Used to be my thing, but not really anymore.
Haven’t been super interested for a while. Occasionally I’ll find one that stands out, but I’m not out here looking for it anymore. I’ll take a tightly crafted linear game over that any time.
Usually, if I play open world games now, it’s a “point A to point B” situation. I don’t explore the entire world unless I’m really taken with it, and even then I’ll lose interest after a while. (And if there’s no fast travel or some equivalent in-game method to traverse across the map instantly, I very likely won’t bother.)
What I do enjoy, though, are kind of “open zone” games.
A lot of immersive sims fall into this category of “wide open levels, separated by narrative chapters”. Think Dishonored or Deus Ex.
I like that approach as opposed to “here’s everything, go anywhere”.
Not For Broadcast, Day 296: The Heatwave.
It starts off with a slight shift in tone from the earlier broadcasts, you feel the tension ramping up, and then you know exactly what’s coming, but it’s still a fucking gut punch no matter what choice you make.
Honestly, that entire game has so many of these moments, but that’s probably the one that’s stuck with me most.
(The Lockdown episode also had a lot of “what the fuck is even happening” moments pretty much every time something new happened, so I want to just give that an honorable mention. I often find myself singing “Mr. Bear (What’s That Over There?)” for literally no reason whatsoever.)