A new trend and buzzword that has surfaced over the past decade in gaming is “open-world”. What exactly does that phrase entail? You don’t need to be an RPA genius like the folks at Amitech Solutions to know what it means. Basically, an open-world game is typically a game with a large map where exploration and freedom are pushed to the forefront of gameplay. Some common examples of recent open-world games include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metal gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. All of these games have seen massive success, financially and critically; however, there is a slight problem starting to surface amongst this new genre. But what is this dilemma? Let’s look at a few problems with open-world games. 

Restriction

Just like every other kind of entertainment media, video games follow trends that rise and fall over the years — MMOs, zombies, battle royal, etc. The problem with these trends is that sometimes, they feel forced by companies into games that take away from the game itself. Seeing the popularity of these types of games, developers are trying to emulate this in many games they produce. For example, the halo franchise has never been known for an open-world experience; however, the newest installment’s campaign will focus on open-world elements, differing from the past twenty years of gameplay. The popularity of a game being open-world is restricted games from being what they should be. 

Story

Another common complaint with open-world games is that the story suffers as a result of its implementation. Let’s compare Ocarina of Time to Breath of the Wild. Both are some of the best games of all time that revolutionized the gaming industry in their respective times; however, anyone will agree that the story of Ocarina of Time is leagues above its predecessor. This is because, in the former, there is a structured path of progression with story beats, events, and storytelling that unfolds as you continue through the game. In Breath of the Wild, you can beat the game and skip 95% of the entire story, the ending having no substantial weight whatsoever. 

Less Content

You would think that a bigger man would contain more content compared to a smaller one; however, sometimes that isn’t the case. Yes, Assassin’s Creed Origins has quite the large map, but that’s about it. The map isn’t interactive, there are repetitive and similar tasks in many parts of it, and it’s pretty. That about it. In Super Mario Odyssey, for example, every part of a world has a purpose to it — some mission, moon, or entertaining feature that was designed with a purpose. Whether you agree or not, here are some entertaining PS4 games to play right now