are massive open world role playing games that were supposed to represent the crowning achievements of their respective studios . For many players the former was ayou fight and die. Over and over again. It is set in a horrifically beautiful dark fantasy world and involves challenging, repetitive combat, with a focus on leveling up your character.also involves combat, but integrates base creation, exploration, puzzles, and relationship development.
While these details can contribute to a game’s emotional impact, they do not in and of themselves make a game feel more real. Many players, myself included, have intense, memorable,map is huge, it is a relatively sparse world. There are few NPCs. Cut scenes are limited, and story details are few and far between.
But I still remember, with vivid clarity, how intense my sense of relief was whenever I entered the roundtable hold in—one of the only “safe” spaces in the game where you cannot be attacked. The game is so brutal, that entering this space felt physically calming.in the real-world, I have felt relief when entering welcoming and safe spaces. In this sense, the game experience felt real.—coffee cups, clip boards, pencils. Very few of the objects are useful, valuable, or interesting.
There are lots of details in the real-world we don’t pay attention to . Humans have. We tune stuff out. But, when these details are transposed into a game world, it’s often unclear what exactly should be left behind, ignored, and forgotten. The result can be a lot of noise. One response to this problem is to integrate even more detail—make all NPCs interesting, with fleshed-out routines and stories. Make all objects have a purpose. But I’m not sure this solves the problem.offer are reminder that constraints can shape player experience and make it more meaningful. Games can feel emotionally “real” even if their worlds are not realistic. Bigger, more detailed worlds are not always better.