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A recent status post by @BloodletterQ seemed worth being a full discussion, but status isn't a great place for that. So,
What do you think of Fast Travel as a mechanic in games and (namely) rpgs? Note, I do want to break it down into separate categories;
Meta - The mechanic has no in universe explanation. In Bethesda games, you just cut out actual travel and the game clock is moved forward some amount (in general).
Skill - The mechanic is a skill of the character or otherwise involves the character doing something. In BotW, you have to actually turn on places you can travel to (and can build one with the DLC). In Dragon Quest, Return is a simple spell that can take you to any town you've visited (and sometimes even to dungeons)
Map - The game doesn't have slow travel. Either it uses some sort of list of areas you can visit, or it implements a map of travel. In the Final Fantasy Tactics series, you click on the location you want to go to instead of actually walking there.
Airship - Like skill, but you can't do it freely and have to go to a specific place to initiate fast travel. Unlike map, you often can still travel from area to area. Note, this category only really works if you get the "airship" early, such as Final Fantasy X-2. If you get it late, it's often a bonus of some kind and not actually fast travel.
Are these the only categories? Do you like the mechanic, or only like it done in certain ways? I intentionally cited more well known games, I'd love to hear about games nobody's played that uses fast travel in interesting ways.
Personally, I generally do like it, but it also makes me wonder if in some games it's a crutch to excuse bad map design. I don't generally like just looking around and exploring for no reason in Skyrim, only doing it to find places I can later travel to when I need to, but in BotW the environment is just enjoyable to see and explore (plus, the "summonable horse" makes it fun while going fast), but even there sometimes I just want to get to (say) the desert and I'm over across the world in the volcano.
I can see it being "necessary" in huge world games, but are huge worlds actually a strict upside?
(I'm used @ for BloodletterQ since I thought you'd like it and you have a different view than me)
What do you think of Fast Travel as a mechanic in games and (namely) rpgs? Note, I do want to break it down into separate categories;
Meta - The mechanic has no in universe explanation. In Bethesda games, you just cut out actual travel and the game clock is moved forward some amount (in general).
Skill - The mechanic is a skill of the character or otherwise involves the character doing something. In BotW, you have to actually turn on places you can travel to (and can build one with the DLC). In Dragon Quest, Return is a simple spell that can take you to any town you've visited (and sometimes even to dungeons)
Map - The game doesn't have slow travel. Either it uses some sort of list of areas you can visit, or it implements a map of travel. In the Final Fantasy Tactics series, you click on the location you want to go to instead of actually walking there.
Airship - Like skill, but you can't do it freely and have to go to a specific place to initiate fast travel. Unlike map, you often can still travel from area to area. Note, this category only really works if you get the "airship" early, such as Final Fantasy X-2. If you get it late, it's often a bonus of some kind and not actually fast travel.
Are these the only categories? Do you like the mechanic, or only like it done in certain ways? I intentionally cited more well known games, I'd love to hear about games nobody's played that uses fast travel in interesting ways.
Personally, I generally do like it, but it also makes me wonder if in some games it's a crutch to excuse bad map design. I don't generally like just looking around and exploring for no reason in Skyrim, only doing it to find places I can later travel to when I need to, but in BotW the environment is just enjoyable to see and explore (plus, the "summonable horse" makes it fun while going fast), but even there sometimes I just want to get to (say) the desert and I'm over across the world in the volcano.
I can see it being "necessary" in huge world games, but are huge worlds actually a strict upside?
(I'm used @ for BloodletterQ since I thought you'd like it and you have a different view than me)
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