Full open world or RPG-on-rails like FF13?

[Jenni Porshakin]

For those of you who have played FF13 or seen a decent amount of story (YouTube) what do you think of these choices?

CHOICE #1: Make PSO2 a fully open world ORPG, so anyone can go just about anywhere including to an area where they will die in 5 seconds? Full exploration of just about any part of the first episode of the next PSO2.

CHOICE #2: Or, an RPG-on-rails experience like FF13? The first dozen or so hours are lots of hand-holding & nothing serious. After a very critical point, the game opens up. Although it's not totally open world like choice #1


I pick choice #1 because I think PSU was too hand-holding'ish.

[BIG OLAF]

I' rather not have a full open-world. I've heard a lot of horror stories from some friends that play(ed) FFXI. Saying that they would travel for hours, just to realize that they forgot something back in the city.

[Chaobo99]

^

Which is not the case anymore. Transportation has been made easy and works out very well with various methods of teleportation(which would fit the PSO story). I wouldn't mind the huge open world, but I've always liked the Phantasy STar dungeon-style play. That way, I can spam as many runs as I desire or do any fight I wish vs. having to wait for the Omnagouge, for example, to spawn..and be out-claimed by a bigger "guild".

[lostinseganet]

I think pso and psu has a good formula already. They can maximize the game play in controlled environments clunked. I just want bigger chunks and more players. Look at serious sam 2 for a game that has alots of players "16" lots of enemies "hundreds" and bigg areas. The enemies are just as smart as pso and so are the bosses. I do hate the locked doors. They need enmies are will go after you if you try to zip pass them. These enemies need to be able to run faster then you too,

[Dongra]

I'd say something in between. PSU was too large in comparison to the population. I felt bad for new players because it was hard to figure out where everyone was unless someone took you there. Limiting it to having no freedom would be just as boring as FF13 was.

[Darki]

I like how it was on PSO and PSU. In any case, I'd say the best option would be something between the "open world" and the "mission counter and lobby" that we have now.

What I mean is, that for example you pick a planet (I'll use PSU planets because I know them), and then you have Parum, where there could be Holtes, Rozenom and Tarcus (not explored ingame). There, in each city there will be shops, "Guardian branches", mission counters, etc, BUT you can also go out of the city and have some kind of "sub-mission" that connects all cities.

This sub-mission would be "open world-like", as you don't go on party, you just go to the "door" of the city , go in and accept (in this case, for example, you can pick an aero-bus from the place you are to the "outer field" of the city, lol), and then you'll be out in the country. there you'll have something like a mission but with a real crapload of huge "blocks" that change according to the environment of the area you're going by, and as it doesn't require party, you can find anybody there without restrictions, but you will have weapons and there will be some monsters spamming there over time.

Finally, this "sub-mission" will connect many blocks in non-linear ways, so you can pick a route from Holtes to Rozenom, then maybe pick a detour at the middle and end in Tarcus. there can be things in between other than monsters, like parks, places to sit and shops, roads... This would allow room for transport features like airboard and other things that we didn't really explore too well in PSU.

I'd like something like that.

[Jinketsu]

I don't know if an open world would work for the type of game PSO and PSU have proven to be.

Though it could be interesting. I'd have to agree with the majority of us here now that a hybrid would probably be the most satisfying.

Like maybe we can see environmental effects like trees waving in the wind, birds flying around, animals of a docile nature, etc. all doing their own thing on pieces of land in the background we can't traverse, while we still romp around the chaos enveloping around us.

[NoiseHERO]

I think PSU was perfect...as long as they stay creative with the visual lobbies that made it seem worth finishing the mission...

And don't re-use them for "backwards" reskin missions...e_e *hated those.*

[Darki]

Well, I like how PSU goes but I wouldn't mind if they made more cities instead of some visual lobbies. In three planets there should be more cities, lol.

[Shark11]

Personally, I do not think PSO should strive to be ANYTHING like the linear, boring FF13 or the complete and utter trash that is FF14... FF is crap, Square is dead... Long like Phantasy Star etc etc.

Actually I would like to see a PSO where you start in a city, like PSO/U and can walk 10 steps to a counter, take a mission and go into the dungeon style levels of PSO with a team etc.
But if you could also walk out of the front gate of the city and explore a moderately sized chunk of the world freely and openly with everyone I would enjoy that too...

I don't care for huge over worlds that end up being barren, boring and ultimately a pointless pain in the arse to traverse. A couple of miles of open land that give you a taste of what the planet is like would be a much better 'open world' concept for PSO games. However this open world area should also be completely optional because most PSO players LIKE how it plays right now.

As for the 'dungeon/party' set up we already have with PSO games... I suggest randomly generated maps, randomly generated enemy spawns, day/night, weather and seasonal changes to keep each area always fresh. Imagine re-running PSO Forest a hundred times and experiencing it slightly different each time. YES PLEASE.