About a month ago, life happened in a big way and I had to focus on some family things for a beat. When I did manage some time away from work, personal things, and other obligations, I chose to sit on a couch and veg—and play me some video games. Normally, I’ll drop into something like Neon Abyss, Fortnite, maybe a laid-back point-and-click or story game, or some merge or match app on my phone. But instead I felt a draw toward a specific game genre. One I have worked in many times over the years. One I used to absolutely love but have barely engaged with in recent years: open world games.
There wasn’t a specific breaking point for me and open world games. I just stopped playing them. Maybe I was burned out. Maybe I need more directed experiences as I went through some pretty major changes in my life. Maybe I needed games I could play in bite-sized chunks. Whatever the reason, I have shuffled it off and, over the past few weeks, I jumped back into some old favorites as well as some new hotness.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
I loved Insomniac‘s first Spider-Man game and I was excited for this sidequel. I started this probably about the time I was falling away from open world games so I wasn’t very far along. It was funny to me to have a strange sense of deja vu during some missions and cutscenes before I realized I remembered them from watching my son play.
Mile Morales builds on what makes Spider-Man great while having its own identity. It’s a top notch take on the formula perfected by the Arkham games so I never passed up an opportunity to stop a drug deal, interrupt some inter-faction conflict, or save a local vendor from being harrassed. The swinging is great, the collectibles are fun to find, and the game balances high-energy missions and more narrative-focused moments excellently.
inFAMOUS: First Light
Sucker Punch‘s inFAMOUS titles are some of favorite games of all time. Action-shooters at their core, the elemental superpower wrapper, gritty street-level story, and morality system give a unique identity to the games. The movement feels good, the world is well-realized, the visuals are engaging, and the gameplay is just pure fun.
First Light is the fifth and final game in the series. A spin-off of inFAMOUS: Second Son, much like Miles Morales is to Spider-Man above, it presents a bit more contained but focused experiences. I love the character, Fetch, and the retro-Seattle she calls home. According to my last save game, I “finished” First Light almost exactly nine years ago. Dang. I still had some collectibles to find though so I set out to do that.
Sucker Punch is focused on the Ghost of Tsushima follow-up, Ghost of Yotei, currently but, man, I would love love love to see/make a new game in the series.
Watch Dogs: Legion
No studio is as all-in on open world as Ubisoft. Each of their key franchises plays in that space and, if you play enough of them, you will see learnings from one line appear in another. Some folks criticize Ubi titles for being too similar these days but I feel each stands on their own.
Watch Dogs is a series all about oppression, surveillance, and resistance. Each of the three titles thus far has, in addition to refining the core gameplay, made a key pivot. Watch Dogs 2 moved the game from the first’s dreary (and somehow mountain-filled?) take on Chicago to a bright and sunny San Francisco. In addition, it laid on humor and attitude the first installment lacked. Some missions, such as a Knight Rider-inspired one early on, felt Saints Row-esque. Legion isn’t quite as cheeky as its predecessor but it does add one huge system: You can play as anyone. Yes. Anyone. Well, any civilian, that is.
See someone on the street? Recruit them. Do a mission, gain their trust, and they join your ranks. Lost an operative in a mission? Switch to someone else in the cadre. It’s a fantastic concept. The execution is nascent, as it’s going to be. The seams and limitations are visible but so is the potential. I hope to see another take on this in the future.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
The latest title from Ubisoft—released just a week ago—finally brings the beloved Assassin’s Creed franchise to the setting fans have been clamoring about for over a decade: Feudal Japan. Shadows boasts dual protagonists, one a shadow-stalking shinobi and the other an armor-laden samurai. A previous entry, Syndicate, had two protagonists as well but the gameplay between the Frye twins, Evie and Jacob, was the same. In Shadows, the two characters have completely different skillsets and feel distinct from each other.
I only played a bit of this one but I’m excited to play more. Assassin’s Creed is a pair of comfy socks for me. I can slip into an AC game at any time, poke around a bit, clear a fort or city sector, maybe take down a target, and hop out.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Which is exactly what I did with another entry in Ubisoft‘s beloved series, 2017’s Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Set in Ancient Egypt, this game follows Bayek, who is a sworn protector of the land. Next to Black Flag, Origins is peak AC. A near-flawless take on the concept. If you have never played an Assassin’s Creed game, I recommend Origins without hesitation. One of the best protagonists in the series, super polished gameplay, and the setting is unparalleled. You ever wanted to climb a pyramid? Or fight a jackal-headed god? This game has you covered.
Funnily enough, it was the Memories menu inside Shadows—an interface that brings all the AC games into a single launcher—that led to me reinstalling Origins and jumping back in. A choice I do not regret.
In Sum
I’m not quite sure how or why I drifted so far away from a genre I used to feel so connected with. But I can tell you that I am most decidedly back. As a gamer, I love the immersion, the freedom of choice, the exploration, the ad hoc opportunities, and the way in which multiple stories can parallel. As a game designer, I love the untapped potential of the genre. Trust, the open world genre we know is just a little over 20 years old and its full potential is nowhere near realized. I’m excited to be back and I know I have a lot of catching up to do.
