DexterousGecko, on 28 Mar 2014 - 12:22 PM, said:
Is X going to be open world style? Or more like Open world "feel" but basically linear in nature (slowly opens up as you progress through the story) I haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles, and trying to find a copy these days is painful ![:(](//thewiiu.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.png)
On the sliding scale of linearity vs open world, games like xenoblade are a 5, while sandbox games like gta, or sandbox wrpg's like skyrim are a 6, and for contrast, GOOD Metroids, like super or prime 1 are 4's. I prefer 4's and 5's to 6's, because 6's are so open you literally have no influence on the game whatsoever, nothing you do has any real impact anywhere, a natural detractor to the go anywhere anytime do anything game design. Nothing great ever happens in comparison to a game with a little more director direction, plus, it allows a game progression design that blows crappy level scaling enemies and loot out of the water.
Xenoblade has a natural order of areas in which you visit, although there are new plot lines and new things to do in every single area for the entire game, with several areas changing drastically throughout the game, and drastically changing again dependant on player action. The impact you as the player have in Xenoblade is incredible. NPC's lives change based on your actions. They live, they die, their routines change, they move cities, they take up new jobs (with model changes)... All based on player actions.
Also, since crappy level scaling design isnt used, new areas in old maps that were previously too dangerous, become viable for exploration, but even better, savvy gamers can manage low level runs if they are good enough with the combat systems, and stealthy players can get some advanced goodies early in the game by sneaking through highly dangerous areas. A far more interesting proposition than just going anywhere you want and always having enemies the proper level for you to beat.
Xenoblades Bionis height is the size of Japan. In game I believe it's larger than Skyrim and Skyrim is 15-16 Square miles. Tho Just Cause 2 and Elder Scrolls 2 dwarfs these games so bad....they make XB look like a CoD map.
Still the game is massive and it helps the game sorta tricks you into thinking it's even bigger by having you look up all the time. The whole game from outside to indoors is designed to be very vertical high ceilings and islands way high up and large Mechonis in the sky staring down at you. So adds more to the effect of it's size.
Can't say if X will be smaller/bigger or equal. Tho it looks larger. If it is then dang no wonder you need the dolls.
Its hard to measure Xenoblade for several reasons
1: The maps are very irregular
2: Many maps are double layered, tripled layered, or far more, and 3 dimensional explorable area as opposed to just surface area has to be taken into account... Almost to the point where you would have to consider cubic feet instead of square feet... Which... Will likely be something that needs to be considered for X.
However, using the hud arrow, and a measurment of 1000 game units= 1 kilometer, it turned out on average areas were 5-6 Km^2 With a few outliers 10 and over and one or two around 3.... and there were about 21 areas. It came out to a rough estimate of around 100km^2, or a little over 60 square miles. Its a good thing your characters could be gemmed to run up to like, 25 mph
Xenoblade blows skyrim out of the water.
However, games like just cause and dagger fall, as you said ARE much larger than Xenoblade.
BUT. There is a catch, these games (as well as tiny skyrim and prety much all western open world games) feature computer generated terrain. The developers fed a 'world seed' into a random number generator, and it spit out a high resolution 2d array, they used as a height map, to create the world. They then simply dropped buildings and other models and textures on top of it.
Xenoblade is the largest Handcrafted world ever created. ANd it shows, Xenoblade is FFFFFAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR more interesting a place in every conceivable way, visually, mechanically (Jump off water falls and cliffs, and bridges to get places, swim out to distant islands and landmarks) and scene composition wise (from literally any point in an outside map from xenoblade, you can rotate the camera and find a fantastic visual landscape), and things to do (Every nook and cranny in xenoblade has something, from a unique boss battle, to a hidden chest, secret areas, quest giving npc's etc)
In contrast, Terrain generated games, while realistic looking, are about as interesting to traverse as the backyard until you get to a set peice (ALL of xenoblade is set peices because its handcrafted).
X Will become the NEW largest handcrafted game world ever made, and completely seamless too boot. And the way Monolith is talking, and hiring, and with the very obvious game mechanics they are using (You are given mechs that can transform into super sonic motorcycles and speeding all terrain vehicles, to expedite transportation speed to cover more vast ground) its going to blow Xenoblade out of the water.