10 Open World Game Tropes We NEVER Want To See Again

Seeing as how players intrinsically begin open-world expeditions as new arrivals in an enormous, complicated, and unfamiliar universe, it’s fitting to have them inhabit the role of a protagonist who’s in the same situation.

Of course, that circumstance can manifest in several ways, such as with the main character being a fresh-faced outsider thrust into a foreign place or a dishonored outcast returning home after many years to right wrongs and fix their reputation. Either way, they’re a stranger in a strange land who saves the community by the end of their journey.

It’s an alluring way to get the story going, but it’s also a decades-old trope that’s been done to death. For instance, every Far Cry release relies on this cliché, as do many of the RPGs in Bethesda's back catalogue.

Nearly all those titles – as well countless others that could’ve been mentioned – are good or even great, but their dependence on this same setup means that they’re at least a bit too formulaic... and familiar.

Just because the player is a newcomer doesn’t mean the protagonist can’t start out already acclimated to their setting.