Support NeoGAF

[TheAssist]

I'm currently playing Like a Dragon Ininite Wealth and I realized something.

The game was so much more fun to explore when you are in Ichincho or Kamurocho compared to Hawaii.
We all know that US cities are made for cars and therefor have huge streets and a lot of wasted space for car parking and you really feel it in this game.
Its not like they havent done a good job recreating Honolulu, but it actually goes against fun gameplay and exploration. Walking along the big main road
feels like such a boring slog compared to running through the dense inner cities of the other japanese areas. Even the big mall is a pain to get around (or in and out of).
Everything is so needlessly big and it takes longer to go from A to B. In the end I just started to fast travel everywhere in Hawaii, while I walked everywhere in the Japanese cities,
simply because it was fun to do so. Discovering all the small alleyways and shops is simply more fun than running on a road.

So if your game is based on on foot exploration, asian and european cities are much more interesintg, while car based (or fast movement like in spiderman) exploration works better in
US cities.

I just wish more devs would start to recreate cities outside the US. You can only go to NY or LA so much before it gets boring. But I get it, if you are a US based studio, then make what you know best.
Its hard to recreate something you've never lived in. So studios from other countries have to step up their game. Would have been cool of Cyberpunk played in a Warsaw inspired city.

 

[Doom85]

I just wish more devs would start to recreate cities outside the US. You can only go to NY or LA so much before it gets boring.

Sure, but this is Hawaii. Has that been the location for a bunch of prior games?

Also, one of the reasons I avoided playing past Yakuza 1 was because I was told the setting is almost always the same. Like, one of the reasons I wanted to skip to 7 was because after that they were getting a fresh new locale.
Like, you say NY and LA have gotten boring, but last time I checked Japan also is heavily featured in tons of games. So if overexposure is the issue, then all of the above apply.

Also, it sounds like the location isn’t the issue, just that they should have had a bicycle or something to offer faster exploration.

 

[PeteBull]

Agree on everything but ur last sentence @OP . Cyberpunk is american ip/parody of its future so would never want it to be anywhere else but in the US, and i say it as a Pole who lives in Poland, who obviously loves cdpr games (witcher series bit more than cyberpunk but i got both instaled on my pc even now ;p ).

 

[TheAssist]

Sure, but this is Hawaii. Has that been the location for a bunch of prior games?

Also, one of the reasons I avoided playing past Yakuza 1 was because I was told the setting is almost always the same. Like, one of the reasons I wanted to skip to 7 was because after that they were getting a fresh new locale.
Like, you say NY and LA have gotten boring, but last time I checked Japan also is heavily featured in tons of games. So if overexposure is the issue, then all of the above apply.

Also, it sounds like the location isn’t the issue, just that they should have had a bicycle or something to offer faster exploration.

No you're right Hawaii itself is kinda fresh still, but it suffers from the same problem as most other US cities in its layout and therefore it feels like any other US city in terms of navigation. And yes the devs knew that and added a new transportation method (city scooter) so you can go faster and even auto navigate. But at this point any dev should be like...wait, am I making the game play itself, because actually playing it yourself is too boring?

And its true that most Yakuza games reuse old locals, but first its kinda cool because they always change a bit and you get that feeling of nostalgia mixed with discovering all the new things that happened over the past few years. Its different when you use repetition as a tool. Second, most if not all of the games add a new local like Hiroshima or Okinawa where most of the game takes place and then they back transport you to an older area for a few missions, but thats not where most of the game takes place.

Agree on everything but ur last sentence @OP . Cyberpunk is american ip/parody of its future so would never want it to be anywhere else but in the US, and i say it as a Pole who lives in Poland, who obviously loves cdpr games (witcher series bit more than cyberpunk but i got both instaled on my pc even now ;p ).

Honestly I havent played CP or know anything about the IP. In my head I just had the idea of a European cyberpunk inspired city, which seems pretty cool in my head and I am sure it would be inherently different from any American city because of the differences in culture itself. So a different interpretation what cyberpunk actually is.

 

[StereoVsn]

Agree on everything but ur last sentence @OP . Cyberpunk is american ip/parody of its future so would never want it to be anywhere else but in the US, and i say it as a Pole who lives in Poland, who obviously loves cdpr games (witcher series bit more than cyberpunk but i got both instaled on my pc even now ;p ).

Cyberpunk 2077 IP set in a large European or Asian city would be amazing. Think Shadowrun minus the magic.

And I agree with above, unfortunately for foot traversal and dense environments you only have a handful of locations in US. NYC being by far the best in that respect.

Otherwise, you have maybe Boston and Chicago.

 

[Davevil]

what wrong with US cities?

 

[PeteBull]

what wrong with US cities?

Definitely didnt see such views in my eastern europe smalltown

Edit:

Some madman made polish gta 6 trailer, all scenes are actual real life/not some pranks/movies etc, they all happened

 

[Skifi28]

We need more Asian cities. I didn't care much for sleeping dogs, but the city felt really unique.

 

[Impotaku]

what wrong with US cities?

Looks like London 2024 lol

 

[lughnasadh123]

Personally I've never felt bored running around a city because it's too big. Quite the opposite actually.

 

[StereoVsn]

Personally I've never felt bored running around a city because it's too big. Quite the opposite actually.

The issue is density. Running around in a large European or Asian city, there is a lot to do and see on each city block. In most US locations you don’t have nearly the same density so interesting spots are very spread out.

Hence why NYC is very popular as a setting.

 

[lughnasadh123]

The issue is density. Running around in a large European or Asian city, there is a lot to do and see on each city block. In most US locations you don’t have nearly the same density so interesting spots are very spread out.

Hence why NYC is very popular as a setting.

But I don't need something of interest every step because to me that's not realistic. It's more of the quality of the interesting things combined with good use of negative space. Even the world of RDR2 including the small towns are interesting to me.

Typically anything much bigger or that jam packed tends to get a little too copy-paste for my taste where there's so much more visual clutter filled with similar stuff.

 

[TheAssist]

But I don't need something of interest every step because to me that's not realistic. It's more of the quality of the interesting things combined with good use of negative space. Even the world of RDR2 including the small towns are interesting to me.

Typically anything much bigger or that jam packed tends to get a little too copy-paste for my taste where there's so much more visual clutter filled with similar stuff.

I mean it is realistic, because it exists in real life, I'll link a video of what I mean.

RDR is a total different thing in my bock, though I agree wit your assessment.

Maybe ask yourself this: Would GTA still be interesting to navigate through if you only walked everything by foot? Because I dont think most areas are interesting enough to look at to warrant walking. I'd rather jetpack through there as quickly as possible. In Yakuza I keep slow walking on purpose because there is so much stuff going on and interesting things to see, because everything is so much closer and not separated by a big 6 lane street.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I thought this thread was going to be about game availability in certain cities and stores. Was going to say that my local area has the worst selections. Crap like Ubi games and Fortnite, and shitty mainstream titles only. No copies of games like Hades or Hollow Knight, no JRPGs or niche titles sold in most of these stores today.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I thought this thread was going to be about game availability in certain cities and stores. Was going to say that my local area has the worst selections. Crap like Ubi games and Fortnite, and shitty mainstream titles only. No copies of games like Hades or Hollow Knight, no JRPGs or niche titles sold in most of these stores today.

Now I'm on the hunt for the last game that had the player walk into a physical game store.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Honestly I havent played CP or know anything about the IP. In my head I just had the idea of a European cyberpunk inspired city, which seems pretty cool in my head and I am sure it would be inherently different from any American city because of the differences in culture itself. So a different interpretation what cyberpunk actually is.

Check out Remember Me for a nice vision of Neo Paris.

 

[R6Rider]

I didn't care much for sleeping dogs

 

[BennyBlanco]

They really should’ve just gave you a faster vehicle like a motorcycle or something. Tooling around on the Segway was funny for 10 min but it’s way too slow.

 

[TheAssist]

They really should’ve just gave you a faster vehicle like a motorcycle or something. Tooling around on the Segway was funny for 10 min but it’s way too slow.

Is that not the equivalent of just using more duct tape to fix the underlying problem though?

 

[diffusionx]

 

[PeteBull]

We need more Asian cities. I didn't care much for sleeping dogs, but the city felt really unique.

Its solid 8/10 game even by today standards, talking about definitive edition remaster here ofc, still very fun and doesnt look bad at all

 

[Fafalada]

We all know that US cities are made for cars and therefor have huge streets and a lot of wasted space for car parking

Real cities yes.
Games not so much. At least the most popular renditions(gta) are downscaled A lot, and genuinely just feel like miniaturised versions and not very like US cities at all.

 

[Nydius]

Walking along the big main road
feels like such a boring slog compared to running through the dense inner cities of the other japanese areas.

I understand where you’re coming from but after countless Yakuza games (seriously, I’ve lost count, 8? 9?) and multiple Persona games which often trod the same “dense Japanese alleyway” ground, I’m pretty much as tired of that as I am open world urban sprawl.

 

[delfrickintree]

This is actually an interesting topic, regardless if OP is advocating for non western locations. Exploring in games is one of my favorite activities, especially when history is involved, and when done well can make the rest of the game irrelevant. I think fictional settings that are loosely or tightly based off real cities can be done well.. AssCreeds, Sleeping Dogs (although hong kong is essentially british), Watch Dogs, Division, Fallout. As long as geography is incorporated to make the layout varied. It's an aspect of design that can be utilized very successfully, and other times a hassle.

Then we have the other style that just takes the idea of a real location and creates a new concept world from its themes, like GTA, Infamous, Arkham, the list goes on forever. With those you would expect to never have travel fatigue as they are not bound to physical location restrictions. So in essence you could have an Asian city layout with US facades everywhere and have a good experience, which probably exists already. The amount of nyc grid based maps is tiresome we can agree. Something like Prague in DXMD keeps it so unique that it borders on mazelike.

The method of travel is a huge factor as well. Walking and running is a slog when just trying to cover distance, hence we have this thread. Thematic appropriate travel is fascinating because it can range from horseback to various automobiles, to climbing, gliding/ boosting, straightup flying.. all within the confines of the engine (then sometimes camera mode lets you have god mode).

So not necessarily the origin of the game location but moreso how it's implemented in a design sense that meshes well with the gameplay style.

 

[West Texas CEO]

We need more games to take place in Dallas.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Why do you think most games decide on New York City, or at least creating a world related to it? Everywhere else is a wasteland.

 

[tommyleelynn]

Some of the best game levels are inspired takes of real world places or completely fabricated. I think in the pursuit of graphic fidelity and realism, some elements of level design get lost in translation.

Of course we used to come about water levels and mandatory desert/lava levels in games too.

 

[Yamisan]

You just don't like it because its local and you want to go overseas.

 

[CosmicComet]

We need more Asian cities. I didn't care much for sleeping dogs, but the city felt really unique.

Great call. Loved that game.

More than any GTA game.

 

[Nydius]

We need more games to take place in Dallas.

Dallas, Houston, Denver, and Las Vegas are the only cities west of the Mississippi but east of the Sierra Nevadas that I think would make for decent game cities.

Lord knows no one wants to play a game that takes place in Tulsa.

 

[TheAssist]

You just don't like it because its local and you want to go overseas.

I'm not from the US

I'd totally be up for a more European open world. But again, I dont expect US devs to make that for us, its write what you know. If we want this kind of representation it would be upon is to make it.

Is there any game set in Boston?

 

[digital_ghost]

I prefer fantasy settings. Where people dream of entire living cities and countries not defined by real life characteristics.

In games i want to escape to a new world. Not escape to real life cities. Forget realistic games.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

We need more rural settings.

The setting is what makes P4 the best Persona game.

 

[delfrickintree]

I'm not from the US

I'd totally be up for a more European open world. But again, I dont expect US devs to make that for us, its write what you know. If we want this kind of representation it would be upon is to make it.

Is there any game set in Boston?

Should modern developers take a trip to mars in order to design a familiar and traversable virtual environment just for you? Think of all the funding, R&D, dev slave labor and consulting firms. Money doesnt grow on earth, we have been trudging along for decades, only for you to come here and spit on it.

 

[TheAssist]

Should modern developers take a trip to mars in order to design a familiar and traversable virtual environment just for you? Think of all the funding, R&D, dev slave labor and consulting firms. Money doesnt grow on earth, we have been trudging along for decades, only for you to come here and spit on it.

Not really sure what you are on about, but I give you an example. Rockstar was asked why they don't make a modern GTA in Europe. They said they dont want to because the games are often a parody of the life in the US. That includes designs, foods, radio, characters, etc. They cant do that for a European city, because they dont know enough about the politics, inside jokes, culture, etc. in Europe. Sure you could make the buildings, streets and cars look like a European city, but they would not catch the fine details of day to day life. For that, you need people who actually live here. Otherwise you just end up with stereotypes.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

I still dream that someone will make a horror game where you live in American suburbia and go to do your grocery shopping. On foot.

 

[mdkirby]

They should set more things in Uk cities and large towns, like York. It’s condensed enough to build the whole place, they look interesting and different, and would be fun to explore on foot, without massive roads everywhere.

 

[Boralf]

Yeah, make a game in Edinburgh or Utrecht or In Bruges.

 

[elmos-acc]

Going from GTA IV to GTA V was awful. Downtown Los Santos had literally no life in it, it's just a highway interstate after another. I learned then that dense, walkable cities are fun to explore.

That is also a reason why I am kind of cautious about Vice City. I hope R* finds a way to make exploration fun.

 

[jufonuk]

I think London and certainly the central parts and a few other locations within London are great for games.

Especially the tube can be useful for horror elements.

Hawaii would be good for an open world zombie/post apocalypse game I think
American cities I would say Philly and manhattan.

Or somewhere remote.

LA is too car focussed to work

 

[Boralf]

I think London and certainly the central parts and a few other locations within London are great for games.

Especially the tube can be useful for horror elements.

Hawaii would be good for an open world zombie/post apocalypse game I think
American cities I would say Philly and manhattan.

Or somewhere remote.

LA is too care focussed to work

You mean like Vampyr and Dead Island?

 

[NanaMiku]

Its solid 8/10 game even by today standards, talking about definitive edition remaster here ofc, still very fun and doesnt look bad at all

 

[Fahdis]

I didn't care much for sleeping dogs.

 

[The Fartist]

Bummed about Last of Us 2 online being cancelled, I was looking forward to exploring San Francisco, even if it was just online. Hopefully they can rework it into TLoU3 somehow.

 

[delfrickintree]

Bummed about Last of Us 2 online being cancelled, I was looking forward to exploring San Francisco, even if it was just online. Hopefully they can rework it into TLoU3 somehow.

I hope everyone and everything involved with tlou goes down in flames. That franchise is nothing but a massive sore on our culture and needs to be disinfected. O doyle rules.

 

[BlackTron]

Pokemon Go thread

 

[Stephen Curry]

How many games in real cities are based around on-foot exploration?

 

[Aenima]

Sure, but this is Hawaii. Has that been the location for a bunch of prior games?

Also, one of the reasons I avoided playing past Yakuza 1 was because I was told the setting is almost always the same. Like, one of the reasons I wanted to skip to 7 was because after that they were getting a fresh new locale.
Like, you say NY and LA have gotten boring, but last time I checked Japan also is heavily featured in tons of games. So if overexposure is the issue, then all of the above apply.

Also, it sounds like the location isn’t the issue, just that they should have had a bicycle or something to offer faster exploration.

And in LaD Infinite Wealth there is. You get a Segway that you can even pimp and upgrade to make it faster. But i agree with the OP for most open world games. Walking on foot in Kamurocho feels much more "real " than when it is in very wide cities where everething is very far apart.

Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 is my favourite videogame city because they made a massive city that you can cruise on a car or bike, but when you are on foot it still feels real cuz is packed with little details everywhere.

 

[The Fartist]

I hope everyone and everything involved with tlou goes down in flames. That franchise is nothing but a massive sore on our culture and needs to be disinfected. O doyle rules.

 

[AmuroChan]

Is there any game set in Boston?

Fallout 4