7 replies to this topic

[Hex]

I'm playing through The Evil Within 2 right now and I'm really surprised how well they've made a big, open map feel atmospheric and tense to navigate while still being fun.  I've encountered small moments when you explore the same locations again that reminded me of the scares in Fatal Frame (a spotless house having a new pile of bodies on a second visit, followed by an enemy dragging a corpse in behind you).  There's a small element of some houses having stories too, so they're worth checking out.  

 

As you can imagine, there's enemies peppered around in a way that makes you re-think how you'll make it from one area to another, so you'll have to familiarise yourself with shortcuts and stealth mechanics.  It's pretty interesting.

 

Do you think Fatal Frame could work with a similar design?  We don't have the best track record when it comes to stealth but the way the ghosts were handled in Ayane's missions stood out in a way that reminds me of TEW.  They existed independent to you, having their own routes and ways to go.  It was kind of creepy having to sneak past dead things in the woods, changing colours like traffic lights aside.  

 

Imagine an abandoned village setting again but with a seamless, open map where ghosts stalked and prowled around you.  You could just happen to walk by a reinactment of the past, sidequests, collectibles (village-wide Hozuki doll hunt lets go  ), etc. 

Does this series work better on a more linear path?  Or is this something you'd like to see attempted?

[GregZerO]

Hmm I think that after FFV i wouldn't really like the game to pretend to be "big" again but in reality way more "souless".

 

I would like the Fatal Frame games to get less linear,but in a sense of more side quests I guess.For example maybe in the Lost Village there was a house that would have almost nothing to do with the storyline,and it would be optional to visit and has it's own mini story or maybe in the Hospital in FFIV there would be another floor that wasn't related with your main quest either.Side quests like that you get the idea,but with more depth I guess and more in terms of both quallity & quantity.

 

I personally didn't enjoy the Ayane mission's at all,so I wouldn't like to see anything like that again.

 

In general I would like them to try to add new things in the already good FF1-4 story/gameplay formula.Fatal Frame 3 did the best work with all the side quests,secrets,easter eggs on that,but they could add more random places to go with bigger depth in the next installment.Instead of trying to change the basic formula with more action and bother like they did with FFV.

 

So with few words I don't really want Fatal Frame to become open world,but at the same I want it to become less linear with more side quests.

[MacabrelleEnvy]

I agree with Greek. A little less linear, more side quests, but not quite "open world". My favorite part about Fatal Frame is the story so i'd be worried about losing too much of it, or it getting really bogged down/mushed up (*cough* maiden of black water *cough*) if they went with a more open concept. Some games work well with open-world, but there are others in the same theme/genre that are story-driven and linear that I think are far superior (ex: State of Decay or Day Z or Dying Light or Dead Island vs The Last of Us - whose director loves and was inspired by Fatal Frame by the way). I find that when you start to add too much extra then it really tales away from the rest of the game. Keeping things simple and streamlined makes for a more pleasurable experience for all levels of players whereas really "open-world" games are usually only played by more experienced gamers. I think if any series could use a boost in supporters it would be this one.

[Hex]

Hmm I think that after FFV i wouldn't really like the game to pretend to be "big" again but in reality way more "souless".

 

That's what I mean, it wouldn't be like that.  In being seamlessly open it could feel more alive and have a lot of potentially interesting sidequests to find.  Kind of the anti-5 which forced you so hard onto the main path that optional stuff almost doesn't exist. 

 

I find that when you start to add too much extra then it really tales away from the rest of the game.

 

Definitely.  I'm not proposing a world the size of Horizon: Zero Dawn or anything on that scale collectible-wise, just a contained environment like a village you can potter around in with a clear goal but with a mechanic helping you find side content (TEW uses a radio to pick up voices of the past - sound familiar?).  

 

I dont want them to lose sight of the story or atmosphere either but I really think they did with the last game and that was probably the most linear we've had.

[MacabrelleEnvy]

I wonder if an "open world" -ish mode could be added to the game rather than changing the regular story mode? Kind of like survival mode in the Xbox version of 2, but instead of "hurry and get to the end boss" it would be more like "explore at your own risk". It would be really cool to have a mode with little extras that you don't necessarily have the time to explore in the regular story but still have your usual ghosts randomly popping in for a battle. Also, I miss mission mode and having tons of costumes and extras to unlock so that would be a cool way to throw in "achieve this and unlock more cool stuff".

[AnimalLover47999]

I wouldn't want it to become a full on open world like Breath of the Wild or The Witcher 3.  I don't think they'd be able to fill it up enough that everything felt like it had enough depth and I think the storyline would suffer for it.  But as Hex said 5's the most linear game in the series despite the size of the map and the story still suffered so maybe that wouldn't matter.

 

My favorite chapters in 5 are the second and final drops because of how you can go anywhere you want and how you can just get lost in these beautiful environments.  It's really fun and rewarding to not be rail roaded throughout the game and if they built the entire game around this concept then I think a game even bigger in size than 5 could still work really well.

 

What I would really like them to do is get rid of the inability to cut through areas of the environment because of silly reasons.  With an area like Mt. Hikami I'd really like to be able to squeeze in between small trees and cut through the boundaries of the environment to make it feel really sand box like.

 

They don't need to make the game as large as open world games, but I would like them to make the environments themselves open world sandbox in design.

[midwinter]

A more open world is something I've wanted for a long time! I think a linear storyline is necessary to make the main plot effective, but it's really frustrating to have the game railroad you like it does in 5, or have occasions like in previous games where you know where you should be going, but you still have to go through the motions of solving puzzles in the proper order.

 

I haven't played The Evil Within, so I'm not sure how that works, but I really like the idea of having different locations that you can explore to find out their stories. I think my dream version of 5 would have been something like that, with each ghost having their own "haunt", and as you explore you have the option to find their token and use it to get their complete story and Fatal Glance. Something like that would have increased replay value a lot, I think, and it would have really made use of Yuuri's abilities and the enormous and varied map. Like AL says, it was so nice in the second and final drops to be able to choose your own route and actually be rewarded for looking around off the beaten path. And yeah, even something simple like the Hozuki Doll sidequest would be welcome, if it encourages you to slow down and look around more.

[Meital]

I think Fatal Frame game as The Evil Within type of game would be nice, because TEW did pull it off nicely still keeping the atmosphere and horror feeling going ^^ As long as the story is good, I think it would work out nicely.

 

Not as huge as Horizon Zero Dawn, Witcher 3, Breath of the Wild etc. but when I played Fatal Frame 2, I would love to explore the village more. So I think that it would be perfect if you had a specific area, in this example The Lost Village, but you can explore it more freely and find sidequests, pluzzles and little more information about other villagers and families (their parents!) and Remainings and previous twins in crimson sacrifice (not just Kurosawa, Kiryu and Tachibana but some of the first twins performing the ritual) . In Fatal Frame 2 there were many houses and places I would like to go into, but they're locked or there are invisible wall or something like that.