Best Open-World Games Set In Cartoon Worlds

Travel is not something that everyone can afford. That’s why video games can be a great escape. It can allow players to experience not only far-off regions of imagination like in the world of Harry Potter, but real-life places too like Paris, London, Tokyo, and so on.

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Graphics are only getting better, so visiting Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is almost as good as the real thing. Some prefer to live out their gaming existences in more exaggerated worlds though wherein physics is impossible or there is literally a cartoon world before then. For those types of players, they should enjoy this handful of picks.

8 Destroy All Humans

Destroy All Humans has a more realistic graphical aesthetic, but the humans are a bit exaggerated. This open-world adventure puts players in the hands of an invading alien. Players can manipulate humans with various psychic abilities like mind control or telekinesis.

They can also simply blast them away with laser guns or their alien ship. The game isn’t completely open-world as it’s more a series of levels with wide areas to play around in, but the goofiness alone makes it a good recommendation.

7 Dragon Quest Builders 2

Dragon Quest Builders 2 improves a lot over the original which was basically just Minecraft but with a Dragon Quest skin. Level progression carried over, the cheerful story was more in-depth, it was easier to build things, and the list goes on. Plus it had a neat system wherein players could co-op together on adventures or build things together.

Players could sail around to several areas to start anew in an ongoing quest to save the world. The combat is not going to impress anyone used to thrilling action RPG systems like Final Fantasy 16 has, but it does the job well enough.

6 Okami

Okami looks like a watercolor painting come to life and it was an action-adventure game definitely inspired by The Legend of Zelda. Players assumed the role of the goddess Amaterasu who lost most of her powers and has to try and get them back. The interactions between the human NPCs and Amaterasu are some of the most entertaining parts.

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It’s a fun inside joke to know that Amaterasu is a god and everyone else just thinks she is just a silly dog. There is an open world to run around in, but the true meat of this package is the dungeons, which shouldn’t be surprising for a Zelda-like experience.

5 Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row: The Third was a modern-looking game when it launched in 2011 although it didn’t have cutting-edge graphics. It may seem like a weird pick, but those who played it know that this Grand Theft Auto clone is anything but normal.

The city of Steelport belongs in a Looney Tunes cartoon because of how exaggerated everything is from the attitudes of the people to the various gameplay mechanics. For example, players can transform into a toilet and shoot uzis at one point. It was a high point for the series, and it’s one of those games that needs to be played by all.

4 The Simpsons: Hit & Run

The Simpsons: Hit & Run is another Grand Theft Auto clone but this was years before Saints Row The Third. It was the ultimate game for fans of The Simpsons cartoon that allowed them to explore Springfield in a virtual context like never before.

Players got to inhabit The Simpsons family from Bart to Marge as they all had separate missions. It’s admittedly a bit archaic today, but the writing is as strong as ever. That’s why fans have been wishing for a remaster for ages or even just a straight digital port.

3 South Park: The Stick Of Truth

South Park: The Stick of Truth is another game based on a beloved adult cartoon and one that holds up better in both the writing and gameplay departments compared to The Simpsons: Hit & Run. Players are the new kids in the city of South Park, and they eventually enter a game of medieval fantasy with Cartman, Kenny, and the rest of the gang.

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The turn-based combat feels inspired by the Mario RPG games as there is timing to attacks. It’s not a huge open-world game and there is some gating, but players can eventually explore a 2.5D version of South Park and that’s a treat in and of itself. The sequel, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, is also worth investing time into for fans of comic book heroes.

2 Sunset Overdrive

Insomniac is now owned by Sony, but they didn’t use to be. Still, their games tended to be Sony exclusives like the Ratchet and Clank games. Sunset Overdrive was a weird outlier wherein they made an exclusive for the Xbox One set in a sprawling city filled with zombie-like creatures.

It had all the DNA of an Insomniac game from the colorful aesthetic to the wild weapons like one that fired vinyls at infected. Mobility was also a factor as players could hop and parkour around to be a more effective zombie-slaying machine.

1 The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may be the obvious pick here as it features a watercolor-like art style and is one of the biggest and most open maps in the entire series. However, it is not as cartoony as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The faces that Link makes alone make him one of the most expressive versions of the character in the entire franchise. The HD version allowed players to take pictures and manipulate his face which resulted in some hilarious memes. Switch fans are still waiting for that HD version to get ported over from the Wii U along with the HD version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

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