More Games Should Ditch Objective Markers
Video games have evolved dramatically since the 60s and 70s when the likes of Spacewar! and Atari laid the foundation of what would become a multi-billion dollar industry. That evolution has seen trends come and go, from an emphasis on platformers in the 80s and 90s to the cover-based shooters of the 2000s. But there have been smaller changes too, as developers play around with minor game mechanic tweaks. Objective markers have had a particularly interesting past, and their evolution won't end any time soon.
It's hard to pin down when exactly objective markers became the norm for video games. For years, players were forced to either explore their surroundings or follow some other implicit direction. In the early days of the NES, that usually meant moving from left to right, just as players are instructed to do in Super Mario Bros. without ever having to be told to. To this day, Super Mario Bros. has the best tutorial in the industry without having to tell players what to do. Players see where they need to go and can direct themselves there.
10 Role-Playing Games You Might Have Missed
Video games aren't what they were in the 80s, at least not at the triple-a level. Exploration has always been a major part of traditional video game experiences, but the breadth of worlds has changed dramatically since Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda was the bar. Now, video game worlds can be as small as a few square miles or as large as an entire universe, simply depending on the type of game. Worlds have become more complex, but also easier to navigate.
Look at Assassin's Creed Valhalla, for instance. The player's home base, Ravensthorpe, is centrally located on the map with larger settlements scattered around. These settlements are
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