Game design pondering: what do fully open continuous worlds add to a game over metroidvania style worlds (still open, but made out of chunks connected by doors)? Are the benefits purely aesthetic, or ...
@nprofile1q... In terms of immersion, I feel like large continuous spaces feel more real and less game-y once you've gotten your bearings. And doors for loading screens are especially immersion breaking. A great example is the Open Cities mod in Skyrim - it's crazy how much more immersive it makes the game feel to be able to go into cities without loading screens. Another example is caves in the Witcher 3 versus caves / mines that have a loading threshold or door in Skyrim.