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So Naughty Dogs next game is going open world right?

Naughty Dogs next original single player game (TLoU3 or new IP) will be...


  • Total voters
    138
  • Poll closed .

Topher

Gold Member
Personally, I love open world games and would love to see Naughty Dog's take on it, but with new IP. I can't see Uncharted or TLOU as a full open world game.

The thing with Sony games is they pique your curiosity with setting, graphics and animation.

Only once you are half way through, you realise you can't finish the game. Lol.

Why are you writing in the second person? Just because that is your experience doesn't mean it is the same for others. In other words, speak for yourself.
 
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Borowski_1

Member
Why are you writing in the second person? Just because that is your experience doesn't mean it is the same for others. In other words, speak for yourself.

when he says "you" he doesn't mean really you, as in "other person"

it's not literal
 

Boss Mog

Member
Lost Legacy was somewhat open world. I think that kind of hybridisation could work well on a larger scale game.
 

KXVXII9X

Member
I neither enjoy open world or Elden Ring and lost all trust in journalists after those glowing reviews. Naughty Dog is one of the last huge AAA studios still making more linear, narrative focused games. This obsession with making everything open world and making games so freaking long will drive me out of gaming.

I thought TLOU Part 2 had excellent level design and I don't think you can get the level of attention to detail if you stretch everything thin to accommodate an open world. I know I'm in the minority though and all I can do is accept this is probably the way most games will go. I really wish semi-open/open-linear caught on more.
 

KXVXII9X

Member
I hope for linear but wide linear akin to Seattle day 1 could work
Seattle Day 1 was one of the best gaming segments I ever played through. It was perfect in how much freedom it offered while still being focused. Reminded me of Deus Ex HR/MD in terms of level design.
 
I really hope not, they do a good job with linear level design and there isn’t enough of that today, the chapters in each U4 and TLOU2 which are open are as far as I hope they take it.
 

Raven117

Gold Member
Open world can truly be awesome when done correctly. BotW, Elden Ring, Rockstar games, Bethesda...all do great jobs using their own ideas.

An Uncharted (or uncharted adjacent) game could do very well in an Open World if its very purposeful and the world is in support of the gameplay. In other words, I think it could work.

That said, I think it would be AWESOME, if Naughty Dog did something like an Alpha Protocol type structure where you can have some choice and can play the politics and the exploration to "get the treasure."
 
I think the TLOU MP coming from ND could be an open world coop, like The Division, but in TLOU Universe. But imo for ND single player titles they will follow "semi open world", with more freedom and connected levels aspect, similar to Dark Souls, Tomb Raider etc.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Well Factions will definitely be a open world survival, pvp with a HUB world I can almost guarantee you.

This is a big reason why I think their next single player game will be open world. Factions II seems to be an ambitious project for them so building out the open world technology there would allow them to more easily transition to an open world single player game.
 

ZoukGalaxy

Member
No, they love to tell story in a way they want to control. At best you will have open areas but really doubt for an true open world.
 
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Bullets-hurt

Neo Member
I recon open world, but will keep the trademark heavy narrative focus. I think it's how they will challenge themselves to get more game of the year awards considering they've nailed the linear story games and maybe want to show they're not a one trick pony.
 
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yurinka

Member
The next one is going to be multiplayer, so pretty likely won't be open world.

I think there are already a ton of open world games. I'd prefer it to be "wide linear" like Uncharted 4 or TLOU2 but shorter. I want quality over quantity. I'd prefer it to be around 15 hours long with secondary stuff to pende another 15 hours. Maximum the double of it.

But I understand open world games sell a lot and that some players and reviewers prefer super long games with a lot of filler stuff. But I think TLOU2 would have been better cuting the half of it.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
I sure hope not, i think we are over saturated with open worlds. I enjoy a linear high quality experience too from time to time
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Was the last of us 2 strictly linear? I haven’t played it yet

It has a few more open areas where you can fuck around for a while, but they are like "bubbles" along a linear path that you pretty soon have to start following again. Overall the game is a completely linear A to B affair.
 
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I don't think there's enough discussion about where the industry is heading. We don't talk about the mechanisms or psychology behind why certain trends are growing and others are diminishing.

Take this thread for example, it's kind of turned into a "I prefer X type of game so Naughty Dog will make X."

totally-illogical-spock.gif


Shouldn't we consider the market trends, rather than personal preferences, when it comes to making predictions?

It's also interesting to see people say "Open world is bad so they should do linear" as if fixing the bad parts of the open world formula isn't an inevitability.
I’m not really sure what you’re arguing here. The personal preference of the market has a part to play in market trends. The Last of Us 2 wasn’t open world. Even so, it was the fastest selling first-party PlayStation 4 game. There’s obviously a large market for “wide” linear games. I’d go as far as to argue that fans of naughty dog want that experience as opposed to an open world experience.

I don’t think open world is any better or worse than linear, and vice versa. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. There’s also plenty of room in the industry for both to exist. Open world games aren’t new. As far as I can tell, linear games aren’t going anywhere either. So what is there to discuss exactly? Do you think the industry is heading towards a “mostly open world” format? I don’t think so. I think that would be a mistake.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
The Last of Us 2 wasn’t open world. Even so, it was the fastest selling first-party PlayStation 4 game.
The fastest selling to what? 20 million? From what Sony announced, only Spiderman (open world), Horizon Zero Dawn (open world), and God of War (some say is open world) reached 20 million. TLoU2 certainly did well, but if I recall correctly, it didn't seem to stay high on the charts for very long.

Edit: So TLoU2 released on June 19th. Here's how it performed on the PS downloads charts...

June: #1
July: #5
August: Did not chart (/20)
There’s obviously a large market for “wide” linear games. I’d go as far as to argue that fans of naughty dog want that experience as opposed to an open world experience.
I don't think people like Jim Ryan think this way. I think he looks at the market and notices open world outsells "wide linear" by a significant margin and says to himself "Our most expensive, prestige studios should be making the best open world games on the planet". People think Naughty Dog is one of the most talented studios on the planet, but they're not generating profits at that level.

Jim Ryan also doesn't care who buys Naughty Dogs next game, he just wants more people to buy their next game. 8 million Naughty Dog fans aren't worth as much as 30 million Breath of the Wild fans.
I don’t think open world is any better or worse than linear, and vice versa.
It seems to be better in one specific area. More people prefer open world to wide linear. It's a larger, more lucrative market.
They both have their strengths and weaknesses. There’s also plenty of room in the industry for both to exist. Open world games aren’t new. As far as I can tell, linear games aren’t going anywhere either. So what is there to discuss exactly? Do you think the industry is heading towards a “mostly open world” format? I don’t think so. I think that would be a mistake.
I think Sony will keep making wide linear games, but what we'll see is them coming from smaller studios like Team Asobi or Pixel Opus.
 
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RevGaming

Member
I really struggled with original horizon 5 years ago, just slogged through ghost of tsushima and it was painful for a game I wanted to love. I was so bored at various points. Probably 80 percent bored 20 percent enthralled. I've dropped days gone as I can't muster it. Struggled with original spider man due to the repetitive side content, loved Miles morales. Horizon forbidden west looks like nightmare fuel....and I dunno about days gone...might give it another go at some point. I just hope God of war doesn't go more the open world route and please...don't let there be anymore Sony open world games for a while. Give me games like returnal, astro bot, sackboy etc all over that other cutty cutter stuff.
I disagree. Ghost and Horizon managed the open world 10 times better than FC4.

Spider-Man open world is what it held back competing with Gow and RDR2 in that year. The stealth segments could have been forgiven, but that open world was a checklist.
 
Maybe they can do both? Uncharted and last of us should stay wide linear with some open areas but a new ip could be a full open world game.
 
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RevGaming

Member
Maybe they can do both? Uncharted and last of us should stay wide linear with some open areas but a new ip could be a full open world game.
I think they would have to do something different for tlou3. Idk if open world is the answer.

But to get back those haters that did "beat" the first game and made and outcry about the second game.
 
The fastest selling to what? 20 million? From what Sony announced, only Spiderman (open world), Horizon Zero Dawn (open world), and God of War (some say is open world) reached 20 million. TLoU2 certainly did well, but if I recall correctly, it didn't seem to stay high on the charts for very long.

Edit: So TLoU2 released on June 19th. Here's how it performed on the PS downloads charts...

June: #1
July: #5
August: Did not chart (/20)
I can’t find any solid information on how many copies The Last of Us 2 sold so I can’t speak to how it compares to Horizon, Spider-Man, of God of War. Neither can you. God of War is not open world.

One game selling 20 million units isn’t automatically better than a game that sells 4 million either. There are a lot of factors that make a game a success.
I don't think people like Jim Ryan think this way. I think he looks at the market and notices open world outsells "wide linear" by a significant margin and says to himself "Our most expensive, prestige studios should be making the best open world games on the planet". People think Naughty Dog is one of the most talented studios on the planet, but they're not generating profits at that level.
You seem to be speaking directly for Jim Ryan. Has he said these things, or are you just making claims on his behalf? Can you prove that Naughty Dog is not generating profit “at that level?” Can you prove that the profit they’re generating isn’t good enough for the executives at Sony?
Jim Ryan also doesn't care who buys Naughty Dogs next game, he just wants more people to buy their next game. 8 million Naughty Dog fans aren't worth as much as 30 million Breath of the Wild fans.
This is a bold claim. Proof?
It seems to be better in one specific area. More people prefer open world to wide linear. It's a larger, more lucrative market.
Proof? I get the feeling that you only, or mostly, play open world games. There are many, many modern games that aren’t open world.
 

kyliethicc

Member
This video has a great breakdown of how differently they have to design and write a game that’s open world.

And this was just for 1 level of a game.

Had over 3 times more dialogue written for that 1 level than for the largest level in Uncharted 4.

 
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Paulxo87

Member
not sure how the game will be but the technology will be world class if it was ground up on ps5. People just don't realize how these consoles are not even showing off what they can do yet aside from ratchet and ds
 
This is a big reason why I think their next single player game will be open world. Factions II seems to be an ambitious project for them so building out the open world technology there would allow them to more easily transition to an open world single player game.
Yea it's very possible. If it is I could see them using that art station concept art and making an open world fantasy game based around riding dragons and medieval battles. I just want to have a dragon duel while flying through a Naughty Dog thunderstorm.
 
I thought the next ND game was Savage Starlight? I can't see a linear space game going down too well nowadays. I suppose the Dead Space remake will be the canary down the mine for that theory.
 

The Fartist

Gold Member
They should make a closed-world game where you can't go anywhere, you're just stuck in a 12x12ft room. I better stop, don't want to give Kojima any ideas.
 
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