this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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For me, it isn't even any of this stuff. It's almost totally that the games are too big and take too long to get any enjoyment. Most of the time spent playing the games isn't fun. It's just traveling and maybe collecting garbage that doesn't add anything to the enjoyment.
The old games were fun for every moment with the traversal. I don't think that can carry a newer game, because it isn't as unique anymore, but it was always more fun than riding a horse from point to point.
If they condensed the story and game down to tens of hours, I would consider it. I'm not going to play a typical Ubisoft game that takes hundreds. Even Elden Ring took me just about 100 and it was getting to the point of being too much, and it was far more interesting and fun.
Couldn't agree more. When open worlds were new and shiney, I enjoyed the sense of freedom and exploration. Now though, it usually just feels like padding. Like I'm being told I need to eat 20 crackers for every bite of burger.
Even worse when they are just big maps dotted with equally spaced event icons and way points that you are just expected to complete. Really makes me miss open world games that felt like they existed for their own sake like Morrowind.
As much as I enjoyed Elden Ring, I definitely felt like the open world added so little ta the formula, but took so much when you could just casually run by most enemies.
Yep. Open world games usually feel like they can't have any blank spaces, and so they waste resources filling every inch with something, even if it's just a waste of time. You've always been able to run past enemies in FS games, but it took effort and you had to pay attention. The open world of ER wastes so many resources filling the open world, but also makes it trivial to not engage with. Even when there's a collectable you want, you just ride by on Torrent, grab it, and leave. You don't engage with it, but they expended time and money creating it.
The open world gives you a lot of distinct options, but do you really have more real ones than DS1? At the start of DS1 you have three paths (4 with the master key). In ER at the start you have three obvious paths (Stormveil, Weeping Peninsula, and Cailid) and one less obvious (going around Stormveil). I'd argue the paths of DS1 are far more interesting to engage with. The Catacombs are a design mistake though because it's so hard to get out of. The reward for that path is very interesting for a new start (and it's balanced for a new player, which is why Pinwheel becomes a joke at the mid-game when most people fight him), but getting out without the Lord Vessel is a huge challenge. It needs to have a TP or jump or something at the bottom to get back when you're done.
I agree woth everything you said but want to add that leaving big open spaces can be an effective design choice. Compare botw to totk and the ambiance changes drastically due to this.