Best Semi-Open World Games

The gaming industry has slowly started to see pure open-world games in a negative light. Games where players are free to go wherever they please whenever they want to often fail to consider that just creating a large open map is not enough, there needs to be stuff to do inside, or else it’s just a walking simulator.

Semi-open world games are a middle ground between open-world games and more linear titles. Instead of one large open map, the world in semi-open world games is typically split into multiple large maps, each a separate instance that exists independently of one another. As self-contained spaces, these instances follow the open-world design; players are free to roam without any restrictions.

8 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Kiryu And Kasuga’s Expansive Urban Playground

The Like A Dragon/Yakuza series has always followed the semi-open world formula, with the protagonist being able to move between large open districts of Japan. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth perfects this formula, not only paying homage to the previous games by including areas like Kamurocho, but completely new ones like Honolulu, Hawaii as well.

The semi-open world of Infinite Wealth is dense with things to explore, mini-games to partake in, loot to obtain, and enemies to take down. Once they’re inside a map, both Kiryu and Kasuga are completely free to go wherever they please with no limits on their movement other than high-level enemies occasionally blocking their way.

7 Dragon Age: Inquisition

Distinct Realms Teeming With Conflict And Magic

Dragon Age: Inquisition has the largest map of any of the Dragon Age games, and it is set up in the form of a semi-open world, with multiple large areas all accessible via a central hub that’s the Inquisition’s base.

It is an action role-playing game, leaning more into the action combat aspect than the previous titles in the series. Each new area in the game is absolutely massive and distinctly different from each other. Due to their large sizes, some of the problems of pure open-world games seep into this title as well, mainly a lack of things to do in the map. But combined with the fun combat and great storyline, there is plenty to love about DAI.

6 Metro Exodus

A Train Ride Into Semi-Open World Survival

Based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s famous novels, Metro Exodus is the third first-person shooter game in the series, picking up the story directly after the events of Metro: Last Light. Metro Exodus is a combination of linear level design and semi-open world setting, offering players the best of both worlds.

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Multiple open-world sections are discovered during the course of the story, and players are free to explore them, as they wish. However, certain parts of the game take place in confined, linear locations where there is only one path forward. The open sections are discovered slowly as Artyom, the protagonist, visits new locations aboard the Aurora.

5 Borderlands 2

Looter Shooter Meets Semi-Open Mayhem

Borderlands 2 is a looter shooter game with procedurally generated loot drops and one of the best in its genre. Its unique art style, incredibly fun gameplay loop, and replayability make it the most beloved game in the series, and one that every fan of the FPS genre needs to try at least once.

Borderlands 2 closely follows the semi-open world design, with multiple large map sections that are individually open-world and separate from one another. Unique NPCs and missions are available in each new location, which are gradually unlocked as players progress through the story.

4 Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

A Semi-Open World With A Fantastical Touch

Developed by THQ Nordic, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is the remaster of KoAR, an extremely underrated fantasy action-adventure game, with rich lore and fun gameplay that still holds up today.

The game’s world is technically open-world, but certain areas are locked behind questlines or level-gated by extremely powerful enemies that can only be realistically defeated by higher-level characters. It’s a soft semi-open world, where while players can technically do everything right from the get-go, the sponginess of high-level enemies guarding certain areas function as soft locks, placed to prevent the player from diving into zones their character is not yet ready to venture into.

3 Dishonored 2

A Victorian Sandbox Of Stealth And The Supernatural

Dishonored 2 is a stealth action game set in a Victorian-era urban environment with semi-open world level design. The game is tense, brutal, and just plain fun. Similar to the Hitman games, the goal is usually to assassinate a target or complete a certain objective without being seen, with multiple paths to success. Unlike Agent 47, however, the protagonist in Dishonored 2 needs to remain in the shadows at all times by carefully navigating the guards’ lines of sight.

Supernatural abilities like teleportation and summoning killer rats give the player just enough options that each level feels like a puzzle to solve, and nothing is more satisfying than discovering the fastest way to complete the objective.

2 God of War (2018)

Norse Realms Await

God of War (2018) is an action-adventure game that follows the story of Kratos and Atreus, steeped in Norse mythology. The world is separated into multiple sections that unlock as players follow the main storyline. After an area has been introduced, Kratos is allowed to go back, explore the world, and discover its secrets.

Combat is the main focus of God of War, but environmental puzzles and secrets play a huge role as well. Some of the most powerful weapons and armor are locked behind these secrets, which can only be discovered by exploring the game’s semi-open world in its entirety.

1 Baldur’s Gate 3

Freedom To Explore, Freedom To Choose

Baldur’s Gate 3 is divided into three distinct Acts, each taking place in areas that are completely separated from one another, employing the semi-open world formula. Act 1 has three sections, the crash site, the Underdark, and the Mountain Pass. Act 2 takes place in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Act 3 takes place in Baldur’s Gate, separated into Lower City and Upper City. Each map is a self-contained open-world.

In Act 1, for example, it’s completely up to the player whether they want to go to the Goblin Camp or the Emerald Grove first. They’re free to save Karlach before Lae’zel, even though the Githyanki Fighter is closer. The map is open to them, and that remains the case throughout the game.

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