In recent years, gaming has become known for a ton of standout open-world games that are both gorgeous and gripping. Players openly admit to spending hundreds of hours at times roaming these open worlds, sometimes even after all the quests have been completed, looking for secrets, taking in the environment, or messing around with mods.
Players often seek out open world games not just because they want a beautiful world, but because of just how much there is to do. While some fans might find it overwhelming, open world games continue to sell because so many fans just want to immerse themselves in a different world.
Updated by Sage Ashford, September 21st 2023: The open-world genre has been around long enough to have great games in several generations. We've updated this list to add more classic open-world games for fans who are new to the genre.
This article contains gameplay clips from various video games. Some include intense action sequences and strong language.
30 TheHunter: Call of the Wild
Even within video games, sometimes people just want to relax, take in the sights and sounds of nature... and become a world-class hunter. With Expansive Worlds' theHunter: Call of the Wild, fans can enjoy the perfect hunting sim game. Players are set loose in a huge open world that emulates several different biomes, so they can hunt a wide variety of wildlife.
The challenge comes in the game's excellent sim elements, which challenge players to be patient while hunting prey and to pick the right equipment for each hunt. Subsequent DLC installments have even expanded the landscapes available, taking players to new environments and offering even more hunts, allowing fans to get lost in this world for countless hours.
29 Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Ubisoft's first attempt at going open world with the Ghost Recon franchise was a resounding success. In Ghost Recon: Wildlands, a Ghost Recon fireteam gets sent to Bolivia to take care of a dangerous drug cartel led by the monstrous El Sueno.
In the world of Wildlands, players are free to take on the cartel solo with the help of AI companions, or work with their friends. While most games struggle to make multiplayer work on this scale, for Wildlands it just turns Bolivia into a fun sandbox where anything can happen. Though the story is enjoyable, players who work with friends will quickly find themselves tempted to seeing how much chaos they can cause.
28 Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition might not reach the heights of Dragon Age: Origin, but it's still one of the best and most underrated fantasy RPGs of the last decade. Players receive more responsibility than ever when they're given control of the Inquisitor, a person with the power to seal off rifts in reality and stop demons from the Fade from entering the regular world. With that power, they're placed in charge of a massive organization fighting a battle to restore the world to normal.
Dragon Age: Inquisition provided beautiful and diverse open world biomes for players to explore and go questing in. As ever though, BioWare's trademark of well-written character moments carries the game, with great friendships and romances that fans cherish a generation later.
27 Sonic Frontiers
No one expected Sonic Frontiers to be as good as it is. An open-world Sonic game didn't feel like the path forward for the franchise, but SEGA gave Sonic fans a massive surprise when they delivered on this game. The open world allows players to speed along a wide open landscape and enjoy Sonic's speed, while the levels within the world demand the traditional platforming fans expect from a Sonic game.
Sonic Frontiers rethinks many of the elements about classic Sonic gameplay, giving old players a chance to give the franchise a try once more. Meanwhile, new players don't have to worry about feeling left out, even if the game includes plenty of references to olderSonic titles. For fans, it's just nice to have a great Sonic video game back on the shelves.
26 Riders Republic
Riders Republic is Ubisoft's best-kept secret: a beautiful game that sets players loose in a massive playground where they can enjoy extreme sports, both real and imagined. In Riders Republic, bike riding and skateboarding are just as valid as getting a jetpack and doing flight tricks.
Riders Republic is a great open world game for anyone with any interest in extreme sports. Competitive fans can challenge players across the world in the game's multiplayer mode, where races are always happening at some point on the map. Single-player fans can polish their skills in the main story, and then just spend time traversing the game's map and finding the secrets around every corner.
25 Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Monolith Productions' Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the best games from the early era of the PS4 and Xbox One generation. In this game, players take on the role of Talion, a human who's been brought back to life by merging with an elven spirit. Now with strange magical powers, Talion and the elven spirit that revived him aim to get revenge on Sauron himself.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor might not feature many familiar characters from Lord of the Rings, but it's one of the best open world action games. Talion's ability to switch between traditional techniques and wild magic powers makes combat addicting. Meanwhile, the Nemesis System makes encounters feel special, especially since orcs re-appear with new abilities that ensure battles remain challenging.
24 Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon has been one of the premiere racing games for several years now. However, Forza Horizon 5 takes things to the next level, taking players into an open-world Mexico to experience their most diverse landscapes ever. The title is even welcoming to fans who aren't great with single-player, since it offers a lengthy campaign mode for players to go through.
While racing games often go underrated, Forza Horizon 5 is a superb experience anyone who remotely enjoys racing should be able to enjoy. It's easily one of the most beautiful open worlds, making it easy for casual fans to lose themselves in it, while car fans can spend hours customizing to create their perfect ride.
23 Watch Dogs 2
The first Watch_Dogs was a polarizing game, partially because it failed to deliver on the next-gen feeling, but mostly because its lead protagonist had the personality of a brick. Watch_Dogs 2 fixed that instantly by introducing the charismatic Marcus Holloway and a more likable group of hackers in DedSec. Framed for a crime he didn't commit, Marcus works with DedSec to bring down the city's corrupt ctOS system for good.
Watch_Dogs 2 improves on the original in nearly every way, and it offers a more colorful, fun city to explore. When navigating San Francisco, there's a nice variety of cool side quests that develop the characters in that world. Best of all, there are more hacker tricks to rely on, allowing players to handle missions however they like.
22 Dragon’s Dogma
Capcom created one of the best fantasy RPGs of the PS360 era: Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. In the world of Gransys, the player takes on the role of the Arisen, a warrior destined to defeat the Dragon Grigori.
Though Dragon’s Dogma’s story sounds similar to a certain Elder Scrolls title, everything else about the game couldn’t be more different. Dragon’s Dogma feels like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign come to life. Its focus on combat, punishing difficulty, and epic boss battles create a fantasy experience that can’t be found anywhere else.
21 Batman: Arkham City
With Batman: Arkham City, Rocksteady created a perfect version of Batman,of Gotham City, and its denizens. Taking place months after Arkham Asylum, Arkham City expands into an open world after part of Gotham’s slums get locked off and given to Arkham's residents. Forced into Arkham City after being kidnapped as Bruce Wayne, Batman finds himself up against his biggest challenge yet — Hugo Strange and his Protocol 10 plan.
Arkham City allows players to truly feel like Batman as they take to the skies, becoming a terror to criminals everywhere. The rhythm-based combat system has a low enough floor for anyone to play, but a high enough ceiling for nearly anyone to find challenging. Combine that with some superb character writing for the main story, and it's easy to see why so many people think Batman: Arkham City is one of the greatest video games ever.
20 Yakuza 0
In a franchise full of incredible games, Yakuza 0 still stands above most of its peers. As hinted by the name, Yakuza 0 is a prologue to the entire series, taking place in the late ‘80s. When young yakuza member Kazuma Kiryu is framed for murder, he’s pulled into an intricate web of lies and conspiracies that threaten both his freedom and his life.
Yakuza 0 captures the flair and excess of 1980s bubble-era Japan with its two cities, Kamurocho and Sotenbori. As a prequel, it’s the perfect entry point for newcomers, providing an easy in to a complex world that’s existed across eight games. Like with any good open world title, players should expect to get lost amidst a sea of quirky yet well-written side stories and addicting minigames.
19 Xenoblade Chronicles X
For the Wii U, Monolith Software decided to go in a different direction with their "Xeno" franchise. Instead of doing another fantasy-inspired game like Xenoblade, they went full science fiction. After Earth is destroyed in a war with aliens, humanity is forced to migrate to a new planet. Crash-landing on the alien world Mira, the remaining people of Earth are forced to try to build a new life for themselves — while also preparing to fight the aliens they were running from.
Xenoblade Chronicles X offers an open-world experience unlike any other, with vast alien biomes to explore on a single planet. Exploration is perfect thanks to all the different movement options offered, and the lack of level gating means danger lurks around every corner. Plus, few RPGs allow players to fly giant robots anywhere they want to go. This game's biggest flaw these days is it's not available on the Nintendo Switch.
18 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
In 2011, Bethesda set a new bar for fantasy RPGs with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Set hundreds of years after the previous Elder Scrolls, the player is the Dragonborn — the only being with the power to kill a deadly dragon threatening the world.
Skyrim isn’t lauded for its main story, but for everything else about its world. Players had endless options in combat thanks to the ability to dual wield both weapons and spells. Meanwhile, every nook and cranny of the world seems packed with new challenges, quests, and opportunities for treasure — making Skyrim a bestselling game.
17 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is often overlooked because it released in a crowded year — competing with titles like Bloodborne and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, Hideo Kojima’s last entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise delivers an amazing open-world stealth adventure. Taking place in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan in the 1980s, The Phantom Pain features Punished Snake looking for revenge after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
As an open-world stealth game, Phantom Pain presents players with unique challenges not found in any other stealth game. However, it also provides them with enough tools that there’s rarely any “right” way to complete missions, resulting in a game that can be replayed endlessly. Though Kojima’s storytelling may leave more questions than answers, Phantom Pain keeps players hooked from the very beginning.
16 Death Stranding
Death Stranding was met with mixed reception upon release, but over time, its unique gameplay elements and story pacing have become appreciated overall. After an event of cataclysmic proportions befalls the United States, giant monsters begin roaming the Earth.
Those who are left must survive in isolated colonies. It's up to the player, a courier, to deliver packages to various isolated characters and reconnect them to a larger network. While doing so, players traverse a wide variety of beautiful yet haunting landscapes, which add to the overall feeling of isolation.
15 Minecraft
The best-selling game of all time, fans have been in love with Minecraft's blocky sandbox world for over a decade now. The enjoyment comes from the freedom the game provides to the players. If players want, they can just spend all their time building an adorable home for themselves and their friends.
Or they can make a mighty, awe-inspiring castle. Or they can do none of the above, and just explore Minecraft's world to see everything it has to offer. Whatever the case, there's a reason Minecraft's been a #1 game since the moment it officially released.
14 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
After years of being the Dragon of Dojima, Yakuza: Like A Dragon introduces an all-new protagonist and an all-new city to play in. Now players take on the role of Kasuga Ichiban, a man who spent twenty years in prison only to learn the world has drastically changed when he makes it out. After an attempt on his life, Ichiban finds himself in the city of Ijincho, looking for answers.
Despite undergoing massive changes to the Yakuza formula by adding a new protagonist and switching to a turn-based fighting style, Like A Dragon still retains the DNA of the classic titles. There are plenty of weird side quests around every corner, and Kasuga is as awesome as Kiryu ever was. Like A Dragon is an excellent jumping on point for new fans and a great way for lapsed fans to get back into things.
13 No Man’s Sky
It might have taken years, but No Man’s Sky has long been at a place where it delivered on most of the promises from the original trailer. It isn’t just an open-world, but an open-universe game, where players can travel from one star system to the next hoping to make it to the center of the galaxy.
Even now, No Man's Sky continues to get massive updates that add new content and new things players can enjoy in their enormous sandbox. While the game might not tell a traditional narrative story, the fact this game allows sci-fi fans to do literally everything else makes it a must-play.
12 Cyberpunk 2077
While Cyberpunk 2077 's launch left much to be desired, the past two years have been filled with updates and patches to improve the overall player experience. Even with all of its flaws, there's no other cyberpunk experience that's as visually impressive and immersive as that of Night City.
Players take on the role of V, a mercenary whose background, appearance, and overall outlook completely depend on player choice. While going through the story, players traverse through four distinct Night City districts, each with their own visual style and unique atmosphere.
11 Genshin Impact
For a free to play game, Genshin Impact feels like too good of a game. MiHoYo gives players a massive world to explore, one that’s constantly adding new characters, cities, and countries as the game goes on.
At this point, the player can go through a story lasting dozens of hours long, all without paying a cent. Every new country is beautifully rendered, offering breathtaking sights that will stick with players long after they stop playing. The only real flaw is the grindy nature of the game’s leveling system, and how difficult it is to pull that next five-star character.