At least as far as Cyberpunk 2077 is concerned, sure there are instances where the open world does add quite a bit and is the right approach however it seems that many in the AAA sphere simply go open world because it is the reigning trend at the time and never truly leverage the strength of an open world while inheriting all of it's weaknesses. Woo lets be backseat game designers and tell CDPR how they fucked up! Lets Go!
Now I am not saying open world games are bad but they do come with their own set of strengths and weaknesses and unless you know how to utilize those strengths all you are left with is the weaknesses.
To me Breath of the Wild is a good example of an open world game done right, sure it has it's weaknesses and areas where it could be stronger but as far as open world games go it really is the game that truly gets what makes a great open world. The world is just one big open playground with many meaningful ways to interact with it and hazards to overcome, create a bridge with a fallen log, roll a boulder down the hill to take out enemies, go snowboarding on your shield, lightning storms that get attracted to your metal weapons but you can also use this to your advantage against enemies, there are so many systems at play that make interacting with the world and it's environment a treat, you stand at the top of the world and see objects and places in the distance that you want to explore and if you see something glowing on a mountain then there is probably something cool to find.
Cyberpunk on the other hand there really isn't anything to interact with in the world at large outside of the quests and missions that take place in enclosed spaces, your view is constantly blocked by towering skyscrapers and neon signs and in the end the game just feels like you are following icons on a map ticking off content on your content checklist, there is a reason people dislike Ubisoft sandbox games and to be honest Cyberpunk 2077 falls into many of the same traps, sure the side content is a little more thought out in Cyberpunk 2077 than in your average Ubisoft game but even then they really don't feel all that worthwhile. Sure we get cars to drive but apart from getting from A to B and being somewhat of a vanity item for our character what do they really add to the game? Apart from 1 racing side quest that is honestly pretty rubbish (do yourself a favour and don't look behind in these sections) there are no missions that actually utilize these vehicles, no high speed car chases where you are the driver, piss off the cops and they just instantly spawn at your location but lose aggro as soon as you get one block away, the only high speed car chases this game has are the scripted ones where the AI drives and you hang out the side shooting with a gun and you really don't need an open world for these sections.
In the end it feels like Cyberpunk 2077 tries to stretch itself too thin, too much effort is spent filling the map with side content that the main content does not get enough attention and fails to truly shine, I honestly think an approach somewhat like the Witcher 2 or Deus Ex with smaller hub areas would have been a much better fit for this game rather than one big wide open map, more effort could be spent on making the interactions and content within these areas feel more significant while cutting out a lot of the clutter.
I know people are probably going to tell me that Witcher 3 was open world and while I do think the Witcher 3 was good despite it's open world I still think that the Witcher 2 had a far better story structure and felt a lot more focused in this regard. I don't begrudge CDPR for trying new things but I do think the strength of their games lies more in the writing and story rather than the gameplay and openness of their worlds.
Now I am not saying open world games are bad but they do come with their own set of strengths and weaknesses and unless you know how to utilize those strengths all you are left with is the weaknesses.
To me Breath of the Wild is a good example of an open world game done right, sure it has it's weaknesses and areas where it could be stronger but as far as open world games go it really is the game that truly gets what makes a great open world. The world is just one big open playground with many meaningful ways to interact with it and hazards to overcome, create a bridge with a fallen log, roll a boulder down the hill to take out enemies, go snowboarding on your shield, lightning storms that get attracted to your metal weapons but you can also use this to your advantage against enemies, there are so many systems at play that make interacting with the world and it's environment a treat, you stand at the top of the world and see objects and places in the distance that you want to explore and if you see something glowing on a mountain then there is probably something cool to find.
Cyberpunk on the other hand there really isn't anything to interact with in the world at large outside of the quests and missions that take place in enclosed spaces, your view is constantly blocked by towering skyscrapers and neon signs and in the end the game just feels like you are following icons on a map ticking off content on your content checklist, there is a reason people dislike Ubisoft sandbox games and to be honest Cyberpunk 2077 falls into many of the same traps, sure the side content is a little more thought out in Cyberpunk 2077 than in your average Ubisoft game but even then they really don't feel all that worthwhile. Sure we get cars to drive but apart from getting from A to B and being somewhat of a vanity item for our character what do they really add to the game? Apart from 1 racing side quest that is honestly pretty rubbish (do yourself a favour and don't look behind in these sections) there are no missions that actually utilize these vehicles, no high speed car chases where you are the driver, piss off the cops and they just instantly spawn at your location but lose aggro as soon as you get one block away, the only high speed car chases this game has are the scripted ones where the AI drives and you hang out the side shooting with a gun and you really don't need an open world for these sections.
In the end it feels like Cyberpunk 2077 tries to stretch itself too thin, too much effort is spent filling the map with side content that the main content does not get enough attention and fails to truly shine, I honestly think an approach somewhat like the Witcher 2 or Deus Ex with smaller hub areas would have been a much better fit for this game rather than one big wide open map, more effort could be spent on making the interactions and content within these areas feel more significant while cutting out a lot of the clutter.
I know people are probably going to tell me that Witcher 3 was open world and while I do think the Witcher 3 was good despite it's open world I still think that the Witcher 2 had a far better story structure and felt a lot more focused in this regard. I don't begrudge CDPR for trying new things but I do think the strength of their games lies more in the writing and story rather than the gameplay and openness of their worlds.
Last edited: