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You can climb that mountain! - Open Worlds

Arsenic

Arsenic

[div=font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Kaushan script
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    [PokeCommunity.com] You can climb that mountain! - Open Worlds


    OPEN WORLD GAMING

    Open worlds are a phenomena that have affected a lot of game releases recently, from games that are traditionally linear and closed opening up the play-space to games that have always had open maps. Either way the result is a wide open sprawling world for us to explore, find collectables and equipment to help us on our journey, or partake in optional tasks aside from our main objective.

    No genre is safe from open world's grasp, from platformers, to shooters, to hardcore RPGs, and to exploration games. Open worlds can be found and enjoyed no matter your taste in game-play. But on the other hand not all series are fitting with an open-world design... Open world games tend to lose any sense of urgency with the story and it's harder to have impacting characters and this just doesn't work with all game types out there. Conversely there are also games that dont work as well when their put in a linear environment, as it kills the freedom to approach the situation as you see fit that these games are geared towards...

    Do you have any favorite open world games? Maybe you hate or love them and only will play your opinion. How come?


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    I love open worlds done right - I feel like there's usually a better sense of immersion in an open world, like in the Elder Scrolls games; I could just get lost in Tamriel (sometimes literally) for hours. I felt like I was creating my own story, in a way - yes, there is a main storyline that you can follow as closely or loosely as you like, but to me, what makes an open world good is it provides the building blocks for you to go off and do your own thing without feeling totally aimless, if that makes sense. In the ES games' case, the amount of lore to get into, all the details in the world and all the things you can do and see, I never felt like there was a dull moment no matter which corner of the land I was in, and regardless of whether I was doing a quest or not.

    And then there are open world games where you're literally just a completely blank slate, games like Minecraft, Starbound, etc. No NPCs, no characters, just you, the environment and your imagination. It's a different sort of appeal, but with these games, as long as there are enough things to do I consider it a good open world too and I love them just as much.

    I guess in a word, it's the exploration aspect I love most in open world games.
     
    I like open world games a lot. It's mainly just the sheer amount of stuff to do it, and all the little stories to see and the lore to hear and the places to explore. I just love that shit for some reason. It's also nice that in some cases you get to have your own character in it, which adds to the fun for me.

    tho I've also only played like.....4 open-world games, and somehow I managed to keep getting to a point where it feels like there's nothing much left to do =(
     
    I've enjoyed several open world games and for good reason. Rockstar is great as well as Bethesda, but I still enjoy No Man's Sky for being truly 'open', even though many dislike the game. I feel like there is always a kind of pattern to it and naming things is kind of a plus. I never expected much from them so I suppose I'm in the minority. Besides, I have real issues to protest, like, why there isn't beer in my fridge.
     
    I feel a game that doesn't get enough credit for its map is Dying Light. It's rather expansive, even if cut into two parts and it just has a... feel to it. While your climbing around the world like a monkey you'll come across plenty of moments that build the atmosphere.

    I still remember finding my first gun in that game. On the body of a guy who's brains were splattered over the wall. All valuables and supplies were on the porch and a note about how he couldn't take the apocalypse on the table.

    First time I've ever been like... "Holy crap..." In any other game I would've just grabbed the gun and kept going, not even thinking or caring about the dead guy, but there was something about the scene in this game... I just don't know what it was...

    And that's just one random spot I ended up.

    The DLC for the game "The Following" has just as great a map for exploring. Just like the base game you'll find plenty of gruesome scenes as well as awesome moment finds. All while racing around the map in your souped up buggy.

    If you haven't checked out the game do grab the Enhanced Edition. It's a worthy investment!
     
    When it comes to open world games, there a lot of good ones. A few series that I find are great at open worlds are Saints Row, Elder Scrolls, and Assassin's Creed. Course if there are quests, sometimes people forget about them and randomly go explore. Heck, even MMORPGs could be considered open world games in a way
     
    A lesser known open world game I like - Oolite. It's a modern recreation of elite, and elite was arguably one of the first open worid games, and I love being able to fly around space in my cobra MKIII without any real goal (but catching space pirates is always fun)

    PS. If you want to play, it's 100% free. Just make sure to get yourself some mods.
     
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