A couple of weeks ago I was talking about complaints I've been hearing about how some video games are too linear and how new players prefer open world. I realize I've been biased because when I grew up, it was largely linear games, a new generation has come up that wasn't trained to enjoy such games and have a more open mind. Having said that, I do remember a few experiments in open world games in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and let me say, it just didn't work before 32-bits, or more to the point, polygonal 3-D graphics.
Back in the day, most games were side-scrolling platformers that in retrospect, were basically the same game mechanically but with different graphics. They were all the same thing, go from left to right, collect anything that flashes and avoid anything that moves. And we had fun with that dammit. Then came games like Mystery Quest, Legacy of the Wizard, and Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar and to a certain extent Metroid. All of these games were kind of open world without the clear objectives from the get go and even worse, there weren't a whole lot of signs of where you were supposed to go. I rented all of these games and wasted a weekend on each making no progress because I had no idea what to do. Final Fantasy VI won me back with it's linear story, the first half of the game has one sidequest and otherwise straightforward, which made the back end of the game disappointing when it turned into all sidequests with no direction beyond an online guide preventing me from facing Kefka with only six or seven out of twelve to fourteen characters. By stark contrast, sidescrolling platformers never gave me this kind of trouble because I always knew just keep going right. I like that.
Playstation changed everything because 32-bits meant creating a 3-D world, so instead of simple left to right sidescrolling platformers, now the same kind of game could take place in a 3-D world and the open world concept was born. Yes, you could run a specific path, but the new perspective finally revealed there was more to the game world than the path. Elsword was the first game I actually played that figured out a brilliant way to present 3-D graphics for a 3-D world and yet map it for 2-D play creating the illusion of 3-D while actually making it a traditional 2-D sidescroller. Some players are satisfied with these gimmicks, others want to break the fourth wall and move in all directions. The problem is that it's very hard to program gameplay environments and it's really a pain to create areas that serve no purpose. Players demand open world but programmers are reluctant to put in the effort if there is nothing to do there, hence the sidequest, essentially in video games they make it so that you go there for something fun that you don't actually need to finish the game. Sometimes this is worthwhile and adds to the game, but other times it can take away from the game.
Again I go back to Final Fantasy XV. I am most sensitive to the sidequests in this game because once again, Square came up with a great story and the sidequests actually seem to contradict it. The worst part is, while sidequests allow you to more fully explore the game world, it also draws attention to how small and unreal the world actually is. Consider the layout of Lucis, basically three actual towns, one of which is destroyed at the beginning, the rest of the kingdom being gas stations and tourist attractions. Why are there still people on the road? Nobody should actually have any need to leave Lestallum. And yet, the cars still pass through on the highway. There's a guy at Cape Caem who buys your carrots for his restaurant...where the hell is the restaurant? And why does he have half a dozen high grade weapons to trade for carrots? Why is Talcott so happy about his cactuar collection when his grampa just died? Why is everyone so calm given the drastic events going on? And why can't I kick Dino and Viv's asses for even suggesting selling me out to the Empire? And I can't complain enough about fishing or Justice Monsters and Cup Noodles...Ignis has to be so pissed he can make a gourmet meal out of behemoth meat or crab claws and Gladiolus just wants cheap ramen.
Some games are about storytelling, have respect for the story. If you aren't into that, fine, but don't rag on the rest of us. Me, I'm looking forward to the game getting more linear so I can get on with he story and save the world like a real hero should do.
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