Summary
- Mass Effect: Andromeda could have been a linear game due to the previous games being streamlined experiences.
- Starfield would benefit from a linear experience rather than the procedural generated portions of the open world.
- Rise of the Ronin's open world added little, making a more linear game a better option.
Open-world games are popular as they grant players a wealth of freedom to explore the map as they please, and forgo main quests in favor of completing side objectives and seeing what locations or secrets they can discover in the wide-open world.
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And while an open map does benefit most games, there are a few titles that could have potentially been made linear, either due to how strictly structured the main questline is or due to a lack of depth within the open map. These games are examples of this, as they could have been linear, were they not open-world.
8 Mass Effect: Andromeda
The Mass Effect Series Previously Favored More Linear Worlds
Mass Effect: Andromeda
- Released
- March 1, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Mass Effect: Andromeda stepped away from Shepard's story entirely as the third game ties their tale up completely, and gave way for a new protagonist. This protagonist was Ryder, and their story took place in the far reaches of the Andromeda Galaxy. They travel to this galaxy along with quarians, asari, turians, and salarians to find new colonies, and run afoul of a hostile alien race called the kett while they are checking a planet for viability.
Ryder's journey takes them far and wide across the Andromeda Galaxy, which was a bold new step to take with what has primarily been a linear game series. A new galaxy, a new protagonist, and a new subgenre of game might have just been too much of a migration for series fans at once, so it may have been a good idea to have had Mass Effect: Andromeda as a linear game. BioWare has already proven that this would have worked, as evidenced by previous releases.
7 Starfield
Would Have Benefited From a More Linear Experience
Starfield
- Released
- September 6, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
From the minds of Bethesda came Starfield, their foray into sci-fi after years spent making the fantasy series Elder Scrolls, and the atompunk franchise Fallout. In the far-flung future, humanity has had to leave Earth as the planet became inhospitable, and war eventually broke out between the factions. Players assume the role of a miner twenty years following the Colony War, and the company they work for is commissioned to hunt down an artifact which grants curious visions to the player character.
Though exploring space and alien planets is an exciting opportunity, procedural generation can be a little hit-and-miss because it relies on an algorithm rather than human creativity. Starfield would probably have benefited more if it were linear, as then they would go to set locations crafted by human minds that would result in a more consistent experience.
6 Rise of the Ronin
The Open World Adds Little to This Game
Rise of the Ronin
- Released
- March 22, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Team Ninja
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Adventure, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Set during the historical Edo period, players are a Blade Twin, two siblings who are part of the Veiled Edge, a resistance group they joined after a shogunate ordered the assassination of their family. Their partner allows their escape from an assassin known as the Blue Demon, but realizes they didn't die, and sets out in the world to find them.
The setting, story, and gameplay of Rise of the Ronin stand out as great strengths of this game, but unfortunately, it does suffer from a somewhat lackluster open world that adds little more enjoyment to the game. As such, Rise of Ronin might have worked better as a more linear game, as more care could have been given to the already good parts of this game.
5 Hogwarts Legacy
A Tighter Focus on the School Might Have Appeased Fans More
Hogwarts Legacy
- Released
- February 10, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Software
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Finally, Harry Potter fans got what they had always wanted--a game that let them design their own wizard or witch studying at Hogwarts, and their choice of whichever House they want to be a part of. Hogwarts Legacy was this game, and was mostly warmly received by fans. Alongside being a student, players would also traverse across the world battling evil wizards, completing optional objectives, or even rescuing wild animals from poachers.
Even if the open-world aspects of the game are great, Hogwarts Legacy could have just as easily been a more linear experience that restricted where players could wander, focusing mostly on series-famous places like Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, so that Potter fans could engage with parts of the world they recognize from the beloved books and movies.
4 Horizon: Zero Dawn
A Linear World for a Linear Plot
Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Released
- February 28, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Guerrilla Games
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Horizon Zero: Dawn explores a futuristic post-apocalyptic world in which humans live in scattered tribes, while the world at large is dominated by large robot creatures known as the Old Ones. Main character Aloy, who was exiled from her tribe as a child, returns one day, curious to know more about her past, but as always, nothing is ever quite so simple. Cultists descend on the tribe, and she sets out to hunt them down.
The world before Aloy is one that is vast and open, and players are free to wander from the beaten path to see more of the apocalyptic landscape and to find the Old Ones that inhabit the lands. But with such a structured and strong story to follow, Horizon didn't necessarily need to be an open-world game, and could have easily been a more linear action-adventure game.
3 Cyberpunk 2077
The Narrative Was Cyberpunk's Main Draw
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Night City held some pretty lofty promises outlined in neon, but the reality didn't quite live up to these expectations. Taking control of V, who finds themselves possessed by the digital ghost of famous rock musical legend Johnny Silverhand, who will soon overwrite V's consciousness, but removal would instantly kill V, so they need to find another safer way of exorcising the voice in V's head.
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This mission does take V through Night City, which unfortunately does fall a little flat when measured up to other aspects of the game, such as the characters, the narrative, and the acting chops of famed star Keanu Reeves. It would have been possible to have made Cyberpunk 2077 a more linear experience, and not only that, the game might have been better off for it.
2 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The End of the World Is Nigh
Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
The Elder Scrolls is one of Bethesda's flagship franchises, creating wholly unique fantasy worlds for players to truly lose themselves in, with Skyrim being among the most famous titles. Though given a main quest to follow, players find themselves too easily distracted by the open map, with many places to explore and many monsters to slay.
But with a main quest that involves a dragon by the name of Alduin the World Eater, it would make sense that players wouldn't be turned out to the world to just do whatever they please, as the entire planet is in danger. As such, it seems like there should be more of a sense of urgency to slay the World Eater before he devours everyone and everything, rather than players being afforded the leisure to take it at their own pace.
1 Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur's Story Could Have Been a More Intimate Experience
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
This entry contains spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2!
A prequel to its predecessor, Red Dead Redemption 2 tells the tale of outlaw Arthur Morgan, a valued member of the Van der Linde posse. The gang ends up making enemies of the Pinkertons after an attempt to rob the train that was the property of a man known as Cornwall. On one of the missions, Arthur comes into contact with a man who has been coughing up blood, and catches his deadly affliction.
From that moment on, Arthur's health degrades over the course of the game, so players know before too long they are playing a dead man walking. With his life coming to an end, he hardly had the time to dilly-dally, which is why the game could have easily been more linear, giving Arthur's personal tale the undivided attention it deserved.
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