Why reinvent the wheel? I want more recycling in games!

Domagoj Belancic

22/2/2025

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

I love exploring new game worlds. Still, returning to familiar spaces also has its own special charm. A plea for more recycling in games.

Remember the first time you explored the huge, open game world in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Or when you rode through the Wild West of Red Dead Redemption for the first time? Both unforgettable moments that will be forever etched in my gamer brain.

As much as I love exploring new and undiscovered game worlds, I also like returning to familiar environments. When games reuse their worlds, characters or other elements from predecessors, they add their very own magic touch.

Between nostalgia and curiosity

The first trailers for the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild faced some controversy. Wait, Nintendo didn’t create a new realm for Tears of the Kingdom, but simply recycled the open world from its predecessor instead? Booooooring!

Personally, this decision never bothered me – on the contrary. Right from the start, I was delighted to finally immerse myself in that unique world again. And it didn’t disappoint.

I’m no longer getting the feeling of exploring an unknown environment for the first time, which was what drove me in Tears of the Kingdom. Instead, it’s a sense of fascinating nostalgic curiosity that’s gripping me. Kind of like returning to a familiar vacation spot after a long time and wondering if they still have that delicious ice cream parlour where I gorged myself the last time I visited?

Rediscovering the kingdom of Hyrule feels so wonderfully familiar, yet so different. I find myself caught between nostalgia and curiosity, between the familiar and the new. A feeling I love.

Some settlements have remained the same, others have changed or are no longer there. The new sky islands and holes in the ground have also permanently changed a landscape I was familiar with. I also meet many characters from the previous game – even if I barely recognise some of them after all these years. Time has left its mark everywhere.

For me, this interplay between nostalgia and curiosity is what makes reused game areas so magical. I get a feeling that time hasn’t only passed in my world, but in this virtual realm too. The changes also make the game’s story and universe feel much more real and immersive. The world isn’t just a fixed backdrop, but a character that changes over time.

The prime example for recycling your world

Japanese studio Ryu Ga Gotoku – RGG for short – is the absolute master of recycling. It’s best known for the crime drama series Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza). For 20 (!) years now, fans have been returning to the same game environments again and again, most notably Tokyo’s red light district Kamurochō – based on the real Kabukichō neighbourhood in Shinjuku.

A lot has changed in the twenty-year history of Like a Dragon. Playable characters came and went. Even the game mechanics have been completely changed – from real-time combat to a turn-based RPG system. Kamurochō remained a rock through all the changes.

If the Kingdom of Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom feels like a familiar vacation spot, then my repeated trips to Kamurochō are like returning home. I know the winding alleyways of the neon-lit Yakuza territory like the back of my hand. I feel connected to this virtual cityscape.

With every new game and every new visit, I’m reminded of all the epic fights and stories I’ve experienced here as I stroll through the streets. But I never get bored – new restaurants, buildings and stories keep me on my toes. Kamurochō is both a constant and an organically growing, ever-changing construct. What’s more, it might be the most important character in the entire series.

One particularly great feature: RGG always manages to introduce new, extra locations throughout the Like a Dragon series. Those in turn have also been reused and further developed for years. Take Sōtenbori (Osaka) and Isezaki Ijin-chō (Yokohama), both of which quickly became virtual hometowns as well.

The latest addition is Honolulu, from last year’s mainline game Infinite Wealth. Just one year after that, the tropical paradise was reused in the new pirate spin-off Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

It’s perhaps the wackiest and craziest game in the series, highlighting the importance of recurring environments in an additional way. This familiar Honolulu gives me an anchor to hold onto amidst the sometimes over-the-top pirate madness.

I’m already looking forward to my future trips to virtual Hawaii over the next twenty years – whether as a Yakuza, pirate or other criminal.

A nice bonus

The recycling of game environments and other assets doesn’t just have an impact on my gaming experience – it also affects development. In the last ten years, RGG has released an incredible 14 (!) games set in the Like a Dragon universe.

While other studios sit on a game for five to seven years, RGG churns out one release after the other. And with consistently high quality – despite recycled worlds, game mechanics and other assets.

I hope that, against a backdrop of rising production costs, more studios will dare to copy their own work and build on it. I want to see more worlds that develop over time, blessing me with this mix of nostalgia and curiosity.

I’m particularly looking at Rockstar Games here. The new Vice City from Grand Theft Auto VI looks sensational and will certainly offer enough material for several games and stories. Please don’t make us wait another twelve years after its release for a successor. Instead, give us a new virtual home that’ll keep us curious over the years and let us indulge in nostalgic memories at the same time.

Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.

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