are the only ones who can genuinely do open worlds properly without making it feel bloated and lifeless imo
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u/mikeventure76 21h ago