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[LegendOfKage]

There's a certain element in video games that I've noticed in a lot more games in the last several years, and that's fairly dull travel sections where you're just wanting to get to the next "real" part of the game. Am I alone here, or are others noticing this, and is it getting old for you as well?

Recently I felt this way playing the new Avatar game, although perhaps things get a lot better once you get your "vehicle." I would say that Rage 2 is probably the most frustrated I've ever been with travel in a game.

Good travel is an extension of universe. Your exploration can be rewarded at any time, enemies are everywhere and always entertaining to fight, and side quests are often just as interesting as the main story.

Bad travel is just padding. Dull pointless open roads with no enemies for long periods of time. Areas outside of the main story feel like a checklist rather than meaningful goals with an interesting storyline.

What have been some of the better or worst games you've played when it comes to travel?

 

[kunonabi]

Xenoblade X is probably tops for me. Botw would be the answer if horses weren't so useless and if there were actual compelling rewards to anything. The game does an issue excellent job of placing interesting looking landmarks in your view that for for the first dozen hours it's a joy to get to sidetracked.

 

[Chronicle]

Absolutely! Especially when something happens on long drive walk etc. and the mission ends or fucks up etc.

Open world ruined racing games too.

 

[Filben]

I don't know how it is in Avatar but I think one issue is that traversal is so easy it becomes trivial and hence boring. Often you could draw a straight line on your map and follow it, avoiding the occasional huge mountain (the go-to move by designers to make you move in a trajectory instead of a straigh line... but it's not very clever), but apart from that you can swim in any river, climb any hill, wade through any swamp and go through any brush without any problems or thought. Compare that with linear games like A Plague Tale or Uncharted where the world becomes a "level" to scale, to beat. See a landmark in the distance you need to reach? Be prepared to go through a tons of smaller or bigger events until you reach that point. In real life, you can't just go anywhere, too. If you want to go from A to B in nature you have to look for paths or otherwise you maybe cut your clothes or skin at thorns in the brush; you can't just go swim through every river you see because of dangerous currents or simply because you'll be soaking wet; you can't just climb or "glitch" your way up a mountain. You have to be observant and mind your move. In most open world games, you don't need to.

Some games, like Breath of the Wild, tackle that issue by implementing mechanics you have to be considerate about. Because of the stamina in BotW you can't just climb big mountains mindlessly; you can't swim forever in vast seas. Other games like the old Gothic classics offer an open world with certain 'walled off" areas you could technically cross but by placing let's say very though monsters, bandits or quest requirements in your way, you often have to find a different path and be obversant of your world (because you also don't want to step into a trap or otherwise dangerous territory you're hopelessly underleveled for).

 

[hyperbertha]

There was a time when the driving/riding was the entertainment, because it was novel. Entire games were made so you could drive or ride. Nowadays it's more a chore, a boring break before the action. We've got so used to it in games it no longer entertains us.

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

This, for me, is part of what was so great about Days Gone. The roads were quicker but winding and had the potential of a horde or bandits, while the shortcuts were slower and required more actual traversal, with the possibility of being picked off while you’re trying to make your way through the woods (or wherever). I mean, it was never really *difficult*, but the traversal was meaningful, there were options, and the choices you made changed your playstyle.

Compare that to something like Horizon (or… pick a game), where you can run or ride or, later, fly, and the only real difference was the amount of time it took and the opportunities for sniping / looting along the way, and Days Gone makes you actually care about how you get to where you’re going. So there are possibilities there, hopefully we see some more innovation at some point.

 

[LastBattle]

I really enjoyed driving/riding across the map in Cyberpunk. Always felt fun and lots of eye candy to look at.

 

[Zheph]

Everything looks to be a chore in the new Avatar tho

 

[Rossco EZ]

This, for me, is part of what was so great about Days Gone. The roads were quicker but winding and had the potential of a horde or bandits

Yeah I liked Days Gone for this, had this happen when I was looking for a horde. Was sniped off my bike by one of the sniper bandits disabling it and a horde was close by. Ended up having to clear this bandit camp while dealing with them, I actually managed to use the horde to take out some of the bandits and stuff.

 

[ReBurn]

Mafia III is an offender. I like the game and love the story, but it seriously needed fast travel. It's such a chore to get around in that game.

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

Yeah I liked Days Gone for this, had this happen when I was looking for a horde. Was sniped off my bike by one of the sniper bandits disabling it and a horde was close by. Ended up having to clear this bandit camp while dealing with them, I actually managed to use the horde to take out some of the bandits and stuff.

This kind of emergent gaming should be the bread-and-butter of open-world games. Skyrim did it about as well as could be done at the time, STALKER too, but it’s sadly missing from the more curated open-world games that are really just a series of isolated experiences that you can walk between. THAT’s what makes the travel dull - it’s really just a combination of loading screen and environmental showcase.

 

[kiphalfton]

"Flying to North Yankton" in GTA V.

God forbid you actually had to fly further than a mile offshore.

 

[VeganElduderino]

Exactly why I never finished a Grand theft auto!

 

[cormack12]

Yes it's shit. Pressing up for 4/5 minutes, watch cutscene, start encounter, start running again

 

[Beer Baelly]

I use fast travel

 

[RJMacready73]

OG World of Warcraft had an incredible open world that actually felt like a proper huge world, you could spend ages traversing, getting a griff and then a boat to go meeting up at a dungeon entrance and at the time it felt like an adventure, they truly nailed it and then subsquently ruined it for the no fucking patience crew

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

Depends on why and the conditions. In a game such as red dead redemption 2 it bored me, in wow, daoc etc it was amazing.

 

[Flabagast]

Yes exactly.

This is partly why BG3 feels so refreshing, its runtine is as long or even longer than biggest open world games but it's so condensed within a relatively small world that it never feels boring or empty to go from one place to the next.

 

[Fbh]

Yeah it can be annoying.
I think it's mostly because of how bland and boring the average open world design is.
It's ironic because open world games often talk about freedom and exploration but at their core they are very linear experiences where you need to complete specific tasks, in a specific way, in a specific location in a specific order.
You end up with these waypoint based quest where the world is mostly empty filler for you to move through as you go from one waypoint to the next

 

[DaGwaphics]

It depends on how interesting the world is and how long I've been playing it. I generally start off taking in the world and traveling normally, by the time I'm nearing the end of the game I'm fast traveling because I've experienced this enough.

 

[Certinty]

Quite a few people may disagree, but this is most definitely one of the things I loved about Red Dead Redemption 2.

Even though most of the world was wilderness and empty, for the most part I never found it a huge chore to travel location to location on horseback. Mainly because the world was so beautiful and when you did see stuff going on it was always something unique you wouldn't have seen before.

Don't get me wrong, there were times where I thought some rides were overly long but I felt most were far and between anyway.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Death stranding is amazing, but the game is all about it so it is needed to make it work. GTA games because of nostalgia. Spider man games too are pretty good, because they are one of the few games where I can decide to not use fast travel and move to the objective even if it is far away.

 

[StueyDuck]

If fast travel is the better option then your doing it wrong.

I have many openly aired grievances about SM2 on here but golly does swinging from point a to z especially with assists turned off a good time.

Or you have R* games where the world is so dynamic and entertaining that going a to b is a treat.

Most other games though... hold X to quick travel is the better choice.

 

[violence]

I haven’t beat a GTA game since vice city. It’s most likely because of the travel.

 

[Gojiira]

Im glad someone mentioned it, but Death Stranding is fantastic for this. Traversal is a central element to the gameplay with the environment itself being something you have to actively engage and be aware of. I dont think any game really tops it tbh, exploring and delivering unlocks your gear making your treks easier so its extremely rewarding.

 

[El Muerto]

Yep, so sick of it. I'm tired of spending 20 minutes to go from point A to point B. What makes it worse is if the mission is something menial like harvesting a plant or crafting item like an any Ubisoft game. Or just to talk to someone for like 10 seconds.

 

[NeonDelta]

Long walking bits where you follow someone annoy me more. Just let me run and them run at the same speed

 

[Holammer]

When I played Breath of the Wild I hardly ever used the horse nor abuse fast travel. I walked and found the climbing quite enjoyable.

 

[Crayon]

I have a lot of patience for this, and can even enjoy it sometimes when it's mediocre like in horizon. In zelda, half the fun is getting there and I seldom get tired of trotting around on my horse, Meat Bat.

 

[Kumomeme]

Everything looks to be a chore in the new Avatar tho

this is partly reason why i already loathe to play Ubisoft game. i tried Watch Dog 3 before and and already lose interest the moment marker for next quest is drop and obviously i need to steal car to drive to go there. not to mention the control is suck. basically already see whole game design from around over half hour of gameplay.

lazy samey souless formula of lot of open world game. drop marker, go there either by riding horse or car. no challenge either. rinse and repeat. basically just transportation traversal simulator.

 

[Halo is Back]

Not if the open world is interesting to explore and traverse.

 

[nikos]

OG World of Warcraft had an incredible open world that actually felt like a proper huge world, you could spend ages traversing, getting a griff and then a boat to go meeting up at a dungeon entrance and at the time it felt like an adventure, they truly nailed it and then subsquently ruined it for the no fucking patience crew

I still remember running from Stormwind to Booty Bay way earlier than I was supposed to. Going through Stranglethorn Vale was thrilling and terrifying.