>>714668361
>>714668447
>>I want a giant repetitive city with a thousand unnamed NPCs
That kind of city (like Novigrad) actually sells the idea of a real city way better than Bethesda cities do.
To make a vidya city feel like a proper city you need loud and crowded town squares instead of three vegetable stalls. You need alleys and backstreets you can get lost in while trying to get somewhere. You need dozens of strangers and acquaintances on screen going about their business, some in a rush some lazing about, instead of just a handful of robots you know by name all standing around waiting for your input.
Supposing you have been to a city in real life: have YOU ever barged in to random homes uninvited, or followed a person around to confirm whether they have a schedule that takes them from work to a pub to grocery story to their home? Did you stop everyone on the street to ask them whether they have a job for you? No, nobody does, and it was not required for you to recognize it as a real city.
Authenticity and immersion are achieved by making a world feel alive, not by going into pointless detail. In fact going into pointless detail can take away from it. In Skyrim I always thought being able to open every door, bother every NPC and steal everything not nailed down felt extremely arcadey in a way that breaks immersion. Though loading screens didn't help there either.
Named NPCs with dialogue and enterable homes are a cool thing and if Bethesda could apply their interactive town design philosophy while making it properly city-like in scale, that would be amazing. But they either can't or won't and frankly I prefer something that makes me feel like I'm in a real metropolis even if it's only an illusion.
