Outside, Dungeon, Town: Integrating the Three Places in Videogames (2024)

Summary

Videogames, at least the kind I’m talking about (RPGs, adventure kinds of somewhat narrative videogames, Zelda games, Elden Ring, etc), have essentially three “places”: Outside – Hyrule field. Most of the game is Outside, just running around in a grassy area or a snowy mountain. It’s kind of the glue between all of the elements but there can be all manner of things Outside. Outside is the most flexible, but it typically has the lowest density of monsters, NPCs, shops, etc. Dungeon – The sewers, the final boss’ castle, a factory full of monsters, or a literal dungeon. Dungeons have LOTS of monsters, treasure, and usually a boss. You go into a dungeon to kinda clear it, get the treasure, kill the boss. Dungeons rarely have NPCs or shops in them (Shiren the Wanderer is an exception that comes to mind). Town – This is where most NPCs are, but also the highest concentration of “specific activities”. Towns are dense, there’s often shops, minigames, quests, etc. Kakariko Village from Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite towns. There are almost never fights in town – you are almost always entirely safe in town. Of course, any time you try to boil down reality into a nice neat little categorization system like this, you’re going to be missing a lot of details, but broadly speaking, I think this holds up pretty well. I’m playing through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth now (which I am loving) and it’s very clear in that game, whether you are in Outside, Dungeon or Town, pretty much at all times. Videogames are a language, and this pattern is an important building block in that language. It is kind of good that you know you’re always safe in town. It is kind of good that you know what you’re in for when entering a big scary difficult dungeon, and so on. So, I am not saying that we get rid of these designations, at all. What I’m asking for What I would love, though, is some more messiness in how they are implemented. Kakariko Village from Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite towns b...