10 Tiny But Excellent Open World Maps In Video Games

1. Kamurocho - Yakuza Series

It’s a strange concept to suggest that using the same map repeatedly within the same series is the best choice but Yakuza isn’t just any series and Kamurocho isn’t just any city.

It’s exciting, mysterious, wildly unpredictable, and delightfully familiar all at once. Riddled with eateries, all of which you can order from, NPCs to offer you missions, and overarching narratives that tell the story of a city at war with itself and its inhabitants who more often than not prioritise family above all else, Kamurocho is something else. Though the fictional Tokyo district largely stayed the same as the series wore on, you spend so much time in its relatively small borders that you notice the things that do change. Especially when the game switches decades. The city and vibe may stay the same but there’s always a new crazy character to meet, a city-sprawling substory to pull at your heartstrings, or a cat for you to help home.

Additionally, later games and the Judgement spinoff would encourage more vertical traversal allowing you to explore the city even deeper.

Because of its relatively modest size, every tiny part of the city is thriving and detailed. You naturally learn the history of the place and grow the same nuanced relationship with it that the original series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu did.

Kamurocho’s size ensures there’s somewhere to shop, something to eat, someone to fight, something to pick up, and someone to help around every corner and that’s what makes the city iconic.