Anyone relatively new to gaming may be surprised to learn that open world games were not always the norm.
Roam freely with this curated selection of the best open-world games on the Nintendo Switch, featuring both mainstream titles and hidden gems.
Explore the top 5 best open world games of all time, from Elden Ring to Red Dead Redemption 2, in this captivating gaming journey.
Currently replaying the Witcher 3, next gen upgrade style. Touissant still drops my jaw.
I have it in my backlog.. i will play it one day!!
I also can see people agree RDR2 is the best of all time. Still playing it today I’m still mesmerized by it.
There has been four open world games I enjoyed: Elden Ring, Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild. Red Dead, GTA, Witcher, Skyrim and Oblivion etc. were all extremely tedious fetch fests or set piece style games.
Elden Ring was awesome for just being Dark Souls open world game, Days Gone had such a great set up, tense atmosphere and the Hordes were incredible, and Horizon ZD was absolutely great at storytelling in its locations and is absolutely stunning to look at. Breath of the Wild had such a soothing atmosphere that it was pure therapy to play after a tough day spent in the business world.
RDR2 looks great, plays poorly, character is very hard to control and is very gimmicky. GTA is made for 12-year olds, but tries to somehow cater to older audiences as well, didn't enjoy it at all. In both of those games you play as a mass murderer, which always sets me off. Witcher 3 had okayish side stories and locations, but I enjoyed 1 and 2 more due to their focus, the series didn't need an open-world. Skyrim was a total fetch quest and writing was just so bad I could not go on, same for Oblivion.
RDR2 pays poorly? Just give it time and every other game will seem to you like a joke in comparison.
I bought RDR2 almost at release, i found the character stiff cause i was used to Horizon and gave up for a long period.. then decided to jump back into it last year and i cannot play anything else.. disgusted me of other games, that’s the danger with this game
Most of the games has an open world dynamics in some way. But should every game has to be open world?
No. And the reality is that most games are not open world. Even if being open gives gamers more of the world to explore in, open isn't necessary for a great game or a great story. I think the writer already knows this though.
Really depends on the game
I don't think games like Call of duty would benefit from it, and I hated Uncharted doing it
no
it depends how the devs make the game. a bland open world is just as bad as a very strict and bland linear game.
I'd disagree that "most games are open world." Most games are not open world. Massive AA and AAA RPG style games are mostly open world and for those I think it makes sense.
Once you try to go back, you feel restricted. This is how it will be for most AAA games going forward.
Open world has its time and place but its getting a bit much now. As much as I like open world games, a game like Uncharted will always get preference.
In my opinion, there's very few good open world games. I'd say some of the best are Dying Light, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Dead Island, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Fallout 4. Can't really think of any others.
Again.... I would partially put it on Ubisoft.... They have over-populated the market with their bland rinse and repeat open world sandbox games- FarCry+ Assassin's Creed+ Ghost Recon alone consist of about 20 games in the last 10 years. Heck games have started copying their formula instead of making their own. The whole map design and exploratory segment of Horizon is based off Ubisoft's ideas. The best open world games this gen that I have played are Witcher 3, Nier Automata and Bloodborne. Witcher 3 might be a bit wide, but the quests are handcrafted and there are equally easy and challenging places to reach. Bloodborne on the other hand is probably the most masterfully crafted open worlds in a jam packed area. The areas are small but you need to understand what goes where. Nier Automata is not a very large open world, but it uses the space very well.
Honorable mention to Just Cause 3, because while there are towers na dit's an overall decent game, modding it and then creating havoc is probably the most raw fun with the physics and stuff, I have had since Just Cause 2
because gamers want to be free in huge and new worlds. With more power the studios are able to do that.