Criticisms of open world games

[StaceyPowers]

I run into a lot of folks who downright loathe open world games. I’m obviously not one of them, but I do understand some of their complaints. In particular, I agree that it’s easier to tell a story with a strong narrative and get a player emotionally invested in a linear game with a set storyline and character.

But I don’t think open world games are necessarily impossible to do that with. It seems like even if you let the player create a character, it’s just a matter of having strong narratives tied to followers to create that emotional connection and context in the game.

Thoughts?

[Cleopatra92]

I'm not against them at all if they serve the game well. In a Bethesda Game Studios game, the open world is one of the main selling points of the game. In a more focused RPG like the Dragon Age series was (and hopefully will be next time), I think it only detracts from the game. It all depends on if the open world is adding busy work, or if it's a genuine world I suppose. 

[kingpotato]

I never understood the hate towards open world games, sure some are better than others but I dont think that a gameplay genre itself will make a game bad

[killamch89]

My criticism of some Open-World games (doesn't apply Elder Scrolls, GTA or RDR series) is that they feel like a huge freaking post-apocalyptic world in terms of very few characters/npcs all over the map including major cities where it is supposed to be populated and the game world feels dead as a result instead of buzzing with activity.