Rope arrows don't save you from projectiles. Lockpicking has nothing to do with enemies. The rest are consumables, that have limited uses. There's difference between hiding in shadows or out of line of sight, not making noise, and hiding in a completely safe zone, which isn't reachable by anyone and anything. It's almost a cheat because it's easy to abuse without any shortcoming. Alien: Isolation is so tense because there are no safe zones. The xenomorph adapts and will find you anywhere.
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"In majority of other immersive sims and in FMs shafts and many narrow spaces become a cheat"
I find this statement very... confusing.
If the core concept behind your argument is that anything the player can do, but enemies can't is fundamentally cheating, then... what about rope arrows, breath potions, life potions, lockpicking, etc. ?? Also, I think it's much more interesting when a game constantly shifts between tension and relief - environments that are dangerous and safe. The constant ...
I think it's best if we see as much variety as possible in FMs. All sizes: small, average, large. There are so many different preferences and players that this way everyone probably gets something they can enjoy. I wouldn't really say that FM size itself would be a problem.
I agree that some of these smaller FMs that you Matt listed are very good, especially Alcazar, Morning Light and Lone Rock Outpost. Others mentioned were also enjoyable!
"Especially in the last 5 years or so, there has been a trend to bigger and bigger missions, and not an emphasis on making the missions fun to explore and play"
@chakkman: I >slightly< disagree with that statement - even though I'm very glad I finally stumble upon others discussing this problem as well. I think the last 5 years were an interesting mix, because while many gigantic and overcomplicated maps got released (personally, I thought that it was a problem that slightly overshadowed eve...