I don't like sandbox games

All too often I find myself getting really bored in sandbox games.

the thing is, these games are cool in that they give you the free will to go off and do whatever you want to do within the realm of that game world. However, whenever I'm given that choice to do whatever I want to in the real world, I play video games.

I mean, I guess it's my introverted tendencies that get in the way of having me experience the game to it's full potential.

Let's take, for example, Skyrim. I really do like Skyrim. It does everything right for an RPG of it's kind. you can specialize in whatever you so choose, and there are no class restrictions, race restrictions, etc. that keep you from doing certain things. the whole world is completely open to you. But for you to do.... anything, really, you have to go and talk to people. I don't want to talk to everyone. I just want to play the game and experience it for it's story. I know that there is a lot of work in creating a character, with it's model, it's script, it's voice acting, where it goes, what it does, what it has on its person. there's a lot to it. And not everyone will be able to experience these characters because, like me, they just don't have the time, or see the point in interacting with this character in particular.

That's one problem I have with sandbox games, is that there is so much that i won't experience because I just don't want to explore every nook and cranny for the sake of 100% completion. I'll probably talk about my issue with 100% completion on some other post, but back to the topic at hand.

Sandbox games also give their players the ability to do whatever they want, in most cases, this means creating a save, killing everyone and reloading said save file. I've never quite understood this. I don't find senseless violence to be all that entertaining. there needs to be some kind of objective for me, otherwise i lose interest in wasting time, energy, and resources on innocent civilians, only to have the fuzz show up and blow me away.

there are some games that do the whole sandbox thing right in my opinion. Like Red Dead Redemption, which I talked about in my last post. Red Dead Redemption has a world that I feel is rich with character and many different things to do. Stuff like hunting, poker, horse shoes, bounties, and random instances that keep things fresh. Skyrim has the occasional slew of bandits that dress up as imperials and ask for a road toll, or a thief, or a freaking dragon. But these things just seem to happen too few and far between that most times you'll end up walking somewhere with just a few wolves attacking you. However, I believe that I'm comparing apples and oranges here. The reason that Red Dead Redemption has so much going on all the time is because the world is literally a desert. Skyrim has lots to do, but you have to take the time to find it.

In Skyrim there is another dungeon or something every fifteen feet.

Red Dead Redemption, there is some random fellow being attacked by wolves, or some bandits escaping from their law enforcing captors, or stuff like that.

Red Dead Redemption is also more cinematic than Skyrim. In that there are cut scenes, and character.

Not to say that Skyrim doesn't have character.

Red Dead Redemption has cut scenes that take the camera away from the control of the player that show dramatic angles and give composition and tone and setting to the events that are transpiring around the characters. In Skyrim, the camera is constantly mounted on the players face. The gravitas of the situation doesn't seem to have the same effect when characters around the player go about their regular routines and even sometimes walk around and in front of the player, breaking the sense of drama that's going on.

But like I said, apples and oranges.

but yeah, I kinda don't like sandbox games.