Best "World" in Gaming

[havoc33]

The world of Final Fantasy IX.

Firstly, it still looks stunning today. The art direction for this game is absolutely superb, and I've never played another game where the world feels so large, and yet so cohesive, and utterly, bizarrely beautiful at the same time.

Spoiler

Not only is the world amazing to look at, but Squaresoft did an amazing job with the lore.

A lot of other games, especially RPGs, tend to lay the lore really thick and heavy. Any chance the writers get to show off just how much background stuff they've written, they'll happily bog you down with exposition about the history of this faction versus that faction, or the royal lineage of this kingdom, yadda yadda yadda. It's a really leaden, dull way to convey lore, I find.

The world of FFIX has lore. Plenty of it, in fact. But the developers never burden the player by walloping them in the face with a load of it. The lore of FFIX isn't told through cutscenes, or extended database entries. It's told through the actual gameworld itself. So you may see a statue dedicated to a character here, or a recurring symbol there. Characters might mention a bit of local history just in passing, or a recurring name might appear on key items. But actual lore exposition is kept to a minimum, which makes the world so much easier to get into. The world is presented to you, and if you want to know more about its history, it's up to you to go find all the details Square hid throughout the game. It's possible to get a surprisingly dense, rich and consistent sense of history in Final Fantasy IX if you look hard and see all the little snippets of info scattered everywhere.

What a great post. I totally agree with everything you said. First off, FFIX is my favourite FF next to FFVII. From the moment you boot up, you know you're in for a real treat. A real throwback to the FFs of old, it just oozes fun and adventure! And you're so dead on when it comes to the lore. That has always been the strength of the good FF games I thought, that they integrate it into the story and gameplay as you discover the world. This in stark contrast to the Elder Scroll games for example, where there is thousands of pages of lore for those who care to read it, but sadly not much of a story that is taking advantage of such a fleshed out universe. Ultimately, these worlds to me seem more empty and less fleshed out than the quality FFs ever did.

Mass Effect and Skyrim come to mind for me, however I will never be more interested more in what is between the lines of a world than Final Fantasy VII's planet. All these years later I still wish I could see more of the exhaust pipes and abandoned storefronts of Midgar's slums and streets. That world, more than any other, left me wanting more of it.

Absolutely, Midgar was amazing. Just like FFIX, FFVII set the tone early, and threw you right into the action as you hopped off the train, going to blow up the Mako reactor. I just loved the gritty cyberpunk vibe, where strong turquise and red colors were beaming from the reactors. The scenery was just so strong, with beautiful contrasts of nature vs industry throughout.

Other than that, Hyrule in A Link to the Past and the world of Mana in Secret of Mana is amazing. Tallon IV from Metroid Prime, Rapture from Bioshock and Liberty City from GTAIV were totally immersive too.