Love/Hate Relationship With Fast Travel for Good Reason

why does this fast travel pic look so low qual, lol?

The love and hate relationship with fast travel is real. Let’s briefly talk about it to clear the air, yeah?

Here’s how Wikipedia defines fast travel: “a video game mechanic used in open world titles [not always] that allows a player character to instantaneously travel between previously discovered locations without having to traverse that distance in real time. It is a type of warp…” Think of it as a way to totally spoil the player lol!

Riffing off that last statement, FT has made me a touch lazy on the sticks. For instance, in the Remedy’s “Control,” exploration takes a backseat when all I gotta do is stand on a control point and select where I want to send my character next at the press of a button. Lazy bones over here. There’s no way I’ll actually walk the character from point A to B knowing the FT option is available. RIP exploration of any kind!

On the flip side, FT speeds up the game by removing tedious travel moments that could be a slog otherwise. Arduous movement with little reward can trash a players mindset. So, there are benefits the FT without question, but do they leave the game feeling hollow? That would be up to the player.

There you have it. Fast travel in a small nutshell. Heck yeah.