Is there such a thing as "too open world"?

[RedSwirl]

You can't get much more open-world than Minecraft or Elite, and those games seem to be doing fine. It's subjective, as people have been saying. The "most open" open-world games kind of depend on players making their own goals, and a lot of people just aren't trained to do that.

I see there are a lot of people who don't like games with lots of uneventful traversal across empty space. I personally like that stuff. "Something" doesn't have to be happening every second during which I'm playing a game.

 

[DeadlyParasite]

Nope, however some games do it better than others. For me the difference between a good and "okay" open world game is the attention to detail on visual and audio related stuff. A great soundtrack and lots of hidden stuff to explore/find can absolutely counteract massive map fatigue.

 

[Fatal]

Too often open world is the quintessential filler game. Repetitive busy work where numbers are the reward. I prefer games to focus on narrative and atmosphere. The developer should entertain me, I have no desire to make my own fun, if you can call it that.