See that, up there, that world we like to cool Capital Wasteland? That scares me, it truly scares. Because of giant scorpions? Nah. Maybe it's because of those raiders? Nah. Or maybe it's because are giant baddass super mutant behemoths. Well my answer to that is "Say hello to my little fat boy." What scares me about that game is it's openness. I am an explorer I want everything, and by playing this game I know I won't get everything, yes I will get that platinum but I won't get everything I want. When I first started to play Fallout 3 I thought this game was amazing, starting out as a baby, then all hell breaks loose wooo, I guess it's time to leave the vault. But stepping out I was greeted by my first sight of sunlight and then I saw it, Capital Wasteland. I sat up, put my feet on the floor walked over to my PS3 and turned the game off. And all I could think in my head was "Fuck."
People complain too much that a game is linear, I personally love a linear game, it gives me closure that I did everything, and makes me happy knowing that I completed it. I know I could never complete Fallout 3 fully and that's why I traded it in as soon as I got my platinum. My friend TheJesusNinja put so many hours into that game it's scary but I just saw no need to do that, I had no desire whatsoever.
Now you may be thinking I am a RPG hater, I can promise you it's not that at all. I love Kingdom Hearts, I love Diablo 2, I pretty much did everything possible in Final Fantasy 7 short of getting to level 99. Fallout 3 was a game that deserved it's many many GOTY awards but it was not mine. You know what doesn't scare me? This right here.
People are scared of this game saying it's so hard, I can't play it, I'm a little baby, they have not dropped yet, psh bring it on baby. This game is amazing, I'm on my second character right now going for platinum, very close by the way, and I've so far put in 50 hours. I know I will easily put a 100 hours into this game, I'm making sure to find everything, it's absolutely an amazing game it's beautifully done, (terrible story though) gameplay is amazing, and very unique in my opinion. Now my question I pose to you is, why doesn't this game scare me? Well just because I'm in the mood I'm going to through in a few random answers?
Is it because I can kill this guy?
Is it because I have these swords?
No, it's because I can explore everything that I want knowing I did not miss anything. Each world is unique, each boss a tactic not just random shooting.
So what am I trying to say?
I will never complain about a game being too linear, I am a fan of less openness. I want to make sure I see everything and don't miss a thing. A game can be linear and still be amazing. Games can be too big for me, they scare me.
What are your opinions on the big open worlds?
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Dragon Age: Origins was borderline too sidequesty, but since most objectives are in the same area as a main quest objective, I still managed to do most of the game's content (excluding other origins and endings). Demons' Souls and Valkyria Chronicles were amazing purchases this year, because they don't expand that much beyond the main storyline, and I too think it's perfect that way. :)
A good blog post, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
It depends though... I played Oblivion when there just weren't a lot of other games available for the PS3 - and now I'm more reluctant to commit to time consuming games when there are other games available. I do think that the open world with hours and hours of secondary quests is still a really great deal for people on a gaming budget or those that don't find other games of much interest.
I think that all in all I like the compromise of having a fairly linear main quest to follow... with optional side quests for those that want to spend the time.
I can can't count the times I just wandered through the Wasteland wondering "Where the hell am I?"
Strangely, this also happened in San Andreas.
I think that's why I stopped playing San Andreas
Fallout 3 would have been pretty good if it wasn't for wandering for hours doing nothing in the wastelands.
Coincidently, my favorite part of the game was the introduction in the shelter.
It's a scary game
Admittedly I really like some open-world style games - for instance, I love inFamous and Brutal Legend (which are kinda open world, I guess), Assassins Creed is cool, stuff like Jak 3 etc (I'm not sure if any of these are strictly considered open-world) - but I tried playing Oblivion and I literally felt intimidated. It was too overwhelming, I couldn't handle it and eventually stopped playing it. I got to Kvatch about a year ago and I can't bring myself to play it again. Borderlands is awesome though.
I think I prefer linear games overall. To me, they have better pacing, they can tell stories better, and like you said, its nice to know that I've seen everything there is to see before moving on. God Of War 2, Shadow Of The Colossus, Final Fantasy 10 and Uncharted 2 are some of my favourite games ever and they're all linear.
Keep up the good work!
To really enjoy a game like Morrowind or FO3, you have to simply ignore that OCD part of your brain that wants to tab the minimap every 2 seconds while you uncover the blackness not unlike a lawn mower. Easier said than done, but it will make the experience so much better.
I got cred for milking Fallout3 here in the article but no mention of being the one who introduced you to Demon's Souls after picking it up in the Philippines. Ha ha. Just giving you a hard time. Again great post, but I'm glad I'm not a trophy whore so I can expeience all the wasteland has to offer at my leisure.
Speaking of leisure when are gonna let me play DJ HERO?
An aspect of Fallout 3 which I hated was how depressing the colour scheme was. I loved the world, but I could never remain in that state for long periods of time. There was humour to counter it, but the desperation the people of the Capital Wasteland overshadowed it.
Alternately, the bleak, vault hunting universe of Pandora presented in Borderlands was the perfect amount of loneliness (if playing alone) combined with satire. The straightforth comedy kept my hopes up and made tranversing Pandora's lands more exciting and a treat to do. Plus there was the bonus of coop, which Fallout 3 could have benefited from.
Also Fapped.
Morrowind made me realise something..
To enjoy these games you have to play them differently. You have to accept the massive open scale and that you will never see it all and instead treat it like a real world experience, a real (and immersive for it) life.
You just cut your individual path through the game, explore what you feel like and find what you find, see what you see. Once you gain this new playstyle and stop needing to be completionist, these games become really fucking fun and fulfilling!!
also- it doesn't mean you kill your completionist side, we can quite naturally adopt different approaches for different games. We are versatile beings and have more control over our minds and personalities that we sometimes think.