Game Talk

Do open worlds really need to be this big?

As an architect I think about space all day. In many open world games, I feel the map is big but empty. Long distances, same small camps, same towers. It is size, not design.

A smaller, dense world where every street has something can feel much bigger. I think of Yakuza's Kamurocho, which is tiny but full. Maybe we should judge maps by density and not by square kilometers. What do you think?