Summary
By definition,open-world gamesaresome of the longest single-player titlesavailable today, often providing vast explorable maps coupled with hours of story-driven narrative. While almost every open-world game offers enough content to keep players occupied for dozens of hours, some games stretch even further,offering near-endless replayability.
More often than not, such potential stems from the RPG nature of many open-world games, filled with non-linear story paths and side quests with plenty of branching choices, but it’s not just that. Some open-world games are known fortheir unrestricted freedomor even procedural generation techniques that can keep players occupied and surprise them each time they start a new playthrough.
Below are some of thebest open-world games that provide great replay value, either through deepcustomization and roleplay options, robust potential for non-linear story and quest choices, sandbox environments, crafting mechanics, or procedural generation of the world.
Over the years,Skyrimhas more than earned its reputation as one of the most beloved and replayable open-world RPGs by Bethesda, which is an achievement in itself. Even newer and more ambitious games by the developer, likeFallout 4andStarfield, have failed to matchSkyrim’s lasting legacy for a variety of reasons, including its list of available platforms.
WithSkyrim, the team managed to capture an alluring sense of discovery and freedom, which, coupled with itsunmistakable atmosphere and unique setting, has really grown on players. Packed with content, characters, quests, factions, and missable locations,Skyrimallows players to play as they want to, each time experiencing the world anew. Even without its thriving modding community, vanillaSkyrimremains a go-to game for many open-world RPG enthusiasts and newcomers to the genre, and its enduring popularity shows no signs of stopping.
Less a narrative-driven, quest-based RPG and more an exploration-based action game,Elden Ringis a definitive choice for players looking for unparalleled combat build variety and an abundance of unique enemies to find and test their battle skills against. Thanks to its twisted, vertical, vast map withcountless hidden areas and locations, as well as its cryptic nature for side quests, NPCs, and overall progression, some fans can beat the game and see just a tiny fraction of what it has to offer.
From its near-endless array of weapons, armor, and talismans to over 200 total bosses to defeat,Elden Ringis at its best when players go in blind, slowly uncovering more of the game with each subsequent playthrough, gradually gaining access to previously missed areas, overlooked enemies, questlines, and endings.
WhileFallout 4offers more sheer freedom and variety in gameplay thanks to its robust crafting mechanics that allow players to shape the wasteland to their liking,Fallout: New Vegasremains thepinnacle for engaging roleplayin the series. With unparalleled freedom when it comes to quest solving, including rich dialogue choices and the ability to use skills in unconventional ways,New Vegastruly shines for RPG enthusiasts interested in experiencing this universe in unlikely ways.
A large part ofFallout: New Vegasis the game’s four major factions (like NCR or Legion) that players can join during their playthrough, unlocking access to new questlines, unpredictable consequences, and deep interactions with entirely different NPCs. Even after almost fifteen years, few open-world RPGs can match the scope of roleplay potential that Obsidian achieved here.
Following inThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s footsteps, already a cornerstone of the open-world RPG genre,Cyberpunk 2077doubled down on some important aspects, providing even greater replay value for RPG fans. Not only doesCyberpunk 2077feature a robust character creator and three different prologues, unlikeThe Witcher 3, but the game generally offers more choices in dialogue and quests for players to experience Night City in vastly different ways with each new run.
Almost every one of the game’s 300 quests can be tackled in different ways, depending on players' vision for the protagonist V, their gender, relationships with other characters, as well as gameplay preferences for combat, hacking, or stealth.Cyberpunk 2077also benefits greatly from CDPR’s dedicated support, withnew content updates bringing additional featureseven now, almost five years after launch.
Kenshiis a different breed of seamless open-world RPG, without a traditional linear main narrative. Instead, players create their character and emerge into a free-roaming sandbox survival environment where they can become anyone. In a way, playingKenshiis like receiving one life each time to survive this unforgiving, ever-changing world by all means necessary.
It’s worth noting thatKenshi’s open world is one of the biggest ever,stretching over 870 square kilometers, never restricting players' goals but not revolving around the player either. A large focus ofKenshiis on players' squads, as they can create not one but several characters, each with their own traits, evolving over time and gaining more experience. Building, exploring, crafting, trading, and fighting – anything is possible inKenshi, and thanks to its dynamic nature, this gem shouldn’t be overlooked.
A truly ever-lasting open-world sandbox,Minecraftisn’t really a title players are meant to “beat,” so in this case, it’s more about endless playability available from the get-go andpushed further with each new update. Players are free to explore one of the largest open worlds ever put into a video game, surviving, fighting, gathering, and building whatever and however they want. The unprecedented crafting possibilities grantMinecraftunmatched depth, as players can literally play it forever, limited only by their imagination.
Alternatively, the 2D open-world experienceTerrariais another example of a flexible playground where players can build, explore, discover, and have fun nearly endlessly. LikeMinecraft,Terrariais also elevated by procedural generation techniques for creating its sandbox world for each player.
Procedural, unrestricted explorationis the essence ofNo Man’s Sky, but thanks to years of massive content updates, the game is so much more than that today. Just like withMinecraft, players can’t really “beat”No Man’s Sky, as it is created to be experienced endlessly, unless they choose to play in permadeath mode.
Thriving and brimming with possibilities, packed with crafting and building mechanics, as well as dozens of freeform activities, this shared universe operates on an entirely different scale compared to other open-world games. Even players who want a more focused experience are now in luck, as later updates added story missions known as expeditions, and even an intelligent robotic race to theNo Man’s Skyuniverse.
