No more mapflation! Smaller game regions are better

What may excite you, rings alarm bells within me. In May, Ubisoft announced the following during the unveiling of Assassin’s Creed Shadows: its playable world will apparently be similar in size to predecessors Origins, Odyssey or Valhalla. Very big, then.

The pattern continues in current AAA games. Worlds are getting bigger and bigger. Development studios market their giant maps as a bonus – and we gamers are stupid enough to take the bait. After all, the bigger the better. But is that really the case?

As recent games have shown, this is a fallacy. Massive maps feel empty and are stuffed with filler content. In Starfield, I can visit an almost infinite number of planets. But every single one of them is boring.

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

Development studios fill their ever-larger maps by copy-and-pasting. That, or they generate areas procedurally. In other words, they throw assets – i.e. houses, enemies, trees and sections of landscape – into a machine and wildly throw them onto a canvas. Not identical, but very similar areas are then spat out.

As a result, we fight the same old space pirates (Starfield), conquer the same old fortresses (Skyrim) and explore the same old dungeons (Diablo 4). Sparsely scattered world events are intended to distract us from the fact that the map is actually empty and there’s nothing to do between plot points. For example, bloodthirsty Viking Eivor helps a girl catch her runaway deaf horse in a trivial side mission in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. That, or Ubisoft simply summons around 30 random mirages, just to make the desert in Assassin’s Creed: Origins feel less empty.

In the end, a desert is just sand

Admittedly, the vast virtual sandy deserts in Assassin’s Creed: Origins impressed me at first glance. But without offering anything to do, even the most beautiful dune becomes a pile of boring sand. Enemies? None. Loot? Nope. Action? Nada. I have no reason to stay here. I just want to get through the desert as quickly as possible and get to the next town.

It’s why I like the manageable map in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage so much. I fully explored it pretty quickly. Two or three missions show me the desert, but as the sandy landscape has nothing more to offer, I don’t have to spend any more time in it. The focus is on the bustling city of Baghdad. Its bazaar is chaotic, street musicians and shisha steam lull me to sleep, pretty buildings entice me with their climbable facades, peaceful gardens invite me to linger. An empty open world with boring piles of sand can’t offer all that.

As big as necessary, as small as possible

After all, why do you think the majority of missions in Grand Theft Auto V take place in the city centre of Los Santos, even if it only makes up around a third of the map? Because the rest consists of uninhabited mountains, fields and motorways – yawn. The city itself is rich in detail, handmade and lively. I can feel it, it begs for my attention.

The principle in worldbuilding should be: as big as necessary, as small as possible. A murder’em’up like Assassin’s Creed Shadows has little to gain in a Japanese landscape. Even if Japan’s mountains and forests are beautiful. That’s why I’m at least a little optimistic seeing Ubisoft focus on vibrantly designed settlements and detailed fortresses in the Ubisoft Forward presentation. Wide plains or dense forests weren’t shown. The announced seasons system could give the open world additional charm. I hope it adds more than just a colour filter and a pair of frozen ponds in winter. I want the times of day and seasons to have a noticeable influence on the game.

Sometimes smaller is better

As a gamer, I’m aware that bigger isn’t always better. Creating an exciting game world is time-consuming. If a development team sets itself limits, it can concentrate on fine-tuning what already exists. That’s why I don’t expect new games to get bigger and bigger. I prefer games that don’t let me go, even after twenty hours. Instead of just boring me after four hours.

Now, a AAA game with a map half the size of its predecessor would be really refreshing. Just make it twice as detailed.