It’s no secret that today’s gaming industry is largely dominated by sequels, remakes, and reboots. Just look at the most anticipated upcoming games as of now, which include Grand Theft Auto 6, The Elder Scrolls 6, The Witcher 4, and Resident Evil Requiem (which is actually the ninth mainline entry). Amid this well-established and almost too familiar landscape, new successful IPs remain relatively rare, and those that introduce ambitious worlds or universes with plenty of potential are even more so.
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Still, even in times when it can feel like players have already seen everything, new games arrive that push the boundaries, establishing fascinating and lore-heavy worlds that feel fresh and original from the get-go while looking stunning. Today, we’re taking a look at the most ambitious and original video game worlds created in the past decade. Fortunately, there is a truly admirable and varied selection below, ranging from dark fantasy to modern settings and even futuristic post-apocalyptic worlds with unexpected depth.
Warning! Major lore-related Spoilers Ahead!
Elden Ring
The Lands Between
Probably the first game to come to mind when thinking of ambitious and unique game worlds in recent years, Elden Ring, with The Lands Between, stands unparalleled, delivering a spectacular fantasy universe created by masterminds Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Elden Ring is widely known for its cryptic lore and the rich history of events that players can explore, gradually revealing its complicated ties between demigods, the origins of various creatures and entire races, and even the hidden influences of major cosmic forces at play.
Elden Ring made quite a splash even before launch, as fans already began to imagine and “create” their own lore for the game and its universe, knowing that it surely would be something special. Surprisingly, even the highest expectations were surpassed in the final product, delivering an open world of rare beauty and diversity, filled with creatures of all sizes and shapes, where every smallest detail is in its place, and everything exists for a reason. As Elden Ring Nightreign also proved very successful, it will be interesting to see how much more potential this beloved universe holds.
Horizon Zero Dawn
31st-Century Earth Post-AI Catastrophe
From its reveal, Horizon Zero Dawn instantly felt like a breath of fresh air — not just for the open-world genre, but in general. The game’s striking aesthetics make Horizon Zero Dawn all but unmistakable in its appearance and feel, presenting a futuristic Earth with advanced technologies like AI and plasma tech amid tribal-era humanity that is slowly uncovering the truth of their past. What’s even greater is that Horizon Zero Dawn isn’t simply about aesthetics and wow-factor choices such as dinosaur-like machine wildlife; it also packs a surprisingly rich and ambitious lore that’s truly intriguing to uncover. Delving deep into the game’s mysteries eventually makes everything even more believable and complicated at the same time.
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Followed by Horizon Forbidden West, Guerrilla brought new facets to its major sci-fi universe, providing some lore answers and creating extra mysteries for its dedicated fans. Uncovering the consequences of the AI catastrophe was already a blast, but Forbidden West goes even further, presenting an unexpected alien layer through the Far Zenith humans. Given how standout and successful both games have proven to be, players expect that a third game is only a matter of time, bringing long-anticipated answers and a proper closure to this ambitious universe unlike any other.
Pillars Of Eternity
The World Of Eora
Introduced in Pillars of Eternity, the world of Eora quickly established itself among the most recognizable fantasy universes of recent times. Moreover, it marked Obsidian’s long-overdue ability to create its own universe rather than working on other popular IPs like Star Wars, Neverwinter Nights, or Fallout. Here, Obsidian has crafted a truly rich universe dominated by unique races and their complex connections, coupled with a distinct soul-based metaphysical angle and admirably dense lore that can be explored for hours upon hours.
Eora blends ancient gods, reincarnation, people’s beliefs, various forms of magic, race inequality, and even colonial tension (mostly explored in the direct sequel, Deadfire) to create something recognizable yet fresh at the same time. Building on the familiar CRPG tropes, Pillars of Eternity enriches the genre with unmatched aesthetics and the spirit of adventure, all wrapped in a truly diverse package where gunpowder is as strong as spellcasting. Over time, the world of Eora has been expanded to three games, with Avowed being 2025's attempt to further build on the universe’s potential, albeit with mixed results. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Eora and its fans.
Control
The Oldest House (Remedy Connected Universe)
Easily one of the most original and ambitious new universes of the past few years, Remedy officially introduced its Connected Universe in Control, swiftly tying the foundations of this shared universe to the original Alan Wake. In Control, players explore the paranormal Oldest House, a megastructure with shifting geometries that serves as the FBC (Federal Bureau of Control) headquarters, but it was already a curious case of unique worldbuilding. However, it proved so much more ambitious later on, as it was only the start of Sam Lake’s original vision coming to life.
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Follow-up titles like Alan Wake 2 significantly expanded the scope and appeal of the Remedy Connected Universe, depicting the FBC as a major, omnipresent organization that has been monitoring all sorts of paranormal activities in our world for years, while also deepening its mysteries and lore. With its altered items with shifting natures, inexplicable forces and beings, and a bold meta-narrative angle, the RCU is a world of intrigue where seemingly anything can happen. The upcoming Control Resonant already promises to expand it even further, standing as Remedy’s biggest and most ambitious game with a much more open structure.
Final Fantasy 16
The World Of Valisthea
The Final Fantasy franchise is all but synonymous with unique and original worlds, introduced with each new mainline title and then abandoned to do it all over again in the next. During the past decade, two major entries have been released, each with its own distinct universe: Final Fantasy 15’s world of Eos, and Final Fantasy 16’s world of Valisthea. Every fan has their preference, but we’ll stick with FF16 here, as it was much more favorably received among fans, while its world is also somewhat unusual for the franchise.
There are traces of shared elements across almost every Final Fantasy game, and Final Fantasy 16 is no exception. Its Mothercrystal-dependent continent, ravaged by Eikon wars, is familiar ground for longtime fans, but this time around, the world is much more grounded and brutal, largely influenced by Western fantasy like Game of Thrones. While this change has definitely been divisive among the series’ fans, it also helped FF16 appeal to newcomers, delivering a great mix of fresh and familiar ideas and tropes all wrapped in a truly epic scope with moral ambiguity expected from Final Fantasy.
Death Stranding
United Cities Of America (UCA)
After years of working exclusively on the Metal Gear franchise, fans had been waiting for Hideo Kojima’s new original universe with bated breath. From the very first trailer, Death Stranding blew everyone’s minds. It was impossible to believe that this was a real game showcase (many simply believed it was a cryptic meta-message from Kojima to Konami, among other things). The final result proved just as wild and surreal as its bold teases, depicting an ambitious vision of a post-apocalyptic America (here called the UCA) fractured by BTs (Beached Things), and further cementing Kojima’s legendary status.
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Death Stranding is a truly unique blend of original sci-fi ideas and deeply relatable themes. The game masterfully balances its more out-of-this-world ideas, like its eponymous catastrophe and numerous signature twists — like timefall, chiralium tech, bridge babies, and many more — with an intimate human layer told through multiple perspectives. Coupled with unparalleled designs from Yoji Shinkawa, Death Stranding’s world is arrestingly mysterious in its presentation while remaining mindbogglingly complex and rich in its lore and mythology. 2025’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach doubled down on everything that hooked the original game’s fans, while shifting the setting beyond the former UCA to Mexico and Australia.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The Continent (Painted Lumiere)
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s painted world, known simply as The Continent, might not be as ambitious on its own as some other entries here, but it’s definitely worth mentioning to present a different type of stylized fictional realm in contrast to traditional lore-heavy universes. The painted nature of this canvas fantasy world is used by the team to its benefit, without the need to stick to a single style or grounded overarching nature, allowing for a true flow of unshackled imagination in the best traditions of the Final Fantasy games.
As a result, every new area looks and feels drastically different from the previous, which is also true for the creatures and enemies that players encounter on their journey. Even if Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is primarily a deeply personal story beneath the surface, The Continent has its own fascinating twists, including rich Belle Époque inspirations, the yearly Gommage event that wipes out everyone who reaches the annually decreasing age, as well as intriguing races like Nevrons and brush-like Gestrals. As players untangle the web of the Dessendre family's tragic backstory, everything starts making sense, and even the deliberately “fictional” nature of this universe doesn’t detract from its memorable appeal.
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