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Best "open world" in recent games?

radewagon

Member
Lego City Undercover

u8NfR77.jpg
 

SZips

Member
Elden Ring for me.

The sense of scale, the vistas, the feeling like you were always discovering something was amazing.
 

GymWolf

Member
Rdr2 and it is not close.

And i don't even like westerns.

You can just wonder for a month inside the game and not even cover all the animal ecosystem interactions without even considering the rest.

It is so beyond anything else that it's not even fair.
 
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Normally I would say GTA V, but I‘m pretty tired of it after 9 years.

Need for Speed: Rivals had a nicely varied map.

Hitman has pretty detailed and well designed maps.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
it's BOTW for me.

from the minute i started until the end i wanted to explore every single part of the map and i never got tired of areas i had visited before.

it raised the bar for open world games for me. there is before BOTW and after BOTW games in my mind. some games i struggle to go back to now and Elden Ring + RDR2 are probably my favourite after BOTW games.
 
People rip on GOT because it uses a lot of things we've seen in open world checklist games for the last 10+ years. However, I would contend that it's the best open world checklist game that we've seen. If so many people weren't sick of the open world format, GOT would be much more appreciated. It's excellent at what it does.
 

Larxia

Member
Nah, RDR2 couldn’t even get the gameplay right, let alone didn’t have as many features as DG.
I think you're confusing the overal fun of a game and the open world itself, they don't have to be related.
This thread is about the best open worlds, not necesarily the best "games" taking place in open worlds.

The world of RDR2 is incredible, it's so detailed, alive, immersive, and it felt really great having an open world where you encountered events and did things naturally, without just following icons like a robot.
I can understand not enjoying the missions in RDR2 because of how scripted and limited it can be sometimes, but the open world part is really fantastic.
 

Josemayuste

Member
I can not pick one between Breath of the wild, Red Dead Redemption 2, Elden Ring, Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, honestly, every one of those games have its own visual identity or adds something relevant gameplaywise, or technically, all of them have something unique that helps the genre to take another step into the right path.

And I might be forgetting to mention some more games even.. 🤔
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
BoTW. Just the way you can interact with the world. The vertical aspect.

They got the right balance between the size of the map and the speed at which you can advance on foot. I can play for a few hours advance the game not waste a lot of time just getting to the next checkpoint before I begin the goal I had in mind.

It is a really great exploration game.just the way you can see something in the distance work your way to it then climb it. It has an unmatched level of freedom in a game so far, at least for me.
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
New Vegas.

It's the right amount of openness and straightforward map design.

The map, enemy encounters and quest design nudges you to move unconciously in a way the game designers thought best to proceed satisfyingly. This however doesn't hinder you from going anywhere for those that have the skills and knowledge to do so.

Other open world for me feels contricted despite being open world. There's no sense of guidance to proceed in a way that doesn't make you feel confined or blocked in some way.
 
I'm not speaking specially to overall best open world game, so much as just best open world.

Been playing Ghosts of Tsushima and as far as I'm concerned it has to be the best open world setting in a game I've played to date.

Extremely lush/colorful vegetation, well though out open world design, interesting locations, varied content, colorful vistas, etc.

I think Sucker Punch nailed it. Maybe there's a better "open world" game setting out there, but as far as I'm concerned this is it.
What do you mean by best?

If you mean technical detail it's almost certainly rdr2.

But it's not really fun interacting in that world to be honest.
 

GymWolf

Member
GymWolf GymWolf why any mentions of BoTW you laugh ?

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legend of zelda GIF
The physics and interaction are surely the strong points, but the open world per se is pretty barren, with limited and scripted npcs interactions, an extremely simple animal ecosystem, almost no interesting loot to find, copy paste dungeons and goblin camps that are super easy to dispatch and almost nothing more, and let's be honest, the graphic is soo poor that even the most interesting locations are pretty bland, lush super saturated coloured grass can only get you that far...

If we talk purely about the open world and you put the open world of botw in a game that has no zelda in the title nor the physics\interactions, it would be a shit open world game.
You put the open world of rdr2 (or other titles) in any game, the game automatically become better.
I know it's a bit of a stretch to separe the OW from the core mechanics, but you get what i mean.

I mean sure you can find a dragon and some random events here and there, but nothing that kept my interest high (mostly because what you get from these events is usually useless uninteresting crap)

And before people start attacking me, horizon 1 was my past gotg and i think that one has a shitty open world aswell, it has vastly more interesting enemies\lore\panorama (thanks to the graphic) but it lacks the interaction of botw, a way worse level design and it has equally shitty and poor random encounters etc.
 
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GymWolf

Member
People rip on GOT because it uses a lot of things we've seen in open world checklist games for the last 10+ years. However, I would contend that it's the best open world checklist game that we've seen. If so many people weren't sick of the open world format, GOT would be much more appreciated. It's excellent at what it does.

A sequel with multiple weapons to find and more meaningful loot other than cosmetics and maybe less birds and foxes but something more organic would be a big jump.

Also way more scripted\non scripted events and less brain dead IA for the mongols, the game feels extremely fake sometimes.

I think they nailed the horse\on foot movements tho.
 
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Aesius

Member
New Vegas.

It's the right amount of openness and straightforward map design.

The map, enemy encounters and quest design nudges you to move unconciously in a way the game designers thought best to proceed satisfyingly. This however doesn't hinder you from going anywhere for those that have the skills and knowledge to do so.

Other open world for me feels contricted despite being open world. There's no sense of guidance to proceed in a way that doesn't make you feel confined or blocked in some way.
I still can't wrap my head around New Vegas being developed in 18 months.
 

Fbh

Member
Generic answer but Elden Ring.

Similarly to Breath of the Wild the lack of hand holding, and the open design that allows you to progress in multiple ways gives it a true sense of exploration. I've spend dozens of hours just moving around the world going to places or locations that catch my attention rather than following a GPS or going down a checklist.

Then there's the variety of locations and awesome vistas, from big open fields, magical underground locations with a starry sky, big amazing looking ruined cities, the rotten landscapes of Caelid, exploring dark underground caves and suddenly coming across ancient ruins with some Lovecraftian looking creature looming around, crossing snowy mountaintops on giant chains, etc.

And then there's the great enemy variety that keeps you on edge, consistently throwing new stuff at you. I'm 70 hours into the game and still encountering new enemies. And it's not just stronger color variations of previous enemies, it's completely new designs with new movesets and attacks.

Finally, some of the quests are awesome. I'll admit they can still be obtuse and I've had to look at guides to complete some of them, as much I like the lack of hand holding I think they could do more to make the quests easier to follow and progress. But at the same time I can't think of many sidequests in any game that have been more fun than the Ranni questline.
 

bitbydeath

Member
I think you're confusing the overal fun of a game and the open world itself, they don't have to be related.
This thread is about the best open worlds, not necesarily the best "games" taking place in open worlds.

The world of RDR2 is incredible, it's so detailed, alive, immersive, and it felt really great having an open world where you encountered events and did things naturally, without just following icons like a robot.
I can understand not enjoying the missions in RDR2 because of how scripted and limited it can be sometimes, but the open world part is really fantastic.
The encounters in Days Gone were a lot more frequent, in RDR2 you could travel between towns without seeing anything. In Days Gone they not only had a variant of enemies that could show up but they also had hundreds of random dynamic events that could take place, making it even more alive than RDR2 and no simple journey feeling the same.
 

Alpha Male

Member
I feel like Rockstar is on a different level than everyone else with GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 being the absolute best designed open worlds of all time.

GTA V
Red Dead 2
Assassin's Creed Origins
Death Stranding
Forza Horizon 5
Witcher 3
The Crew 2
Elden Ring
Ghost of Tsushima
Skyrim
Breath of the Wild
Immortals Fenix Rising
Horizon Forbidden West
Watch Dogs 2
 
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SpiceRacz

Member
Breath of The Wild or Fallout 3/New Vegas. The open world in those games captured my imagination in a way others haven't. Including Elden Ring.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Breath of The Wild or Fallout 3/New Vegas. The open world in those games captured my imagination in a way others haven't. Including Elden Ring.

I always see people commenting about Fallout New Vegas. Only played Fallout 3, but my impression from what I've heard is NV is the best Fallout game.
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
The physics and interaction are surely the strong points, but the open world per se is pretty barren, with limited and scripted npcs interactions, an extremely simple animal ecosystem, almost no interesting loot to find, copy paste dungeons and goblin camps that are super easy to dispatch and almost nothing more, and let's be honest, the graphic is soo poor that even the most interesting locations are pretty bland, lush super saturated coloured grass can only get you that far...

If we talk purely about the open world and you put the open world of botw in a game that has no zelda in the title nor the physics\interactions, it would be a shit open world game.
You put the open world of rdr2 (or other titles) in any game, the game automatically become better.
I know it's a bit of a stretch to separe the OW from the core mechanics, but you get what i mean.

I mean sure you can find a dragon and some random events here and there, but nothing that kept my interest high (mostly because what you get from these events is usually useless uninteresting crap)

And before people start attacking me, horizon 1 was my past gotg and i think that one has a shitty open world aswell, it has vastly more interesting enemies\lore\panorama (thanks to the graphic) but it lacks the interaction of botw, a way worse level design and it has equally shitty and poor random encounters etc.
I have never played RDR2 or the other games and I will not attack you.

Come Here Dr Evil GIF


Your opinion is yours. That is ok my opinion is mine, for my subjective view on the games I play it was my best open world game

ari gold hug GIF


Do not fret, just because link became a wolf he wasn’t mocking you.

Glow Up Pretty Boy GIF by Space Shack PH
 

Amerikan

Banned
I'm not speaking specially to overall best open world game, so much as just best open world.

Been playing Ghosts of Tsushima and as far as I'm concerned it has to be the best open world setting in a game I've played to date.

Extremely lush/colorful vegetation, well though out open world design, interesting locations, varied content, colorful vistas, etc.

I think Sucker Punch nailed it. Maybe there's a better "open world" game setting out there, but as far as I'm concerned this is it.
Agree with Tsushima. I’m also loving Xenoblade Chronicle 3’s world.
 

Laptop1991

Member
If recent means a year or 2, then Valhalla, it's a shame the side quests and activities didn't use the open world very well or wern't very well made, but the world was great to travel through.
 
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Ezquimacore

Banned
Gameplay - Breath of the wild
Realistic - Red dead Redemption 2
Fantasy - Elden Ring
Jrpg - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Ubisoft Formula - Assassin's Creed Odyssey
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Forbidden West. Desert area with the red flowers and hippies, Vegas, ocean. Incredible.
How can you say forbidden west ?!
Bloated, full of crap world with traversal so bad, that they had to put teleport points everywhere.
You don't even know where you can and can't climb.
It sure is beautiful but not more than Elden Ring.

Active, more objective pick open world - Elden Ring
My pick - Death Stranding or just the Limgrave part of Elden Ring
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Since the title says "recent" games I only went with games from the current gen. I would have way too many if I were to go back several generations.

Halo Infinite
Forza Horizon 5
AC Valhalla
Subnautica Below Zero
 

TonyK

Member
Zelda BOTW and Elden Ring are my favourites. I hate open world games but I play almost all AAA open games released because they have very high production values and I'm a graphic whore, but I hate their repetitive and totally guided design. Zelda BOTW and Elden Ring are the exception. They are good games not only good open world games.
 

twerkouting

Banned
Elden Ring & Witcher 3: They both scratch different itches for my open world fix, i.e. "ethereal and mysterious vs. vibrant, lived in, narrative driven"

Honorable mention: BotW
 
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