Dialogue
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Lose yourself
The other day I was tooling about on a vanilla World Of Warcraft server, and as I explored Stormwind with my boring human warrior, I was struck by something that in more recent games (and some older) is rather more advanced. I’m used to, or perhaps spoiled by, proper aids to navigation within videogames nowadays. I recently replayed the original Mafia; in that game, the map is basic, has no rotation, and there is no GPS to plot a route to your destination. You have a simple radar that shows local traffic but no roads, a compass that points to your goal, and a map that is somewhat of a struggle to orient yourself in. This is excellent for context, suiting the aesthetics and time period, while adding another layer of appropriate challenge to a game in which driving is one of its strengths.
Stripped-back navigation toolshave spells for this. games have fully functional GPS interfaces and maps. Even had an accurate waypoint system, and that came out a year before So in revisiting and finding myself using signposts and quest log descriptions of locations, I was taken aback. I played the game around the launch of the expansion, and of course faced the same or similar challenges in navigating the world then. But in returning to it 15 years later, I find myself enjoying the quaint charm of slowly revealing maps, shop signs, signposts, and the overall system of travel. I don’t know how much the game has changed in this regard since then, but as it stands in the version I’m playing, it’s basic, and I like it.
