Natsumon and the Subdued Japanese Open World

This post originally ran on Cohost on 2023/8/8 and is being reuploaded here for future posterity. The content has been lightly edited for enhanced readability. I think it's fair to say that even in a post-Breath of the Wild world, for almost all intents and purposes, most people, developers and players alike, probably consider open world games to be primarily the dominion of western developers.…