I’ve recently found that big (mostly open world) games tend to overwhelm or even intimidate me. I’m a big fan of the Rockstar games and absolutely adored Breath of the Wild, but my playthrough of Tears of the Kingdom has been a bit rocky from the get-go.
As soon as the game let me explore all of its content and released me from the tutorial island, I was able to roam the lands of Hyrule freely as I once did in Breath of the Wild, but I’ve come to a sort of paralysis. I feel like there’s such an enormous amount of content to see that I’m constantly anxious to unintentionally skip content or to not make the most of my experience. I did not feel like this back in Breath of the Wild, and I’m not really sure why. I did, however, have this same sense of FOMO when I first played Skyrim. That game also made me feel like I was constantly missing stuff which left me kind of unsatisfied.
This is not a big problem and all of the games I listed are great games. I’m posting this because I unconciously took a two week break from ToTK in order to alleviate that feeling but when I came back to the game today and still felt the same, I thought of posting here and maybe hearing your opinions on this thing.
Have you ever felt the same in big open world games? Do you feel like this in more linear games with multiple endings? (I do) Do you think I’m an overthinker and should just rock on? Looking forward to your comments!
Here is my secret: I don’t care if I miss something. It’s not a problem if you miss a side quest or intentionally skip something (especially if you don’t enjoy it, it’s an annoying side quest). Completing a game can be quite enjoyable, but as soon as it becomes a chore or you see it as a todo list, that’s where I personally back off.
For example in TOTK, I really enjoy my time just exploring here and here. I didn’t like the abyss at first so I played 30h+ hours before starting exploring it, and now that I feel more confident, I am passing most of my time there (that’s why I have played 70h+ hours with only one dungeon completed 😅). I knew about a 4th power, but I didn’t find it until very recently. I was enjoying my time with what I got, extrapolating about what it could be, but it was not a problem not to have it.
Honesty, it’s just a matter of framing. Don’t think about the things you’re missing, think about the things you could do. See the enormous amount of content as potential adventures you can choose to have, instead of chores you have to complete. If you miss things, that’s okay. I love games where I discover new things years later. It makes them feel much larger than they actually are.