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Character movement that is unrealistically limited without offering anything to make up for it
Fiddly object interaction problems (e.g. candles often getting in the way of more important things)
Bland combat mechanics
“Open” world populated almost entirely with copy/paste combat encounters
Little reward for exploration, since practically everything worth finding has a map marker
A tiny handful of side quests re-used over and over with different mini-stories to make the quests seem distinct while the tasks to perform are mostly identical
This game’s strengths are not the gameplay, but the lore, characters, and story. (All the things that could be had from reading the books, or maybe watching the live action adaptation.)
Oh, and Gwent. Gwent is remarkably well-designed for a mini-game within another game.
It depends on what aspects of an open world are important to you.
Exploration is at the top of my list, and Skyrim is a good example of doing it well. Its world is full of unique things/places/characters to find, whether through an NPC’s directions, or a roughly sketched map picked up while adventuring, or following your curiosity toward an area that looks interesting, or chasing a fox, or simply by wandering off the beaten path.
Map markers appear after you’ve already been somewhere so you can find your way back again, but since most of them are hidden until then, they don’t spoil the experience of discovery.
And, when you find something, it’s often genuinely interesting. Not yet another copy/paste monster fight or “hold the button to follow your witcher sense to the lost thing” quest. Not just checking off a task list item (or pre-placed map marker) so you can rush to the next one. The experience itself is rewarding.
Mind, I have criticisms of Skyrim, but it did exploration and environments (including sound) very well, and I wish more open world designers would learn from it and build upon its strengths.
EDIT:
I would love to play a game that reached or exceeded Skyrim’s bar for exploration and environmental immersion, Breath of the Wild’s bar for freedom of movement and wildlife, and The Witcher 3’s bar for characters and story.
I feel CP2077 does great with regard to storytelling and exploration (plenty of nooks and crannies in and around Night City), wildlife is nonexistant though. A Witcher game played in first-person would be cool…
I think my favorite part of Cyberpunk 2077’s open world was that it was full of activity. The encounter variety might have been a little disappointing, but I was impressed with how they made the city feel dense and populated. It was much more convincing than the miniature towns full of locked doors and fake windows that are passed off as “cities” in so many other games.
The live action adaptation took a steaming dump on the original story sadly, some episodes are still worth watching but it’s not made by people who understand what made Witcher special, no wonder Henry Cavill left
IMHO, its gameplay is mediocre at best:
This game’s strengths are not the gameplay, but the lore, characters, and story. (All the things that could be had from reading the books, or maybe watching the live action adaptation.)
Oh, and Gwent. Gwent is remarkably well-designed for a mini-game within another game.
What would you suggest for better open world games?
It depends on what aspects of an open world are important to you.
Exploration is at the top of my list, and Skyrim is a good example of doing it well. Its world is full of unique things/places/characters to find, whether through an NPC’s directions, or a roughly sketched map picked up while adventuring, or following your curiosity toward an area that looks interesting, or chasing a fox, or simply by wandering off the beaten path.
Map markers appear after you’ve already been somewhere so you can find your way back again, but since most of them are hidden until then, they don’t spoil the experience of discovery.
And, when you find something, it’s often genuinely interesting. Not yet another copy/paste monster fight or “hold the button to follow your witcher sense to the lost thing” quest. Not just checking off a task list item (or pre-placed map marker) so you can rush to the next one. The experience itself is rewarding.
Mind, I have criticisms of Skyrim, but it did exploration and environments (including sound) very well, and I wish more open world designers would learn from it and build upon its strengths.
EDIT:
I would love to play a game that reached or exceeded Skyrim’s bar for exploration and environmental immersion, Breath of the Wild’s bar for freedom of movement and wildlife, and The Witcher 3’s bar for characters and story.
I feel CP2077 does great with regard to storytelling and exploration (plenty of nooks and crannies in and around Night City), wildlife is nonexistant though. A Witcher game played in first-person would be cool…
I think my favorite part of Cyberpunk 2077’s open world was that it was full of activity. The encounter variety might have been a little disappointing, but I was impressed with how they made the city feel dense and populated. It was much more convincing than the miniature towns full of locked doors and fake windows that are passed off as “cities” in so many other games.
My disbelief was suspended as well
The live action adaptation took a steaming dump on the original story sadly, some episodes are still worth watching but it’s not made by people who understand what made Witcher special, no wonder Henry Cavill left