Summary
- The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered offers visually upgraded environments in Cyrodiil.
- Elden Ring provides a challenging RPG experience with huge open-world exploration.
- The Outer Worlds stands out for its decision-making and storytelling depth in a sci-fi RPG setting.
Over a decade since its release in 2011, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is still often mentioned in conversations about the greatest open-world RPGs ever made. The world is still immersive, the gameplay is still fun, and with the multiple DLCs, fan-made mods, and re-releases over the years, it has seen upgrades in visuals, audio, and content. It set the standard for other RPGs to follow or even improve upon.
The Best Skyrim Mods, Ranked
Skyrim has been around for years, and fans have gotten more and more creative with its mods. These are the best ones out there.
From fantasy games to sci-fi thrillers, many role-playing games have come out before and after Skyrim, often improving upon what it offered. While Skyrim deserves the love and praise it continues to receive today, other, similar games—some even from the same development team behind The Elder Scrolls franchise—also deserve recognition for their accomplishments.
8 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered
The Open World Is More Appealing To The Eyes
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
- Released
- April 22, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Adventure
In many ways, most fans consider The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to be the superior game, but one thing that the predecessor and its 2025 remaster did better was their environments. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered features a visually upgraded version of Cyrodiil, the capital nation of the Empire.
Even in the original Oblivion, gamers were given a more expansive and beautiful world to explore. Not only is Cyrodiil vibrantly colored, but it’s a more coastal region with lush green fields, trees, beaches, and towns that feel like dream homes straight out of a Renaissance fair. Additionally, players can also travel to the titular world of Oblivion to fight the demonic Daedra in their hellish home turf.
7 Elden Ring
FromSoftware Made One Of The Hardest RPGs Ever
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Elden Ring marks FromSoftware's first true foray into an open-world format, building on their renowned RPG titles like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The game presents an adventure that challenges players to their limits, featuring boss fights that can last for hours. Elden Ring expands on its predecessors by offering a vast open world filled with optional bosses that are just as demanding as the main story bosses.
While Skyrim includes challenging quests and encounters, such as battles against dragons that can resemble Dark Souls boss fights, players s eeking a more difficult RPG that will truly test their reflexes and skills will likely find a more rewarding experience in Elden Ring. Additionally, Elden Ring presents a darker narrative, blending elements of Norse and Japanese mythologies into a cohesive whole.
6 Cyberpunk 2077
It’s Easier To Travel And Feel Immersed In The Future
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
Drawing inspiration from sci-fi classics like Blade Runner and RoboCop, Cyberpunk 2077 immerses players in the vibrant yet chaotic world of Night City, a futuristic metropolis rife with crime and corruption. The city is sprawling and packed with content, requiring players to navigate extensively to reach specific locations for RPG quests, encounters, and events.
7 Best Games Where You Play As A Cyborg, Ranked
From evil Terminators to cybernetically-enhanced cops, playable cyborgs in gaming are inherently appealing, especially in these games.
As a result of being set in a cyberpunk future, Cyberpunk 2077 features a plethora of cars and motorcycles that traverse the city with ease. While there is the option of fast-travel, the atmosphere of Night City makes it reasonable to want to bypass it. A nice vehicle allows the player to be immersed in the game's gritty, vibrant environments that often feel alive.
5 Dragon Age: Inquisition
Character Creation Is Still A Major Highlight
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Released
- November 18, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
It’s impressive what a difference just a few years can make, as shown with BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, which has become almost as famous as Skyrim over the years. From the signature story and dialogue decisions to the action-packed gameplay, BioWare made a memorable third entry in their fantasy series with the same level of dedication put into it as they did Mass Effect.
When it comes to Dragon Age: Inquisition, the amount of detail and fidelity seen in the character creator is worthy of praise. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim presents an impressive character creator in its own right, especially with mods, but the visual style and details in Dragon Age: Inquisition put it to shame, with gamers able to spend hours creating the human, Elf, Qunari, or Dwarf of their dreams.
4 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Hyrule Has Never Been Bigger
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
Being able to explore a land of swords and magic is much of the appeal when it comes to open-world RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and it delivered. Skyrim is a massive map with many hidden secrets and dungeons that can keep players entertained for hundreds of hours, but Nintendo did something similar with The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom.
As a sequel to The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Tears Of The Kingdom takes Hyrule and not only expands it even more on the ground, but adds floating islands above the clouds to explore and the cavernous Depths below. Just like with the first game, there is a high chance that if a player can see it, they can travel to it, thus making it one of the largest games ever made.
3 The Outer Worlds
Decisions Matter In This Space RPG
The Outer Worlds
- Released
- October 25, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Choices have become a big part of gaming, with games allowing players to affect the outcome of the story by making a simple decision during a quest or when speaking to a character. The Outer Worlds has become famous for this aspect, as it was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the team behind Fallout: New Vegas.
Space Games With The Most Freedom, Ranked
Combining space with a great deal of player freedom worked very well for these games.
On top of being a strong first-person shooter RPG set on visually stunning alien planets ruled by corporations, nearly every decision made matters, from small to large consequences. Even creating a character with their perks and backstory can affect gameplay and story, truly making The Outer Worlds into a definitive sci-fi RPG.
2 Fallout 4
Bethesda Took Voice Acting To Another Level
Fallout 4
- Released
- November 10, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Following the massive success of Skyrim, Bethesda developed the next game in the sister franchise, Fallout 4, which centers on a lone survivor who witnessed the bombs go off and entered cryosleep. Many of the improvements made to Skyrim were incorporated into Fallout 4 in both subtle and obvious ways.
Fallout 4 offers more variety in its voice acting, with more actors voicing the NPCs and the protagonist being the first in the series to be a fully voiced character. This reduces the chances of hearing the same voice actor repeatedly, and even when it happens, the actor likely uses a different voice or accent to make their character feel distinct.
1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Geralt Has Better Stories Than The Dragonborn
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Seeing how The Witcher series is based on a famous series of fantasy novels, it should be no surprise that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt excels at telling a good story. It stars Geralt of Rivia, who is trying to find his apprentice and surrogate daughter, Ciri. She is being hunted by multiple factions, including the titular Wild Hunt, and Geralt must get to her before they do.
The main story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is only a fraction of what is available. Not only are there massive expansion stories, but even side missions that seem like simple contracts for Geralt can evolve into complex and emotional storylines. It all helps in building a grimdark fantasy world filled with many memorable monsters and characters alike.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
- Released
- November 11, 2011
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
