Summary
- Open-world games can start relaxing but quickly turn dark, luring players into nightmares.
- Valheim tricks players with relaxing gameplay before surprising with powerful enemies.
- Elden Ring offers beauty at the start, but deeper areas hold dark and unnerving challenges.
Open-world games are among the best options for players who want to see how they would behave in a fantasy or sci-fi setting. They're also one of the best possible picks when players want a game that will help them relax — for the most part.
It turns out there are many open-world games that start off rather plainly — or even colorfully — only to then force players into an unrelenting descent into the depths of hell. Here's a look at the open world games that do the best job at luring players into worlds that hide increasingly dark nightmares.
7 Best Open-World Games With The Hardest Opening, Ranked
Not all open-world games provide easy beginnings. Here are some of the best examples that feature incredibly hard openings.
Dredge
A Spectacular Descent Into A Lovecraftian World
Dredge
- Released
- March 31, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
There are few cozier pastimes than fishing. Dredge knows this, so it invites players to a game that will, supposedly, be all about fishing and acquiring treasure. That's nice, at least up until nightfall, when the game begins to get all kinds of creepy. Luckily, things do go back to being nice when daytime returns — or do they?
The truth is, they don't. The days start to get creepy as players progress through the campaign, and the nights, unsurprisingly, do so as well. Ultimately, Dredge provides a steep descent into the same nightmares contained in the stories of H.P. Lovecracft, and it works even better when players fall into the trap, mostly unaware of it all.
Valheim
It's All Fun And Games Until The Deathsquito Arrives
Valheim
- Released
- February 2, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- r
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
Valheim is a unique open-world survival game, because it's pretty relaxing for the most part. Sure, there are the eventual semi-coordinated attacks by random animals, but surviving in this game is pretty easy — maybe because players embody a true Viking.
9 Best Open-World Games With Cryptic Storytelling, Ranked
For players who like to decipher a story themselves, these open-world games keep their narratives ambiguous, offering only cryptic clues as a guide.
That's great, but the game also uses this aspect as a clever trap. When players finally decide they need to find new land, they might come upon even more beautiful lands, which do a great job of drawing the attention away from cute-looking enemies that are actually much more powerful. These creatures can outdo a party of burly Valhalla-ready men in a few seconds.
The Witcher 3: Blood And Wine DLC
A Vacation Gone Wrong
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
While the same also applies to the main game, which begins in a beautiful swampland and culminates in a battle against the ice apocalypse, it's even more true regarding The Witcher 3's superb DLC, Blood and Wine. This side story brings Geralt to a beautiful region inspired by the real-life South of France, and players can't be blamed for seeing it as a nice little vacation.
Everything is beautiful here, and there's also wine (or vineyards, at least) everywhere. Even Geralt gets his own vineyard! Unfortunately, however, regardless of the players' decisions throughout the DLC, it will all culminate in the biggest figurative — and literal — bloodbaths in gaming.
Pacific Drive
Drive For Your Life
The word "pacific" means "peaceful," and that's exactly what Pacific Drive is, at least for a while. The game tasks players with getting in their tooled-up car to navigate a peculiar pre- or post-apocalypse landscape, and it's pretty nice most of the time.
6 Most Relaxing Side Activities In Open-World Games
When players get worn out by the intensity of an open-world story campaign, these relaxing side activities are there to give them a break.
A game where players get to drive will always provide a nice amount of relaxation, but Pacific Drive will eventually steer players into the realm of pure horror. On top of it being a welcome change of pace, it gains the game extra points for adding bizarre horror elements that feel incredibly original in today's stagnated horror landscape.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Outlaws To The Bitter End
Red Dead Redemption 2
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- October 26, 2018
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
WHERE TO PLAY
Anyone who's played the original Red Dead Redemption will venture into Red Dead Redemption 2, its prequel, with the burden of knowing things will not turn out for the best for everyone involved. RDR2 sold way more copies than the original title, meaning that, even though fans were likely ready for more heartbreak, most players weren't.
That's especially tough because of how cool and friendly everyone in the gang is (except for Micah, of course). Rockstar's devs knew RDR2 would hit players in the gut, and still pulled out all the stops so it could hit them as hard as possible.
Pathologic 2
Yes, It Gets Even Darker
Pathologic 2
- Released
- May 23, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Violence
Most games on this list start off nicely, then take a turn that takes players to uncomfortable places. Pathologic is never a bright or colorful game, but it's so beautiful and unique in its mood that it can't help but become comfy in a unique way. Spend enough time in this world, and it'll feel like a peculiar vacation spot away from the rest of the gaming world. Still, Pathologic 2 — which serves as a remake of the original — indulges in making things darker at every step, sometimes in ways that might feel indigestible for many players.
Elden Ring
The Lands Between Go Very Deep
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Both the Lands Between from the original Elden Ring and the Lands of Shadow from the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC are places of extreme beauty. Players can venture wherever they want from the start of the game, but if they follow the route intended for newbies, they will have a surprisingly easy and enjoyable start to their adventure. The challenge level will gradually increase, but the game will stay as eye-catching as it comes.
That is, until players reach Caelid, an entire area of the map that has been consumed by a mysterious blight that left all of its inhabitants deeply affected. It's a place where all sorts of living beings will feel some degree of unease, and that's far from how bad it gets. When diving into the deeper areas of the game, players will find themselves inside two areas so aesthetically displeasing that they'll make players think of Caelid as if it were home.
Best Open-World Games That Gradually Open Up, Ranked
In these games, the player's world slowly expands as they progress the story and build their character.