[eochaid]

It's really hard to say exactly how this will land with fans. The article mentions using kishōtenketsu in the game design of the Grand Prix mode, "now players have to drive to their next race, instead of being automatically transported", and the wiki page for kishōtenketsu mentions use of that concept in game design of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World, both well received with 97 and 93 Metacritic scores respectively.

I'm sure Nintendo has put a lot of thought and effort into this. But personally I feel like most open worlds feel empty and void to me after a few hours. I didn’t play it, but that seemed to be a major complaint with the latest Pokemon game.

[ethbr1]

There's Burnout Paradise (2008) and The Crew (2014) as prior art [0,1]. And to a lesser extent GTA 1 (1997) and Crazy Taxi (1999).

I'd be more surprised if the team manages to fuck it up, given Nintendo development's solid litmus test of "what's fun and not."

A more detailed interview with the dev team seems to be available here: https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-1... and https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-1... and https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-1... and https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-1...

Regardless, verdict will be reached in a couple days!

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_Paradise

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crew_(video_game)

[const_cast]

Super Mario Galaxy is my personal choice for best video game ever met. So, if they did it before then maybe they could do it again.

I thought after Super Mario Galaxy 2 that surely Nintendo couldn't meet that mark every again. And then Odyssey came out.

[moepstar]

Did you play Xenoblade Chronicles X on the WiiU?

That was the open world game to me, it never felt boring (although the game itself had a lot of grind) and, if memory serves me right, about 400 square km to explore.

I sunk about 300 hours in it…

…and wish they already would release X 2.

[mcphage]

> and wish they already would release X 2

Wouldn't that be Xenoblade Chronicles 2 & 3? Or are they too different? (I only played Xenoblade Chronicles 1, so I'm asking honestly)

[moepstar]

No, X is a completely different story arc, setting etc...

But yes, those mentioned are great in their own right - it is just that very different setting, the real open world, game play mechanics, skells (mechs) that can take you anywhere...

[soupfordummies]

Sounds similar to Mario Wonder as well, where basically the world map is playable with stuff to do and find. I think I see what they're going for now. Probably some collectables, stunts, hidden levels, etc.