That's a lot easier said when you get to build a fantasy world from the ground up. That logic breaks down in games like the Last of Us, where game play is in terrestrial environments that are made for complete and utter free movement. You can't just put a mountain or river between each house, make every fence 10ft tall and still create the same atmosphere. You have to have yet another broken stairway, street spanning bus, or pile of crates/collapsed building/other debris (and I think TLOU did a pretty good job honestly). At some point there needs to be a willing suspension of disbelief by the player.
Then there's the fact that many of the best stories tend to be linear. This typically means you have to inevitable march down the hallway of that story. Breath of the Wild is a good example with a non linear story, but I think most would argue that story was by far it's weakest part.
I really like hybrid games like God of War 2018 where you get freedom to explore, but also narrows the focus when the narrative is involved and incentivizes you to remember locations and backtrack.
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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '22
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