I may have asked this before, and even linked to an article about it, but are there just way too many open-world games these days? I didn't even get into those kinds of games until 2011; a charming rogue by the name of Ezio seduced me into a rich, historical, memorable and fun Italy that was fun to traverse. I'd played open-world games before, but - excepting perhaps Crackdown 1 because who the -blam!- didn't have a laugh with that - I never really got into them that much. So yeah, in 2011 I picked up ACII for my January birthday, and fell in love. From there I picked up Brotherhood, I, and awaited Revelations. I got into (TESIV) Oblivion properly, having failed to enjoy it much initially in 2008, and grabbed Rockstar's Western opus RDRedemption. I utterly adored Skyrim and it became my game of the year. After that? Carried on with Assassin's Creed, absolutely loving IV but finding series-halting disappointment in the shambles of Unity, had an absolute blast with GTA V (after failing to enjoy IV). Probably won't include Destiny on this list, as I enjoyed it far more when structured rather than its lacklustre open world. Fallout 4 was better than its prequel. But not amazing, IMO. I picked up Shadow of Mordor in 2015, and here's where I started to notice a problem... Last year? I picked up Recore. I picked up Rise of the Tomb Raider. I picked up Forza Horizon 2. Haven't properly gotten into any of them. I have Horizon: Zero Dawn and I'm barely getting into that. I enjoy it when I start it but... Man, the systems they throw at you: inventory management, crafting, skill trees, levels, weapon modding, countless side quests and collectibles and all sorts of stuff on the map to investigate. Quantity is good, but man is it exhausting. I can't bring myself to play more than an hour or two at time for sheer volume of stuff that happens. So yeah. I feel a bit overwhelmed with the sheer volume of [i]one[/i] open-world game, and I have a ton that I might one day get through. Still haven't completed Fallout 4, FYI, and that's well over a year old at this point. Not getting the DLC at all. I have no plans to return to Shadow of Mordor, I'm done with it unless something changes. Like in 2010, when I wasn't into TES: very happy fans have a sequel, but it's not for me. Anyone else feeling like this? Starting to crave the simpler times of Halo, Half-Life, and ...well, even Doom 2016 had tons of shit to find on its labyrinthine maps, but it was in the structure of a linear shooter. Been replaying The Orange Box for my wind-down single-player sessions after adoring Overwatch non-stop since Hallowe'en, but I lost my copy of Portal 2 to my brother's ex, so there's still that. Also I should go back to the BioShock Collection where I'm halfway through BioShock 2, but nyeeeeeh pseudo-RPG elements that I'm not sure I can be bothered with, despite BioShock being a comfortably familiar IP to me. Some other less notable examples that I either quite liked or didn't really resonate with me as much as others: every Arkham game, Watch Dogs. This article I've found lists No Man's Sky, but I'm not convinced it's heavy on story-driven elements. Even if it is heavy on literal elements. Good one, Tarty.