Modern open-world games might be more tedious nowadays, filled with checklists, map markers, and copy 'n' pasted enemy camps that suck out the feeling of discovery because of the ballooning size of game budgets and game studios, one Bethesda veteran suggests.
Rock Paper Shotgun recently delved into the checklistification of open worlds, where former Fallout and Elder Scrolls designer Nate Purkeypile - now working on heavy metal horror The Axis Unseen - added some context behind the slew of massive snoozefests we've seen in recent years. Purkeypile says that today's open worlds "can be a lot of fun," but so often they miss "that feeling of not really knowing what's over there and feeling surprised - you don't really feel like you're exploring the world, if you're not actually surprised."
