Top 10 WORST RPG World Maps!

I'ma just say, legends 3 and saga 3 world map difference shouldn't be that big of an issue. Ain't no treasure to collect on world map, just travel to location and deal with annoying random encounters.

Never had a problem with FFVIII's world map personally, but I respect your opinion - at the very least, I like the idea of it.

And yeah, I like the idea of world maps - if I succeed in creating my own RPG (I have one planned) it will have a world map, even if it is a dated idea they feel part of it for me, and I just like them (there are times when I imagine what FFX would be like with one.) One of the ideas of my RPG is to call back to earlier-ish RPG formats anyway (world maps, ATB, text speak, etc.) but with a more modern look - yeah, it could be seen as dated, but it's meant to be a call back to them.

It depends, if a map serves a good purpose for the game and does not interfere or annoy you, it´s alright in my book. Now if we qualify the map based on previous entries, that´s another thing, different does not mean bad BUT if it´s different but feels cheap or as if something important has been taken out, then it´s super bad. It´s not an RPG but No More Heroes 2 ditched the world map for a point and click, I liked this because in the first one the world was so empty and barren, barely any secrets, if instead I am given better gameplay, bigger levels and ease of access to side quests and missions to "grind" then I won´t complain. But if it´s something like the jump from Tales of Symphonia to the sequel, then that sucks... but that´s just ONE of few things I really hate about that game...

I don't really think Dragon Quest Swords belongs here. Yeah, it's technically an RPG, and it's a huge departure from the usual expansive and meticulously-crafted DQ world maps, but it was never meant to replicate those at all. It's an on-rails arcade-style game, more like Time Crisis with a sword than anything else.

My vote goes to Tales of Destiny. The structure of the world map isn't a problem, but the camera perspective the game uses makes the map downright hideous and frustrating to navigate. A traditional top-down perspective would have served the game well, but the insistence on having a very close horizon that follows world curvature severely restricts your view.

Skyes of Arcadia should be here. The WM was empty and the amount of random encounters was just crazy.

I'm a little surprised Legend of Dragoon didn't make the list. You want "boring world map", try walking in straight lines on a literal map from point A to point B, with nothing but the rare random battle to break up the monotony. As awesome as the rest of the game was, they really dropped the ball on that aspect.

Honestly don't get the hype for VIII. Awful story, graphics, world map, weapon and magic system, janky levelling system. An RPG needs to be more than just a Twilight level love story

Wow this guy is really hating on FFT. Go away you fake tactics fan.

Honestly? I'm not a huge fan of Final Fantasy world maps because they tend to be very shallow IMO. FF9 actually is the one I'm the most bittersweet about. I mean you can tell they put so much love and detail into the Mist Continent. They still have some things going on in the Outer Continent. Not as much, but still some things are there. The Lost Continent? The aptly named Forgotten Continent? Practically barren on both counts.

The Mist Continent was so vibrant I was just imagining how much more vibrant the rest of the world would be and got super disappointed.

But to be fair I was like that too with FF7. Midgar is highly detailed. Loved it. The LITERAL ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD? Kind of sparse.

My favorite maps are like in Legend of Legaia or Legend of Dragoon, though I do like Legaia more than Dragoon's map because it's not on dotted lines. More to the point: since the games take place on a fraction of the landmass of the world instead of the entirety of it? Even when the game ends I feel like there's still more out there as opposed to an FF9 or 7 where I feel "well that's it."

no, no, no, no!!!! if you remove random encounter in FF tactics you end up with a game like Vandal Hearts where you're not able to power up your character at will. Vandal Hearts is not a bad game but this is something I very strongly dislike about it.

FFVIII was no worse that OG FFVII's map.

Glad I am not the only one that hated FFVIIIs map. Not only was it empty, but it also featured the worst city in any JRPG - Esthar.

The Steam version of Tales of Symphonia has a absolutely terrible world map. Or maybe it's good? I don't know, most of the time the camera is pointed straight down and you can't even see where you're going. Don't know if it was like that in the original, but the remakes map is pure trash.

that screen shot alone is enough reason for me to never ever play FF15

I think Final Fantasy XV's world could have been salvaged if they had just added more life to it. Like, I get that the world is basically being overtaken by the Starscourge, but you can't tell me the only signs of life are just a handful of people at each outpost and that's literally it!!! That being said, I enjoyed FFXV immensely, but that aspect will always be a let down. I guess because they wanted to really drive home the concept that it was a roadtrip.

Tales of Symphonia has the worst camera angle in world map and the vehicles is so boring and slow.... but still is a good game...

FFXV map has some nice looking spots but holy shit I get tired of walking around in the desert and wastelands so fast. I feel like they just forgot the FANTASY part of final fantasy.

I hate to say but the giant world globe maps are dying out. Frankly I miss them. FF8's globe may have been pretty empty but I still enjoyed exploring it. Though the Giant area maps are sometimes pretty good and fill the hole (here's looking at YOU Xenoblade Chronicles some of those maps took damn near 10 min just to run across) there was just something bout hopping in an airship of some sort and flying round a world to see the sights.

In finale fantasy 14 you were forced to us a car to go from place to place. Our it was optional regardless people hated it. They hated the cart mechanic in Mario party 7 and 8. So they got ride of it in Mario party 9.

People thought the junction system in final fantasy 8 was annoying by its self the map designed made it more infuriating.

You don’t like random battles you hate most Pokémon games it drive you crazy. Fighting in arena our other with no random battles in between areas what do you think your playing the GameCube Pokémon games colloseun and Xd gale of darkness. that our sub quest optional little monsters battle fighting tournament they threw into dragon quest 8 the cursed king.

For number 2 ok some ones getting shacked. Who’s main one responsible for this in the development cycle.

Come on now being on a ship is not only cool it stands head and bunion over the typical tales game which are very samey

If it's taking you an hour to do 1 random battle you can't be very good. No wonder your job assessment were so off

Also without random encounter there's no way to power up characters which is a major problem in strategy games without them like fire emblem and shining force because you can only power up a characters in story battles meaning you have to know ahead of time which characters are going to be useful for every battle and sometimes a specific character is required to finish a story battle so if you haven't been using them you're screwed. Random battles give you a way around that problem. Also i figured you'd be complaining about the point and click nature of the map rather than random encounter

VIII's map isn't fantastic but IX isn't really vastly better

i just want a world map that feels real and not a sand box or one big hallway so thank you for pointing this out david ps maybe a soon to be top 10 greatest jrpg soundtracks of all time ?

HOLY SHIT! Phantasy star 3 is so bad! LOL
I only played PS in sega genesis but i don't know which one i played. It was one hell of a journey though! Loved it. It had that sweet spot of being challenging while not being too grindy. Great twist in the story too.

Good times.

For star oceans' case, i think that was because of the shenanigans with tri-ace.
It's really sad.

Phantasy Star 3. I love the series and PS3 does many things well except character story, battle and their boring world maps. the world maps are too boring and seem like they coulda added so much more

FF 15 was so bad. My heart broke. The worst writing in any form game.

Is your love for worldmaps related to the fact you teached Geography?

Legaia 2. The original had a fully open world with ways to teleport all over the place. Legaia 2 took all that away.

FF 6 s Map is like a Geography Class Map.

Tales of Eternia had a terrible underwater map , I remember wandering for nearly hours trying to find all the caves

As much as I love Phantasy Star 2 that map kinda sux. Almost as bad as the dungeons lol.

There will actually be another star ocean game, let's hope that one is better than the last one.

Legaia 2: Duel Saga. We went from a decent world map requiring actual exploration in the first one, often having story based reasons for why walking just wasn't viable and you needed an, often one-way, ride to a new location. Then you had... Legaia 2. They kept the story-driven reasons for needing to go to certain places to acquire a ship to sail or dragon to fly, but it was all so bland and two dimensional despite having cleaner graphics and being on a stronger console. They basically kept the same type of map and removed the option to explore. Ugh.

What do you love about rpgs? I've watched a few videos and struggling to see why you term yourself a fan of the genre!? Not just a fan of a specific type?

pokemon colosseum and pokemon XD gale of darkness's world map are terrible

Thank god we can agree that FF8 has one of the most boring, bland and empty worlds every created. Holy crap did the world design SUCK for that game. Weren't there only like 3 towns in the whole world? I want to smack whoever designed half the features in that game

I've replayed Final Fantasy Tactics alot, and to get around the random battles I just reload my save if I get one. it does help you get through the game sooo much faster. they might as well have made that a mechanic where they are optional, because it does get frustrating.

I blame FF10 for the normalizarion of JRPGs without a world map. FF10 was my first disappointment with the FF series, and the lack of a world map packed with a-to-b navigation in every area just killed this game for me...

What? No legend of the dragoon? Their map is as horrible or even worst than bof4. I can tell how much you hate ff8 it had the best map out of the list!

You chose the list pretty fairly, as some of those games you listed are bad overall, yet some are still amazing despite its bad world map design. Breath of Fire 4 is one of my favorite games of all times, and even though nostalgia does have its power over me, I do believe the game still plays great even today – although, I gotta admit it, I only love the world map because of its amazing soundtrack. I always get lost in the world map because the background drawings are so transparent they just don't matter, so if you don't remember an area name you will have to keep backtracking and loading each area until you find the right one. Still, at least the actually playable maps are great.

I love FF8's world map! They should remake that game!

Not sure why ff8 is on here when the worst things 8, are even worse in the next game. There are plenty of secrets and unique biomes, and multiple ways to traverse the area. The only issue i see is that it wasn't made obvious how open to explore, it was. Most of the missions seem to set you on rails and give a false sense of urgancy. If you slow down and enjoy the scenery. I think the biggest fallacy people bring up about it, is the 4th disc locking the world to you. But the only thing left to do at this point is storm the final dungeon anyway. If you just take the railed path, the game will seem short and incomplete, but if you take time to explore, you will find a dense story, with strong world building. The world map helps with this, with the over the sholder perspective on by default, showing strang buildings off in the distance, weird moving creatures in not yet accessible areas. Region names in the menu, the lend to curiosity. But more than that there are several side quests that happen on the world map rather than in zones connected to the map. Its atleast as good as 7, and infinitely better than 9, where you have access to an airship for the time it takes get to one boss, before its ripped from you again, and you are not given one back until the entire world is locked to you, when the mist takes over (not that there was much to do in it anyway).