I know this isn’t strictly related to patient gaming, but I think it fits the ethos of this community and I can’t think of a better choir to preach to.

The director of Dragon’s Dogma II made the following statement regarding limiting or removing fast travel

Just give it a try. Travel is boring? That’s not true. It’s only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun

I think this is fairly compelling. Though I will say, I don’t think the answer is to limit fast travel. The real limitations developers should be placing should be on filler quests that have you traveling from point a to point b and then back with some slight pretext as to why you’re doing so. It’s not fast travel that’s the issue so much as mission design and the manners in which the player is compelled to cross the game world.

Metroidvanias are a great example of how to allow for fast travel while still making traveling around the game world compelling. The latest Metroid, Metroid Dread, was really fantastic in this aspect. You have this sense of progression and exploration even as you’re backtracking.

Would removing fast travel from Metroid Dread have made it any better? I don’t think so. The inclusion of fast travel feels thematic. You have to work for it so it feels like an achievement to unlock. It augments the game.

So in short, I agree with some of the sentiment expressed, with regards to lazy gameplay design being boring. I disagree with the opinion that fast travel necessarily is boring, or causes lazy desing.

  • AdaEnglish
    14•10 months ago

    I always think back to the original two Fallout games vs the ones that came later.

    Scenes were set pieces, and travel was something that occurred on a map, with random encounters that occurred along the way as you moved from one location to another. It wasn’t fast travel, but nor was it “experience every mile of your journey in real time”. And depending on the path you took, you could still stumble across secrets, unique locations etc.

    That remains my favourite travel method in games, and though it’s rare, it is still done well in some more recent games. Owlcat is particularly good at it, and their Pathfinder games did it really well, and as does Rogue Trader (though it isn’t a game for this sub yet). Solasta: Crown of the Magister also does it well