Game developers typically prefer making games with no barriers to entry, making their games easy to pick up for new players who haven’t had a chance to play their previous works. Doing so allows them to appeal to as wide an audience as possible on every new game’s release. The easiest way to achieve this is bymaking standalone gameswhere the story of one game has no bearing on the other. The biggest example of this approach is the Grand Theft Auto series, where all games are set in the same universe but can be enjoyed as individual titles because there is no interconnectedness.
Players looking for an open-world series where multiple games connect with one another will not find much, as most developers tend to follow in Rockstar’s footsteps because it’s the safest approach. Fortunately, established franchises spanning multiple games with an overarching storyline are rare, but they do exist. Here are the top contenders.
8Gothic Series
Gothic 1, 2, And 3
TheGothicseriesis acult-classic open-world role-playing seriesset in a medieval fantasy world amidst a war between humans and the Orcs. The player character finds himself imprisoned in a mining colony and forced to mine for ores in order to fund the human war effort by a tyrannical king. Most of the story takes place inside this mining colony and the events that unfold.
Gothic 2continues directly after the events of the first game and explores the world outside the mining colony and allows the player to explore the broader world outside. Despite the dated graphics and controls,Gothic 1 & 2are considered classics for a reason. The power curve is satisfying, the leveling-up system is rewarding, and the role-playing is stellar.Gothic 3is a departure from the previous two games, opting from a more vibrant tone and upbeat fantasy setting.
7The Elder Scrolls
Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, & Online
The Elder Scrollsis considered one of themost popular RPG series of all time, with five full-length single-player open-world games, multiple smaller entries, and even a full-fledged MMO to its name. The games all take place in the fictional setting of Tamriel, a fantasy world of dragons and daedra with a rich lore that spans across four eras.
Each game in the series can be played as a standalone title with a self-contained story that has a beginning, middle, and end. But the story is always being told in the context of Tamriel, through the lens of the larger conflict between the Thalmor, the Empire, and the various smaller factions.The Aedra and the Daedraare ever-present threats in every game, influencing the world in different ways each time, sometimes benevolent, sometimes malevolent, but always unpredictable.
6Marvel’s Spider-Man Series
Marvel’s Spider-Man 1, 2, & Miles Morales
Sony kicked off 2018 withMarvel’s Spider-Man, making a huge splash in the gaming sphere and cementing Insomniac Games as a titan in the industry. The story follows a mature Peter Parker in a gorgeously realized New York City and his adventures as he tries to save the inhabitants from threats big and small.
After the huge success of the original, Insomniac released the spin-offMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Moralesin 2020 and a full-length sequel,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2in 2023, to critical acclaim.Marvel’s Spider-Manand its sequels all take place in theInsomniac-created universe called Earth-1048, taking advantage of the multiverse setting inherent to the Marvel universe.
5Batman: Arkham Series
Arkham Origins, Arkham Asylum & Arkham City
Released in 2009,Batman: Arkham Asylumwas the first game in the series following the story of Batman as he contends with the escaped prisoners from Asylum, chief among them The Joker.Batman: Arkham Citycontinues 18 months after the events ofArkham Asylumandholds the crown as the definitive Batman game, gaining critical acclaim and setting the standard for modern open-world games going forward.
Batman: Arkham Originsoccurs before the events ofArkham Asylum, where players follow a young Bruce Wayne as he is still learning the ropes on how to take up the mantle of the hero Gotham needs. All Arkham games feature a mix of stealth mechanics, brawler-style reactive combat, and the use of gadgets to diversify the gameplay loop.
Assassin’s Creed
When it comes to interconnected stories in a franchise across multiple games,Assassin’s Creedhas everyone beat. The premise of the series is a device called the Animus, developed by theevil megacorp Abstergo, which allows people to relive past events as experienced by their ancestors. While Ubisoft has pulled back on the ‘Present Day’ elements in the most recentACgames, the general premise is still there.
Additionally, in the background of everyAssassin’s Creedgame is the eternal conflict between the Assassins andthe Templarsthroughout the ages. TheAssassin’s Creedseries has always followed an open-world formula that only expanded over the years. The series may have moved away from the stealth-first approach from the original title in favor of becoming more of an RPG. Vast, open, dense maps are at the core of the formula, which is why players players keep coming back for more.
3Horizon Series
Horizon Zero Dawn & Forbidden West
Horizon Zero DawnandForbidden Westfollow Aloy as she journeys across a vibrant, lushpost-apocalyptic Earthwhere the original humans have been all but wiped out, and a new civilization of the remnants is in their tribal era.
Forbidden Westis the direct sequel toZero Dawn, continuing the story almost immediately after the events of the last game, taking Aloy to the far west in Banuk territory. The Horizon series has quickly become one of Sony’s biggest success stories anda PlayStation mascot, though both games can now also be played on PC.
Red Dead Redemptionis awestern open-world RPG seriesset in the Wild West when outlaws were commonplace, and trains were just starting to catch on.RDR1follows John Marston of the Van der Linde gang, an outlaw involved in almost every crime the gang was a part of. Players are taken along the ride for John’s journey after he leaves the gang and sets out on his own to make his way in the world.
RDR2’sprotagonist is Arthur Morgan, another member of Dutch’s gang and a friend of John’s. This story is set in the time when John was still a part of the gang.Arthur is a flawed characterwith a heart of gold, more mature than John but more cautious as well. Both games are modern-day classics and in contention for the best open-world games of all time.
1The Legend Of Zelda Series
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild & Tears Of The Kingdom
After Mario,The Legend of Zeldais Nintendo’s biggest first-party franchise and an age-old classic that has transitioned gracefully in the modern gaming sphere.The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildwas the series' first foray into the open-world genre, and it knocked it out of the park. A completely differentGhibli-inspired art style, an absolutely huge map to explore, and a reimagining of the familiar Hyrule.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomtakes what BotW brought to the table and dials it up to eleven, directly doubling the size of the map with The Depths, as well as various new Sky Islands to explore. Zelda lore is famously complex, and the timeline is incredibly convoluted, but what’s never in question is that it’s all connected; it’s up to the players to figure out how.
