The director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth discusses his belief that gamers today are experiencing open-world fatigue.
Open-world games have been trendy for quite some time; even longtime franchises like Zelda and Final Fantasy have taken the plunge into the open-world formula. In the latter’s case, even classic titles like Final Fantasy 7 have been recreated to be much deeper than the original 1997 title could ever have dreamed of being.
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Naoki Hamaguchi Discusses Open-World Fatigue in Modern Games
During a recent interview with Eurogamer, Naoki Hamaguchi, the director of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, admitted that players may be burned out on the open-world concept. Still, he believes in giving players as much freedom as possible.
“There are a lot of open world games out in the world right now, and [the idea of ‘open world fatigue’] is a very important concept to me,” he said when speaking about the feedback he received for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. “It depends on personal preference and different perceptions, but for me personally, I know I’ve had the experience where I’ve been thrown out into an open world game and not known where to go, not known where to begin, and not known what to do. But at the same time, the concept of being thrown into this wondrous world where anything goes is amazing.”
This is expected to be the final game in the Final Fantasy 7 remake line, and Hamaguchi is excited to move on to a new franchise. While he’s open to remaking other titles in the Final Fantasy series, he’s ready for a brand-new experience overall.
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I don’t think there is a open world fatigue per say. People are just looking for fresh experiences. Look at Crimson Desert, it’s an absolute wonderful experience that keeps giving with no signs of stopping. You give people a wonderful sense of freedom they will continue flocking to open world games. It’s when studios do the cookie cutter thing that makes the experience stale and often boring.
I’m so glad he is recognizing it. Open world has been the “it” thing for well over a decade now. I’ve been so burned out with the checklist maps, ubisoft towers, and 500 collectable pick ups being “gameplay”. Hopefully more developers will work on new ideas going forward.
The only fatigue I felt with FF7 Rebirth was the sheer amount of padding added through mini games. What a waste of time that was..
I personally love the exploration. Crimson desert is huge and i didn’t mind exploring at all. Same with rebirth. I think alot of people now want things streamlined. They want that start to finish game. Maybe make the game big like you want, but give players a choice. Explore or straight line on through. That way you get both sides of the coin so to speak. I didn’t like that the mini games were forced in rebirth. I wasn’t a fan of some of them. So that choice to skip them would have been nice. I enjoyed the side quest though and exploring.