One of the reasons the entire open-world genre exists is to give players the freedom to carve their own path, heading in whatever direction they want to right off the bat, and ensuring that something is waiting for them to discover. While almost every open-world title may offer occasional interesting places and countless roads to travel, it’s not uncommon for such games to also fill their map with repetitive locations, objectives, and reused assets, resulting in unavoidable predictability kicking in sooner or later.
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Fortunately, some open-world games are capable of staying fresh for their entire 100-hour-plus runtime, with every new path leading somewhere interesting, be it a new biome, an unexpected dungeon, a valuable treasure, or simply a breathtaking vista to slow things down for a bit. For players who value unpredictable journeys with an almost never-ending feeling of discovery, the open-world games below are some of the best to enjoy today.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Ghost Of Yotei
One Of The Greatest Exploration Flows In The Genre
It has been said countless times before, but it’s almost unbelievable how well seamless exploration works in Ghost of Yotei, creating a unique flow of constantly stumbling on something new and interesting and straying off the beaten path without even realizing it. Every point of interest in Ghost of Yotei is deliberately placed in a perfect spot and distance from one another to create a chain of attention grapples, so that players never even question where to go next or open their map — the game simply carries them on the wind.
Unlike Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei’s map is more region-based, with several vast and distinct biomes, each representing its own open-world environment that's still big enough for players to get lost in. Fresh changes of scenery, with bright, vivid colors and different atmospheres, also help mask some repetition over the course of the game, while progression keeps combat interesting with the constant addition of new weapons, gadgets, and abilities.
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Embrace The Invisible
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is already one of the most acclaimed open-world games ever made, praised for its world and a sense of freedom and discovery, yet somehow, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom manages to surpass it admirably. Tears of the Kingdom gives players even more freedom through its abilities, elevating the entire exploration aspect to new heights, and providing near-limitless ways to interact with the world and its secrets, puzzles, and enemies.
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Density and layering are perhaps the two best-suited words here. In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the land’s surface is just a tiny fraction of the whole world, stretching deep down and sky-high, hiding its best parts from players’ eyes at the outset. Even with some parts of the map essentially being the same between the two games — just slightly changed or redecorated for the sequel — it only adds to the unique feeling of something familiar and entirely new at the same time, which is already a rare feeling in gaming.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Countless Side Adventures To Remember
Released over a decade ago, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt definitely has some repetition in its open-world design, even outside the notorious Skellige’s countless question marks. Across the entire map, players will liberate same-y desolated settlements, discover treasure chests, clear bandit camps, destroy monster nests, and look for places of power to become stronger. Varied biomes and distinct regions like Velen, Skellige, and Toussaint (in the Blood and Wine DLC) certainly add freshness, but the locations themselves may not be as memorable as in other fantasy games.
However, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter, given how rich and handcrafted The Witcher 3’s world and storytelling are. Elevated by its characters and quests above all else, players never know when or where they will start a new side mission, and they have even less idea about how it’ll turn out in the end. The urge to relive yet another unforgettable story is The Witcher 3’s sucker punch, pushing players towards new adventures for its entire colossal runtime.
Fallout 4
Environmental Storytelling At Its Best
As proven by the excellent Fallout series, anything can happen in the post-nuclear wastelands, and Fallout 4 is among the best gaming examples of that so far. With the biggest map, featuring several large cities and settlements, roaming bandits, raiders, and mutants, and the ability to enter literally any building by breaking the lock or hacking a way in, only the players and their skills determine how far they’ll go in this world. In addition, with the game’s robust crafting and building mechanics, every piece of junk can be useful and serve its purpose, further boosting the value of exploration.
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Traditionally in the series (and in Bethesda RPGs in general), there are few restrictions on where players can go and what they can do, but preparation matters in Fallout 4. Some regions can be outright deadly with high radiation levels and high-level enemies. Another thing worth mentioning is Fallout 4’s perfect environmental storytelling aspect, as each place in this world has its story to tell if players pay attention to their surroundings.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Freedom That Almost Overwhelms
How interesting and surprising can an open-world map completely grounded in reality be? As good as the devs want it to be, as Red Dead Redemption 2 proves. Even when devoid of fictionalized elements and grand locations common to the fantasy genre, it’s possible to create a believable, stunning world that never ceases to amaze. Certainly, the Wild West frontier isn’t “just” some mundane setting, but it seems Rockstar has pushed its potential to the absolute limit.
Aside from minor exceptions, players are free to go anywhere almost from the start, freely visiting far-off regions much earlier than the story will take them there. Moreover, without any unique tricks, RDR 2’s map is so remarkably dense and packed with discoveries that players keep finding new secrets after seven years of playing the game. Even a random tree in a forest in Red Dead Redemption 2 can contain a clue to something grander that's well worth chasing, and by stumbling on a simple abandoned carriage or hunters' hut, players still won't know what they will find there, or what will happen while they do so.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
Mind How You Go
Despite being inspired by the real-world Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl perfectly balances its rusty post-apocalypse inspirations with fictionalized, almost futuristic elements sprinkled across the entire map. With how vast the world of the Zone is in this sequel, it’s impressive how long exploration in STALKER 2 stays interesting, with the world slowly unveiling new, distinct biomes, never-before-seen anomaly fields, vehicle graveyards, and abandoned buildings of all sorts. Even navigating some loactionscan be a puzzle all its own.
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While STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl somewhat gates its map, with not every region freely available from the start, its approach rarely feels restrictive. Rather, it encourages players to find detours or to chase faction missions to progress further. At any point in the game, numerous roads are available to follow in STALKER 2, although players may find themselves in very harsh conditions if they venture too carelessly without preparing first.
Elden Ring
A Masterpiece Of Open World Map Design
Combat has always been at the heart of the soulslike games, but Elden Ring almost shifts the genre's entire focus to exploration, and does so admirably. The game’s map of The Lands Between is an unflinching masterpiece of distinct regions with their own feel and stories, entire ecosystems buried deep underground that some players may not even discover, and towering verticality that challenges players to reach certain places high above them.
Many of Elden Ring’s discoveries become etched into each player’s mind: from their first gaze at a panoramic view of Liurnia of the Lakes to seeing the rotten hell of Caelid or venturing deep into Siofra River Well, many players wish to relive these absolute peak moments again. It’s not just Elden Ring’s beauty, as every new area also means new enemy types and unique bosses to face, as well as rare valuables just waiting to be discovered and claimed, potentially granting completely new ways to play.
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