10 Modern Video Game Tropes We're Totally Sick Of

2. Being Open-World Just Because It's Popular

GTA 3's open-world revolution was one hell of a thing, but almost 20 years later, we're still seeing the effects on the industry.

From titles that scatter their content across a map because "that's what the kids want!" to those that actively feel like the landmass itself is empty and pointless, so many developers try to tick this box.

Rage 2, Mass Effect Andromeda, Homefront: The Revolution - all three actively disconnected you from the meat of the experience and asked you to kill a good 5-10 minutes every 20-ish minutes, just to find the game again.

Batman: Arkham City is in here too. The former's first instalment was one of the most atmospheric and well-paced games of all time, but Arkham City broke up the more designed parts of the experience to let you search for hidden side missions and punch small groups of thugs for a bit of XP. At least Knight then loaded Gotham with TONS to do, but there's a reason people cite Asylum as the best of the bunch.

Mafia 3 also steered headlong into more scattered mission objectives than its predecessors, Splinter Cell Blacklist had wider levels you had to replay with different goals, and Metal Gear Solid V's Afghanistan and Africa settings were ultimately pointless, as you just dropped into mission areas rather than drive between them.