Adam Robinson-Yu, creator of 2019 indie game A Short Hike, has entered the eternal debate about what makes a good sandbox game, claiming that "it's OK to have content in the game that people will never see" and holding up the original Dark Souls as a prime example.
Robinson-Yu spoke as part of a broader interview with numerous industry creatives in Edge Magazine issue 413 regarding the design and success of free-roam and sandbox games in a piece entitled "All Roads Lead to Roam." In this piece, he points to the challenge of finding much of the content in the original Dark Souls as part of the game's appeal.
"I have this feeling that it's OK to have content in the game that people will never see," explains Robinson-Yu. "You'll either read about it, or you will stumble upon something yourself that feels rare. You'll be like 'oh, I could have missed this! The game designer could have easily drawn more attention to this. But they didn't, and that made finding it for me feel special.'"
For Robinson-Yu, FromSoftware's 2011 landmark title Dark Souls embodies this philosophy to a tee. "[Dark Souls] felt like it had depth and richness, because there were always secret corridors to find and there are always places to go. And for me, the feeling of exploration in Dark Souls really got it, because there was also a struggle to get to these places. It's very easy for an RPG to give you rewards. [But] it was rewarding to explore Dark Souls because you're poking around corners, and you'll find a corridor, and that leads you to a whole new area."
Dark Souls isn't the only game Robinson-Yu holds up as an inspiration, as he also argues that "Where's Waldo moments" like Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Korok Seeds help "to stop you getting too bored" when traveling around in open world games.
Dark Souls, as well as FromSoftware's later games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring, represent a diversion from standard design practice in many open world games like Horizon Forbidden West and Cyberpunk 2077 (which even just introduced a new update where driving vehicles can be done automatically). These games use clear objective markers and even have the user interface create paths to lead players to key locations, but Dark Souls does none of this. Instead, context clues, exploration and luck are needed to find much of the game's content, including whole regions that might otherwise be missed.
Speaking for myself, I definitely agree with Robinson-Yu. I've always enjoyed the "water cooler moments" that sandbox and free roam games generate, thinking back to Skyrim and all the divergent experiences that everybody had. And as somebody who loves FromSoftware, Elden Ring brought to the forefront. "You found what? Where? A whole city?" It certainly makes my journey feel like exactly that: my journey, specific and personal to me. Still, others will have their preferences, and you can always let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Check out our list of the best open world games to see which of the many games we've mentioned here made the cut!
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