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Open world is a term for video games where a player can move freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how or when to approach objectives, as opposed to other computer games that have a more linear structure. Open world and free-roaming suggest the absence of artificial barriers, in contrast to the invisible walls and loading screens that are common in linear level designs. Generally, open world games still enforce many restrictions in the game environment, either because of absolute technical limitations or in-game limitations (such as locked areas) imposed by a game's linearity. Examples of high level of autonomy in computer games can be found in MMORPG or in other games adhering to the "open world concept". Their main appeal is they provide a simulated reality and allow players to develop their character and its behavior in the direction of their choosing. In these cases, there is often no concrete goal or end to the game. There are limitations to …

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  • Husky Wing Husky Wing
    Husky Wing
    7 years ago
    Saved!
    I've got two questions for y'all
    One: Which open world games have the best stories?
    and Two: Which video game stories weren't negatively impacted by them being open world?

    Some open world games strive for the cinematic approach, but given that many (most) players spend the majority of their time exploring and completing side activities, any serious plot is broken apart. "We have a super critical mission: see me at the docks when you can." *Faffs about for an in-game week* "There you are, it's time to get started."
    Fantasy games have mostly succeeded at avoiding this, as you generally play an adventurer who's recognized for all the travel they've done. In this way, Geralt's stories don't feel as oddly segmented as those in Grand Theft Auto might. However, The Witcher 3 did cause a bit of an awkward split by setting leveled quests (which I still don't believe to be a bad decision), as Geralt could accept a quest, and then come back a year later "hey I did it" "the fuck you been?"
    But I suppose that can be an issue with side missions in every RPG. You accept quests, you come back months later after you realize "oh right, that would be convenient right now." Witcher 1/2 bypassed that by being segmented.
    I'd nominate The Legend of Zelda, but you have to progressively unlock the world, it's not like Skyrim or Fallout. We'll see how Breath of the Wild handles its story and open world, though.
    I got nothin'
    • Ed Kick
      Saved!
      Ed Kick
      Editing … Question 1: Dragon Age Inquisition, Witcher III, LA Noire, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Arkham City/Knight.
      7 years ago Heart 1
    • Ed Kick
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      Ed Kick
      Editing … Question Two: Maybe none, I felt like DA:Inquisition got very very close and had fantastic story pacing for being a 50-100hour rpg. LA Noire maybe but it's "open world" didn't really have anything to do.
      7 years ago Heart 1
    • Dr Eggnog
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      Dr Eggnog
      Editing … I found the stories in Far Cry 3 and Arkham City just okay. L.A. Noire was odd in that the story was the gameplay, it was a bit like a visual novel. Borderlands 2 had a story? I just remember silliness. Haven't played the others.
      7 years ago
    • Rich .
      Saved!
      Rich .
      Editing … Witcher III and Red Dead Redemption have the best open world stories. The others that Ed mentioned have good stories but those two are easily the best.
      7 years ago
    • Rich .
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      Rich .
      Editing … I can think of two difficulties inherent with open world storytelling. 1) The freedom to explore and approach from different angles means the dev can't control the pacing or the order in which you do things like they can in a linear game. 2) The world has to actually depict the consequences of major story events, they can't just give you a glimpse within a linear environment and then take you elsewhere. If there's a battle/siege/natural disaster/new King etc then the map, NPC behaviour and dialogue might need to change right across the open world to make it believable.
      7 years ago
    • Rich .
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      Rich .
      Editing … The problem of pacing in an open world's easy to overcome. You write a more flexible story and one where it doesn't feel out of character to stop and explore or do a side quest. You maybe take away the option of side quests in pivotal parts of the main quest or make side quests fail if you don't complete them before a certain point in the main story. Plenty of open world games do this really well. Even if you don't do those things though I don't feel like you need this huge suspension of disbelief to accept that the player can make a character behave out of character. You can make linear game player characters act weirdly as well.
      7 years ago Heart 1
    • Rich .
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      Rich .
      Editing … The "making a huge open world react to any momentous story events" problem isn't as easy to tackle. Even the best open world games sometimes mess that one up. The most famous example's NPCs not knowing who the Dragonborn is even after he's killed Alduin, won the civil war, became head of all the guilds etc. Even Witcher III felt like it shied away from letting you decide the fate of cities and outcome of battles as often as Witcher II did because it'd be a lot of effort to depict the consequences of those kinds of decisions across a huge open world map.
      7 years ago Heart 1
    • Dr Eggnog
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      Dr Eggnog
      Editing … I also found Red Dead's story just okay. It was really slow and simple. The only clever part was how the post-game was handled.
      7 years ago
    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … Yea, I didn't find Red Dead's story fantastic (and one entire act was really just filler, but it was fun filler)
      7 years ago
    • Dr Eggnog
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      Dr Eggnog
      Editing … For me Red Dead was a generally solid game that didn't have a lot of highs or lows. I kind of want to play it again just because decent games in that setting are so rare.
      7 years ago
  • Gries He Gries He
    Gries He
    8 years ago
    Saved!
    "In 2008, open world games had less than 10 percent of the market. Now it's 33 percent." - Yves Guillemot, 2016
    • Not Important
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      Not Important
      Editing … I miss linear level design. It's a lot easier to create good linear levels than to create a good open world.
      8 years ago Heart 4
    • Silent Gamer
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      Silent Gamer
      Editing … ^ I hear ya brother
      8 years ago
    • Gries He
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      Gries He
      Editing … It really isn't.
      8 years ago
    • Ulty
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      Ulty
      Editing … Open World is great when it's like Dark Souls, you can go anywhere but the places themselves have a somewhat linear, focused design to them. It allows the designers to implement that level of challenge Dark Souls is known for. Open Worlds, like Witcher III and Skyrim, have like these huge empty areas with nothing to do in them and that's boring by comparison.
      8 years ago Heart 1
    • Not Important
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      Not Important
      Editing … Gries what's the reasoning behind your idea? It's relatively "easy" to make small areas with good level design. It's hard to make good level design when you have a gigantic world. That's why most open world games, especially those that have an emphasis on gameplay fall flat.
      8 years ago Heart 1
    • Nodley
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      Nodley
      Editing … Gries gonna Gries
      8 years ago Heart 3
    • Leo Barbosa
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      Leo Barbosa
      Editing … In 1995, FPS games had less than 10 percent of the market
      8 years ago Heart 1
    • Gries He
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      Gries He
      Editing … Is that right?
      8 years ago
    • Dr Eggnog
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      Dr Eggnog
      Editing … I was really annoyed at first when open world games got big and linear started becoming a bad word because I'd never enjoyed an open world game before, but I got used to it and now Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Far Cry 3 are in my top 25.
      8 years ago
  • Sandvich Sandvich
    Sandvich
    8 years ago
    Saved!
    So I've had my PS4 for about a month and so far have played Arkham Knight, the Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto V, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Bloodborne, and MGSV. Holy shit am I burnt out on open-world games. I never thought I would be craving something linear this much. And good god, what are even my options? Wolfenstein looks pretty good and I'll give Until Dawn a try when it drops in price, but then there's another dozen open world titles I haven't even gotten to yet: inFamous: Second Son, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Fallout 4.... deep breaths.... deep breaths....
    • Silent Gamer
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      Silent Gamer
      Editing … Yea, this gen has been a bit of a snooze-fest so far. I'm not really an open-worldy sort of guy. Still, the third year into a new console is usually when things get interesting, so try to hold on just a little longer :P
      8 years ago
    • Sandvich
      Saved!
      Sandvich
      Editing … I'm actually totally impressed with most of what I've played so far, but I need some variety. This is the FPS plague of 2007 all over again. I'm dying for something that doesn't involve gathering herbs and trinkets or unlocking fast travel points.
      8 years ago Heart 1
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Open world

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Created 2014-06-04 01:40 am
Page creator Gries He
Views 898
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