I’ve been revisiting anno 2205, infamously the ugly duckling of the Anno series of RTS games. I don’t mind so much the fact that it’s different, lacks customisation and random map generation - I’m bothered because the game is so slow to progress through on challenge settings, and it feels like a game designed just to artificially waste your time; in other anno games, you can always pull tricks to dig yourself out of economic crisis - selling off assets and surplus goods, completing quests for other parties, or taking loans. 2205 is very very confined in terms of what you can do to financially recover in the early game and forces you into a lot of military events.
I felt ambivalent about BotW mostly because I thought the destructible weapons were bullshit. I’m a completionist for Zelda games, and this one didn’t let me feel I’d completed it.
Still, I didn’t hate it. I guess the open world was impressive?
Then a few years later Elden Ring came out and I realized that BotW’s open world is actually garbage. In Elden Ring I see something that looks interesting in the distance. I go to it and find a new, unique dungeon. When I finish it, I get a reward, usually some kind of new weapon or spell. And even if that weapon or spell doesn’t fit my playstyle, I can totally imagine a scenario where it’s actually really great.
BotW I see something that looks interesting in the distance, and it’s just another fucking shrine or Korok seed or some other bullshit.
Sounds like I should try Elden Ring then. Though I loved BOTW.
There are a lot of things about Elden Ring that are great, but they’re just not for me. Like the whole gross aesthetic or the sweaty-rolly-dodgy combat. None of that works for me.
But in terms of creating an actual meaningfully open world, it’s a fucking masterpiece. I was constantly, constantly astounded at how full the world was. If that’s something you value, I can’t recommend it enough.