Open world fatigue is a bitch, who can relate?

[Detective Pidgey]

It's the first time ever that this happened to me. Late last year I finally started my proper playthrough for The Witcher 3, this time finishing every single quest, yes even diving up those treasure chests...which honestly was a chore. But I am one of those players that once I start with something I need to finish it, completely finish it.

A month or two after fully finishing the main game I started with Hearts of Stone and loved it. That was on November 14 last year and I still can't bring myself to start with another open world title. Yet I still have RDR2, AC Origins and AC Oddysey waiting to be played and of course Blood and Wine expansion for Witcher 3.

AC Valhalla has already been announced and is coming this year and Watch_Dogs Legion is also coming this year. Once I start with AC it's probably a good idea to leave the busywork quests alone, lol. I've been playing a lot of adventure games and I hoped to get my "appetite" back for taking on a huge game world again.....but...alas.

Who else "experiencing" this right now?

 

[Glio]

Any genre can cause fatigue. I recently started Ori 2 and I had to uninstall it after a couple of hours, I'm sick of metroidvanias. There are dozens and dozens of good non-open world games to choose from every year, it's only a problem if you want.

 

[Rodrigues solitaire]

Change your mindset to only playing the main missions and the side content you like the premise of. You'll feel much better. The notion that you HAVE to see every piece of content a game offers is outdated.

 

[leng jai]

Even though TW3 was the game of the generation, those Skellige treasure chests were the worst content of all time.

 

[Edgar]

Not really , i am replaying RDR 2 for the second time and W3 for the 4th time . I am interested in Ghost of Tsuchima and AC Vikings and of course Cyberpunk , I dont think i will ever get burn out form quality open world games.

 

[rochellepaws]

I think it's less fatigue for me and more a realisation that I don't like those kind of open world games. They were a brief novelty in the last generation but I really don't want to see those maps filled with collectibles again.

 

[Detective Pidgey]

Change your mindset to only playing the main missions and the side content you like the premise of. You'll feel much better. The notion that you HAVE to see every piece of content a game offers is outdated.

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I really should change that mindset, and I tried. I actually was about to start with Hearts of Stone and then I thought "nah, let me go back to those treasure chests, only a few more." when in reality the map was filled, lol.

Even though TW3 was the game of the generation, those Skellige treasure chests were the worst content of all time.

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They really, really are. I kept hoping to find some real interesting stuff but I should have known better. But....Geralt DOES have a lot of money now, so it's at least something. But the treasure hunt is truly busy work.

 

[Joris-truly]

Definitely, been play the Deus ex series again and man.. why did the industry needed be 'bigger is better'? I'd rather go with small, more detail and interesting different approaches/reactivity, rather then big, empty and grindy. Deus ex didn't waste my time. The typical open world game does.

 

[Massicot]

Even though TW3 was the game of the generation, those Skellige treasure chests were the worst content of all time.

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Lol this is so true. I was meticulously clearing out every single map icon and objective like it was my job and then Skellige broke me. Couldn't be bothered.

 

[Unkindled]

It's not limited to any specific genre.

 

[Vex]

Change your mindset to only playing the main missions and the side content you like the premise of. You'll feel much better. The notion that you HAVE to see every piece of content a game offers is outdated.

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This. Stop trying to do everything. Just do things naturally as you see them. You may miss stuff but that is for ng+ or replays if you want. I've started beating more open world games when I did this.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

I guess I am one of those weird breeds who really doesn't suffer from this. I love a well executed open world.

 

[Deleted member 3183]

Any genre can cause fatigue. I recently started Ori 2 and I had to uninstall it after a couple of hours, I'm sick of metroidvanias. There are dozens and dozens of good non-open world games to choose from every year, it's only a problem if you want.

Click to shrink...

Yep. This is why I just cannot play another Yakuza game. Great games, I enjoyed them. Totally burned out though.

 

[Ravio-li]

Yeah. And I don't even keep up with the newest OW games regularly. Currently playing RDR2 and it showed me again that this GTA/Ubisoft stlye of Open World is not something I like at all. Still enjoying RDR2 but I have to be a bit strategic when to play it. it's the perfect experience to replace a Netflix session, but I can't stand it if I'm actually in the mood for videogames.

Lol this is so true. I was meticulously clearing out every single map icon and objective like it was my job and then Skellige broke me. Couldn't be bothered.

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That's why I usually deactivate map markers and minimap (if it doesen't make quests a chore to play).

 

[Necron]

Definitely, been play the Deus ex series again and man.. why did the industry needed be 'bigger is better'? I'd rather go with small, more detail and interesting different approaches/reactivity, rather then big, empty and grindy. Deus ex didn't waste my time. The typical open world game does.

Click to shrink...

So much this... we need to go back.

Shame we haven't heard anything regarding a new Deus Ex.

 

[Deleted member 32135]

Most of them have really bland level design asking the player to make out of them an interesting experience instead of offering a perfectly crafted and controlled environment with interesting challenges and good progression of its mechanics.

They are products made to be sold by its trailers and big scale images promising a sense of adventure, but at the end they try to make too many different things and don't really succed on it... They don't have great driving mechanics, neither are good shooters, don't have interesting puzzles, don't offer a great challenge nor a good level progression because of their structure...

They are there to please your eyes and go on forums to compare how powerful the tech is nowadays but at the end I have more fun with almost any other type of game instead of an open world. They are really bland and uninteresting experiences.

 

[JustinBB7]

Change your mindset to only playing the main missions and the side content you like the premise of. You'll feel much better. The notion that you HAVE to see every piece of content a game offers is outdated.

Click to shrink...

I've done this for the past few AC games and it's amazing. You don't miss out anything because AC side quests are terrible fetch quests with no fun stories anyway. (haven't played the last 2, but all the old ones I mean) Game is a lot shorter that way, fuck collectables and shitty timewasting fetch quests in open world games.

 

[Glio]

Another important thing is that open worlds are not designed with "100% Complete" in mind. If you play with that mentality it is normal that you end up burned. They have so much content to always find something and never run out of things to do. But if you ONLY play the same game in long game sessions and try to complete everything, it is normal that you end up like this.

 

[AfropunkNyc]

Getting video game fatigue.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

"But I am one of those players that once I start with something I need to finish it, completely finish it."

Stop doing this and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more.

Gaming shouldn't be a task to be completed.

 

[His Majesty]

I've played The Witcher 3 times and not a single time did I feel compelled to hunt down question marks. Just turn them off and don't look back.

 

[Dphex]

I guess I am one of tthose weird breeds who really doesn't suffer from this. I love a well executed open world.

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which are far and few between

 

[Knightsoftheround]

I went through an open world fatigue last year but now for some reason I am craving one. An Ubisoft open world at the moment would really hit the spot.

Thinking about Watch Dogs 2.

 

[Deleted member 203]

which are far and few between

Click to shrink...

I was gonna say

playing BotW made me realize how poorly designed most open worlds are. They just feel random. BotW felt like every bit of it was crafted with an eye towards sightlines, landmarks, points of interest, etc. I don't think any other game comes close in this particular aspect.

 

[Butch]

"But I am one of those players that once I start with something I need to finish it, completely finish it."

Stop doing this and you'll enjoy yourself a lot more.

Gaming shouldn't be a task to be completed.

Click to shrink...

Funny thing is, once I managed to get out of mindset I started to actually finish games again, because now I can just leave behind all the other ones that weren't really fun for me.

 

[Lowrys]

My problem isn't with open worlds, it's with open worlds that are needlessly large or even there simply for the sake of it. I prefer dense worlds with deep gameplay, not vast, empty worlds like AC Odyssey with shallow and repetitive gameplay.

 

[Catsygreen]

For me, fatigue does not come from the open world itself but from the "lists" of side quests that accumulate in a tab and especially follow points of interest on a map. The developers who would manage to revolutionize this will have my gratitude (and my money).

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Funny thing is, once I managed to get out of mindset I started to actually finish games again, because now I can just leave behind all the other ones that weren't really fun for me.

Click to shrink...

This too.

My backlog is enormous, if I'm not finding a game fun after an hour or so I just put it down and move on.

 

[AllMight1]

Yakuza fatigue i got hard.
I know Judgment is a great game but I can't seem to play it right now. ..
Get bored after 20 minutes

 

[EJS]

I got burnt out on them at the end of 2019 but I have not played one since. I am playing Final Fantasy XV and find the open world concept more engaging now that I have taken a slight break.

 

[hwarang]

I think the key to open world enjoyment is taking your time with it. You're expending your willpower on a really long ass game. Replenish it by taking a break from the open world game that you're trying to beat by playing a shorter game from a different genre.

 

[Abominuz]

Give me sub open world any day like God of War, Deus Ex, Dishonered.

 

[oni-link]

Open world games are designed like a buffet, you are supposed to turn up, take what you like, eat it, and then leave

You're not supposed to turn up to a buffet and attempt to eat every single thing there

If you do that, you're gonna have a bad time

 

[Deleted member 16136]

Bring back GTA3/Vice City size of open worlds and i'd probably come back to them.

 

[Black Mantis]

All comes down to the setting and how the traversal of the world's handled for me. GTA, RDR, Crackdown, State of Decay, Yakuza, Forza Horizon, I'm more than happy to play anytime because exploring those worlds is usually so much fun to do and I have a firm interest in their settings.

 

[ZeoVGM]

 

[Rodelero]

Completely. I have to really pick and choose my open world games because of it, unusual that I play more than one a year because they all overlap with each other so, so much.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

I loathe it. It was cool back when GTA3 and maybe 4 were big

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I usually play a completely different genre after finishing the game I am busy with.

I go like this:

Linear FPS
Open World GTA style game
Visual Novel
Survival Horror
etc etc

I don't play them this order but I try to vary them up.

 

[defaltoption]

Nearly every game Im interred in these days I have to look up on howlongtobeat because everything became a 80 hr rpg. I love RPGs but most of these games suck at it and use that plus an open world as padding. Most side quests suck most worlds are empty and the stories in games are bloated and boring because they're so worried about setting up 5 sequels. Not to mention everything how many games prolong themselves though "gear" or "XP" now just so they can have an in game store.

Many are good too but it's so disappointing. I mean you could play Odyssey for over 100 hrs without dlc. How freaking insane is that. Who has the time. Why not make a 40 hr game with an amazing story, remove the padded quests, and make a smaller but more alive world.

So many of the largest video games franchises these days forgot these were supposed to be fun and not just waste 6 months of time collecting daily objectives or clearing out camps. That's why so many people find their love of video games again in indies or with Nintendo.

 

[Andri]

Cant relate at all.
More Open World for me please.
Especially in these times, a game where i can sink my teeth in for more than 20 hours before i have to change to another is much appreciated.

 

[dgrdsv]

I'm trying to space them open world games out with smaller titles from my backlog. This way it's kinda manageable as you generally forget about how bad most open world games are thanks to these smaller linear titles. But still, going though more than a couple or so of big open world games per year is something which I try to avoid as they tend to burn you out fast and thoroughly.

 

[Scruffy8642]

I was gonna say

playing BotW made me realize how poorly designed most open worlds are. They just feel random. BotW felt like every bit of it was crafted with an eye towards sightlines, landmarks, points of interest, etc. I don't think any other game comes close in this particular aspect.

Click to shrink...

Same, I actually didn't want to play it because I tend to dislike open worlds so much, but I'm so glad I did. Instead of placing objectives within the world and expecting you to travel from one to the next, it makes exploration the objective and you just get caught up exploring every nook and cranny finding shrines to power yourself up.

Ubisoft games are pretty much a big no for me nowadays, those guys don't know how to make open worlds that are compelling and don't waste your time. Even games with tons of praise like Horizon, I just felt the open world was pretty empty and it hurt the story in the end. Was wishing it was linear tbh.

 

[Nintendo]

I can't relate. I'd rather play but not finish an open world game than play a linear game. There are some exceptions of course.

 

[Potterson]

I can. I wanted to finish Witcher 3, RDR 2, AC Origins / Odyssey, but I just gave up on every single of these after 20-30 hours.

 

[Tarpii]

This is why BOTW did open world right. You were encouraged, and rewarded to pay attention to the world itelf. Exploring and finding easter eggs, shrines, or an extra korok was cool. I never felt compelled to collect all the koroks (or even find all the shrines)

A lot of open worlds are just quest triggers, separated by vast swathes of bland space.

 

[Mexen]

One reason I change genres between playthroughs.

 

[Elephant]

Yes I've experienced that open world fatigue, I had it with AC Odyssey most recently because I found there to be a lot of filler. I too am one that needs to explore everything for my FOMO. I'm the guy in linear games that is checking every single nook and cranny so I don't miss a collectible/chest etc.

I think that's part of why I enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn so much, it was the Goldilocks of open worlds for me, where it wasn't too big or too small and everything was so well designed. I wasn't overloaded with little question marks, and is probably one of the most enjoyable Platinums I've ever got.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Odyssey and division 2 didn't hit right because of it

 

[cowbanana]

I'm not feeling open world fatigue because I play so many non open world games as well. I played Days Gone and Death Stranding last year, loved them both. I really enjoyed RDR2 when that came out. I can take some more open worlds if they're great.

The only open world game I gave up on in recent years was AC Odyssey on PC, it was some mind-numbing, dull shit. I lasted 10-12 hours before I noped out. I absolutely love the Greek setting, but not the garbage bloat that makes up the game. Hopefully Valhalla is better - I liked Origins, though it was a little too "Ubi bloat" in its design as well.