SMALL OPEN WORLD GAMES
fundamentally one of the worst pieces of "standardization" (of which its crimes are many, but i shall write about some other time) is the open world, and its habitual presence, it is not wrong to say that most games are BLOATED with it, and as such i have come up with criteria for what i dub small open world games, that run counter to the worst aspects of the genre.
although to begin with, what even is an open world? well, the shortest, simplest, and susinctest answer is, its a mediated enviornment (really getting a use out of my academic degree) which grants the player agency in how they choose to explore it. all signifiying, absoloutely nothing as the real answer is VIBES. as certain games will obviously fit these criteria, and yet not actually feel accurate to be described as such.
so then? how do SMALL open world games set themselves appart? cause surely its not a SIZE criteria, since if anything size comparison seems to be one of the worst drivers of bloat in the open world genre, instead its based on a few aspects, first and foremost, the LACK of forgettable spaces!, to artificially upscale the size of an open world, one can fill it with forgettable space, being parts of the mediated enviornments that are made to be forgotten. repeat reoffenders of this is bethesda, and ubisoft.
therefor, a criteria of SMALL open worlds, is that no space is made to be forgetable, that every inch of space is made memorable and unforgetable, this of course, is impossible to achieve. but for comparison, how much of a AAA game's open world is made to be un-experienced, filler space between key points, whereas, one of the shining examples of small open worlds, the HITMAN franchise, where each level is an intricate puzzlebox wherein almost every little inch of space is uniquely memorable, and present interesting challenges.
this ultimately serves to create a space which you become intimitly familiar with, the yakuza franchise for one is a great example, in how it uses the limited space of kamurocho, and has the player create an intimate bond with the layout and streets, and through repeat enforcement, creates an internal memory of the city's physical space. its often through repeat exposure to the same enviornment, as opposed to continually opening up the world, to new and unfamiliar enviornments, which is the standard of things in open world games, that distinguishes a small open world from its counterparts.
to provide a few case studies:
THE HOME - Gone Home - probably the most controversial, when i say its a small open world game, but fundamentally its a mediated enviornment which the player has agency in their exploration of, and it is fundamentally about the intimate exploration of our personal belongings and the histories and narratives one can gleam from the debris of an average household. the attention to detail in every object, makes an open world that not just has memorable space, but even memorable clutter.
KAMUROCHO - Yakuza - oh, her sweet siren song, the ring of pachinko, buzzing of neon, the quiet murmur of crowds, no space has ever been the same as Kamurocho, another classic in the small open world genre, the benifit to the familiarity factor is its apperance in almost every game from Yakuza 1 through to 7. reusing the same locations again and again, while slowly dripfeeding new ones. But by the end of your time with the series, the street map and iconic locals from stardust and serena on tenkaichi street, to the champion district off taihei boulevard, will be burned into your muscle memory.
HAWK PEAK - A Short Hike - the hike to the peak in a short hike, is at first seemingly contrary to the title of the game, not short... the initial joke is that you're told its just a short hike to the peak where you might get phone reception... however as you quickly find out, the hike is anything but short... as you search high and low the island for ways to make progress towards the summit. however once at the end its only been two hours... in fact the hike was relatively short... and as the credits roll, you get to swoop down from the peak and take in all the places you've been, and you get to realize the intimate bond you have forged with each and every inch of the island. a seminal *small* open world, especially so in the design of yeah technically its a tiny island you can easily cross the entire map in a minute or two... yet the progression towards the peak is gated in such a way that it demands you really familiarize yourself with the space.
EASTSHADE - Eastshade - oh, eastshade, how can one describe thee, a painting can only capture so much, but the fact that every inch of the island is designed to inspire you, and drive you onwards, and that wherever you look, is a gorgeous view to be put onto canvas. to really get at what eastshade does so well, a discussion one finds within the topic of "open world games" is the idea of "lived in cities" and many devs will make large open cities, with lots of building interiors, and background filler NPCs, but no place has felt as lived in, or even made me want to live in it, as much as the gorgeous city of Nava... it is with utmost sincerity an love, my favourite video-game city.
LORDRAN - Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition - this is an instance that is slightly harder to argue, but that i feel holds true, during ones first experience the world of dark souls feels ever expanding, complex, bewildering, and almost impossible to navigate, but by the time you are experienced, and have overcomed the worst challenges, the world becomes intimate, helped by its interconnectedness, and repeat playthroughs on NG+, the world becomes *small* in a positive way. though it pushes the boundary, especially with some of the nastier and more forgetable segments of blighttown, though even then a case could be argued that none of it is *forgetable* spaces, due to the intense suffering they cause.