@iamterics: Yeah I think that is why I am enjoying the new Zelda where most other open world games wouldn't cut the cheese for me. Zelda at least pretends to seem to not care if you even find any of the boxes to check, much less actually check them, so the world feels more organic rather than a bunch of tasks to do in X different regions where you go through the same gameplay loop in all of them with just a different spice to mix it up a little.
Is this what all AAA games are going to be now? "Here is a systematic, enclosed series of check marks, you must go into each clearly defined, structured open world area and check all the marks to be the best. How you check the marks is dynamic and full of player expression!"
There is something about the gamey-ness of this fad that is really off-putting to me. Maybe some juxtaposition of the cohesiveness of an open world trying to give a sense of place versus how fucking transparently mechanical the world is.
Hungry's comments