Cool open-world mechanic in AC Origins (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 11:21 (2298 days ago)
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 11:48

As I've been playing through AC Origins, there's a neat little mechanic that I've grown to appreciate more and more. I have no idea if this is the first game to use such a mechanic (probably not), but its the first time I've encountered it.

Like most open world games, you will find NPC's who give you quests spread out around the various locations. They are marked with an Icon over their heads. You can run up to them and start talking, and they'll start the quest.

Here's the cool twist, though. In most open world games, you talk to an NPC, they tell you about a quest, and you get a note in your Quest Log and/or a mark on the map telling you where to go in order to start the quest. But what AC Origins does differently is that the quest is activated the moment you talk to the NPC, even if you are already in the middle of another quest. A little Icon appears on screen telling you that you've activated a new quest, and you just hold the menu button if you'd like to track the new activity (ie make it your new active quest). If you ignore the prompt, the quest gets added to your quest log and you can return to it at any later time.

This sounds like it could be problematic, right? You're in the middle of a quest, then you talk to an NPC and start a new quest, interrupting the one you are already doing... except they've designed the quest system so that every single quest has built-in "checkpoints" that get saved as you go. So if I'm in the middle of a quest and I activate another quest, I can either abandon the current quest and pursue the new one, or ignore the new one and keep working on the current mission... either way, my progress in both quests gets saved where I leave them.

Its a great system that allows a nice free-flow of bouncing from one mission to another to another and back again as I explore each region or city, tackling whatever missions piqué my interest without feeling like I'm losing progress on other missions I may have already started. It also helps make the open world feel unified and organic, because starting a mission doesn't deactivate all the other stuff you might want to interact with.

Just thought it was a cool bit of open world design worth sharing. Has anyone else played any games that handle quests in a similar way?