Summary
- In open-world games, a balance between main story content and optional quests is essential for immersive gameplay experiences.
- Horizon Forbidden West, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Witcher 3 offer engaging stories alongside vast open worlds filled with diverse side content.
- Elden Ring and Fallout: New Vegas integrate main and side quests seamlessly, creating experiences where exploration and story progression are intertwined.
Open-world games are often characterized by an overwhelming amount of content. The best games in the genre have every corner of their maps populated with secrets and surprises for players to discover as they roam the land. Side quests and optional goals drive players to explore as far as possible.
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However, with so much work going into the game's open world, sometimes the main story content can take a bit of a backseat. Some open-world fans tend to ignore the story almost entirely, while other fans still want an engaging narrative to go with their open-world journeys. These open-world games strike the perfect balance between main story content and optional quests.
10 Horizon Forbidden West
A New Frontier
Horizon Forbidden West
- Released
- February 18, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Horizon Forbidden West brings Aloy to a whole new realm, full of new tribes to meet and robotic beasts to fight. The map is jam-packed with objectives, from minor collectibles to whole dungeons with involved side quests attached. Throughout the journey, Aloy will be crafting and improving her gear and honing her skills at the Machine Strike board game at every turn.
While the map in Horizon Forbidden West is positively cluttered with side goals, the main story does an admirable job of guiding players through the world. Multiple main story quests push players to new regions and lead them to the most gripping and important points of interest, and in the early game, these quests will also lead them to unlock new traversal items that will open up even more side quests to tackle. It's an excellent symbiosis of storyline and side content.
9 Cyberpunk 2077
Life In Night City
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
One of the most impressive facets of the controversial Cyberpunk 2077 is the amount of detail poured into the streets of Night City, and the rubble-strewn wastelands surrounding it. This neon-drenched dystopia is full of crimes to commit and side stories to get involved with, and players can be forgiven for letting the ticking clock of the malfunctioning personality chip in their character's head take a backseat.
However, Cyberpunk 2077 is good at keeping players involved in the main quest. Many of the NPCs they meet have a role to play in V's desperate quest to get the chip removed before it kills them, and side missions like Panam's quest to save her nomad tribe can end up playing a significant role in the main story. In Night City, everything is connected.
8 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
A Desperate Chase
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
CD Projekt Red's iconic dark fantasy adventure sends the legendary Geralt on a desperate quest to rescue his adopted daughter from the Wild Hunt. Along the way, players must deal with a multitude of problems plaguing the Continent where the game is set, from hideous monsters to sinister politics.
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While there is plenty to distract Geralt from his quest, the main storyline drives players on, constantly bringing them to new regions with new side quests. The Witcher 3's side content is famous for its quality, serving up unforgettable boss fights, agonizing moral quandaries, and making for one of the most consistently excellent open-world games out there.
7 Grand Theft Auto 5
A Modern Crime Epic
Grand Theft Auto 5
- Released
- September 17, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action
Grand Theft Auto 5 is arguably the most prominent open-world game in the industry, and for good reason. This legendary title puts players in the shoes of a desperate trio of criminals trying to keep their lives together as their own crimes tear them apart. The epic tragedy plays out across the sprawling state of San Andreas and the LA-inspired city of Los Santos.
While this tripartite tragedy has been hailed as one of the best stories in video games, the open world holds more than its fair share of surprises. Each of the three main protagonists has their own library of side quests, deepening their characters and their relationship with the crime-filled world around them.
6 Ghost Of Tsushima
Walking A Razor's Edge
Ghost of Tsushima
- Released
- July 17, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Ghost of Tsushima tells the epic tale of Jin Sakai, a samurai who must forsake his code in order to liberate his home from the invading Mongol horde. His quest takes him across the island of Tsushima, which is split into three regions that are gradually unlocked as the story progresses. This form of landmass gating adds considerable weight to the game's storyline, which players need to engage with if they want to see everything on offer.
The main story goals Jin must pursue on his quest are scattered throughout Tsushima, and are often unlocked in batches, giving players multiple objectives to pursue and letting them explore at their own pace. Traveling the island to hunt down objectives will also invariably lead Jin to some of the many side quests in the game, tying story progression to side quest discovery throughout the game's runtime.
5 Marvel's Spider-Man 2
A Tale Of Two Spiders
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Released
- October 20, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action-Adventure, Superhero
The latest installment of Insomniac's Spider-Man franchise sees Peter Parker and Miles Morales finally team up to protect New York City. The map has been expanded from previous games with the addition of new neighborhoods and landmarks like Coney Island. Both characters can embark on new side quest chains, like tracking the mysterious cultist known as The Flame and helping a reformed Mysterio with his VR attraction.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's main narrative is one of the series' most intense for both Spider-Men, but like its predecessors, the game carves out space for its protagonists to patrol the city for random encounters and side quests, providing a nice balance while also allowing players to cool off after particularly intense story missions.
4 Red Dead Redemption 2
Life On The Range
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Rockstar's Wild West masterpiece takes place roughly a decade before the events of its predecessor, and chronicles the slow, tragic decline of the Van Der Linde Gang. This desperate band of outlaws traverses several fictional states in their struggle to stay together, finding new trouble wherever they go. While fans who've played the previous game know that the characters' efforts are ultimately doomed, the strong characterization and engaging main story missions in Red Dead Redemption 2 will keep them hooked throughout.
The sprawling frontier offers endless distractions for players who find this slow decline too heavy to deal with, though. Protagonist Arthur Morgan can pursue plenty of side goals, from hunting bounties to aiding escaped fugitives. There are several side quests with multiple stages that develop throughout the game, giving players more ongoing stories to learn about than just the Van Der Linde Gang's tragic unravelling.
3 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
All The Wonders Of Hyrule
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Released
- May 12, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Rated E for Everyone 10+ for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Action, Open-World
Tears of the Kingdom's radically altered Hyrule provides countless opportunities for adventure. Link can find side quests and minigames galore, not only on the surface, but deep within the Earth and scattered throughout the game's floating Sky Islands. The game's intricate new crafting and fusing systems give the hero of Hyrule a lot of room to experiment, and many side quests give him ample cause, especially the infamous Korok escort missions.
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These open-world games might feature a mix of exploration and combat, but they focus more heavily on combat and challenging encounters over discovery.
However, for all the countless distractions Hyrule offers, there's just as much in the way of main story content. Link's quest to restore Hyrule will take him all over the world, and content relating to the main conflict with Ganondorf and the whereabouts of Zelda can be found all over the map. In Tears of the Kingdom, wandering the open world and getting involved in side quests often furthers the story just as much as tackling dungeons does.
2 Elden Ring
Getting Shattered
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
FromSoftware's open-world epic takes the studio's typically esoteric approach to narrative. It forgoes a conventional quest system in favor of environmental storytelling and cryptic hints from NPCs. Playing through Elden Ring is a mysterious journey through a world that doesn't quite make sense, full of some of the most imposing foes FromSoft has ever created.
This lack of conventional structure means that there's very little distinction between main quest goals and optional side quests. The most prominent goal throughout the game is to kill enough shardbearers to unlock the chamber within the Erdtree, and since many of these shardbearers hide well off the beaten path, finding them often requires a lot of engagement with side content.
1 Fallout: New Vegas
Meeting The Mojave
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Fallout: New Vegas presents an expansive post-apocalyptic community on the brink of war. The Mojave Wasteland boasts numerous factions who are all competing for power in the buildup to the final showdown between Caesar's Legion and the New California Republic, and the protagonist, on a quest to find answers from the man who shot them in the head, is caught right in the middle.
New Vegas has some of the industry's most finely crafted side quests. Objectives constantly lead players straight to the most interesting points on the map, where even more adventures await. Even if players avoid the main story, they're still advancing the plot by strengthening certain factions and weakening others, causing intricate ripple effects that will impact the rest of the game moving forward. No matter what one does in Fallout: New Vegas, the world will change around them, often in ways that won't truly be realized until the battle itself.
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