The one thing in #TearsOfTheKingdom that is, actually, #EldenRing inspired is:

those fucking linear quests that you can't advance unless you psychically know where the random NPC with dialog flag you missed is.

I had to literally criss cross the map FOUR TIMES before I could get rolling on the fairy fountains, because all of that is dead ended behind this one incidental encounter that I never even had because I didn't take the road the designers expected, or go to the zone they wished I would first.

That kind of quest chain design really doesn't need to be in open world games. It can fuckin die. It's awful.

It isn't a problem with short quests, because like Zelda did here, you build each dead point in the quest with a dialog prompt hinting where you need to go first.

Except.

They wanted epic long quest chains, that interconnect, like Elden Ring.

Oops.

#GameDev

@glassbottommeg I'm the sicko who is a huge fan of this style of quest design
@glassbottommeg I do think there are better and worse ways to pull it off. I think it worked well in Elden ring because the open world is loaded with choke points to place NPCs for following those threads

@thishorriblemachine I don't mind the structure, it's the implementation.

I shouldn't have to find the guy who wants the stone tablet pictures before I can take a picture of the OBVIOUSLY IMPORTANT TEXT, as a random for instance.

@glassbottommeg yeah, I think I just need to play more of totk to feel out how they've implemented it. I like how I've encountered the threads so far, but I've also spent over half my time building non-osha compliant contraptions of death and deforestation