Open-world games have been a staple for quite some time now, and many titles across multiple generations are contending for the title of being the best of its kind. Recently, a Reddit user created a post to determine which games provide the best open-world experience, and the results have been enlightening.
Since the post’s creation, a lot of players have left comments highlighting some of the most notable open-world games that do the genre justice. The Witcher 3 regularly came up: The latest title in the highly beloved Witcher series, and its two DLCs, see you following the titular Witcher, Geralt, on his many adventures as he visits over a dozen different medieval locations, each with breathtaking views, interesting characters, and unique NPC events and interactions.
“It feels realistic and grim. It is the only open world portraying correctly a war torn and monster infested medieval land. I also think cities are pretty well done and feel alive,” said a user. “Npc’s have clear schedules depending on the time, inns get filled more during evenings, and many quests emphasize NPC’s in different ways. The world state also evolves a lot depending on your choices,” added another.
Despite its troubled launch, CD Projekt RED’s other notorious title, Cyberpunk 2077, has also come up. The futuristic sci-fi game sports a bustling world through Night City, which always feels like a living, breathing, open world thanks to its uniquely designed NPCs. It took a few years, but they got there.
“Putting on a good pair of headphones and just walking around Night City is one of my favorite experiences in a video game. There’s so much sh*t going on that you’d miss entirely if you just played it,” said a user. “It’s gotta be cyberpunk. You can go from one corner to having someone throwing up. To one corner having a food vendor and then a shootout that doesn’t involve you at all. It’s incredible,” agreed another.
Unsurprisingly, Skyrim was also often mentioned in the thread. Despite being well over a decade old, Bethesda’s RPG has been praised for its sheer amount of content, engaging world designs, awe-inspiring locations, and interesting characters. Its NPCs are also one of its most discussed features, as their design makes the game feel incredibly lived-in.
“You might enjoy fast traveling a bunch in that game, but maybe take the time to go through some of the forests of Riften or Falkreath, and you may notice some small details you’d miss in “gamer mode.” Ants crawling up trees or over stumps, bird ambiance, the occasional streams of sunlight/moonlight,” said an enthusiastic player.
He wasn’t alone in his praise. “You could just pick the least interesting direction to go, at any time, and you’d see something or find someone. Every npc has a schedule, and they keep moving despite you not being around. They’d react to you based on titles achieved. Ambience, weather, daytime/nighttime all made a difference in how places felt,” concurred another.
And yet, the most brought-up title in the thread was Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar’s open-world game has won several awards for its narrative and its overall design. Many in the thread agreed that the entire world succeeds at immersing you in its intricately crafted version of 1800s Western America.
“Red Dead Redemption 2 has one of the best open world experiences. You can just travel and see people actually eating their food at the restaurant, people that work (some of them build houses and if you go there after some days, they are done), there are people actually cutting down trees,” said a player. “Red Dead 2 is probably the best example of this. You could follow an NPC through their whole day from the moment they wake up and leave the house to the moment they go back home to sleep,” agreed another.
These are just some of the games highlighted in the thread that feature excellent open-world elements and that several members of the gaming community agree are some of the best among the genre—and they are definitely worthy of your time.
