I've been playing SAO Alicization Lycoris this past couple weeks (don't judge me), and I've been pleasantly surprised. I've never played the previous SAO games, so I'm not sure if this can be normally seen in this franchise or not.
One of the main things that surprised me is how well-crafted the towns/villages are. Unlike many RPG towns that make no sense with little to no functioning society at all, the villages in AL felt like a real place. There's a sense of danger in the world filled with monsters, so they have walls erected around the houses and buildings, and they stationed a couple of guards at the gate. They also have farms and livestocks just outside the gates, because how would they eat otherwise? This is something that's often missing in a lot of video game villages, even cities. On top of that, the NPCs have their own roles and schedules too, albeit not as complex as Bethesda games. They simply go outside at noon and inside at night. Some are stationed in their workshop/store, some others just idling/walking around, which is still much better than static NPCs.
And then, we have The Witcher 3 with its glorious cities of Novigrad and Beauclair. On top of its enormous size and countless buildings inside the gate, they also have a well-functioning system with farms and livestocks just outside the city gate.
There are also some other great examples, like Elder Scrolls games or more specifically Skyrim. From the starting village of Riverwood to the city of Whiterun, you can easily notice the many functions of the villages/cities, from farmlands to guards at the gates. Each city also has its own specialty and named NPCs which makes them unique. BOTW villages, while not as big as the cities in other games mentioned before, are also pretty great too. Each village has a guard stationed at the front gate, and there are farmlands and livestocks around the area.
What are your favorite well-functioning towns/villages in RPGs? Please provide some context like images/videos if possible.
One of the main things that surprised me is how well-crafted the towns/villages are. Unlike many RPG towns that make no sense with little to no functioning society at all, the villages in AL felt like a real place. There's a sense of danger in the world filled with monsters, so they have walls erected around the houses and buildings, and they stationed a couple of guards at the gate. They also have farms and livestocks just outside the gates, because how would they eat otherwise? This is something that's often missing in a lot of video game villages, even cities. On top of that, the NPCs have their own roles and schedules too, albeit not as complex as Bethesda games. They simply go outside at noon and inside at night. Some are stationed in their workshop/store, some others just idling/walking around, which is still much better than static NPCs.
And then, we have The Witcher 3 with its glorious cities of Novigrad and Beauclair. On top of its enormous size and countless buildings inside the gate, they also have a well-functioning system with farms and livestocks just outside the city gate.
There are also some other great examples, like Elder Scrolls games or more specifically Skyrim. From the starting village of Riverwood to the city of Whiterun, you can easily notice the many functions of the villages/cities, from farmlands to guards at the gates. Each city also has its own specialty and named NPCs which makes them unique. BOTW villages, while not as big as the cities in other games mentioned before, are also pretty great too. Each village has a guard stationed at the front gate, and there are farmlands and livestocks around the area.
What are your favorite well-functioning towns/villages in RPGs? Please provide some context like images/videos if possible.
