Maybe the Witcher 3 it's one of my favorite games of all time and it's on sale a lot.
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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Definitely the best for having believable, dense and bustling cities. While the scenery and nature in most open world games is great, a lot struggle with the cities not being super small and also boring. Where as in the Witcher 3, there is whole story arcs solely in Novigrad and it feels like a place that people would live in.
Witcher 3 is a fun game and an acclaimed one at that, so the following is just my personal experience. Not taking away anything from it... but playing a superhuman hunk constantly bumping into sexy young witches thirsty for you felt to me very, very cheesy.
I loved Death Stranding – it’s weird, beautiful, and the soundtrack is incredible (RIP Low Roar) but it’s kind of an acquired taste and you have to be cool with the “hiking simulator” aspect.
Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Daggerfall (😎)
Nothing wrong with that answer! Skyrim can even be played in 3rd person, and there are mods to make 3rd person combat more satisfying if you get it on PC.
RDR2
I absolutely loved RDR2, but it’s definitely not for everyone. Half of the people I know stopped playing because of the slow nature of the game, but it felt meaningful and was a nice change of pace. Great game to get immersed in, if that’s your thing.
RDR2 is a masterpiece. I “finished” it in the sense that I completed the story, but I maybe hit 30% of the extra stuff and side quests. I could dive back into it for a couple of hundred more hours before I got anywhere near completing it.
OP is looking for 3rd person
Geocaching can be 3rd person if you're small enough to ride someone else around like master blaster.
Keep in mind that there are different schools of thought on what makes a good open world game.
I love exploration and discovery without much guidance, so point-of-interest markers and repetitive copy/paste events (as found in games like Horizon ZD and Witcher 3) bore me. Responsive controls and good user interface are also important to me, so Red Dead Redemption 2 was a miserable experience that drove me away, despite the great environments and character building. Some people consider those games masterpieces, though, so I have to assume their priorities are different from mine.
Subnautica is an outstanding example of what appeals to me. Beautiful world, unconfined exploration, excellent soundtrack, a story told through discoveries rather than exposition, multiple ways to accomplish things, and a departure from the usual "kill everything" approach to success. Fair warning: it is a first-person game.
Skyrim shares some of these strengths and can work pretty well in third person with mods like True Directional Movement and TK Dodge RE. Be aware that modding Skyrim is a deep rabbit hole that can quickly become a full time job. One way to solve this is using the Wabbajack tool to semi-automatically install a well-tested mod collection.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits looks like it shares some of its design with Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom, which is encouraging. I haven't played it yet.
Modding Skyrim is a rabbit hole that leads straight into the Mines of Moria. And the Balrog has opened an adult bookstore.
Elden Ring
I feel like that's significantly harder than any of the games OP mentioned. Although, my friend says he enjoys it.
If you haven’t checked out S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it is a really great world to get lost in. It is split into larger open areas so not seamless but for me doesn’t detract from the sense of living and surviving in the world.
Big yes on this one. Especially if you include the mods that that combine the maps of all three games. It becomes an amazing open world survival experience.
Outward absolutely nails the sense of adventure and discovery. It's pretty low budget and janky but it is probably the best open world RPGs I've played in recent years
Loved Shin Megami Tensei V on the Switch. If you're into Persona, other SMT games, or Pokemon, you might like it. It features turn-based combat with open world exploration and quests. I think it starts out a little slow so if you try it, maybe give it a chance for a few hours before giving up on it. I love how atmospheric it is too, very easy to get sucked into.
Pre-cata WoW
The best games which feature an open world and the best games for their open world are a very different list, imo.
For example, the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk share a really awesome story-based rpg that happens to play in an open world but I don’t necessarily believe their open world is among the best in the industry.
I’d probably have to say that the Witcher 3 is my favorite game which features an open world and my favorite open world in any game has got to be Terraria. You could argue it’s a different class of game, but I feel that the tendency the game has to force you to explore and then introduce new stuff to the world that allows you to re-explore the same places is a really excellent take on the open world formula. Terraria really has very excellent exploration and reexploration which I think are the hallmarks of open world games. Not just inviting you to get to know the world, but changing it over time and asking you to get to know it again.
A private server of friends playing Red Dead Online is pretty fun. You wouldn't think I'd laugh so hard being dragged behind a horse to the mission point but I kept riding my horse into things and falling off so it was only fair.
I loved Days Gone. The combat/story/exploration/rpg elements all really hit the sweet spot for me. The progression was really satisfying too, once you get to the point you’re taking on entire hordes
Truly an underrated game. It's excellent.
Do you have a single fact to back that up?
The game got very mixed reviews on release. I even took a long time until I tried the game because people weren't really recommending it.
Even the sequel was canceled.
But at the same time, I feel that more people are now understanding that reviews mean fuck all and until you try the game you won't know if you like it.
I was just saying the Deus Ex thing.
What a shame
I have Elden ring but I couldn't get into it (Never played souls games). Tried to watch some youtube stuff and still didn't get it, might have to give it a go again (tbf I have more time now)
It took a while to click for me. But my students urged me to give it a solid week of regular play before giving up.
Ghost of Tsushima was really good!
I wish it would come to pc
Agreed! The fluidity of the controls and the overall ambiance of this game really hooked me.
Diablo 4
Is Diablo 4 open-world?
Yep first one that is. I like the choice personally. I'm having a blast with D4 so far. I just hit level 56 on my druid.
Sable and Tchia are both fantastic third person open world games.
Elden Ring is such an easy choice. Just a fantastic open world that encourages exploration and discovery. I think you should give it a second shot OP.
I dislike Open World games, so BOTW/TOTK 100%.
If you want a fresh different experience on the genre you have to give Gothic a try.
It looks like shit but the fact that kind of openness has not been evolved is yet another proof we can't have nice, creative things.
If you’re into open world sandbox RPGs, you can’t get more open world sandboxy than Kenshi! It’s all third person point of view and you sort of manage a whole squad opposed to a single person. There is a whole base building mechanic, there’s a tech tree that you can research through, you can create and sell your own weapons, you can do you trading runs in between cities, you could be a lone Ronin wandering the desert sands, or a religious zealot being a xenophobic jerk who hate robot people (there are robot people), aliens (mhmm, them too) and women (ofc)! The possibilities are endless, especially since there’s no actual storyline! Oh, there’s a bunch of little Easter eggs about how the world (def not Earth, too many moons) got to this point but you’re not gonna spawn in a dungeon being pointed at the big bad (is the slave start in Rebirth canon? I have so many mods I’ve forgotten) you’re probably just gonna appear in the middle of the canyon, and then make the mistake of fighting goats, but the goats are stronger than you, so they beat you into unconsciousness, and while you’re lying there, waiting to become conscious once more some bandits rob you and a slaver comes by and picks you up and sells you into slavery. It’s a good time I promise. Oh, but be warned, there’s a lot of skills and it’s kind of grindy, a little like a single player MMO. It’s great and I love it.
I just finished Ghostwire: Tokyo and enjoyed it more than I expected given the tepid reviews. It’s first person but I found the combat satisfying. It’s easy to play in small doses if you don’t have much time. If you have PlayStation Plus Extra, it’s in the catalog.
While it is 1st person Kingdom Come Deliverance is amazing. One of the best open world RPGs I have played int he last 10 years.
I'm playing it at the moment. Today I smacked a poacher to death with my mace. Great game.
The Division 2 has been a huge time sink for me recently. It's surprisingly deep. Never played the 1st or 2nd until now because I heard bad things, but I'm really enjoying.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is my favourite open world game of all time, it just feels amazing to be in. Less popularly, for something similar to BOTW, you could also try Genshin Impact.
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