Exploring is fun, especially when you’ve got an entire vast map covered in mystery, distant regions that hold who knows what, and hard-to-reach places that look so alluring from a distance. Open-world games are all but driven through player exploration, combining moment-to-moment rewards and discoveries with an overarching goal to travel far towards the unknown, into the uncharted corners of a virtual world.
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For open-world RPGs, perfecting the freeform exploration is not an easy task. Given how progression in such games is often driven by growing stat numbers and getting constantly stronger gear and upgrades, the devs have to ensure that the players won’t get too strong too soon. This means making rewards from exploration always relevant to fuel curiosity and the temptation to become even stronger once the next region is reached. Today, we’re looking at open-world RPGs that perfected exploration through exciting discoveries and potent rewards to stay engaging for long.
For this list, various RPG elements are important, which is why games with a more linear progression, like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom, Ghost of Yotei, or similar action-adventure titles, are excluded.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
A Legendary-Grade Blueprint
A game that all but established the classic open-world map design as modern players know it, with question dots and points of interest to grab one’s attention every minute or so, even after a decade, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt still looks and plays great. It’s really a remarkable achievement to make the world so big and diverse but dense and handcrafted, with every inch brimming with detail and care. From White Orchard to Skellige, Kaer Morhen, Velen, and, of course, bustling Novigrad, the Continent in The Witcher 3 is a treat to explore, as everything that players may find has been carefully placed in the exact right spots.
The most curious players that venture into the furthest corners of the Witcher 3’s world would definitely discover the Places of Power to get extra skill points; every cave or abandoned village may hold a treasure chest with new powerful gear; every now and then, players can even start a new intriguing quest by stumbling upon a broken cart or a lost property; and the most hard-to-reach areas would definitely reward with the rarest blueprints or materials.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
A Legacy That’s Impossible to Deny
Another long-lasting staple of open-world RPGs with a near-perfect exploration aspect, Skyrim just can’t be overlooked on a list like this. The fifth entry in the beloved Elder Scrolls fantasy franchise delivers just the perfect scale of a world, with a convincing density and an excellent balance of untamed wilderness and settlements, complete with nine explorable cities. Traveling across this world always feels like a proper journey across a believable world, rather than simply wandering between one point of interest to the next.
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Players can discover almost anything when exploring the Skyrim province, even outside of the countless ruins, caves, and bandit lairs common in every other open-world title. Navigating the map in Skyrim is as intriguing as it is rewarding, with well-hidden treasure chests or maps, mines with resources like ore or valuables such as gems, and even precious skill books. It’s also worth mentioning how natural the world and every smaller location feel within it, which probably contributes to the game’s enduring popularity.
Elden Ring
Defying the Formula
A few years ago, Elden Ring’s take on exploration made thousands of players fall in love with the open-world genre anew. There’s much to admire in the world and exploration of Elden Ring, but most notably, the game deliberately ignores almost every modern staple of the genre to carve its own path instead, true to FromSoftware’s unique strengths. With little to no handholding, minimal map markers or guidance, players are left to their own devices to master this beautiful, but constantly dangerous, environment. Some even advise playing the game with a journal and a pencil by hand.
However, every step in the Lands Between bears fruit. Players collect runes and loot from enemies to grow stronger and level up their stats, but it’s the sheer generosity of rewards in these lands that can outmatch almost anything that came before. Hundreds of unique weapons, abilities, or spells wait to be discovered and put to use. At times, Elden Ring players can even discover a whole new world by venturing deep underground or suddenly get teleported into an entirely new area, having to adapt to new challenges on the go.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Catching the Tailwind
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was the first in the series to fully embrace RPG mechanics like branching dialogues, more robust character progression, and distinct combat builds bolstered by classic tier-based loot. Even if AC Odyssey may not be as deep in its RPG aspects as Elden Ring or Skyrim, it represents a bold step forward for the series, coupled with one of the best worlds to explore in the franchise so far.
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Ancient Greece is the perfect backdrop for an open world this vast and vibrant, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey uses it fully. With the game’s free-form structure, where players are free to go, ride on a horseback, or sail anywhere they want, it’s up to each player to decide what’s next for them. The game’s dynamic quest system and chasing mercenaries ensure that players always have new challenges and rewards, while traveling to the most dangerous corners of this world guarantees to bring the most valuable rewards and the strongest items with legendary properties. Living up to its name, AC Odyssey is one of the most pleasant and stress-free adventures that prioritizes fun.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Immersive and Organic
Unlike many other open-world RPGs set in medieval times, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is all about authenticity. This can prove to be a double-edged sword for some players who got used to powerful gear and game-changing artifacts, and abilities as rewards from exploration. Naturally, there’s no such thing in Deliverance 2, but that doesn’t mean that exploring the breathtakingly detailed and realistic landscapes, forests, swamps, and settlements isn’t fun or rewarding.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 takes a different approach by shifting focus to realism, ensuring that even the smallest upgrades or improvements feel meaningful in its world. Finding something truly strong is as rare as it is valuable, granting the fleeting feeling rarely available elsewhere, where players are constantly bombarded with a never-ending stream of rewards that just keep getting better. With its immersive and organic exploration and engaging random encounters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a special open-world RPG that’s both deep and unmistakably unique.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Confidently Its Own Thing
Another open-world RPG that isn’t afraid to do things in its own way, Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels and plays very differently from any other. For starters, the game offers almost no fast-travel teleport-style mechanics, doubling down on how exploration and the journey are a core part of the experience. Players can only use carts, ferries, or ropeways for fixed routes, and it’s not unusual to face challenges when traveling like that, especially during the night, which is pitch-black and severe in Dragon’s Dogma 2. There are also almost no markers or convenient guidance, leaving the world mysterious for a long time.
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The overall challenging nature of the game, with fierce enemies and colossal bosses, makes for an even more exciting exploration, as the rewards discovered in its world are often worth the effort. While some of the novelty can wash off at later stages of the game, as Dragon’s Dogma 2’s large world is a bit short in biomes or regions that feel truly distinct, open-world RPG fans would surely enjoy the journey – if they can live with the sequel’s unique rules.
Fallout 4
No Better Place for Newcomers to Start
Bolstered by Fallout Season 2, the franchise is relevant all over again, attracting veterans and newcomers alike. As of today, there’s arguably no better place to start than Fallout 4 (sorry, New Vegas, but you really need a remake or at least a re-release already). An epitome of everything that makes Bethesda’s open-world RPGs so beloved, Fallout 4 simply throws the players into its large, handcrafted world, with a simple goal – to go see what’s out there.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, players better be ready to find and collect all sorts of junk, but Fallout 4 offers its own twist on that thanks to robust crafting and building mechanics. Not only can almost everything that players find and take be of some use, but dedicated players can also transform the world to their liking. The game is also literally brimming with exciting, layered places to discover, with many requiring quite an effort to reach or get to, and it’s not about finding better items there and going away stronger, but about learning the deepest secrets buried in such places, as the Fallout lore is truly fascinating.
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