Brian from Denkiphile: "There are three kinds of Lord of the Rings fans: Those who’ve seen the movies, those who’ve read the books, and those who’ve read the Silmarillion. I happen to fall into the third group. For those who don’t know The Silmarillion is the basis for everything in Lord of the Rings. It’s J.R.R. Tolkien’s history book for Middle-earth. It begins with the creation story for his universe by Eru and goes on to describe pretty much everything that follows, leading up to the events of the Lord of the Rings. It’s pretty hardcore and definitely not for everyone. Coming into Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor I had an inherent bias against it. I felt that a game that takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was largely unnecessary, especially since it’s not canon. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the final product."
Unfortunately, the open worlds in games like Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Halo Infinite, and the original Assassin's Creed do more harm than good.
I legitimately loved Halo's switch to open world. They made traversal of the map entertaining, and everything involved just tied into the (what I consider) awesome gunplay.
The entire time I really felt the slow takeover of the map, and all the little steps forward felt satisfying.
I don't know what more people really want there, considering the setting and story. A handful of soldiers hunkered down on enemy territory; slowly trying to win the battle.
I think R* are the only ones who have made compelling open worlds. I can’t stomach most open world games and how boring they are with busy world. It’s like a flex to make this massive environment, but it’s extremely boring to traverse and play in. GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 blew me away with how incredible their worlds were. Elden Ring was the only other game to give me that sense of awe.
I’m back on an open world kick after Horizon. I don’t know what clicked in me but exploring the map and seeing the detail work has me loving open worlds again. Playing AC Odyssey on hard and really enjoying it and the map. Reinstalling RDR2 tonight because damn, that map is just incredible for sightseeing.
Halo Infinite felt off. It's like the developers didn't know what they really wanted to do
Depends on which open world titles u play, most of em are shitty AF, but I honestly admire open world genre, sometimes to just take a break from fighting and missions you explore n see details you haven't noticed before cause you were too busy body at first, then boom finding some dope equipment or things to sale
GF365: "Most games are not perfect and that may be because of a character or an enemy. Here are 10 mediocre bosses in great games."
The Pursuer from Dark Spuls 2 was great, I think the author just sucks at games.
GF365: "These are the best games based on movies. Every entry on this list will be a great video game adaptation of popular movies."