#29
Yakuza 0 (PlayStation 4)
Change From Last Year: =
Yakuza 0 is proof positive that an open world game doesn't have to be massive to feel big. All it takes is populating the world with meaningful and interesting content for the player to engage with, and suddenly the game's world feels much bigger than it actually is. There's no tedious running around in an empty world or traveling across huge expanses of land for hours on end. Everything in the world of Yakuza 0 is just a few minutes away no matter where you happen to be in either Kamurocho or Sotenbori, and yet the game never feels restrictive or small.
Of course, the fact that the gameplay, story, and characters are also excellent helps, and the sheer amount of stuff to do is genuinely impressive. In my eyes, Yakuza 0 is one of the best open world games ever made, and it achieved that without putting scale ahead of anything else.
