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[Trilobit]

The thing about GoT's open world is that it's very much formulaic and checklist-y, but they did a very good job of making checklist stuff happens as natural as possible. The guiding wind is such a genius touch.

At the very least, compared to Ubisoft games that shares a lot of same structure, there are much fewer UI elements on the screen and you open minimap/inventory significantly less frequently in GoT. It's easier to suspense disbelief and enjoy the illusion of free exploration. It's not GTA, BotW or Elden Ring but it's better than almost every other open world games out there.

For what I see, if you can't do the crazy sandbox mechanics of BotW, the only way to solve the open world problem is just put in the hard work and make things as diverse as possible. Elden Ring did it by having insane amount of enemy variety, hidden areas, intricate levels and just weird fucking things happening all over the map. Witcher 3 seems to have a lot of open world checklist stuff on the surface, but they also achieve success by creating a staggering amount of unique stories and characters to populate the world so it kept the experience fresh. GoY could probably do a bit of both.

I very quickly realized that GoT had very little interesting secrets to share when you explored. It actually made me explore much less than I usually do. I hope they do, as you say, implement Witcher 3 style quests or just about anything that makes it feel like you've found something secret and exciting.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

The biggest problem with Assassin Creed games is the mediocre combat. It the makes the game a chore to play, beyond the repetitive open world. At least with GOT, the combat was decent, even if it was a bit simplistic


A game like Rise of the Ronin is another good example. It has a streamlined Ubisoft open world, but the great combat doesn't make it feel nearly as repetitive as your typical Ubisoft game

 

[FrankWza]

All open world games are repetitive. GoT was easily one of the least along with GTA. Most of the time its the individual that determines this though. If you're immersed in the setting you will be more engaged and find the open world less of a grind. I don't care for quests in Horizon at all and just bang through the games but GoT left me wanting a sequel. I've been done with Assassin's creed for years but I'm looking forward to GTA6.

 

[cireza]

Nowadays developers try to make their games less repetitive. Back then, developers tried to make their games fun. Just shows how much gaming has evolved towards busywork nonsense.

 

[Jormatar]

It's good to hear that they have acknowledged their game falling short in repetitive activies. The combat itself was already one of the best in open world games, so now they can put more focus on improving other areas.

 

[SJRB]

I have no doubt they will deliver.

 

[mindfreak191]

Nowadays developers try to make their games less repetitive. Back then, developers tried to make their games fun. Just shows how much gaming has evolved towards busywork nonsense.

That's the same thing...

 

[Reaseru]

I wonder how much of Hokkaido will we be able to explore... The island only became officially part of Japan as Hokkaido in the late 1800s. In the 1600s was then known as Ezo, the land of the barbarians.