I'm Done With Open World Games

I can understand were you are coming from but I think the greatest difference with Zelda and other franchises turned open world, is that the creators of "The Legend of Zelda" always aspired to make it an open world game but they were limited with what the hardware they had at that time. If they wouldnt have had the limitations back then, the first Zelda would have probably looked quit similar to BotW and TotK. This is also reflected in the love they put into those two games.

Open worlds are so exhausting these days.

Shitty video essayists (egoraptor) complaining about linearity in video games has been disastrous for the gaming industry

Idk man, what i miss is the dungeons. I miss the way zelda was. I said this with botw too and I already know whats going to happen because it happened with botw. Some totk white knight will come in and say, "Actually, it has dungeons. So and so this or that is a dungeon and if you cant see it then that's on you." And what i have to say is, it's just not the same... Don't get me wrong, botw, and to a lesser extent, totk are both great games. But I miss going through dungeons, getting the new item of said dungeon and completing puzzles centered around the mechanic with that item, beating the boss in a unique way with that item. Both of the new zeldas don't have that at all. And judging from the 10 million copies in just a few day, Nintendo is most likely never going to go back to that style of gameplay. And if they do, it will be some spin off title that has as much effort put into it as spirit tracks. Guess I'm in the minority, so I guess all I can do is just let go of my favorite franchise since I was a kid. In my opinion, open world ruined zelda and I wish it never went that direction.

I dunno if anyone can relate to this, but as someone with ADHD, as much as I love Totk and Botw, they're SO incredibly hard for me to play due to the AMOUNT of things to look at and do and see that I don't end up accomplishing much of anything. Which in its own way is fun, but it doesn't beat the feeling of 'beating' a game. I wish more recent games had more 'rails' when it came to the main story of the game, or make the maps a tad smaller, or make the side quests less frequent/ finite. 900 Korok seeds? I will never 100% a game ever again. In Majora's mask for example, getting all the masks were optional if I remember correctly, but it gave you a lot of extra things to do in a limited map, which made the quests feel more meaningful as opposed to random fetch quests, place rock here, dive here, clear monster camp, etc. The masks all had their quirks / uses, which made you feel rewarded for completing the quest as well, but for korok seeds, it's hundreds of nearly the same task over and over for a mediocre upgrade, and lack of meaningful reward in botw, other than being able to say "you did it". I don't want hallway simulator either, but limitation definitely sparks creativity in gaming for sure.

bro first off fantastic video, but second thank you for putting such a well thought-out opinion into the world. It's refreshing seeing a perspective different from your own, seeing what or how people appreciate about different things so that I (or anyone else) can find new ways to appreciate things. Me personally, I'm loving ToTK, but I definitely agree hard with the idea that it's not a flawless formula, there is some loss to the experience when you don't have any guide rails like how these two new Zeldas have been, they definitely don't feel like they're the same old Zelda. There are elements, reminders here and there, but Open World games tend to be pretty formulaic like you said. in short, excellent work, thank you for making such a brilliant discussion piece, and I hope you get/find some games that scratch those particular itches you're lookin for.

It's funny, I felt the exact same about BOTW. Such a pain in the ass to go literally anywhere. But in TOTK I never felt like I was being slowed down or like I needed extra stamina to climb something... You can just build planes or catapults or cars to get anywhere you want. Traversal is a million times easier than BOTW. Hell, you can tape a rocket to your shield and fly 50ft in the air... Or swim straight through the ground for free. climbing is outdated in that game. I think you forgot how much slower the 1st game was lol or maybe you didn't understand the new traversal mechanics TOTK has? Both maps are the same size even, TOTK just has optional underground and sky areas. Maybe you're just older and busier?

A bit ranty, but I appreciate it nonetheless. While I love BOTW and TOTK, I have had the exact same opinion regarding open world games. IMO the games that best blended open world ideas with artistically crafted levels would be Dark Souls and Nier Automata. Those are are two perfect games that allow exploring without sacrificing engaging content.

I felt the same way. I've always been in love with Zelda, but I did not put much time into Breath of the Wild mainly because I couldn't vibe with the game at all. I don't like its idea of a reward system, and like you I don't like my maps to be too big. I had a Zelda itch, but BOTW was not scratching it, so I ended up playing Okami instead, and I fell in love with Okami. Honestly, I mainly dislike open world games because I play games with a completionist mindset, so I don't like to say I beat a game if I have too many loose ends, but with open world games, it's pretty much impossible nowadays to say you 100% completed an open world adventure unless if you have way too much free time on your hands, but even then I can only play a game for so long before I want to pick up another game. Every Zelda game before BOTW are games you can realistically complete everything and say you've enjoyed your adventure. Honestly, I've felt so alone until I seen this video.

I completely agree bro. Open world games have become too big.

This game is not about running, get two fans and a control unit and be free. Also TotK has also some great side quests you haven't seen yet, just visit the stables and the one stable that isn't a stable anymore for an example.

I feel you on this bro. I used to sing the praises of Witcher 3 for being a great open world experience, mainly due to great characters and side quests. Now I don't dare go back to it because I have 0 patience for open world bull shit.

This is something to be considered. While we did asked for a full open World zelda, fatigue in playing these ultra long games is a real factor. Even I, a long time zelda fan who loves this New Game feel it sometimes.. Is not even the amount of content, is just the time it takes to complete said content... Is just too much. I really hope Nintendo keeps listening to the fans. Up until this point we asked for this, so well done. But going forward, please consider the completion time.

I'm right there with you my guy

Thank you. Too many games nowadays think bigger is better. Tears feels so similarly to Breath of The Wild it puts me off. I feel as if I might as well just play that and I wasn't the biggest fan of Breath of The Wild either. Honestly Twilight Princess with a more open ended world and more activities optional or otherwise in the overworld would be perfection. Ex: like when you escort the people to Kakirko or are searching for the sky tomes. That to me in when open games are at their best. Unfortunately most only use it to be a tedious roadblock that force the need of fast travel because of how tedious traversal is. The Arkham games especially Knight I never get tired of traversal because of how fun it is. I never used fast travel in PS4 Spider either for that very reason. Zelda moving indefinitely in the direction of open world bothers me because I guarantee it will be another Breath of The Wild clone instead of my ideal open world Zelda I explained earlier.

I completely understand where you're coming from. Honestly this genre of game has become way too exhausted. It needs to be put on the backburner for quite while. And it's no offense to BotW and TotK as their success is super warranted and I absolutely love Zelda. I just hope Aonuma at least sprinkles more traditional elements here and there in future installments

I pray metroid doesnt follow this trend of becoming a shallow substanceless open world game....that would go against the entire point of metroid. You dont want to lose your favorite franchises and I dont want to lose mine either.

I like the stamina system in botw/totk, but too each his own. Also this totk is only my second open world game so I guess I ain't tired of it yet

I understand what you mean, and while I'm excited for what Zelda is doing, I do miss the solid sense of progression from previous games. Sometimes the openworldness of games does get in the way or hinder having a consistant exprience. That being said, in totk I experienced the opposite when it comes to limitations. I feel like once you get into ultrahand and everything pretty much any obstacle is a breeze I don't think I have run out of stamina once after about 10 hours. And if you are using cooking, the "challenge" of the game is pretty much gone. I do agree that the more of these games I play the less patience I have for the little tedious things and I find myself button mashing text and looking up answers because I just don't care lol

I think Zelda as an open World Series works so well cause if you mainly follow Nintendo and don’t play other consoles like myself the open world of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are big events that you don’t get often as Nintendo doesn’t make open world games constantly. Most of their games are linear or sandbox. I can see how exhausting it would be though if you’re also playing other consoles and etc cause there’s so many open world games being released on those platforms.