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.

  • sugar_in_your_tea
    5·
    11 months ago

    Exactly. I think Morrowind does fast travel absolutely fantastically.

    There’s an incentive to walk between cities, and there’s an option to fast travel between them, so I tend to do a bit of both. I’ll often travel between cities multiple times, so walking between them isn’t going to be much fun after the first time. But I’ll almost always do it the first time.

    Fast travel is also incredibly important for replays. I’ve probably already seen the interesting stuff between areas, and repeating that experience probably isn’t what I’m interested in. Morrowind is designed to be played multiple times with different builds and whatnot, and repeating content isn’t very fun.

    In short, a game should include fast travel and do its best to convince me to not use it. But give me the option anyway.