- The Witcher 3
- Dead Rising 3
- The Crew
- Dying Light
- Dragon Age
- FF XV
- Infamous
- Mad Max
- MGS V
- Watch Dogs
- The Division
- Need for Speed: Rivals
- Monolith Soft's 'X'
- Mirror's Edge 2

thoughts?

 

I don't mind it. The Crew, FF XV, MGS V, and X are all appealing to me. The crew is especially appealing because it's open world.

 

I don't really see it as a new trend, rather new nomenclature. Sandbox games are nothing new, really.

 

not a big fan of rail shooters, much rather have open world.

 

Open world does have it's difficulties ....

 

Open world = more freedom and choices. It's great. Especially when there's no stupid, invisible walls.

 

I certainly like a good open world game, but it has its fair share of problems. It's incredibly difficult to create open worlds that feel like they'e alive; most just feel like hollow, lifeless expanses. It becomes an albatross around the game's neck, an annoying slog that needlessly drags out the experience. Open worlds can also make it all the more difficult to maintain the cohesiveness, direction, and pacing of a story in check.

"Linear" is all too often thrown around as a dirty word, and I think that's a mistake. It isn't less advanced or interesting than the (sometimes hollow) freedom an open world provides. Would The Walking Dead or Spec Ops: The Line's stories have been improved if you had to wander around between important scenes? I don't think so.

If developers can create meaningful open worlds, more power to them. If they're arbitrarily expanding the map size because that's the hip thing to do, however, then they're just shooting themselves in the foot.

 

I agree 100%. I'll take a linear game with a good story over an open world any day. As you said, open worlds dilute the storyline.

They also often penalize you for not exploring every nook and cranny, and they tend to do it more than closed world games. Because I didn't talk to a specific NPC in a remote area at exactly 7:49 AM, I miss out on a huge quest arc, an uber-powerful item, or a key recruit. The completionist in me groans whenever this happens.

 

I see your point. Perhaps this is just me then. I think I've been addicted to getting as much out of my games as an MMO. Spending a lot of money on a game that will last me ten hours at most seems like a waste compared to the games that give me two hundred or more. Linear is just a turn off at this point since the key word to me is 'replayability'.

 

I thought this E3 was Year of the Car.

Literally every conference showed a realistic car racing game minus Nintendo (which technically was a Nintendo Direct and not a conference so I'll keep my record).

Not just car racers, but like people getting grotesquely into the details of cars. Like basically blowing their load over the fiber in the seats.