Polygon's open-letter to BioWare regarding their open-world-like games.

I read this article this morning and agree 100%. It's not that I hate DA:I or ME:A, because I don't, I just really really want to play a true Bioware game, not some EA slog with the Bioware name slapped on it. In ME:A, I honestly feel like a robot, constantly scanning my journal for pointless tasks to do that have nothing to go with the story whatsoever. In the ME Trilogy, I don't recall ever having to open my journal, quests appeared and were completed organically.

If they need to go back to a linear corridor shooter style of play in order to tell a good story, then do it. Going open world has done nothing but diminish the quality of the story IMO.

I enjoy playing Andromeda, but this letter is pretty spot on for me. The part about "finishing out of obligation" struck a particular chord with me. I've never felt particularly invested in the side content, especially with the insane amount of travel often associated with completing a quest.

The Truth and Trespass side quest is a good example - while I enjoyed the quest plot, my journey took me from Havarl, the Nexus, to Elaaden and Kadara, all to end with what I felt was a somewhat anti-climatic finish. I spent more time traveling than I did doing anything quest related. It's not overly enjoyable.

I will say I've enjoyed some of the Allies and Relationships quests, but most of the Additional Tasks and many of the Heleus Assignments are forgettable.

I kind of disagree regarding Bioware trying to successfully merge open world and tight narrative and having to sacrifice one for the sake of the other.

So far I have not felt listless or aimless in the game because the overall theme and premise is clear - survive and establish a home in this new and unforgiving galaxy. That is all the motivation I need to provide purpose in anything I do in the open world environments. The core narrative weaves well through this overarching purpose, and any improvements to it can be made without needing to remove the open world concept and make the game linear.

In some ways I think they didn't go far enough creating vast expanses of mindblowing natural environments on alien worlds where we could stop and ponder the meaning of existence, or simply how far away we are from home.

What I feel the problem is is in the execution of certain gameplay elements - ie, mining, scanning, tasks, etc... This is a flaw of many rpgs - dull and repetitive tasks for the sake of either gaining xp, resources or some other abstract gameplay "currency" in order to improve either your character or some central plot element. This is really what needs to be changed with a fresh approach. It could be done by making the tasks more interactive and skill based, creating a certain amount of unpredictability and thus breaking up the monotony. Or it could be done by removing them and instead have tight side narratives as in (yes I have to mention it) TW3 - it can work in a Bioware game, even with the combat style and squad based nature of the game.

Anyway I like the open world of Andromeda, largely supported by the fact that the environments are beautiful and the combat is engaging and a lot of fun. Improvements can be made to merge tight narrative within an open world framework without needing to sacrifice one or the other. I believe Bioware will get there in the future with the right direction, though it may take more iteration on what works and what doesn't until they find it.

This is a fallacy.

The reason the story and quests are bad is because the writers are crap, not because of the open world.

An open world has nothing to do with garbage auto-dialogue, horrible jokes, infantile characters, cringe inducing romances and insipid, drawn out fetch quests.

Writer presumably does like open-world games - just not how Bioware does them.  He mentions TW3 as an example..

Didn't really think about it buuuut....

The more quests that clutter a map — navpoints, in Andromeda — the more likely a player is to view these entirely mechanically. I don't think "I'm going in this direction because of the strong narrative pull" so much as "I'm going in this direction because it's the nearest location that lets me clear these quests from my log." That’s not fun, that’s the strategy we use when vacuuming our rug.

Kinda summed up how i handled the planets for MEA.😂

Ps that article kinda sums things up very very well. +100 OP

I mostly agree.

I think an open world can work with story telling. It's just that devs need to get away from overselling their open worlds. I realize, it's a huge effort to build it and you want to show it off as much as possible. However, the design strategy should always be "what do I need it for, to deliver the coolest experience to the player". If something is not helping this goal, then cut it out.
If they had developed ME:A under this creed, the mining zones, the "3 data-pads in random camps give you 1 navpoint" quests and the "visit 5 planets then the forst one again" quests would have immediately been gone. The planets would have been fine if they were 1/3 of their current size, each and much more condesed. You would still drive the Nomad but you'd do it for 15 hours instead of 45 of the total game time. The game would be shorter but it would still be 60 hours instead of 100 (and it would be the cool 60 hours).

Look at one of my favorite go-to examples of an open world game done right: ... no, it's not Witcher 3, it's actually Gothic 2 (with the Night of the Raven Add-On). It's an open world, but it's small. It's small, but it's chock full of recognizable land marks (you don't even need a map to find your way in a heartbeat), characters, interesting geography and interesting quests. During the adventure, you need to traverse the entirety of the world about 4-5 times. BUT, the story is divided into 5 chapters and each chapter changes the world (e.g. in chapter 3 there is an orc invasion), so whenever you traverse the world again, there are different quests on the way, new people around and new enemies to fight that were not there before.
Everything in this world was made very consciously to deliver a new and exciting experience and as a result, you never feel like you are doing something repetitive.
Piranha Bytes (the devs who made Gothic 2) never over-sold any of the game mechanics or visuals, they knew that you cannot rest on your lorels for half the game time, you need to deliver something worthwhile every minute of the players game time if you want to keep them invested. Whether that's a new story bit, a new enemy to fight or a new visually exciting area to explore, everything needs to come in small portions.
Now, those devs also fell for the "bigger is better" trap with Gothic 3 but that's a different story. The point is, ME:A's open world iteslf is not the problem IMO, the problem is how this open world doesn't exist to serve the game experience but rather for it's own sake.

The story and the variety feels to thin - to quote Bilbo Baggins - it feels like butter, spread over too much bread. It doesn't help that the writing is pretty weak of course but IMO, the density of content is the main problem.

While I agree BioWare's handling of incorporating 'open world' elements in their game hasn't fulfilled the promise it could have (especially MEA), I disagree that they should go back to linear-style games.

IMO, there is a lot potential there that is simply... untapped. It's not the open regions that are a problem, it's what you do in them. Through the story, I'd love to have more opportunities to make a real, tangible impact on the region you're in (eg. Crestwood quest). Being able to build, destroy, or change the region over time and seasons. Opening up new avenues to explore through your actions, but always with an eye on the story surrounding the reasons why you're doing these things, and how those actions impact the overall narrative.

The Frostbite engine, especially if they decide to dive into photogrammetry, is just too good to waste on just linear-style gaming. I love exploration, so long as it's meaningful and not just a series of fetch quests and shallow side missions.

I want to believe BioWare can find that balance.

I'm playing SWTOR right now and it actually feels like story and dialogues are more thought out. Not all of them, but Sith Warrior is quite intersting so far- at least I don't need to travel to another planet for a 20 seconds long conversation only to progress a single quest.

I agreed pretty much with everything mentioned in the article. I am on my third playthrough now and just wondering if I even want to finish it. I feel like 99% of the content is time sink go-and-fetch crap. Its telling when I find myself wishing there was a Nomad speed mod so I could get task xyz done quicker. I actually search for one everyday. And Soduku in space really?

I also agree with what he said about Skyrim but would add that how easily that game was modded was a major boost for replayability.

I wish i had an euro everytime someone mentions "Witcher 3" here, id be a rich man by now. At least it would cover the annoyingness of it.

Sigh...

Can't stress this one enough.