Your first five hours in any open-world game

The opening hours of a big game shape how the rest of it plays. A few early decisions save a lot of frustration later.

Spend ten minutes in the settings

• Subtitles and text size. Make them readable from your couch.
• Camera sensitivity and field of view. The defaults are often too slow.
• HUD options. Many games let you hide elements or show them only when needed.
• Accessibility options. These often include quality-of-life settings anyone can use.

Learn the map legend early

Open the map, read the legend and learn which icons matter. Many games use the same icon style for activities, shops and collectibles.

Don't hoard everything

It's tempting to save every consumable for later. In most games, using resources early helps you progress faster, and they're more plentiful than they seem.

Save smart

Find out whether the game autosaves, how often, and whether it has manual slots. Before a big decision or a hard mission, keep a separate save if the game allows it.

Start a notes habit

Keep a few quick notes: names you'll forget, places to come back to, upgrades you want. It doesn't need to be organised. It just needs to exist.