Sliding Scale of Linearity vs. Openness: Difference between revisions

Some [[Video Games]] are linear, forcing you to follow one set path throughout the whole game. Other games are more open, allowing you to choose how you progress to your goal. Some games are are even more open than that, giving you a wide open world to explore at your leisure. Most [[Action Game|Action]]/[[Adventure Game|Adventure]]/[[Action Adventure]]/[[Platform Game|Platform]] games fall somewhere in this spectrum of linearity and openness; this scale exists to catalog exactly where they fall.

 

 

The most important factor in determining where a game lies on this scale is the game world itself. A game that limits you to one path will rank lower on the scale than a game that presents an open world and lets you decide how you are going to get to your objective. The objectives themselves are also important in determining a game's place on the scale. A game with a set story progression and one goal or a linear series of goals that get you from the beginning to the end will rank lower than a game with many [[Sidequest|Side Quests]] or a game with multiple ways to progress through the main story. A game can still rank relatively high on the scale with few side quests if it presents you with many missions that are required to complete the main story line and lets you decide how/in what order you will accomplish them. The way the story is set up, however, will usually be influenced by how linear or open the game is, not the other way around.

# Overall progression becomes less linear at this level. While levels themselves will still have a "get from point A to point B" feel, you will have many options in how you get from point A to point B. Backtracking will now be allowed, even if only to allow you to replay levels that you liked; whether the levels change from your initial trip through will vary from game to game. There is still a central narrative, of course, and these games are still on the more linear side of things, but they will not be constrictingly linear. [[Sidequest|Side Quests]] may be present, but will not feature prominently.

# We now get to the more [[Metroidvania]] type of games. These games will likely allow you to explore and do [[Sidequest|side quests]], but they will still want you to put the storyline first. Exploration will be encouraged, but controlled, with more of the game world opening up to you as you play. Games at this level will frequently play out such that you won't be able to explore the world or deviate from the main storyline at all in the beginning, but the whole world will be open to you by the end. Games can also fall into this level if the whole world is open to you from early on, but there's little reason to explore it other than to see the sights, and thus the main storyline will still be your primary concern.

# [[Wide Open Sandbox]] games will be very de-emphasized and, if there even is a main storyline or central goal, it'll likely only comprise a very small part of the whole experience. You are free to do whatever you want in these games, and those at the highest end of the spectrum will have no limits on what you can do. There may be a plethora of [[Sidequest|Side Quests]] to keep you busy, or you may just need to make your own fun. Most MMORPG games fall into this category. Beware of sinking into the [[Quicksand Box]].

 

 

== Level 2 ==

** ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' and '[[Video Game]]/'[[Final Fantasy X]]'' probably also go here. You can revisit old areas, but there's little reason to.

*** III and IV, at least, are arguably more 3s - they have a decent number of sidequests, though they're linear in the long run.

* ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]''. Technically most of the game is optional, but you'll need to do most of the side quests to be at a decent level.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'': There are plenty of sidequests to keep you busy, and you can do the main missions in any order you want. Do enough main missions, and more are unlocked.

* [[Guild Wars]] has a main storyline for all three campaigns, but you can freely explore most areas of the world, with the chance to explore high end areas as a low-level character...if you can survive the onslaught of level 20 mobs in between (example: the run from Northen to Southern Shiverpeaks).

* [[Guild Wars 2]]: Both open world exploration and storyline are favored. [[Sidequest]]s are replaced by Events, sort of what Side Quests would be like if their backstory was actually played out <ref>For example, you are in one of the outpost villages deciding what to do, when SUDDENLY CENTAURS, setting up an [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]] situation in the village where winning or losing the defense of it can trigger a cascade of events throughout the whole world, and trigger new events or altering current ones, and so on.</ref> and by trait gathering, which is Side Quests without exclamation marks <ref>For example, you coerce someone to tell you the location of an ancient tome, and when you go there and read it, you gain a trait. Or, as a warrior, you could defeat an expert knight in the main city, and he will teach you some of his techniques.</ref>

* ''[[Minecraft]]'' looks to be shaping up to be at this level. Though [[Word of God|Notch states]] that he wants a "climax" of some sort, he also speaks of "emergent" plot and gameplay; it would probably be a surprise if you ''had'' to try to "win".

** Most custom Adventure maps tend towards 1 or 2 if they have an actual plot. Wool collection maps are usually 3 or 4.

* Most early simulation games are like that. You just get thrown into the game world with a hinted goal of "get rich". If there ''is'' a back story, it's [[All There in the Manual]]. This is probably the only genre that tends to go ''down'' the scale in sequels.

* ''[[EVE Online]]'' has player-run corporations, with all the various positions and routes for advancement that entails, and this economic system also allows for many forms of criminal activity and freelance work.