In just a few days' time, an unusually busy summer release season will come to a close with the end of August and roll out the red carpet for one of the year's most hectic months in September. The first week alone is jam-packed with high-profile releases, such as the arrival of Hollow Knight: Silksong, coming on the heels of its Gamescom release date announcement. Before games like Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hell Is Us, and Cronos start to eat up gamers' hours for the next several weeks, though, this weekend presents a perfect time to hop back into a favorite open-world game, or perhaps even start up a new one in anticipation of some of September's other big releases.
In just a few weeks, fans of Techland's Dying Light franchise have a new entry to look forward to, and a ton of other open-world games have recently either gotten massive updates or are on the verge of significant patches or content drops in the month of September. And to sweeten the deal, many of these same games are currently at substantial discounts across different digital storefronts, meaning fans can grab a great deal on a great open-world title, regardless of their platform of choice.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
The return of original series protagonist Kyle Crane in the upcoming Dying Light: The Beast is a big deal for fans of the franchise, and the rest of Techland's open-world zombie parkour games are on sale in anticipation of its release. Dying Light 2's innovations to the formula of the first game resulted in a richer combat sandbox and more immersive open-world gameplay, even if it did end up sacrificing some of the horror elements of the first game in favor of more content and a greater emphasis on action. As of August 28, players also have Dying Light 2's Alteration: Bare-Knuckle event to look forward to for some brutal hand-to-hand combat against the zombie horde.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 76 /100 Critics Rec: 68%
WHERE TO PLAY
Elden Ring Nightreign
Bandai Namco and FromSoftware recently revealed that a new difficulty mode will be coming to Elden Ring Nightreign on September 11, making now a perfect time to hop back in and brush up on those skills ahead of time. The Deep of Night difficulty mode in Nightreign aims to be the ultimate challenge that the game has to offer, bringing tougher enemies and a random Nightlord to the table, which will have a significant impact on how a team's composition and loadout can make or break their success in each run. Even though the new mode is entirely optional and primarily geared toward the most experienced players, it's still worth revisiting Limveld ahead of Nightreign's next major update.
Elden Ring Nightreign
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
- Released
- May 30, 2025
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Soulslike, Roguelite
The Knightling
One of this week's new releases also happens to be an open-world action game, The Knightling. Reviews so far are incredibly positive, with players on Steam comparing the game to greats of the open-world genre like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while also noting that it shares plenty of similarities with old-school 3D platformers like Jak and Daxter. For something to play this weekend that feels both familiar and fresh with satisfying movement and combat, The Knightling might be a good bet.
The Knightling
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 74 /100 Critics Rec: 54%
- Released
- August 28, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Twirlbound
- Publisher(s)
- Saber Interactive
WHERE TO PLAY
No Man's Sky
Hello Games hasn't stopped working on No Man's Sky since its launch, tirelessly improving the game through one free update after another and helping it develop one of the most invested game communities of any open-world title. No Man's Sky's Voyagers update launched earlier this week on August 27, and a particularly substantial content drop compared to other recent releases. To celebrate, No Man's Sky is currently at a massive 60% discount on multiple storefronts, giving players the perfect incentive to check it out if they don't already have it in their library.
No Man's Sky
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 36%
- Released
- August 9, 2016
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
- Publisher(s)
- Hello Games
WHERE TO PLAY
Red Dead Redemption 2
It can be tempting to throw around the word "masterpiece" when discussing a good piece of media, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is arguably one of the few games deserving of the adjective. Both one of the best open-world games ever made and Rockstar's magnum opus, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still an impressive game to play nearly 6 years after its launch, and the fact that it's currently down to its lowest-ever price on multiple digital storefronts creates the perfect opportunity for the unfamiliar to take the plunge on it. It's a long game and not for the faint of heart, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is a special kind of open-world game that gives back what the player puts into it.
Red Dead Redemption 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- October 26, 2018
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
