Hub City vs. Hub Level

I'm not entirely clear on what sets Hub City apart from Hub Level.

Hub City defines itself as a city (or even the only city in the setting) that the player keeps returning to over the course of a game's storyline, where numerous sidequests, shops, etc. can be found, and curiously that it may be also a Hub Level (implying that it's not always so, thus it's not a subtrope).

Hub Level, on the other hand, claims that Hub City is for "hub areas from which not only can the remaining levels or zones be accessed, but also the story missions, optional quests and the like"; besides stipulating that story-driving missions are part and parcel of what makes a Hub City, it seems to imply that Hub City is a subtrope of Hub Level and that it doesn't need to be a city.

Am the one who is having trouble correctly understanding the relevant passages? Or did I stumble upon an actual issue with them that requires a bit of fixing to clarify the confusion?

Hub City has an alternative title of Capital City, which indicates the general intention of the trope. It is the place with not just a large population but also expansive commerce and a vibrant social scene. You end up going there naturally because it is where you have the right contacts and pick up the necessary gear.

Hub Level is when the location is literally a nexus that leads you to selectable missions, in some ways more akin to a Warp Zone than resource management.

Notably Hub City has a fairly large non-video game examples while Hub Level does not.

So if I understood you correctly:

• Hub City's "hub-ness" is from a narrative/setting perspective, and the gameplay aspects of this trait are just the natural result of this trope's manifestation in a game setting.
• Hub Level's "hub-ness" is strictly in terms of being a Game Level whose main/only purpose is providing access to the various other Game Levels within the game.
• Hub City sometimes but not always is a Hub Level, and vice versa.

Is this right?

Edited by MarqFJA on Oct 22nd 2023 at 2:37:20 PM

Sounds about right.

Now I'm wondering if a Hub City in a video game is always a Hub Level. Are there any examples where that isn't true?

Midgar in Final Fantasy VII. You can't access other locations directly from there, but only from the world map once you have access to it.

For an entirely different example, the City Beneath in DROD: The Second Sky. In the previous game, the City was a Hub Level, but in The Second Sky this gets replaced with a clickable map, taking away its levelness.

Edited by Vilui on Oct 23rd 2023 at 11:10:57 AM

That makes sense. I suppose if there's a Global Airship that can access most if not all of the levels, and whose interior is a level in and of itself, then that would be a Hub Level, right?