The Last Of Us 2: 10 Things Fans DON'T Want To See
7. Jumping On The Open World Bandwagon
What makes The Last Of Us as a game so special is that it is a master of linear video game storytelling, guiding a player from one plot point to the next without them ever feeling like they're being led by the nose. If this sounds easy, we advise you to look to the COD: Modern Warfare games, whose story modes can be best summed up as the world's most violent game of "follow the leader".
Open world design can work for a lot of games, but The Last Of Us isn't one of them, since it's entirely story driven, and thus having the player able to just wander off and do whatever they please will ultimately weaken the narrative.
With that said, we're REALLY hoping the big open spaces we see in the newest trailer aren't what we think they are.
Open world as a design philosophy is a tempting one, but unless you REALLY know what you're doing, it can backfire on you hard for a number of reasons. In the case of The Last Of Us, it takes away from the intentionally linear nature of the game, thus weakening the story as a whole by piling on busywork.
By all means have big open areas in each chapter for Ellie to explore. That's not what this is referring to. The Last Of Us just doesn't need a big hub world.