The open-world genre – if you can even call it a genre, given how, well, open that descriptor is – continues to evolve and go from strength to strength, giving gamers around the world massive sandboxes to play in and stories to discover. I’ve always played a lot of open-world games, and lately I’ve been thinking about the things my favourite games of this type have in common. Have a read, then let me know what you think the best open-world games have in common in the comments.
You Construct Your Own Stories
One of the most obvious trends we’ve seen in open-world games over the last few years is a move away from mini-maps covered in icons, to a more emergent style of storytelling. In these games the stories you build are less scripted, and are more likely to be organic events that just happen as you’re out exploring the world.
Source: IGN.com What Do Great Open-World Games Have in Common?