The genre that has become the most consolidated in the almost completed cycle has had titles that have contributed, each in its own way, to building the sandbox.
What makes an open world a good open world? Is it its size? Its variety of ecosystems? The hidden stories? Ability to interact with the player? Like everything in a cultural environment, it responds to subjective criteria; But the concept has evolved and explored new avenues during this generation until it consolidated as one of the most recurring and, at times, also ambitious.
Few genres have not attempted it. Challenge the limits of the horizon to try to make "more" always "better". It is not always so, but today we will not discuss design issues, but we want to highlight those names whose contribution has been greater to this already well-called style, because it is not so much a genre but a base on which to build stories, crazy careers , emblematic cities of the world of comics or the depths of seas and galaxies designed in a procedural way.
In order to find some of the sandbox references in this leisure that unites us, here is a selection of games that every lover of electronic leisure should at least know. And no, we do not include Minecraft in the list despite its evolution, sensitive and palpable beyond the content, because the Mojang phenomenon comes from long before and is, in a way, the root from which some of those who have grown we will comment today. The merit of Minecraft is conclusive proof that the concept of a sandbox is not only due to size issues, but also to the use of that space. It is not so much the size of the box, but the quality of its sand.
- It may interest you: History of the Open World: Expanding the digital frontier
No Man’s Sky
When it seemed that everything that could go wrong was going to go wrong, Hello Games continued to insist on the shadow so that its promising work, that which we believed was going to set a precedent ahead of its time in that of building an infinite galaxy generated through procedural parameters, dressed in Ave Fénix. It was two years of continuous work until the word NEXT was put on the table, the expansion that definitely did justice to No Man’s Sky.
No Man’s Sky
All in all, the initial approach of the game had a certain flavor of redemption and definition, because that of beginning to explore unknown worlds with the aim of finding resources began to make more sense than before; both the economy and what was beyond mere discovery began to click together. If we add the multiplayer mode, this already looked more like a space exploration game drawn on randomness when generating worlds.
Because today No Man’s Sky can be celebrated. His arrival at Xbox Game Pass will allow many more people to learn about the work of Sean Murray's team and empirically identify whether or not that universe is for them. This game is not the one we received four years ago, but the result of a polished and refined concept in its design, its visual appearance and its way of convincing the neophyte. This open world, unlike practically all of which we are going to comment later, has its own flavor; that what you have before your eyes is yours, it is for you, but even you are not aware of everything that awaits you on that hidden planet where you have appeared. Much more than survival and creation. Despite its – still – mistakes, perhaps in ten years we can see the real step forward that this title took in the scene of the video game "in a big way".
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt RED was born with the idea of one day doing something similar to The Witcher 3. The Polish studio, with a powerful license like that of Sapkowski's novels, was molding based on its possibilities a trilogy that closed in 2015 for everything high. Five years have passed and we continue to refer to this third part of Geralt de Rivia's adventures as a true jewel of the current generation to build an open world that is surely more traditional, but where everything makes sense. It's interesting to turn to the reflection of the game's mission manager Phillip Weber when asked why the open world of The Witcher 3 worked: “There used to be a preconceived notion that open-world titles couldn't tell interesting stories or deep, so we take that as a challenge. "
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
That they succeeded is undeniable. An adult story, with an impeccable balance of the difficulty curve, accompanied by a system of secondary missions of a quality that we have rarely seen in a title of these dimensions. One could have opted for redundancy, for superficial ones, but it was not. The design of this title is very clever. Knowing the dimensions of the map, they left it up to the player to choose when to interfere in these derived stories and, therefore, branch out the decisions so that the result did not affect the correct evolution of the main story. A sum of stories and subplots linked without interrupting each other, but complementing each other to narrate a truly fantastic universe, in every sense of the word.
All in all, The Witcher 3 absorbed us, it did not attack us, and that is very important. A video game capable of transporting you to a novel with hundreds of pages, which had a good story and told it even better; with a fully remarkable decision-making system for the moment and a sum of factors that resulted in an open-world RPG adventure where the level of excellence was almost always maintained from start to finish. Few titles have managed to be this constant and balanced; few have had the ability to keep us glued to the screen in this way. An unforgettable universe.
Subnautica
It is interesting to include in this article a totally independent video game, because the Subnautica approach, developed by Unknown Worlds, initially landed on PC without making much noise to converge the survival subgenre with first-person experimentation, resource economy and exploration. It is not Minecraft, but it does have a philosophy similar to the Mojang phenomenon. Broadly speaking, our ship crashes and we fall into the sea of planet 4546B. Human evidence? None, but a marine fauna with a multitude of possibilities.
Subnautica
Subnautica is a sum of tools. It is in our hands to supply ourselves with what is necessary to survive. In addition, the fact of being an open underwater world introduces an element that we do not usually see in the rest, where we always have our feet on the ground: here we levitate, we are submerged and the displacement is much more vertical, a 360-degree perspective in the that the lack of information about these marine depths ends up being a point in favor of the global experience: each game is different, each minute is a surprise.
Fortunately, the game has been growing and improving over time, including its current versions for consoles. Now there is more content, the design of the complex construction systems has been perfected and the mixture of resource collection and use has been endowed with depth. To tell the truth, Subnautica fails in few things. It does not overwhelm you with its interface, it tells you little while showing you a lot … and it is alive. It is hostile: you know you are going to die. The agony, what Tetris was, is to extend the moment of the end to the last moment. If you add to that the possibility of its creative mode or the contemplative power of the whole, it is possible that Subnautica is one of those most influential open worlds on the current scene; and without millions of budget involved.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
We continue to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We keep going to forums and social networks to read that there are still secrets that we did not know, things that (perhaps after hundreds of hours) we did not know about that Hyrule. It is difficult to stop remembering the first minutes of the game, when you see before you the Plateau of Dawn and what lies beyond. Nintendo had never done anything like it; until it did. And he did it revolutionizing the genre by introducing elements such as noise, such as the importance of the wind or absolute interaction with the environment. Everything we saw was accessible and interactive.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Mechanics such as climbing, the real incidence of fire, water or electricity in a universe that does not guide you, but offers you a blank map where you, the player, are in charge of choosing what, how, where and, above all , when. There were criticisms for the lack of dungeons like those of previous installments, but the Eiji Aonuma team preferred that Hyrule be a dungeon in itself. Because the title tells you from the first minute, without explicitly telling you, that everything is accessible; what it doesn't tell you is how.
It may seem easy, but the sum of failed attempts, of maps full of icons, collided with the reality of the Wii U and Nintendo Switch video game, which turned that idea around to offer you small objectives without guiding you to them. If we were to reduce Breath of the Wild to just a few words, perhaps the most appropriate thing would be to point out the concept of freedom, since even in the first hour of play we can aspire to go to the final challenge and see the final credits. So how do you dazzle the player to complete dozens of shrines? How can we encourage ourselves to go through all the regions until we find the four divine beasts? A clever design exercise that did the hardest thing: pique the player's interest to keep going. Without knowing what, without telling him how.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar Games needed more than five years to make the Red Dead Redemption sequel a reality. It came from what is already one of the most successful video games of all time, Grand Theft Auto V, so the company was not easy. The ambition to make a game capable of living by itself apart from one of the best-written stories in memory was translated into a true masterpiece; a game that, by its design, allowed that every journey was surrounded by unknowns.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur Morgan was one more in the Wild West, an agent participating in all the possibilities that we had before us. People who made their lives independently of our acts and acts that, at the same time, had a direct implication in that world. Every detail, every element, everything was taken care of to the maximum to make each scene impressive; whether or not it had to do with the main campaign that has a variety of scenarios that we will take to see again. To make matters worse, Morgan sealed his name in the history books.
Red Dead Redemption 2 did not necessarily seek to revolutionize the genre, but to achieve the best version of itself in terms of memorable character writing and representation of a year 1899 where the social economic context played a determining role in understanding the rest. Perhaps this is the merit of this title, regardless of its impressive visual section or the effect of the weather, which had coherence and meaning with the historical moment on which it was based. How to make an open world better based on that moment?
An open world that prevented you from feeling powerful in front of the rest, where the interaction with the NPCs was a box of surprises; who did not forget to offer customary situations, nor to make us feel fear and satisfaction. Incredibly realistic, raw and alive, he is one of those who will serve as an example of those who try to do something similar afterwards. Round.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
We couldn't make this selection without giving Ubisoft space. The fame of the maps full of icons and elements is a double-edged sword, but it is of little use to lament at this point of the possible mistakes made without identifying the virtues and knowing how to improve for the next time. Because the French company has been perfecting that will by doing everything in a big way. He has tried it with the driving genre in The Crew, he did it with Ghost Recon and The Division, he has done it with Far Cry – impeccably in some ways – and he did it, perhaps to the surprise of some, with Assassin's Creed, even borrowing many ideas already established in the genre.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin's Creed Origins (2017) hit the table after a multi-year respite. The saga needed to get air, gain strength, and return. An intellectual property wrapped up by a name with commercial potential like few others and… yes, it turned out well. Origins' Egypt served as a perfect example of how to recreate a historical moment through video games full of documentation, color, life and activities. A year later, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey arrived in ancient Greece to reinforce that idea and record that the experiment was here to stay. That as an experiment it had little and that, apart from that multitude of activities with more or less variety among themselves, it worked.
The community reached a certain consensus: a video game of extreme quality, perhaps exaggerated in size. There were no limits when it came to approaching the development of this game, which wanted to go for everything and rise to the historical podium of the saga. Perhaps the best thing about Odyssey was not so much the exploitation of the world around us, but its improvement in the system of dialogues, decision making, reinforcement in the mechanics of progress in the characters or a main story that gained interest and packaging. Regardless of being a beautiful and content-rich world, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s merit in the open world genre was the way we explored it and the charisma that comes from absolutely everything. Assassin's Creed Valhalla's biggest rival is possibly his own shadow.
Forza Horizon 4
If there is a saga that has not been allowed errors during the present generation of consoles, that is Forza Mortorsport. Perfectly differentiated between Turn 10 Studio and the British Playground Games, the craziest and most simcade branch of the family has remained constant, always more, with three episodes that have been able to understand what they wanted until they consolidated standards of excellence with Forza Horizon 4, which places it as one of the best driving video games in recent decades.
Because making an open world of cars is not easy; in fact, it has seldom worked with so much skill as with Forza. Burnout Paradise or Need for Speed: Most Wanted opened a path particularly focused on speed, on raising the idea that anything goes, but where there was no intention to faithfully recreate real environments or be technical references. They just don't need it and their goal, their own, nailed it. But Playground Games went for it all with the fourth episode of Horizon to perfect a formula that seemed unable to go any further after a also reference Forza Horizon 3.
Forza Horizon 4
A festival where Great Britain is recreated with pleasure and invites us to enjoy the wheel simply in a contemplative way. Because this title is enjoyed behind the wheel thanks to its refined control, but it is also glimpsed and defines itself as beautiful thanks to its great use of HDR and a change of seasons system that affects both the visual and the playable. There were doubts about how this system of changes would fit into the landscape; if it was going to be an anecdote or could really influence driving. Luckily, it was the second. Although it is not the purpose of this work to make the player interact with the environment in the same way as with others, the car is directly affected by the design of the stage. Not the other way around.
In short, a festival that celebrates the driving video game genre and makes us wonder if this formula can really be improved further. That's what we thought with the third part, so let's let time place Forza Horizon both in the history books and in the imminent future.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
The recently renamed PlayStation Studios has been leaning not so much on the size of its maps as on the stories that were on them. This generation has been marked by a meticulous and delicate world in God of War, by the concreteness and transversality of Marvel’s Spider-Man or by the open linearity of Uncharted 4 and its expansion, The Lost Legacy. Guerrilla Games brainstormed and set out, looking at other vivid, colorful and deep worlds with a new intellectual property, Horizon: Zero Dawn, in a universe that we continue to enjoy.
Aloy's character is full of charisma, there is no doubt; Nor is the Decima Engine a treat for any video game graphics enthusiast. The positive thing about this Sony production is that it knew how to make a third person action adventure with shots, stealth and RPG touches accompanied by a huge world that lent itself to being explored, discovered. Solid, without giving the impression that there was nothing left, taking advantage of the weeds to introduce them into the action and also adding importance to some of their side missions.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
We are aware that this IP has only just begun, that its first part has a somewhat experimental look and that there is room for improvement (some missions, slowdowns or the AI of the enemies), but this is the way to continue inside the Japanese house when designing organic open worlds, detaching from artificiality and with an adequate dose of strategy, always accompanied by the main story. Any PS4 player must play it, there is no doubt. The influence, however, must be more for himself than for others.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
We know that we are including a Wii U game in the list, but the truth is that Xenoblade Chronicles X belongs to this generation. His arrival in 2015 he did, as usual on the ill-fated Nintendo home console, in silence. He also agreed with players and specialized critics: he is outstanding. We do not know if the title will end up arriving sooner or later on the Nintendo Switch, as many other references in the Gamepad machine catalog have done; what is indisputable is that it is one of the most particular and richest Japanese open worlds that we remember.
Exploration, freedom of movement and cohesion between its universe or lore and the playable structure. An immense, precious world, where the planet Mira was the true protagonist. It is true that he asked us several dozen hours before knowing the true playable potential of the title, but from the first moment he transmitted a feeling of colossality and exploration capacity that in the first Xenoblade Chronicles already placed his name among the best JRPGs of the era modern. Monolith Soft created a fun, top-down, explorable video game with hundreds of missions and areas to discover; In addition to the well-known wicks, we could pilot to offer a vertical component that made him feel great.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
It was risky, but it is a game consistent with his idea and with an almost infinite approach. Surely, it failed him the difficulties to familiarize us with the controls, some initial requirements to advance in the main story or the feeling of not knowing very well what to do. Once you found your way, an idea floated: we were facing an extraordinary, vast, endless open world. There is not a single Wii U game that has squeezed the hardware of the console to such a level. It was perhaps ahead of his time and it would have been better for him to go out in a more popular system, because from him he somewhat drinks the next numbered episode of the license.
In this list we have cited many names, not many with this ability to make us feel in a wild world seasoned with mystery and, what is truly important, in a JRPG. If someone in the Japanese industry will dare to do something similar, it is something that remains to be seen, but that Monolith is the most prepared to do it, we have no doubt: it is what fans of the genre have been asking for years.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Superheroes, which comic book and video game fan doesn't like this combination? The last installment of the Rocksteady trilogy did not have it easy. After Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, improving that required a grand finale, honoring both the character and playable values that had been established over a long period of five years. The study agreed with those who hoped to see a true new-generation Batman complete the task of saving Gotham once again in style. And yes, he made it clear who is by now the most successful superhero in video games. It did not revolutionize its formula, far from it, but it did make it grow with a visually imposing and much bigger game. The version of Gotham that we have here available was an impeccable evolution of what was seen in previous installments: more richness in the details, interaction with elements, hidden alleys, missions and setting, an element that we cannot forget. And without loading times between zones.
Sony's Marvel’s Spider-Man offered us a Manhattan where character control was better than the stage itself, devoid of tasks beyond the missions themselves. The Insomniac title made us feel like Spider-Man; for future deliveries we want more of your world. Arkham Knight's world was more self-aware, more responsive to our actions, and letting us know that it was an environment dominated by horror.
Batman: Arkham Knight
And yes, the Batmobile, because it is useless to have a huge open world if we only find obstacles when it comes to knowing it. If in some fantastic titles or Red Dead Redemption 2 itself, the horse was chosen as a displacement tool, in this Batman adventure the car par excellence of the saga took more importance than ever; for some, even excessive importance. For the rest, a very rich title in the playable, refined and balanced, capable of making us feel within that world. This is something that does not depend on the graphics, and that is very good news for those who with less resources want to do something similar. Hopefully more Batman like the Arkham trilogy.
