Summary
- RPG elements are standard in open-world games like GTA 5, Saints Row 4, and Yakuza, requiring XP for strength levels.
- Metal Gear Solid 5 doesn't have traditional level-ups; Mother Base levels up to unlock better gear and weapons.
- In Yakuza 0, players use earned yen for skills and upgrades instead of XP, balancing different upgrades with limited currency.
Like them or loathe them, RPGs have left their mark on video games. Even games that are all real-time action with nary a mage or Eidolon in sight will have some elements from their wizard-fiddling forebears. Like how open-world games like Grand Theft Auto 5, Saints Row 4, and most of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon games have strength levels that unlock with enough XP.
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They’ve become a standard feature in the genre, where even if they don’t call it "leveling up," they still require XP to get stronger and earn new skills. But this wasn’t always the case. For older open-world games, and some newer ones, players either got stronger in other ways or never had to level up to begin with.
7 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Where the Only Stats Being Raised Belong to Mother Base
Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain
- Released
- September 1, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Nothing’s ever straightforward in a Metal Gear game. Its sole open-world entry, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (Ground Zeroes and Survive don't count), brought in the same system MGS: Peace Walker had, where Big Boss/Snake doesn’t level up on his own at all. He’s as tough at the start of the game as he is by its end. Instead, it’s his Mother Base that levels up.
The more high-quality staff Snake nabs off the field, the better Mother Base’s departments get, which lets players get their hands on better weapons and gear. In turn, Snake’s actions can earn Heroism to attract better troopers and increase base morale to make his soldiers more effective at their jobs. So, one could say MGS5 does have level-ups. It’s just for everyone and everything else except Snake.
6 Yakuza 0
Where Cash Truly is King
Yakuza 0
- Released
- January 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
- Franchise
- Yakuza
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Before the mainline games became JRPGs, the Yakuza series had varying degrees of leveling up Kiryu and co. They all involved earning XP, which would then either earn different amounts of orbs to buy skills (Y3-5), follow a skill tree (Yakuza Kiwami 1, Like a Dragon: Ishin), or would be split between different traits depending on which activities the player did (Y6, Yakuza Kiwami 2).
Yakuza 0 did things differently by getting rid of XP altogether. Instead, it had a skill tree where players bought their skills using the billions of yen they'd earn from fights, substories, minigames, etc. It sounds like a lot of cash, but when it's split between health/offense/defense buffs, new combat skills, weapon parts, Hostess training, Real Estate properties, catfights, etc., it often runs out as fast as it's earned.
5 Elite Dangerous
Sail Across the Stars In Search of a Profit
Elite Dangerous
- Released
- December 16, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Frontier Developments
- Publisher(s)
- Frontier Developments
- Genre(s)
- Flight Simulator
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Today, when most people imagine an open-world game, they think of a sandbox experience like GTA or Yakuza. But the earliest games that let players roam wherever they liked were more like Elite, a space sim where they had to trade between different outposts and do other odd jobs to earn more credits and buy upgrades to their ship. That way, they could travel further and fight off any rivals better.
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Elite Dangerous updated the old space sim’s premise by putting players in a larger universe, with more activities to do, and more factions to play politics with, all to earn more space credits, which will help them go from piloting a hunk of junk spaceship to flying the best galactic cruiser the cosmos can offer. That is, if they could get a grip on how the game's cosmic capitalism works.
4 Destroy All Humans
Do As the Title Says to Upgrade Your Alien
Destroy All Humans!
- Released
- July 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Going back to more familiar ground, Destroy All Humans (be it the original or remake) plants the Furon alien Crypto on Earth in 1959 to save his species from genetic annihilation. Which largely involves grabbing some unfortunate humans and harvesting the Furon DNA from their brains. If they must cause a little chaos across the game’s six different maps to get enough of the stuff to save their race, so be it.
Harvesting DNA is also how players can upgrade Crypto’s weapons and abilities. The more DNA they can get, the more skills and upgrades they can buy. If they don’t probe enough humans, they won’t be able to boost their chain lightning, Disintegrator Ray, or Psychokinesis, among other parts of their arsenal. So, unless they're deliberately challenging themselves to a low-level run, players will have to get to wrecking ASAP to get ahead in the game.
3 Saints Row 2
Ace the Activities to Ace the Game
Saints Row 2
- Released
- October 14, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Volition
- Franchise
- Saints Row
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Third-Person Shooter
Before the series cranked the wackiness to 11 and twisted the knob off afterward, Saints Row 2 made players work for their upgrades. It wasn’t enough for them to reach one level or another and spend XP on whatever skill they liked, like in its sequels. If they wanted certain skills, they had to complete certain activities and minigames. Want to be invulnerable to fall damage from all heights? Perfect the base-jumping activity.
Want to sprint everywhere without getting tired? Complete Level 6 of Insurance Fraud, the hardest level of the car accident simulator. Want stronger melee attacks? Beat everyone else up in Fight Club, which might require beating one of the other gangs’ story missions up to Mission 6 to get their fighting styles. It's harder than the standard level up, but it does feel more rewarding once they're achieved.
2 Assassin’s Creed 2
Uncovering the Truth with the Help of Real Estate
Assassin's Creed 2
- Released
- November 7, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft
- Franchise
- Assassin's Creed
- Platform(s)
- macOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Assassin’s Creed 2 doesn’t make players sweat as much to get their upgrades. So long as they have enough cash, they can buy the right weapons and armor from the blacksmiths and replenish their knives and smoke bombs. Though getting the best stuff requires story progression and raising plenty of funds. Getting enough florins usually involves completing enough missions, with the odd bit of pickpocketing and looting on the side, and finding a few lucky chests.
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Otherwise, they’ll need to spruce up Villa Auditore, Ezio’s HQ. If they invest in the right renovations, buy enough art, and collect enough codex pages, they’ll raise the villa’s value and earn a decent amount of cash on the side. Then they'll soon have more than enough to get the best gear and refill their perishables whenever they like.
1 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The World Is Yours for the Right Price
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Released
- October 29, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Franchise
- Grand Theft Auto
- Platform(s)
- PS2, Xbox (Original), PC, iOS, Android, macOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
One of the reasons levels caught on in open-world games is that they streamlined how players gain new abilities. It was easier to get a bundle of improved abilities by reaching one level or another, over, say, in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where getting better at driving, shooting, and staying underwater required driving, shooting, and scuba diving a lot, respectively.
It did encourage players to do more in Los Santos, though that might also be why some players preferred GTA: Vice City, where Tommy Vercetti didn’t need to do all that. All he needed was the right gear and weapons to turn the town into his playground, and that goal just required raising enough cash (or putting in the right cheat codes) to achieve it. No fuss, no muss.
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