Fast Travel
I think there is a happy medium in here somewhere. One of the things I love about the game is the level and world design. I still find new hidden areas and paths when exploring old areas, and that is exciting and satisfying.
But also I do have trouble finding my way through zones a bit. There are many paths and shortcuts and I find it a bit frustrating running around a zone trying to get somewhere specific but have no idea how I got there… so it does feel alive and unique on subsequent visits but also a bit tedious when I need to get somewhere and I don’t know how to get there again…
Perhaps creating a separate checkpoint for fast travel options? Reduce the amount of whispers and let them still only teleport to Sacra and the last visited whisper, also they stay your respawn point. Then have several ‘checkpoints’ that allow you to travel within a zone. So it would look something like this -
-1 Whisper per zone
-4 Travel Stones
The travel stones will be activated once you visit them and can de-activate after a period of time away from that zone. (Fog of war related maybe?)
My idea is that these will let you quickly travel within an already explored zone, making repeated trips to the same areas a bit quicker.
So gameplay flow would be something like this
-Travel on foot to an area from Sacrament.
-Encounter a checkpoint near the Whisper
-As you explore, you can activate additional checkpoints in new areas within the zones
-Example: I scale the mountain in Nameless pass and there is a checkpoint at the top of the zone. If I die, then I can jump back to the top of the mountain, past all the already explored territory where there are no enemies and I’ve already looted resources. (I’m running by all this anyways)
-Once you teleport back to Sacra then enter a different zone, the previous checkpoints start deactivating. Allowing you to activate new ones in the new zone.
This probably isn’t perfect, but is essentially adding a few more shortcuts within a zone. I like going through zones when there are new enemies and loot to gather, but re-treading already explored ground can feel like a bit of time sink.
I’m hoping this addresses a few things-
-Make exploring still necessary and rewarding
-Cutting down on parts where the player is just running
-Allowing some agency over a zone
-Making subsequent visits a little smoother
I still have to explore these zones on repeated trips, but once I’m there and have revealed areas of the zone I can move a little bit faster through them. Ideally, I am still feeling the living world and also spending more time playing the more engaging and rewarding gameplay loop.
In soulsborne games, revisiting areas is always risky because you have something to lose if you die. Your currency is ALWAYS at risk, making revisiting areas tense. In NRFTW I can’t really lose anything upon death, so there’s really no tension there. Instead, all I’m really doing is using time retracing my steps.