Open-world titles are some of the most compelling games on the shelves today, promising a range of experiences that are absolutely unique to video games as a medium. Whether they're huge, sprawling worlds or small-scale, intimately detailed titles, open worlds can satisfy a player's wanderlust and are at their best when every moment of exploration and navigation feels compelling and engaging, not a chore or a chore .

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The best character-based RPGs without an open world
Open worlds are common in today's RPGs, but the following character-driven games feature a more linear world design.
The most engaging open-world titles are thus the ones that receive the highest praise. Few things can be as immersive as open worlds that allow players to lose themselves and explore a setting unlike anything else. Atmosphere is key in an open-world title, and these games absolutely find their atmosphere with grace.
A vibrant and beautiful open world
His world The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the most vibrant and story-filled fantasy worlds available to date. There's something for every type of player here, from high fantasy esoteric religious content or classic missions as a mercenary or mage.
The fantastic visual design of this game is central to its atmosphere. Each region of Tamriel, even within the same Kingdom, feels so unique and lived in. Players can find cultures and races realized in a way they could only dream of in single-player titles and by traveling around Tamriel, doing quests and killing. enemies, has an amazing atmospheric feel unmatched by other open-world MMOs.
7 Far Cry Primal
A lush and wild world with many dangers
- ISSUED
- February 23, 2016
A completely unique setting, so Far cry standards and for open worlds in general, Far Cry Primal is the often overlooked spin-off Far cry series that absolutely nails the lush, untamed wilds of a world where man is not yet the dominant creature.
Everything from the sounds of primordial insect noises to the birdsong of creatures that no longer live infuse this open world with a mysterious, melancholic atmosphere not found in any other world. Far cry title.
6 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
A faithfully realized historical open world
- ISSUED
- February 13, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
With hype for the upcoming sequel greater than ever, Kingdom Come: Deliverance it's a faithfully authentic tile with so much heart and immersion to offer. Wandering the idyllic landscape in this game has an atmosphere that immerses players like nothing else.

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8 Best Unique NPC Mechanics in Open World Games
Games like Bowser's Fury and Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War use their NPCs with unique mechanics that make the games even more enjoyable.
It's not just the quiet moments in the wilderness that give this game its atmosphere. Every NPC is so well done and reactive that it makes the atmosphere in this game come to life.
5 Metro Exodus
A bleak and powerful open world
- ISSUED
- February 15, 2019
Where other games might use birdsong or natural ambience to serve up atmosphere, Metro Exodus use silence. Throughout this long title, it is the oppressive, crushing silence of a long-destroyed world that really makes Metro Exodus to have an atmosphere worthy of praise.
The wind howling through the snow machines, the sound of boots crunching through the rubble on the ground, the long-abandoned buildings of a bygone era, few post-apocalyptic games have the same atmosphere as Metro Exodus.
4 Elden Ring
The Lands Between is a dangerous and beautiful world
- ISSUED
- February 25, 2022
The biggest success Elden Ring it represented a new era for souls, open-world games, and what the two genres could achieve. Players who stuck with FromSoft for a long time were rewarded with one of the best and most atmospheric Souls titles to date.
The surreal ambience and world design of Elden Ring it lends a lot to its atmosphere, and the game is a fantastic vehicle for conveying the story of the tragic betrayal of the gods through ambient elements rather than overt storytelling.
3 Red Dead Redemption 2
Few worlds have an authenticity like this
- ISSUED
- October 26, 2018
An idea that appears often in Red Dead Redemption 2His world design is the Sublime. Romantic novelists (that's Romantic with a capital R, think Oscar Wilde, not Colleen Hoover) used the Sublime as a way to capture the unique, very powerful feelings of awe that nature could inspire in people.
Nature can make people feel small. Looking out over vast mountain landscapes can provide an exhilarating sense of perspective. Few open-world games have managed to capture this sense of the sublime, beauty and bittersweet mixed together like the atmosphere of Red Dead Redemption 2.
No other game perfectly captures an alien atmosphere


- ISSUED
- May 1, 2002
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
A legendary open world title that still inspires gaming today, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind captivates players with its atmosphere. Even with graphics that are over 20 years old, no game has managed to make the player feel as foreign or alien as Morrow.
With soft and melancholy exploration music, alien scenery and the quiet threat of danger around every corner, Morrow it's a somewhat ironic testament to the fact that million dollar graphics and engines can't compete with strong world building and world design.
1 Cyberpunk: 2077
A stylish and elegant expansive open world
- ISSUED
- December 10, 2020
… That being said, though… Cyberpunk 2077 It just feels like a living, breathing environment, a sleek neon world of corruption and consumption, luring and captivating players with its atmosphere even though they know it's wrong.
Cyberpunk 2077 it is a warning and an exploration of humanity. It's a game with a vital, pressing message about the human condition. It reflects the human condition, with all its peaks and troughs, through the grimy alleys, glittering streets and magical atmosphere of the Night City.

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All Assassin's Creed games, ranked by best open world
Assassin's Creed is synonymous with expansive open worlds, but which entry in the Ubisoft franchise is the best in this field?