Open world design has dominated videogame settings for over a decade, and you can learn more about that legacy by reading our feature on the history of open world game design on PlayStation. However, more goes into building your favourite spaces than slapping Caspar David Friedrich’s painting ‘Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog’ on the mood board.
When it comes to immersive worlds, we’ve never had it so good - read our Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora review for a artistic example. But also, recently we’ve crashed through the material plane of Faerûn, run through the zombie-infested streets of Villedor, duelled with Fatui Harbingers across Teyvat, popped wheelies all over New Island, and disappeared into the seedy underbelly of Night City. Losing ourselves in these spaces, we emerge to seek the insight of the master world builders behind them, asking what exactly goes into setting the scene.
