Open-world games are often the most impressive and widely appreciated titles in all of gaming. There is something about stepping into an expansive environment full of mystery and wonder that just cannot be found in other genres, but within the open-world space itself, there are a few games that changed the genre's landscape in a big way, whether through groundbreaking mechanics, innovative world designs, or something entirely different.
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The genre has grown a lot over the past decade, and a lot of that growth can be directly tied to a few exceptional games that went above and beyond to create a world unlike anything players had seen before. Across a range of settings and narratives, these select games demonstrated a forward-thinking approach that set a new standard for what is possible in a single game, and they easily pushed the entire industry forward several years with their presence.
Shadow Of The Colossus
A Completely Different Kind Of Storytelling
Shadow of the Colossus
- Released
- October 18, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadow of the Colossus showed the gaming industry that large open worlds don't need a million NPCs or a range of structures to discover, just the will to explore and see more of the environment itself. The game forces players down a path of slaying giant, haunting creatures, each with a specific puzzle-like strategy to take down, but they are never given clear details regarding their quest, even after the credits roll.
This lack of direction instead opens up the player's curiosity. The world is so compelling that players don't need a glaring waypoint or a quest marker to tell them where to go. Instead, they are simply guided by the light from location to location, all the while taking in the breathtaking visuals that create a sense of purpose in a world devoid mostly of life.
Elden Ring
Leveling Up Open-World Exploration
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
Elden Ring is the culmination of over a decade of refinment, taking everything that FromSoftware learned from their Soulslike experiments and placing it into a giant open-world landscape that seemingly has no end. Players start their journey by exiting a cave and are greeted by a sprawling landscape centered by a glowing Erdtree, which immediately shows the player the level of scale and ambition that the game holds.
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As players progress, they will find that no path is straightforward. Lakes lead to tunnels that turn into chasms that lead into underground cities full of stars and forgotten civilizations. This constant forward motion means that, no matter where players are on the map, there is always more to see, encouraging an attentive approach to exploration that is rarely evoked in other games. Just when players think they have finally finished a section, an entirely new area will suddenly appear for them to conquer.
Red Dead Redemption 2
The New Gold Standard For Video Game Narratives
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
Red Dead Redemption 2 is as close to a perfect story as there has ever been in a video game. Over the course of a playthrough, players get to experience everything from shootouts to heists to disease, all while playing as the iconic Arthur Morgan. The writing is simply divine, and the player will truly feel a part of the narrative from start to finish, going through all the highs and lows of the characters within the world.
Aside from the story, the game itself has a level of realism and authenticity that can only be described as impossible. Every single texture is rendered with an absurd level of detail, and the environment breathes new life with each passing day, transporting players to a fictional world from the past that feels more real at times than the present day.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Puzzles Meet True Freedom
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Breath of the Wild is the Zelda game that players have been hoping for ever since the series began. It takes the world of Hyrule and elevates it into a beautiful, open landscape full of opportunities to explore and enemies to take down on the surface and deep below the ground. What makes the game so impressive is the lack of limits placed on how players approach the campaign, as it doesn't matter if they want to go running head-on to the next objective or if they want to be more tactical in their approach; every playstyle is viable.
The game also has an incredibly unique method of progressing the world, as individual enemy types become stronger over time, forcing players to adapt their combat strategy to an increasingly challenging environment. There is no stress when exploring the world, no strict time frame or specific route, which means that players can take their time delving into every corner of the map without ever feeling pressured to progress the story or to walk a set path.
Grand Theft Auto 4
More Than Just Causing Mayhem
Grand Theft Auto 4
- Released
- April 29, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto 4 was a major turning point for the open-world genre because it completely shifted things away from unstructured chaos and towards a more grounded drama that retained the genre's trademark scope. Liberty City is dense and layered with believable elements, from the characters to the structures themselves, making the place feel lived-in rather than just a backdrop for the players to drive through.
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The narrative itself is far more mature than a lot of similar games, painting the criminal underworld as corrosive rather than positive, and allowing a complex, multidimensional character in Niko Bellic to lead the way. For many players, this game was a reset for the genre, and it showed that open-world games could deliver both impactful and intelligent narratives while simultaneously offering immersive worlds that players could enjoy to their hearts' content.
Batman: Arkham City
The Darkest Of Knights
Batman: Arkham City
- Released
- October 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Alcohol Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Rocksteady Studios
Batman: Arkham City expanded its predecessor’s tight asylum layout into a full city district without losing any mechanical sharpness, proving an open-world map can still feel immersive on a smaller scale. The walled segment of Gotham is packed with villain factions, side investigations, and traversal routes that fold directly into Batman’s move set. Gliding, grappling, and scanning are not just travel tools; they're core parts of how players engage with every aspect of the game.
The city is dense enough to feel alive but constrained enough that every block reads as a deliberate design choice rather than just a filler segment. Arkham City goes above and beyond in terms of how it integrates its narrative into the world. Villains become part of the geography, and every space between missions feels purposeful and carefully planned out, ensuring that players never feel like they are just gliding from point A to point B over and over.
Death Stranding
Introspection Over Constant Action
Death Stranding
- Released
- November 8, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Kojima Productions
- Genre(s)
- Action
Death Stranding is a remarkable game, one that feels more like a living novel at times than a player-driven adventure across an empty landscape. The gameplay revolves around carrying packages between locations, which can feel tedious at first, but as players progress, they unlock more traversal options—namely, gaining access to other players' creations, which makes the otherwise isolated world feel more connected than any other multiplayer game.
Another aspect of the game that can't be praised enough is the detail in every single character. Full body scans of talented actors fill out the world and bring it to life, which is then contrasted by the almost dreamlike sequences that occur later in the narrative. It is a landmark achievement in visual design and an even more impressive feat when it comes to bringing such an elaborate and ambitious story to life in a world that is equally strange in terms of its scope.
No Man's Sky
Removing Every Possible Boundary
No Man's Sky
- Released
- August 9, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
No Man's Sky is one of the very few open-world games that replaces a large map with a virtually endless universe that players can quite literally spend a lifetime exploring without ever running out of new things to see. This desire to create an expansive, living universe was not easy to achieve, but after years of updates and content drops, the game feels more alive than ever, fulfilling the promises that it made at launch and then some.
What brings the game to another level is the ability to play with others in an interconnected galaxy. Players can jump into their ships and take to the sky with a group of friends, or even just coast off into the stars in the hopes of finding another fellow adventurer. Although the odds of meeting another human might be small in the outer reaches, the fact that it is even a possibility is a marvel in itself, and a true testament to the incredible achievement that is No Man's Sky.
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