Open World games and Replayability. Like Oil and Water?

[Not Spaceghost]

So there is a problem that I personally have with open world games, I am sure some of you guys share as well. Open world games tend to have immense amounts of content, a lot of that content is stellar. Yet once I finish up one of these games after 80-120 hours of living in these worlds, I have no desire to ever replay them again.

The Witcher 3 is one of these games, a lot of people even call it one of the greatest of all time, you cannot deny the writing is spectacular, the side quests alone have more depth, character moments and intrigue in them than a lot of games do in their main campaign. This is a game that at launch I played for 86 hours to finish. I have tried to revisit this game many times but each one of these attempts never makes it past white orchard. Why is that? This isn't just the case with the witcher 3, it's the case with breath of the wild, metal gear solid V, GTAV, and practically every open world game I can think of. But why? It's not the length that's the problem either, Last year I've played through Persona 5 twice within the same month of the game releasing, and that game is certainly longer than most of the games I mentioned main story content.

Open world games feel like they're designed for the first playthrough of a game, everything is paced out so you're only pulled in if you've never experience the game before and when you're done you've got a host of extra post game activities you can mop up and then put the game on the shelf for good.

I really can't quite explain why this is the case with open world games because a lot of the issues I feel can be applied to any game, but there really is just something about open world games that makes you feel like you do it all and there is no reason to return. I think part of it is the sheer amount of distractions coupled with the investment already made into a single play through, but even then it's hard to say that definitively because both the witcher 3 and persona 5 have NG+ options where almost everything carries over yet I can't bring myself to care for another run of TW3 the same way I can over another run of P5.

I think the more real reason is that open world games lack the things that make games that traditionally fun to replay. Things like strong level design, encounters, set pieces, weird shifts in gameplay and that feeling like you've conquered the game mechanically. I can go back and play through resident evil 4 any day of the week and have a blast, but I don't think I'll be able to sit down with breath of the wild again for a long time.

This whole post came off as a bit rambly and I'm sorry about that haha, hopefully you guys understand what I'm trying to say here.

 

[memoryman3]

I feel like Mario Odyssey has great replay value because Mario himself is just so zippy. Plus, you get the feeling that you're a speedrunning master, when you hop and skip through a section.

Many open world games have slow progression - you don't get your full arsenal of moves and weapons until the middle or near the end of the game, and side missions tend to disappear for good once you've finished them.

 

[Deleted member 24118]

I've played New Vegas like eight times.

It's all about choices. If 99% of your "choices" are actually just "Give me more information," then why would you ever replay it?

 

[takriel]

Breath of the Wild has great replay value for me personally.

 

[FelipeMGM]

if they have a more sandbox nature, its actually pretty welcoming to replay them again

you mention GTA, but thats a game that for me its pretty easy to come back and play a bunch again and again. Going through the main story again or not, there is hundreds of hours of replayability there. I think Breath of the Wild has a similar (but to lesser extent) appeal

 

[Chief Malik]

Sanbox games like the newest Zelda, MGSV and GTA are great.

Breath of the Wild has great replay value for me personally.

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This is a sandbox though. Open world and sandbox aren't always synonymous unfortunately.

 

[mockingbird]

BotW got me to replay it via Master Mode. I only intended to explore it for a bit, but before I knew it I added another 100+ hours to the game.

 

[SunBroDave]

I disagree actually. Open world games are built around the moment to moment gameplay being satisfying, and when games really nail that - as in The Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed Origins, or Watch Dogs 2 - I find it super easy to jump back into any of these games and enjoy replaying sections.

This is especially the case for games like The Witcher 3 which have good writing - good writing never goes out of style. I could return to The Witcher 3 every other year and still be just as amused by any given sidequest.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

I feel like Mario Odyssey has great replay value because Mario himself is just so zippy. Plus, you get the feeling that you're a speedrunning master, when you hop and skip through a section.

Many open world games have slow progression - you don't get your full arsenal of moves and weapons until the middle or near the end of the game, and side missions tend to disappear for good once you've finished them.

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Odyssey isn't really an Open World game though, it's just a collection of sandbox levels, much like Mario 64 or Sunshine

 

[silva1991]

I rarely replay open world games and when I do, I replay them once at best.

I feel like Mario Odyssey has great replay value because Mario himself is just so zippy. Plus, you get the feeling that you're a speedrunning master, when you hop and skip through a section.

Many open world games have slow progression - you don't get your full arsenal of moves and weapons until the middle or near the end of the game, and side missions tend to disappear for good once you've finished them.

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Odyssey is not an open world game.

 

[Lunar15]

A bit subjective, honestly. I somewhat agree, because open world games are always about that world feeling really big and foreign and generally get less interesting near the end. Once you've seen the world, it wears thin fast.

However, the fact that you use TW3 is interesting. That's a game that i feel like I'd be more inclined to play because it's so well written. I'd like to re-experience a lot of those sidequests. BotW I could probably avoid because most of that game is the surprise of finding new things. Even THEN, I'd put BotW higher on my list of replayability due to the shrines and the dungeons. So, those are two weird examples to use.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Just to be clear when I say replayability I don't mean boot the game up and play some side content, new DLC or multiplayer on an old save. I mean how likely you are to press that New Game button and start over to take it all in.

 

[memoryman3]

Odyssey is not an open world game.

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It's a very open ended game, so I felt like I should bring it up.

 

[Cap G]

Odyssey isn't really an Open World game though, it's just a collection of sandbox levels, much like Mario 64 or Sunshine

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Odyssey is not an open world game.

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An open world is just a big sandbox. GTA San Andreas is a sandbox game that takes place in an open world.

There's no functional difference between the two labels other than scale.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

I've replayed GTA 5 and Red Dead multiple times, great games.

Same with Dragons Dogma, and Bethesda open world RPGs.

 

[seiki]

Disagree. For the most part open world games are the most replayable because of their large worlds like Elder Scrolls. Sometimes, they can get stale and I'd tend to be put off with the overwhelming amount of content but there's still a world left unexplored even after beating the game first time round, the little details you would miss seeing and interacting with again or mabye a whole area you missed out on that offers a generous amount of new content.

Examples of games that offer pretty much nothing in it's open world after completion is MGSV because it's done poorly, nothing is likeable about those two bland locations, the desert and jungle, they are also small and boring to roam in. Basically the open world has to be fun, unique and detailed with much to offer when playing back. They are generally worth replaying.
Nor are the actual main story missions.

Just to be clear when I say replayability I don't mean boot the game up and play some side content, new DLC or multiplayer on an old save. I mean how likely you are to press that New Game button and start over to take it all in.

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Well I guess now it means something else. The actual starting over to take it all in has to have some lasting appeal to want to replay. GTAV for instance has a great story to play through from the start with it's missions aswell and all that.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

BotW got me to replay it via Master Mode. I only intended to explore it for a bit, but before I knew it I added another 100+ hours to the game.

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That's a good point, but then again i think BotW is an interesting title since as far as I can tell there are only two ways to start a new save without trashing your old data, master mode or switching profiles on your console.

Same with Dragons Dogma, and Bethesda open world RPGs.

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Bethesda RPGs I only usually replay to screw around with mods, the main quests and actual in game content rarely ever get touched when I boot the game back up. Dragon's dogma is an interesting one that I considered mentioning in the OP because it's a game I've played through 4 times, twice on PS3 and twice on steam but I ultimately decided that it's not really so much an open world game as it is an action RPG with an open world if that makes any sense. You pretty much always return to gran soren to get your new mission and then set out to the location the next morning. It's also a fairly speedy game to play through.

 

[Mesoian]

I have...well over 1000 hours in Modded skyrim. It helps that there are a lot of fan made quests that are dramatically better than most of the storylines in vanilla skyrim.

If people are given options and new content that is worthwhile and interesting, they will return.

 

[Lunar15]

I have...well over 1000 hours in Modded skyrim. It helps that there are a lot of fan made quests that are dramatically better than most of the storylines in vanilla skyrim.

If people are given options and new content that is worthwhile and interesting, they will return.

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That's not really re-starting the game though, is it?

 

[Lux86]

Well, i may be simplistic but i love to replay the games that i really like. It's not a matter of being open world or not, if i have fun playing it, i will replay it like forever (also i'm not the kind of person that buys and plays all the new games tbh, i'm pretty picky).
A great example for me personally is Dragon's Dogma, that happens to be open world.

 

[spad3]

It depends on how the story unfolds. I've played Skyrim multiple times across various consoles and still haven't touched every quest in the game. The sense of discovery, the sense of replayability, and the sense of adventure comes from the way the game unfolds itself to you. Witcher 3 can be easily revisited if you haven't done the side quests. Go about the game in a manner you went through it with the main quests. Hit up all the billboards, do all the side quests and you'll find that the game has so much more to offer you than you initially thought. Plus the expansions add SO MUCH MORE.

 

[Knight in Shining Armani]

I have definitely burned out on that idea. Even just finishing them these days seems impossible for me.

I've played through GTA IV its DLCs at least three times, RDR twice, GTA V twice, Sleeping Dogs twice etc.

 

[Mesoian]

That's not really re-starting the game though, is it?

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You still play through the game though, why wouldn't it be? If you restart a game after a large piece of DLC comes out, you're still starting over.

 

[srtrestre]

Breath of the Wild has great replay value for me personally.

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Same here.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Well I guess now it means something else. The actual starting over to take it all in has to have some lasting appeal to want to replay. GTAV for instance has a great story to play through from the start with it's missions aswell and all that.

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Yeah I mean it's a peculiar sense of the word replability since I figure a lot of people just think of that word as how often you boot up the game after you're "done" with the main content. But to me it's that willingness to play through an entire game again, each play through of MGS3 is fun and exciting because you kinda know what's gonna happen and when so you can prepare for it better but most open world games feel like they're carried by either your desire to see the story unfold or your desire to explore the world or a mix of both, and that makes for a great first experience but a weak repeat experience to me.

 

[Lunar15]

You still play through the game though, why wouldn't it be? If you restart a game after a large piece of DLC comes out, you're still starting over.

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I thought you meant just loading it up again to play new content. If you mean re-starting entirely, then yeah, I think that makes sense. Still, I imagine "replaying" is more going though the content you've already played.

No point in me being this semantic though, it's a very subjective question to begin with.

 

[A New Beginning]

Fallout: New Vegas
Gothic 2

 

[Wong Kar Why]

linear games have a lot more replayability for me, but ive found it easy to get back into rdr and new vegas

 

[Deleted member 11018]

I think it all depends on how the game resonates with oneself.
If the game repetitive mechanics are a chore for my subconscious, i don't even try a second run, once the story curiosity has vanished.
If the game resonates, then i will replay it regularly, but again for the quests and the story, never just to wreck havoc or dabble in random activities
.
This one resonated the most, and the timer is not accurate, i played more than that:

Witcher 3

This one the least, heck i let the CPU drive almost every time:

L.A. Noire, it's almost insulting calling it an open world, the timer is incorrect again, i am sure i played less than that.

 

[BouncyFrag]

I enjoy replaying Elder Scrolls, GTA, and the Arkham games. Games like Assassins Creed and Infamous not so much. I love the Witcher 3 bit I'm more in the middle of the road for replays in that I'm playing it for the main quest story lines and less the open world stuff and leveling up Geralt which is a bit dull I must admit.

 

[Lux86]

oh i wanna add something more, so if some time passes from my last session, for any reason, in any arpg or rpg (let's say 2 weeks), i just have to restart the game (only exception being the very first run in a new game). I can't just load a save and play, i don't know why.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Fallout: New Vegas
Gothic 2

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I think what makes these games great to replay is that different choices drastically affect a run and can make the game feel like a whole new game each time, so yeah that's true. It's also why new vegas is the only bethesda RPG (which is not even really a bethesda developed game) I've replayed multiple times for the main story. Gothic 2 in particular is super cool because it's got so many different ways to handle 1 objective.

 

[franklyshankly]

Open world games tend to have immense amounts of content, a lot of that content is stellar. Yet once I finish up one of these games after 80-120 hours of living in these worlds, I have no desire to ever replay them again.

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Here's your problem. If you do all 100 hours of content at one time then sure there's less to go back to. You can play 3 times for 40 hours each and do different things in different ways instead. That's often my strategy anyway.

 

[Tyaren]

Nah, that doesn't apply to me. I'm for example on my third playthrough of The Witcher 3 and each time is different, each time I discover something that I didn't discover before.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Here's your problem. If you do all 100 hours of content at one time then sure there's less to go back to. You can play 3 times for 40 hours each and do different things in different ways instead. That's often my strategy anyway.

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Yeah that's a good point, there is a benefit to moderation and trying to see everything in one shot of these games likely will lead to a kind of burn out.

 

[Subxero]

I'm the opposite. I get a lot more replay out of large open world games. They just lend themselves to generating new experiences. That's what gives games replay value to me.

Linear shorter games are the ones I never replay. This has led to me buying a lot less of them.

 

[DaciaJC]

Feel sorry for you, OP, I don't have this problem at all. To take the example of TW3, I have thus spent 230 hours across two full playthroughs - the first roleplaying Geralt as closely as possible to how he acts in the novels, the second as a total scumbag. I tried out different builds as well, one focusing entirely on swordplay and the other specializing in Signs. I'm planning a third playthrough where my choices will reflect how I personally would act (that is, using Geralt just an avatar for myself) while experimenting with a hybrid sword/alchemy build.

 

[DeNiZen]

No problem diving back into open world/sandbox games. Since I started playing around with turning HUD options off and other see through walls abilities, they feel like different games. I find that relying on actually 'looking around and paying attention to the world' rather then having the game highlight everything "useful", makes an open world with dynamic AI running around all the sweeter! But I love running around in the world to see what's out there, realizing that if I'm not looking around or listening to what's around me, I might get jumped by a stalking SABERTOOTH TIGER or MERCENARY SQUAD or some shit. Highest difficulty, zero HUD, no cross hairs, no objective or world icons flying around my screen telling me where to go all the time, no enemy tagging, no hunter vision, no mini map in the corner!!!! If a game has the option to REFILL your ammo and supplies at many different locations through out the game, I ignore those. The only way I can refill those stocks is out in the world and earning it! Searching bodies, looking around found locations, and any traveling merchant.
Running around in an open world like that always brings that moment to moment random encounter situation with every step for me :) Mose of these options are Farcry related of course. It works in Horizon Zero Dawn as well!

 

[TheMango55]

The more freedom you have to play the way you want, the more replayability a game has for me. Bethesda games (and New Vegas) all have between 600 and 1000 hours from me, but I doubt I've put more than 100 in any one character, and I generally only actually beat the game once, unless there are vastly different endings.

 

[Silent_but_Deadly]

Man, I feel this exact same way, including with the Witcher 3. I went to play it again and just couldn't get through the opening hours.

 

[BadWolf]

The only open world game I have had zero issues replaying many times is MGSV, and am still itching for more.

 

[misho8723]

Ehmmm.. I understand you, but using Witcher 3 to prove your point? It isn't Witcher 2 when it comes to choices and consenqeunces (or Fallout New Vegas or Alpha Protocol for that matter), but still there are many, many quests than have very different outcomes when you pick a different option then you picked previously and some have different characters, different actions, different locations, etc. or some change other quests as well or a choice from another quest can open up another quest or on the other hand close another quest/s, whey you do then differently then previously

 

[Deleted member 33533]

I feel the opposite. Open world games are so replayable to me. In something like BotW, my first playthrough took me on a very unique path as I ignored the story immediately and went in the opposite direction. I ended up doing something most players do late game as my very first experience in game. That alone changed up how I experienced those parts of the world. So coming into a second playthrough, choosing a different path and knowing more about the game, the experience felt brand new in a lot of ways. For example, instead of taking the linear route to Zora's Domain, I skipped the entire thing and came up from the mountains behind which was its own challenge.

Another example is Xenoblade Chronicles X. I ended up starting a second playthrough almost right after beating it the first time. I had a completely different looking avatar, used a different set up of weapons and skills, used different party members. I went all out and braved the late game areas as early as I could and with my knowledge gained from the first playthrough, challenged tougher enemies that I couldn't get close to beating the first time around. When it came to quests, I would choose the opposite choices from what I did the first time and seeing the results were always fun. I even stumbled across several areas and secrets that I had no idea existed. Felt like a completely different playthrough.

I think linear games are way harder to replay. You experience the same things in the same order from start to finish for the most part. I usually need more "recharge" time to replay them compared to open world games.

Things like strong level design, encounters, set pieces, weird shifts in gameplay and that feeling like you've conquered the game mechanically.

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Interesting. I feel like any open world game can have these things. Maybe not in the same context but I think a good open world has most of these things.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Witcher 3 to prove your point?

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Since this is mostly a subjective thing to me I feel like TW3 illustrates my point perfectly. It's a phenomenal game that I loved playing but one that I cannot seem to go back to. It's something about the way the game is structured, having gotten the ending I wanted, having seen almost every single major side quest and pretty much just doing everything I wanted to do. I loved the story but it really feels like there is nothing I would personally get out of another play through.

Another example is Xenoblade Chronicles X

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XCX is another game I wanna write a thread about at some point but for a very different reason, XCX is a game I only started truly enjoying after I had finished all of the main campaign stuff and moved into the deep post game content, I feel like that's where that game's mechanics really began to shine.

 

[misho8723]

Since this is mostly a subjective thing to me I feel like TW3 illustrates my point perfectly. It's a phenomenal game that I loved playing but one that I cannot seem to go back to. It's something about the way the game is structured, having gotten the ending I wanted, having seen almost every single major side quest and pretty much just doing everything I wanted to do. I loved the story but it really feels like there is nothing I would personally get out of another play through.

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What about the different choices in quests and their outcomes? And you must missed some major side quests because some quests can close other quests and it matters too in which order you do quests, because some can't be done if you already done other quests

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

TW3 kinda feels like a tv show with at least 3 seasons, you want to rewatch the best episodes and see how things change when you choose differently, but it is too much to start from the beginning to get to those moments seeing how long the game is. Imagine every time you wanted to rewatch an episode from a TV show you had to start from season 1.

 

[Kimura]

Witcher 3 is one of the best games ever made in my mind. The expansions are just insane.

On my second playthrough I decided to go for 100% and it was amazing just how much I had missed the first time. I had played for 80 hours and I thought I got most of the interesting stuff. Completely missed a lot the game didn't explain was there. Had to vacuum every part of the world from top to bottom, and that was really cool.

 

[Aurc]

I'm weak and would repurchase Fallout 3 and New Vegas on current gen, just to have the full experiences all over again. It's been several years since I've replayed them. Bethesda is more concerned with pulling a RE4 on Skyrim releases, however.

I have no interest in going through stuff like GTA IV, RDR, or L.A. Noire again, on the other hand. These are experiences I enjoyed, but have absolutely no desire to return to.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

TW3 kinda feels like a tv show with at least 3 seasons, you want to rewatch the best episodes and see how things change when you choose differently, but it is too much to start from the beginning to get to those moments seeing how long the game is. Imagine every time you wanted to rewatch an episode from a TV show you had to start from season 1.

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Yeah this is kind of part of it, but if the game was a more linear RPG I don't think it'd feel quite the same. Divinity Original Sin is a super long 60hour RPG and I've played through it twice. I think open worlds on a second play through feel almost suffocating but I can't quite say why. Maybe because you spend so much time moving from place to place? Open world games tend to have a lot of emphasis on the travel time.