Summary
- Elden Ring offers unparalleled variety, with rewards hidden across a colossal world for hundreds of hours of exciting gameplay.
- STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl features dangers in a unique open-world environment, rewarding exploration with dynamically respawning artifacts.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sets a new course for the genre with adventure, diverse monsters, and distractions in combat, despite aging mechanics.
Open-world games are among the most popular in the gaming landscape, drawing millions of players. With their combination of freedom, breadth of gameplay mechanics, and available activities, and the allure of playing at one's own pace, open-world titles usually support various playstyles and provide players with different incentives to stay in their worlds.
Best Open-World Games That Are Hard To Put Down
A well-designed open world can keep players hooked for countless hours, sucking them into an immersive world they don't want to leave.
While many open-world games may lean toward either exploration or combat, numerous titles successfully blend them equally, without a clear prevalence of one over the other. Exploring the surroundings, unraveling secrets, and searching for ways to reach hidden loot are often as exciting as being ambushed or cutting one's way through enemies to claim a reward. Below are some of the most notable open-world games available today that perfectly balance combat and exploration.
Elden Ring
Unparalleled Variety In Everything
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Elden Ring takes everything great about FromSoftware's signature gameplay formula and places it in a truly colossal, breathtaking, layered world unlike anything players have explored before. Naturally, players can visit any corner of the Lands Between they can lay their eyes on, and everywhere they'll find rewards worth claiming, although some are hidden so well that few players may ever discover them.
Anything found in the world can be used on the battlefield, including hundreds of armor pieces, various weapons, tools, spells, and more. Coupled with enemy variety as wild as Elden Ring's, as well as incredibly strong level design and enemy placement, the game stays exciting, unpredictable, and rewarding for hundreds of hours.
STALKER 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
Environment Full Of Dangers Of All Sorts
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Released
- November 20, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter, Open-World, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl remains faithful to the original STALKER games, offering an unpredictable and dangerous open-world environment of the Zone, ripe for exploration. From countless well-hidden stashes left by other wanderers containing the best gear, to precious artifacts that respawn dynamically after random emissions and require considerable effort to find, exploration in STALKER 2 is in a league of its own.
Best Open-World Games With Endless Replayability
These open-world games are massive even on the first playthrough, but also offer near-endless replay value for fans.
Of course, some of the biggest dangers in the Zone aren't anomalies at all, but rather deadly mutants, other stalkers, or bandits. Players can be ambushed unpredictably by enemy groups, and while STALKER 2 has had its issues with the promised A-Life system failing to deliver, each new update has made the game better, and gunplay is already as strong as fans could hope for.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Laying A New Course For The Genre
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Few open-world games of the past decade have had an impact as strong as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a title that earned countless awards and worldwide recognition for mastering the open-world RPG formula. The game's beautiful multi-region world is brimming with adventure and discoveries, while its diverse monster bestiary keeps things fresh for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.
While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's combat system is already showing its age, there's still plenty of fun to be had for those willing to experiment and use everything in Geralt's arsenal. Reaching a destination in The Witcher 3 is rarely a straightforward task, as players are constantly distracted by hidden treasures, small side quests, and combat encounters.
Ghost Of Tsushima
Keen Eye & Deadly Sword
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Ghost of Tsushima seemingly adopts the Ubisoft-style approach to an open-world environment, but thanks to several unique ideas from Sucker Punch, it manages to stand apart. Exploration rarely requires checking the map for directions, as players can look for visual clues and follow animals or the wind to the next point of interest, not to mention how arrestingly beautiful the world of Tsushima is.
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While the variety of map activities could be better, Ghost of Tsushima's combat system more than compensates. With intricate progression that grants new moves and tricks until the very end, and a streamlined approach to gear, fighting Mongols is never boring. Add to that random encounters like roaming enemy patrols, bandit ambushes, and wandering ronin looking for Jin, and the game becomes a well-oiled mechanism perfectly mixing the best the genre has to offer.
Fallout 4
True Paradise For Looters
Fallout 4
- Released
- November 10, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Fallout 4 is defined by its intricate balance between exploration and combat. The vast map of Boston and its surroundings is almost entirely available from the beginning, as players make their way toward any interesting landmark they might spot in the distance. Quite literally every step of the way is worth careful examination, as Fallout 4 is packed with rewarding secrets, missable areas like entire underground bases, and countless examples of Bethesda's environmental storytelling.
Yet, traditionally for the series, the wasteland is a dangerous place where looters, raiders, robots, and mutants can suddenly ambush unfortunate travellers at every corner. Try to get a well-hidden item, and players will most likely trigger a trap that brings unwanted attention. Luckily, Fallout 4's combat is arguably the best in the series to date, and coupled with a robust crafting system, players can use any scrap found while exploring to great benefit in combat.
Assassin's Creed Origins
The Witcher 3, But With Pyramids
Assassin's Creed Origins
- Released
- October 27, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
Ever since its shift to an open-world action-RPG blueprint, Assassin's Creed games have typically delivered on both combat and exploration, so it often comes down to each player's preference for the setting. However, Assassin's Creed Origins deserves a special place for its intricate balance between the two, elevated by the unique and captivating setting of Ancient Egypt.
7 Open-World Games With More Than One Explorable Map
These open-world games feature not just one, but multiple separate maps for players to freely explore.
Exploring once-remarkable cities, religious temples, vast deserts, and even the Great Pyramids themselves is memorable on its own and often rewards players with powerful gear. And there's no shortage of chances to put that gear to use in Origins, as players work to clear Egypt of corrupting influences, battle undead pharaohs, or even participate in events like gladiator arenas, fighting menacing foes such as War Elephants, or challenging the Gods themselves.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Expansive & Fun, If Slightly Controversial
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Released
- February 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Standing among the best open-world games of recent times, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth spectacularly expands on the original with updated direction. Not only is the game massive, but almost every element brings something new to the table — from combat and exploration to quests and mini-games — keeping the experience fresh even for long-time fans.
In Rebirth, players rarely need to engage in combat just for the sake of it, allowing for a natural balance between free-form exploration, side activities and mini-games, and intense combat encounters and boss fights.
Interestingly, despite its highs, FF7 Rebirth still ended up being quite divisive for its approach to both exploration and combat. Some veteran JRPG fans are not fully satisfied with its hybrid combat system (real-time battles with strategic elements), which can feel a bit too punishing, and they describe the exploration of later regions as repetitive and formulaic.