Before Elden Ring blew FromSoftware into the realm of open worlds, where the player could really tackle any part of the Lands Between they wanted, the games used smaller, but connected maps with plenty of secrets for the player to discover.
Apparently, upcoming action game Phantom Blade: Zero is going to follow in those footsteps, rather than give players an open-world experience. Speaking with GamesRadar, game director Soulframe (who also spoke with us at SGF) explained the design behind the map.
“It’s just like the old Souls games. You move around and explore in a seamless map, it’s just not a huge open-world map. But every region is connected together seamlessly.”
“There’s still some process you go through, but it’s non-linear. There are always multiple paths you can go through. It’s just like the Souls games before Elden Ring,” he continued.
Do you prefer this non-linear, connected game world, or would you like to see Phantom Blade: Zero adopt an open-world map?