Open world is a popular “genre” these days, and most developers – especially those working at the higher end of town – are particularly keen on them. Because of this, everything from Pokemon to Final Fantasy, Dynasty Warriors to The Legend of Zelda, and even The Witcher has shifted from linear adventures to open world experiences.
But it doesn’t always work, and often, even if the game is otherwise good, the open world bit is not what makes it so. So in this section of the podcast we discuss why it might be hard to take a linear adventure and go open world, and whether every IP should be doing that.
