The "Death" Of The Linear Video Game
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- Discussing the war against open world games, featuring linear game design.
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What side are you on: *linear* or *open world games?*
Downward Thrust open world when it comes down to it
sometimes linear sometimes open world a good mix is good
Open wprld
Downward Thrust linear
I would say open world but I haven’t played to many linear games
This is why I don't complain about a game's length if it was great. I would much rather play a great game that is only like 6 hours long, instead of a mediocre game that is 30 hours long.
Chris Rivera I agree, but that also depends on that price
ever since the 90s reviewers and critics have focused on quantity over quality because they may be too stupid to see the quality within gameplay or they may be playing a game that's not suited to their taste so they focus purely on "surface value".
Retro Soul idk about that cuz I've seen a lot of users complain about a game being short, while many critics praise the quality of it. Take "What Remains of Edith finch" and "Inside" as examples. Both great games with high critical praise, and both less than 5 hours long. For those games I've seen more users complain about the length, whereas most critics don't find it a problem at all because of the quality of the game.
Indeed I've seen that too, it's frustrating and that's damn stupid for people to do. But over the years, I'd say it's a narrative that reviewers began when games became bigger ala FFVII and OoT back in the day. Downward thrust isn't kidding, the word "linear" has become "a bad word", synonymous with mediocrity because of reviewers (Ign FF15 for ex).
In the 90s we saw shorter, linear but excellent arcade gaming die in favor of bigger and bigger worlds and environments and now we're the seeing the result of the constant focus on size and scope versus fun gameplay. It was bound to happen where more streamlined oriented games were simply going to die in mainstream game design, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Sucks because I greatly prefer a more arcade oriented style of game.
Well if I paid 60 euro for a game and it was 6 hours I don't care how good it is it's not worth 60 euro
I think developers are worried as a linear game will not last as long as an open world or multiplayer game. I would love to see someone be the leader and take the risk, and not be shut down in the process.
RIP Visceral. EA found it a bit tough to put loot boxes into a single player, action-adventure game...
Ironically, it's the linear games that last the test of time and can be still enjoyed 10 years later, whereas MP-only games often lose their player base after a few months or years and a generic open-world game presents very little incentive to replay it.
ubisoft is prime example of having open world game doesn't = a good game, these are lazy, busy work type games they aren't fun they are BORING
you can put all bells and whistles in your game, but if story sucks, characters suck, or core mechanics/difficulty suck whats the point of playing this game?
Mad Max game as another example you got lots of side stuff to do but narrative sucked ass
You mean like naughtydog keeps trying to do, and are continuing to do with the last of us part 2.
Mate, Naughty Dog? God of war? Japanese games?
A big problem is the people who gauge games in a dollar-per-hour outlook. They scoff at a game if it's 4 hours long, regardless of if it's only $20 because 'I could get a game that lasts 1000 hours for that'. it's like comparing apples with oranges. Then you get a solid 8 hour AAA that has value the whole duration and it gets the same reception. That's why a lot of games have arbitary collectables, to pad out the length to 'completion' to more 30 hours, even though most of that playtime holds no entertainment value.
Give me a good, shorter game that's loaded with good gameplay anytime.
Bad Stu agreed I bought Max Payne 3 at a full $60 when it first came out and beat it very quickly with no regrets
Id eat a small fine dinner instead of eating a pot full of fried rice
@Bad Stu Give me a good analysis like yours over an IGN one anytime
@@cfboldman I was thinking Max Payne 3 too. that game has the best gunplay in any game ever.
Max Payne 3 is totally linear but my heartbeats were not mine while playing that gem with intriguing cutscenes and gameplay...
If your story isn't good in a linear game, most likely it's considered a failure. While in open world games, the main story is seen as just another thing in the game, making it a "throw away" if it's not good.
I think it comes down to developers wanting to play everything safer, and secure sells, rather than taking a risk.
pretty much this, linear game and RPG don't have good story the game fails in every aspect I don't care if characters, battles, side missions are good when story sucks ass
everyone praised Persona 5 but being fan of spin off series its proberly the worse one out all the games and terrible in leave of main line Shin Megami 4, combat was great but story and pacing was awful, worse shin megami tensei game i ever played was SMT 4 Apocalypse this game is train wreck but main combat was fun.
I did enjoy games like Last of Us, Tome Raider but if story telling wasn't there these games would really suck hard.
it has nothing to do with developers wanting to play safe secure sells etc people just rather open world games the biggest games are open world fallout, gta v, minecraft even. and there are many linear games infamous second sun, outlast, uncharted,last there are so many linear games that werent even considered at the beginning of the video he said he cant remember the last linear game he played but didnt mention the linear games he hasnt played meaning this is all based off of what he knows and his opinion not factual
LulzSec AAA linear games kinda suck when compared to Indie ones. Indies Story based games have gameplay to support its story and add to the experience(e.g Inside, Hellblade) while AAA ones like Uncharted would rather have meaningless gameplay and poorly made qtes rather than well designed gameplay built around the story. They usually end up being movies with gameplay added.
Yeah, which makes sense. They are spending millions of dollars on these games.
Taking a risk can often lead to a dev to close down as of now
I love so many linear games, there are very few open worlds games done right imo. Linearity often allows much more diversity in environments, more detail, a more curated experience that you'll want to play again and again despite it being "linear". Most open world games are the opposite, a game so huge and devoid of any real purpose that you burn yourself out on it, become bored and put it away long before you ever see half of what it offers.
TheMistyBlueLounge right! I'll play an open world game once, that's it! Then I sell it, I've put so many hours in replaying the doom campaign over and over, why? Because it has great level design, great mechanics, and great gameplay! It's a blast to play!
Finally someone who understands
A relief isn't it? I do not quite agree that linear gameplay is going the way of the dinosaur, but I do believe he is bringing to light the fact that us gamers are buying the lie. A bunch of superficially related quests thrown together to help a gamer kill time while giving the illusion of 'there is so much to do!' is being passed as an open-world title nowadays. What do we do about it? Easy: Understand the power of your wallet/credit card. Publishers will stop trying to trick you into thinking they made something good and actually give you the meat if there is money in that direction. Hiring good writers is ironically the cheapest part of developing a game btw.
I really miss 8 hour games , great examples of this are metro 1 and 2
Titan fall 2 had a great, linear campaign
ooh.... BT :c
to bad no one really played that game, fuckEA
One of the best fps campaigns in recent memory alongside Wolfenstein the new order in my opinion, ofcourse.
kyotheman69 alot of people play it
It may be good but no one played it hell i got the game and never played it.
Don't get me wrong, I love open world games, but most of them dont have the care and attention a linear game does. I prefer them over open world most of the time
I loved Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. I think they did a decent job balancing story and open world in the last half of the game. The first half of the game was very lackluster tho.
I like the dark souls approach with the illusion of choice. but open world games can be boring as sin
agreed
dark souls 1 isn't linear. It's metroidvania (just like GOW 2018 and resident evil 2 remake). I love metroidvania games but I find open world games boring as Hell! So I totally agree with you as I believe that open world games is the biggest fraud in gaming history!
@@gorgisseva9892 I struggle with open world games because after a certain point I feel like I just wanna continue with the story. There are a select few open world games I have completely played and completed
Ehm, what about DOOM? Or N.Sane Trilogy? Or Sonic Mania? Good video tho.
Bojku 999 Notice how all those games are remasters/reboots.
Miko Hietala But they still count as new AAA games, right?
Bojku 999 Yes, but it's saddening that there aren't many modern linear series.
Miko Hietala yeah, it is.
Doesn't almost every FPS still include a single player campaign? Clearly excluding Overwatch and Battlefront.
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Downward Thrust I wouldnt say Linear games have died. The horror genre have always been scripted and linear.
You are welcome
Curious: if you had an open world game with the story quests being tied to the time since the game begun (not to the time player started them), and quests had time limit, would you prefer it over the same game with no open world?
(Example: Hero helps in a long linear siege of the castle, then a player has two hours for an open world activities, then something happens and you are forced to join a linear march and ambush, then you have open world until you reach some city, where depending on time wasted you are joining different parts of the war. And so on)
Daniel B that sounds cool in concept.
Downward Thrust Your one of the youtube channels that will grow very big and be very successful. Been watching since under 100k subs I love watching the subs going up keep up the good work =)
I think it comes down to being able to add dlc after the regular of the game. With linear games, after the you beat the game, the story is concluded. While in open world games, after your beat the main story, side quest and other activities are available, making it easier to want more one once an expansion pack is added.
An open world game can stay fresh for years with a constant flow of dlc, which means more money in the long run, which publishers love.
I think Uncharted: Lost Legacy proved that linear games can be expanded upon within the ‘universe’. Yes it didn’t continue with the main story sequence of the Uncharted series, but it showed that they were creative enough to be willing to expand
its possible... witcher 3 did story DLC really well. but its more open than linear.
*which publishers love.
10,000 Subscribers without Videos Last of Us also had a DLC
Henry Day
How well did that sell though I wonder?
Prince of persia series is one of the best linear games I have ever played
Rahul Naidu warrior within sucked because it had a lot of backtracking so it didn't feel as linear but the game was still good. Sands of Time and Two Thrones were great linear games though.
Jay Mike Two thrones was meant to go back to the original style with no gore which was good because the game becoming dark in Warrior Within just felt weird and didn't feel anything like the original, it just had the mechanics and combat.
Jay Mike The gore would have been great if it had already been in the first game. The dark tone and gore felt way out of place.
Wut? WW was the absolute best PoP game, and everyone know it.
sadly, overshadowed by open world assassins creed
I feel like people didn't give Gears of War 4 enough of a chance. The story is what carried me throughout the game as it is supposed to take course in a span of 24 hours. The different cutscenes and the surprising twist at the end made me replay it two more times and since it has couch co-op it was a pleasure.
Greg S The multiplayer in gears of war 4 isn’t bad but when everyone’s just using the Gnasher only it lost its value and fun to me
Ikr and yet people go and say how its boring and doesn't hold up. It looks like a great game with fun gameplay and yet people just passed on it. Also I don't see how its outdated since everything works well and is responsive.
Ashish Pyala I actually really liked Gears 4. I played it on my PC and Xbox One S.
Spicy Puffin couldn’t agree more
Ashish Pyala Nah. The Gears 4 campaign is the weakest in the main series (except judgement. thats BS.) The nee MC is weak and boring, the same goes to the new supporting cast, a lot of corny, annoying and stupid jokes, nothing really advanced relevant in the plot other than introducing the news guys while seeing the old guys and showing a predictable cliffhanger ending. The story is stupid by saying the locusts adapted and changed but still acts and moves like a typical locust. Only thing that looked positive was seeing the old and rugged marcus(best character in the series), a good mid boss as well as the robots at the last chapter. overall, a weak experience compared to the previous epic titles. Those sentiments on the campaign are shared by most critics and disappointed hardcore fans of the series while the online was recieved well but got criticized cause of the obnoxious microtransactions. thats why the game wasnt recieved very well.
Remember when they said horror games are dead? Then horror games suddenly got really popular
Sláine McCool Too bad not the good ones, just some amnesia clones.
Not really, a horror game will never outsell a cod or assassins creed.
Enclave grunt Do we really want all games to compete with those 2?
Just like Square Enix told everyone that traditional JRPG isn't something people want until Bravely Default proved them wrong by selling 1M+ copies for an undermarketed, underbudgeted 3DS game that isn't using an established brand.
Horror is always more of a niche market.
I think non linear games are time consuming and exhausting.
“”The last of us” is an amazingly great linear game.
developers need to know when not to choose open world. i’d rather have a small but detailed and focused world than a massive but empty world filled with filler. bigger is not always better
example: metal gear and every ubisoft game
yep MGSV should have been linear.
Nier: Automata is a great example of an open world that's small and detailed. Going back and forth from one place to another doesn't feel like backtracking. It makes you remember the other fights you went through in that area and has that sense of nostalgia to it.
Every Ubisoft game? You haven't played their old games then.
Oozaru85 i was a little vague as i was directing that towards newer Ubisoft titles like assassin’s creed and watch dogs.
I think a good example for a game with small but dense and focused open world are the Yakuza games. They give you a bunch of mini games that are really fun and that are worthwhile, along with tons of very well written side quests that some of them are hilarious and some of them can be surprisingly emotional. Not to mention that the main story in these games is always compelling in my opinion. If you're new to the series then you should start with Yakuza 0 it is a prequel and you don't need to know anything about the series if you haven't played it.
I do miss linear games, it was obvious when the game was over or complete. Now it seems most game just have you running around a map like a headless chicken.
linear games = can't nickel and dime consumers its reason why they try make open world games, they want you keep playing and hoping buy DLC, microtransactions, etc.
Dishonored strikes that good balance between open and linear and it's made for multiple playthroughs. Great game.
Glad you covered this subject. Been saying this for the last few years, that "linear" has become almost a dirty word in gaming. Seeing some of the best linear games becoming open world, like MGS and Splinter Cell for example. Even racing games are going down the open world route. It's definitely the safe bet for most devs it would seem
Portal 2 is the perfect example of how great a linear game can be. It's one of the best games every made imo.
You are wise. Even the first one is amazing.
Because we gotta have multiplayer, season passes, DLC, expansions, loot crates, and micro transactions!!
I think you have to watch the video again...
resident evil 7 was a pretty good linear video game that came out this year
Persona 5 too
The Protagonist persona 5 is open world but since it’s timed it’s linear. Amazing game.
Pez games Semi open world more likely
it has some open world elements I wouldn't call it linear 100%
I loved the Witcher 3, the Witcher 1 is amazing - but the Witcher 2 will always be my favourite of the set.
I never see this opinion. There are literally dozens of us. :P What's sad is that after watching Noclip's documentary series about The Witcher games, it seems that CDPR doesn't even understand why people liked TW2 and a lot of people on the dev team seems to really dislike it. Still sad that we never got a conclusion to Iorveth's plotline because the questline he was involved in got cut from TW3.
Although an overall fan of the game; well thought out missions with the combat system being good enough and quite enjoyable at times, I must confess that I found Witcher 2 to be something of a disappointment.
The game started so well. The La Valette sequence and your wrongful imprisonment really grabbed my attention and I was excited for the rest of the game. However, by the end of the game, I had grown weary of the story. Whether it was the convoluted plot, the long-winded, near emotionless conversations with NPCs about the lore's minutia or aspects of the story which really strained credulity, I have no idea. Whatever the reason, dialogue felt like a chore and I was quite bored by the end of the game.
I watched a movie-style play-through of Witcher 2. I really enjoyed the story but I didn't enjoy the feel and flow of the the combat.
There have been quite a few good linear games over the last two years, and more coming: Resident Evil 7, The Last Guardian, Dishonored 2(wasn't it?), Dark Souls III, DOOM, Gears of War 4, Persona 5, Batman Telltale Series, Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, the new wolfenstein this year, and more. I don't think a linear experience is dead, especially when you include the indie studios doing amazing things like hellblade.
Is resident evil 8 linear? Idk.
Don't worry. Sony, Nintendo and Japanese devs will keep the single-player, story based, linear narrative alive. Sure MP and open world can be fun but it's mostly filler content and sometimes I just want to experience a great story on my own.
Mario, Zelda, and what?
We don't know if Xenoblade 2 world is going to follow Xenoblade 1 or Xenoblade X model.
Mario 64 and Sunshine and the first Zelda game are open world.
Divise two Nintendo is one of the few devs that actually packs things in their open world's
I'm pretty sure Metroid Prime 4 will still be linear. A Metroidvania game just doesn't work with a free open world.
i mean it really shouldnt be linear but it wont be open world the metroid series best known for non-linearity and when it has linearity being able to skip it, also xenoblade 2 will be a linear game
Divise two Mario odyssey is more like Mario 64
There are alot of Indie linear games.
Let triple A games beat dead horses and copy trends
It will eventually drive gamers out of their comfort zone
John Green Do u have any suggestions for linear indie games?
Hob is lookin pretty good right now
facts
catto Ruiner..cyberpunk games inspired by akira
as cool as some indie games are, they aren't the future of gaming. there aren't enough good indie games to keep the entire gaming market afloat. triple A games usually have about 4-5 good games per year, indie games have about 1-2. indie gaming is so over saturated with total garbage that it's not very stable.
oh boy, time to get slaughtered for hating on people's precious indie games
I would choose a great, smooth , and meaningful story driven single player game over any repetive AAA open world game
this channel needs more eyeballs, dude, your content is amazing!!! even since i subscribed i listen to your analysis videos while working and i never get bored. awesome work done there!! keep it up!!
DOOM 2016
ZeroB4NG yup yup
Anxiously awaiting wolfenstein tomorrow night!!
wasn't Prey that released earlier this year a linear game?
ZeroB4NG one of the best games I've ever played
ILUA YF2012 I don't remember the Doom Guy having to do sidequests and do anything else other than kill demons.
Linear, i love great storytelling in my games
The two most incredible gaming memories for me were Heavy Rain and Alice: Madness Returns. Both had gripping incredible stories with fleshed out lifelike characters and both were extremely linear. Yet I found that I couldn't get enough and kept coming back. Meanwhile series's that I loved with fleshed out lore failed to keep me entertained with their higher concentration on open world and exploration such Inquisition and andromeda. I've always felt like the story of non linear games too often feel hamfisted in and like an afterthought that doesn't actually mesh with the game itself.
I am so on board with your view here. Good linear games are hard to find nowadays and that's a damn shame.
This year, i think Persona 5 did it best. Linear Storyline with some decisions here and there, and still over 100 hours of meaningful and awesome content.
Persona 5 was a linear game that had enough player decisions to make it feel unique to our individual play through. Like choosing who to waifu it up.
YEEEESSSSSS
makoto best girl
@Logan Lewis: Well, Persona 5 isn't your typical JRPG, dungeons are linear handcrafted levels, there's no world exploration, no secondary quests, no way to spend time outside of activities that impact the way you play the main story.
The game is litteraly about the importance of time, so it would have been stupid if you could do things that negate that aspect.
So yes, it is a linear story based game.
sheadon wedesh a man of culture I see
The new Wolfenstein? Unless I'm mistaken.
A Bottomless Pit my man
waiting for that gem, Doom 4 was an awesome kinda linear game
javier humberto moreno maldonado im hoping it does well, i never missed a wolfenstein.
Wolfenstein the new order = one of the best fps campaigns in recent memory alongside Titanfall 2 in my opinion, ofcourse.
A Bottomless Pit Sonic Forces
"Zelda went open world" ZELDA CREATED OPEN WORLD
I'd like to mention the Goldeneye and Syphon Filter games. The games were completely linear, and yet rewarded slight exploration, while also bringing in Replay value in terms of Mission ranks and Bonus missions. If you haven't I encourage you to play the Syphon Filter games on the PS2 or PSP. Absolutely wonderful.
Before this video even starts, I have an answer why it's dying. Money. Single Player linear games do not have the option for lootcrates, map DLC's, weapon DLC's, skin DLC's etc. Yeah, story DLC is a thing but that's usually 1 or 2 DLC's max, which usually cost half of the original game. Look at Overwatch for instance, has 4-5 events every year where people pay millions for lootboxes.
I wish it was different tbh. Single Player linear games have given me the most amazing experiences throughout. Some of my favorite series have been linear games. Why? Because the game developers can put a lot of focus on everything that pertains to the story. In a huge open world mostly there are amazing quests, but also quests you feel could use polish or are just boring. Because not every quest gets the same attention as the most important ones. It's one of the reasons why No Man's Sky failed, no focus. Everything was randomized so it felt empty and boring.
Doom. Wolfenstein. Linear FPS are still pretty successful.
It's a problem when you named the only games that come to mind, and they are based on the original FPS games.
"Don't really see how you can have a non-linear story Campaign in a FPS"
That's the most retarded thing I've heard all day
evilempireUK Fallout 4 is essentially an open world FPS. If they did have some annoyingly tacked on multiplayer then I guess single player would be considered the ‘campaign’
Therefore..
Man, found this channel just a few days ago. It's the type of content topics i never knew i cared about hearing. He manages to make out of the blue topics very interesting to listen to. Great vids
It is 2021 and this video still relevant. I could barely make a top 10 list from linear video games from the last 5-6 years.
There's room for both linear and open world and there needs to be both. But it seems like mainstream/casual audiences just really discovered open world in the past decade and then started complaining left and right when games were 'too linear' and it has shoe-horned the current trend of everything under the sun now having to be open world. I love open world but they're really overdoing it now, there needs to be linear games as well. Companies and large portions of the gaming crowd are too myopic to realize this.
Last one was for me " Last of Us Remastered " probably the best Story game i ever played
Hawkeye979 I personally didn't like that game, seems like I'm the minority though
Zombie 15224 I liked it - It was great. But people keep Overhyping it. Besides a Good Story the game didn't really deliver as much as everybody makes it out to have.
Zombie 15224 I liked it - It was great. But people keep Overhyping it. Besides a Good Story the game didn't really deliver as much as everybody makes it out to have.
Glad everyone has different kinds of opinions :) I loved it and thought it was wonderfull, when everyone would like the same we would only have one game on the market every year.
Take Mass Effect for example, its a perfect example on how successful a Linear Game can be, It worked for the trilogy, and Then Andromeda Happened and it's massive Openworldness Made the game feel empty and lifeless, if they ever make another Mass Effect they should go back to the Formula that the Original trilogy had
Angry Welshman that is so true! I got so bored to drive that shitty dune buggy that i just lost interest in the game! Im going to give it another change and just follow the story without all the useless grinding and farming..
Mass effect was not linear.
@@eagle219406 it was more linear than andromeda...
Open world is not necessarily bad but since it takes a long time to build a city full of streets, back alleys, shops and homes, the quests will send you back and forth through the same areas over and over and over again. Open world is often much more repetitive and laborous to play than a finely tuned path where you never see the same spot twice.
yea but mainly repetitive
Above all things I miss the most, which is related to this topic, it's that one single player only, linear game that I'd play for months and months, over and over, such as God of War II-III, Ratchet & Clank (although a little bit "open games") and Castlevania LoS, not perfect games, but I used to play these games for years, never getting bored. Only Wolfenstein TNO, back in 2014, gave me that same experience
Back before open world games were a big thing, and before my family had internet, I would play single player games over and over. I think I played CoD 4 50 times through before we got internet and I was introduced to online multiplayer. When I was even younger than that, my brother and I would play the first few levels of games, then restart and play them again, either because it got too hard later on, or they were just too fun, or we forgot to save/the memory card was full.
Castlevania Lords Of Shadow 1 was absolutely brilliant. One of my favorite games of all time. Spend 20+ hours on the campaign.
This is why I love Naughty Dog
edwin serrano everyone does. And last of us part 2 is going to be better than last of us in terms of story, I'm sure of it
Yea I love movies too
The problem with open world games is they get stale quickly, and in most cases there's no incentive to keep exploring or traveling normally (usually opt for fast traveling when there's nothing more to find). Many open world games fail at capturing a living atmosphere that makes you want to keep moving around it, just objectives and places to farm XP and resources.
STALKER is a fantastic example of an open world game done right from a perspective of depth and atmosphere. It feels real, no bit of the map feels like a waste of space. Everything is very intentioned like a linear games map. The amount of care and love put into these levels make them hard to forget.
its a shame you didnt mention the Mass Effect Trilogy in this video, its main story is designed to feel open, but it actually is completely linear. Whats open about it is that you can change the outcome of many events in the story but the gameplay of it remains linear. And to make the game longer it has actually meaningfull but not mandatory side quests that both extend the game, and also add a great amount of extra content. And the rpg elements are not so complicated either so progress isnt about numbers in Mass Effect , its about how you shape your own story with your own decisions.
I love linear games, but when I play a good one, it just makes me wish that it was a fully realized open world. So I could go off on my own exploring and learning about the game's world, history, inhabitants, etc. I don't need tacked on, tedious side quests to motivate me to explore an already interesting world.
What if a game was designed with a very linear and handcrafted experience in the beginning to tell the story the developers want, then opens up after the conclusion. Whether you continue with the same characters, generate random characters, or even let the player create one, I think just being able to explore and interact with the worlds/universes that are crafted for these linear games would be amazing.
Linear games in recent years Wolfenstein The new orser and the new colossus and 2016 Doom
Jesus D old blood
I'm so....so tired of open world games. I need more linear games!!!
sadly seeing as how elden ring was also open world, linear especially AAA linear games are officially dead
An open world Metro game seems like a dream come true for me; there would be so many interesting long term decisions to make in how to navigate the sewers and explore hidden paths.
That said, I get your overall point. It's about trends, not examples.
You can't put microtransactions in linear story based games!
EA CEO reads comment..."hold my beer"
bleh mehm just in the multiplayer
carpos p EA CEO reads comment..."hold my Cristal champagne"
Tell that to EA. They did that four years ago, with Dead Space 3. Pretty sure Square Enix has as well.
Square Enix hasn't AFAIK.
Linear games need a very well written narrated story ,
Which lacks in most of the games now a days , except some games .
Gta 5 has the most weak story of all gta's but still gives most profits of all games combined .
Open world games are where all the money's at.
So , we may see only 2 or 3 linear well written games in a year .
Aditya Verma not necessarily, a game like doom is fun to play even though it has zero story, and even if Wolfenstein had a bad story, it’d still be fun to play.
Aditya Verma Gta 5 has a well written fun story wtf are you talking about
L33TBrownGuy It's not bad, it's just not even close to the greatness of the GTA 4 story, or even vice city and san andreas.
people doesnt care about story anymore, you have watch dogs, with not a great story neither original mostly average and got really hated for a lot time, now, watch dogs 2, wich only story is to get followers doing stuff and got received a lot better than the first one
Damián Hernández People care about story you say? Well I know some games that you may have forgotten about.
The witcher 3- a game focused only on story, everything you do in the game is all based on following a narrative, and that’s why it was successful.
Mafia 3- While not received well overall, the game was praised for a really good, entertaining story with interesting characters.
The walking dead- a game based only around story with little gameplay, was praised for its immersive, feeling story.
Wolfenstein: The New Order- A game that brought back good, arcade style, fps mechanics, was not only praised for its gameplay, but also for its incredibly well told story.
Uncharted series and the last of us- Although I personally don’t like these games, the people who do keep saying that they love these games for its characters and stories.
Undertale- a game that has become immensely popular, even if the only thing going for it is its characters.
Spec ops: the line- a game that was once again praised for an incredibly well told story.
What do you mean, “people doesn’t care about story anymore”
Also is English a second language to you? I know this comes off as very rude, but I’m legitimately asking, your comment wasn’t that well worded, and I just want to know if it’s because you don’t usually speak English. This isn’t an attack on you, I’m seriously just asking.
*Linear* = More focus on the story
*Open world* = More focus on the gameplay
I think it would be cool to have both of them, you reach a place that acts like a "mini open world", think of it like the cities of Skyrim, (imagine having a cave in somewhere, someone asks for your help to investigate, a side quest, or deal with some problems, maybe you fall in a trap for being too kind idn) where you have lots of things to do without being too big like a whole world.
With most linear games I play once and never touch again.
Killa-King Kong I do the same thing with open world games, but linear games I play multiple times
That’s because the linear games you play have no replay value. Stop playing Uncharted and The Tomb Raider reboots, and let good old Jrpgs show you the meaning of a replay-able, linear video game
Killa-King Kong Played Halo and Bioshock again and again.
Beezus Hrist JRPGs like?
Abel Akash depends on what you like. I could recommend older games if you’re into that or newer ones. There are a lot of excellent western style rpgs as well. A good one that will keep you busy for hours is Divinity Original Sin. A good Jrpg that will keep you busy for hours is Xenoblade and its successor coming out in a few weeks, Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Again, depends on what you like. Do you like action or turn based or do you tolerate both?
I was so upset that they (maybe) cancelled that Star Wars game. Uncharted in the Star Wars universe has some of the most potential of any title I can think of and it was probably the game I was most looking forward to, after WiLd, that game everybody seems to have forgotten about (including the developers).
Tom Morgan They did cancel it sadly I think they were remaking it into a Destiny clone so that’s fucked.
The reason they cancelled it was because the development was hell and AS knew it wasn't going to he as amazing as it was
I loved linear games. Almost every aspect of the game can be more focused if the design is appropriate and can help avoid ludonarrative dissonance. Some games managed to find a perfect balance of open and linear. Deus Ex had large fairly open levels but a linear structure and it worked dam well. Uncharted 4 bordered on that design but it's scope still felt massive and that was the last linear game I played.
Some of the best games I've ever played were linear. TimeSplitters, God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Gears of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Crash Bandicoot, Splinter Cell, Mirrors Edge 1, WET, Ratchet & Clank, Maximo, Prince of Persia and so on.
I think the layout design of a game should be dictated by it's story and not current trends.
TotallyToonsTV my friend you have absolute patrician taste
Good taste in games lol would have to agree those were great
I miss good ole fashioned linear FPSs and TPSs.
Doooooom
I miss Max Payne.
Better is definitely better my friend! Another good, thoughtful video!
Downward your content is just so well produced especially with your narration. Keep it up mate
found this channel today and i've already been watching for hours
👌🏻 I just found him recently and did the same exact thing. 😎
when i discovered him few months ago, i did the same. still do it.. :)
I found the channel last year and did the same thing 😁
wow - what an excellent video - nice work!!!
Do big levels with multiple ways to approach them with the same them outcome, count as linear? Because if so Sniper Elite 4 was amazing. Those are my favorite games. Massive levels, but not open world.
last time I played a linear game?
Right now I am playing Danganronpa V3. It's linear, it's awesome and my game of the year!
when i think about openworld and linear, must say that dying light is a good success
"Interrogated by Roach" ?? Did I miss something epic on Witcher 2? :D
Valetz He was referring to Roche, although seeing Geralt talk to a horse would've been entertaining
Well he at least has some interesting talks with Roach in The Witcher 3 :)
*Neigh*
I know.
*Huff*
What, why?
*Grunt*
Oh, ok already. Sheesh.
As always, thoughtful narrative and superb critique. Thanks for the content
what about dishonored ??
SuHAyl bEKk I personally didn't like it that much.
Andy MARITANU I really have a hard time understanding what people find with the first one.
Andy MARITANU how was it meh? It added to the already great gameplay, a good story but wasn't supported with the dlc like dishonored was and amazing level design.
Arkane is one of my favourite studios and one of the best in the biz. Their approach to player expression and exploration while still keeping a lot of stuff optional should be the gold standard for single player games. Too bad the games did not sell well
I love linear games but I have to admit that the medium allows for "unscripted" moments that can be just as memorable as a cutscene. I'm going to use Metal Gear as an example: I love MGS cutscenes, My favourite game in the franchise would be the PSX one because of It's characters and story but I would totally respect someone that says MGSV it's their favourite one beacause of how the gameplay made him feel like he was creating his own mini-stories on the battlefield, and that's a experience only videogames can provide.
You make a good point, but you can still have gameplay freedom in linear games and the MGS franchise is an example of that.
Eh, not true
I doubt anyone will read this but, in my opinion, the linear, story driven game design gradually went away like the old point and click adventure games. The reasons are very similar too.
A focus on very high production values, which lead to very high production and development costs. Not many studios had the necessary financing to make a game able to compete in this environment. This became more apparent during the 7th generation and the introduction of HD graphics. Budgets soared and a modest success was not enough to keep studios afloat. I think anyone who remembers back then can attest to the plethora of small and middle range studios that closed after one unsuccessful game. Even big name companies couldn't escape this reality.
The source of their phasing out can be easily traced to market rejection. The gamers always preferred open world games. This means player freedom in any form. It is true of all games that become popular. The limited scope and realtive player freedom of a linear game meant that people got tired of them. In the end, it costs too much and doesn't bring in the money.
Meticulously hand-crafted linear games are nice and all, but they don't put food on the table for those that make them.
The newest linear game I played was until dawn, the game follows a linear path but your choices effect the story in multiple ways and it's worth replaying several times, it has small moments where you can explore the mansion but it is mostly linear and the story feels like a well told horror movie everytime
I really like both
Jesus Christ you did what I can't do... thank you for being a voice for those of us who don't have as big as a viewer base /influence.
Btw how did ya forget to throw in some God of War?!? Kratos will come for you...
I used to play Street Fighter.....for hours, just for the extras.....or a secret character......what ever. Back in the day....one could only hope or just listen to the rumors.
Nowadays.....is very hard for me to buy a game if I haven't read/watched a review of it. (Except for Fallout 4, Hellblade, and Shadow of War) 2 open world....I linear.....I guess that is going be the trend....no matter your clickbait ( i get it) shitty title.
Milton2k Oh the memories. Street Fighter Alpha 3 was awesome. Took up most of my childhood. It's been 20 years since then and I can still see the remains of the blisters on my left thumb that I constantly got from that game 😄
Same for me with mk 1,2 and 3
You forgot to mention Wolfenstein The New Order and The Old Blood as well as The Evil Within 1 & 2 that still stick to single player without tacked on mp or co op. I cancelled my pre order of Shadow of War when I heard how boring of a grind it will be plus those microtransactions. Story focused/linear games are the best games. If they ever did disappear, I'd literally stop buying new games. At least there's a lot of old single player games to play still.
Genome Soldat The problem with linear games is thst it’s usually a one and done experience. I would never pay 60$ for a linear game because of that. I just wait for a drastic price drop.
@@psychotictrait3757 I have 100 + hours in last of us single player because it's that damn good and like 17 hours in gta 5 before getting superbored
Idk if it counts as linear but the original halo series were my favourite games back in the day
Eman Plummer yes those are linear games
I prefer open world games. However, I feel that this video would have been stronger if you had been more familiar with the linear and open world games of the 90s. For example, you complained that the quests in open world games don’t have any urgency. You may have wanted to mention that in the ‘90s, both Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996) and Might and Magic VII (1999) included timed quests in their open world games.
By the way, while I could be wrong, I expect the new Wolfenstein game to be linear. So you have that to look forward to
Fallout 1 and 2 also have timed main quests despite being more-or-less open world games.
Finally, some one said what I was thinking for so long. Gaming sucks now with all the open world fluff. I do not want to do any of the unnecessary stuff. I was a FOCUSED thrilling action pack ride for a few hours with great characters and STORY. It's okay to unlock multiple paths to complete the story but keep it compact and challenging not dull, boring and unnecessary long.
I cannot invest hundred of hours into secondary staff. I want fast story progression! We need more story driven games...... Huge open worlds are for kids/teenagers , not for adults.
Arkham Asylums still the best game in the series, it was perfectly paced with exceptional atmosphere and great level design, alot of people don't realize that most openworld games are cop outss and are lazy about said level design
Quentin Els Yeah I've noticed linear games always have way better detail in their level design instead of crappy copy and paste that open worlds have.
Quentin Els Thank you! Asylum was so much better than City. Traversing the city to continue the story was a chore. Asylum has way better level design.
I always thought that city was better in every way. Gameplay, graphics, more characters to play as, you feel more like Batman, all the different batsuits and costumes for the other characters, etc... I liked Batman, but I was never a big batman and dc fan, until I played arkham city back in 2012 when I got my ps3 and I bought arkham city goty edition. This game was so great and still is, I thought it was cool that it included a digital copy of the batman year one movie. Later I picked up arkham asylum, while still a great game, I just feel that it's not on the same level of greatness that city is.
City improved and expanded just about everything in Asylum which is what a proper sequel is supposed to do
City and knight are better in almost every way
The Arkham series. One of the things that makes it so amazing is that the games are the perfect blend of linear and openness. They're in an open world, but the world is manageable and isn't too big. Level-design wise, most are fairly linear, but aren't linear to the point where you walk in a straight line beating up enemies. The main focus of each game is the story first and foremost, never jut a bunch of missions patched together to have a weak story. Plus there's side missions if you want to do them and they're usually not to repetitive and differ from one another.
Side note: I write this before watching the video, so apologies if he explained or mentioned any of this.
Very good commentary. Thank you!
I for one appreciate open-world non-linear gaming. There have been instances where a story that was handed to me was pretty nice, however I thrived for a world where I could apply my own imagination, my own timeline, my own story. Modded Skyrim has resolved all of those issues, and I honestly haven't played many other games since 11/11/11. Once I could DL mods which further allowed me to customize that world, I don't think I'll ever look back.
I feel like the benefits of the Witcher 3 being open world vastly outway the negatives. I.e the Bloody Baron not wondering what you've been up to. It adds so much replay value. I have over 300 hours played on the Witcher 3 compared to 20 on TLoU. Both amazing games, but the Witcher had vastly more replay value without inhibiting the story TOO much. I understand your point of Quality>Quantity but the Witcher has both imo.
Witcher has both. But other games see open world as licence to neglect story/character development and fill the game with the same boring tasks only with slight variation and in different locations a la assassin's creed. Remember, cdpr are pretty exceptional.
But the witcher 3 open world is horrible. If you really like the game that means it isn't free of criticism you don't have a counter argument against the thing with Barron. The game has barley any exploration the only reason to travel to certain location is for those lazy question marks and most of time it would make no sense that Gerald is doing side quests and not to go look for her.
Enclave grunt
Agreed. It should have been linear.
Rafael Herschel
The Witcher contracts are basically just talk to someone-follow blood-kill monster-get reward. Witcher 3 is an empty open world, like all the rest. It looks pretty but that's it
The thing the game designed around having a map.The npc's are not gonna give direction since the devs know you have a map. And if i talk about this on a massage board. It tend to end up like giant cirkel jerk. Or on 4chan it tend to ''criticize'' the game a lot and tell you to play real rpg's
I personally think open world are way too confusing especially without a game guide I only play linear games including FPS games with maps instead of sandbox or open world
What linear games are you playing? I can’t find an AAA game that isn’t linear currently playing dead space trilogy they are on gamepass
Anyone remember Dragon's Dogma and how sidequests can affect other quests? I can't forget that Griffon-hunting quest where the guy I helped with finding the fire tome thing helped me burn that Griffon in the final showdown, with his own cutscene to boot.
You'd probably love Steambot Chronicles; it's one of the few games I've seen that got "open world" right. There was a ton of stuff you could do, but it was worked into the main story- and progressing the main story opened up more of the world. If you wanted to take a break, you could do such and trade commodities, invest in stocks, play pool, play music... But in the end, the story drove you to want to do more, and none of this detracted from that story.
Meanwhile, games like Elder Scrolls, Breath of the Wild, and Two Worlds just feel empty and barren, like they wanted to have this huge map, but really had no idea what to do with it...
I know its not gonna happen any time soon, but i would LOVE a Naughty dog Star Wars game
MrFroldus Agreed. 1313 and Visceral's linear game were the closest we would ever get. Now that it's being reworked to be less linear, I am fearful that we will never get one.
Zbuckner we neee disney to wake up. Ea has made the worst star wars games compared to other developers. Naughty Dog, Bethesda, or even Ubisoft would make a better game. However if Ubisoft makes the game open world it should take place in coruscant so it makes sense and you can get the neon lights and rain. Sorry just love how they look in beatiful graphics. Makes me feel comfort and warmth. But for bethesda and nauggty dog any linear game would work better.
Ricardo Martinez I'd buy that
I don’t know if this counts but how about The yakuza Games?
The Batman: Arkham series always comes to my mind when I think of great linear games.
RDR2 is what did open world right for me.
It gives that sense of progression not just through numbers but also to the story, it also still doesn't give up that sense of linearity when you complete missions but at the same still give out the freedom of making choices to the story.
Games that are too linear feels like an interactive movie rather than a game
I PREFER linear games to open world, and I will never understand why people love open world games as much as they do. Way too much padding in those.
Jackman LeBlanc I like open world so I can explore thing I really want to
The thing about open world to me it's not done right. In an open world your actions should change the world but it doesn't. A truly open world game to me would be something like Heavy Rain. The story still goes on whether you do something or not but it changes the game world.
It's usually the way progression is set up. As mentioned in the video, it's a numbers game, where the more exp you earn, the stronger you feel. You don't get that in most linear games, as most progression is new items or abilities that help progress the story. Leveling wouldn't work in a linear story like in an open world, mostly because your progress would be halted if a player skipped some experience points pickups, or they'd be completely overpowered if they collected all the extras. There are in between titles like Divinity Original Sin, which touts you can go anywhere like an open world game, yet since there are leveled enemies, certain areas are blocked by difficulty. Though this hinders the game if you're not keeping up with searching for every side quest and killable enemy... So yeah.
And open world games are far too long. I don't have the free time i used to, and more is less.
Red Dead Redemption that's why
Is Dishonored considered linear or are the levels too big
Brandon DeMarzo I feel it's linear as you progress mission by mission as you don't really get free roam of the entire area
Dishonored is linear games DONE RIGHT. It has has straight on to point mission objectives, but you get to explore the environment and choose how to complete your goal. There are side missions from a few people but all of those can either aid you in your mission or give more knowledge of the lore. They are not just there fill up some numbers and "progress".
That's what the future of linear games should have been.
you have no idea how sad i am to hear the loss of a single player linear game.
The videos are so good! Sad when they end😯 10 mins aren't enough.
How about some open world videos?
@@Qladstone there are alot of theme! Take red dead redemption 2 for example