Originally Posted by dirigible
Originally Posted by Kaewins
Originally Posted by dirigible
Pretty much one of the defining features of (western) crpgs is their branching narrative and open world.


You don't say. Is that why these last few years "open world" games are becoming a thing? You know DA3 is open world now, the new Witcher is open world, compared to before. It's a trendy thing, isn't it?

You should categorize games properly. Morrowind is open world, Skyrim is open world. Shockingly both of those aren't exactly story driven RPGs, they can't be, because there's nothing to keep you focused on the story. Those are games, that give you freedom to forge your own story.

KOTOR, NWN, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale etc... Those are story driven games where your progress through the story is linear. It's an immersive experience handcrafted by the creators of those games.

D:OS is neither Fallout, nor Baldur's Gate. It falls somewhere between those games. It's non-linear enough to ruin it's story and pace, and not open enough to make you really feel like you're exploring.

By the way if you don't consider Morrowind an ARPG, then you shouldn't consider Mass Effect 1 an ARPG, or Skyrim for that matter.

So what exactly are your claims? Is D:OS really the stellar game, that most reviews present it as? Is my criticism invalid?

New games are being advertised as open world, because every time a game is open world, they advertise it as a feature. That doesn't make it new, that just makes it a selling point.

Remember in Mass Effect, where you could go fucking anywhere in the universe, once you got the Normandy?
Remember in Baldur's Gate, where you left Candlekeep and all of a sudden you had access to areas that were way above your level?
Remember how in Dragon Age Origins you could walk across the entire map and back again while ignoring the main quest line?

That's what open world means. You aren't locked into "level 1-1, level 1-2, level 1-3". You can walk off the beaten path and find sidequests, or backtrack to where you started, or accidentally walk into a high level zone.

That's been a staple of WRPGs for a long time. The only games you mentioned that are arguably linear are Icewind Dale (which is a mindless hack and slash version of Baldur's Gate) and KotoR - and even KotoR is much more open world than your average Call of Duty or The Last of Us.


Call of Duty and The Last of Us aren't open world games. Christ. And being able to pick a level, doesn't make the game open world. In all the games you mentioned, yeah you choose a zone, but the zone itself is completely linear.

It would have been open if you could wander off in the distance, like in Skyrim and do whatever you please. D:OS has a bit of that, in the sense that you can indeed wander of into a zone your main quest hasn't reached and spend a ton of time there or not even go to certain places and still continue through the story.