In this video, I talk about a (maybe) flaw in my favorite open world games. They all have a compelling narrative with a ticking clock: someone needs saving, or I'm dying, or I'm dying while saving, or saving before dying. But they also beg me to wander off, hunt for a raccoon pelt, play gwent, get drunk, get sober, get to know a vending machine. As a novelist-ish who obsesses over pacing, this issue threw me off… How do I race through the riveting story while wandering the world? Eventually, I learned to (kinda sorta) embrace the push and pull of these games, and maybe even decided that this tension is part of their magic.
This video contains mild plot spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Witcher 3.