Open-world games have the distinct advantage of being some of the only games that you can entirely make your own experience. If your gaming experience is made ten times better by the existence of an expansive, beautiful world that’s all available to explore, then this genre is a match made in heaven.
It wouldn’t be a complete game without a hint of danger, however. Or a lot of it.
Whether it’s combat, fall damage, or a combination of both, there are so many ways for open worlds to escalate in difficulty. You could always stumble into a boss encounter along the way, like I’ve done countless times. If you start getting screen prompts? Run.
With that, here are ten open worlds to get lost in the beauty of completely. Just watch your back at all times, too.
10
Horizon Zero Dawn
A Movement Animation Gem
- Publisher
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Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Platform
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PlayStation 4
Horizon Zero Dawn is beautifully made, down to even the smallest of the main character Aloy’s movements. Both her attack animation and hair animation are realistically rendered, and if you combine that with the way the grass ripples, you get a level of graphics that almost cost me my ancient TV.
While the enemies in this game don’t appear in a constant stream due to the story progression and many safe areas, they still present a danger to your exploration if you venture away from the story. For thrill-seeking purposes, this is an excellent aspect of this game and makes the beauty of it even more apparent.
9
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
A Classic Fight Or Flight Experience
This Zelda classic’s enemies are easily avoidable, but if your guard is down, it can be easy to hit a string of unlucky random encounters. Either kind of enemy isn’t particularly difficult to defeat, but that doesn’t stop either from being annoying to encounter, and not even advancing the time of day can stop damage sometimes.
Most of the fun of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s gameplay lies in the exploration, but the random encounters do add a lot of spice to the runs I’ve made. Every time I play Breath of the Wild, the absolute beauty of the world’s characters, hills, and villages distracts me, and I get jumped by the entire Yiga clan.
8
Red Dead Redemption 2
The Only Monsters Here Are Men
This is a beautiful Western world to play in for sure, and it’s made better by how immersive the enemy encounters are. If the enemies are similar to your character’s build, it’s immediately more realistic and brings in a combat intensity more animated games don’t usually have.
Combine that with how beautifully rendered the fields and camps of the world are, and you have a game that can, and should, be played for hours. There are very few high-quality open world Western games, so the Red Dead Redemption games are a unique gem when it comes to fighting and exploring all in one playthrough.
7
God of War
All The Violence In Mythology
Being a demigod turned god of war, Kratos has an incredible target on his back, which means you’re never without enemies for very long. All the combat and conflict you’re thrust into doesn’t take away from the beauty of the world design around you, however.
Although God of War does have sections that are closed off due to the main story, the world is still significantly non-linear and more open to exploration than the majority of story-driven games. You can go off the beaten path for a while, poke at every hidden area and detail like I tend to do, and still be back on track for the main story in the same playthrough.
6
The Forest
Extreme Camping: Mildly Terrifying Edition
The benefit of The Forest being a horror game is that even if parts of the wild are beautiful, there will always be those monsters and sections that are deeply unsettling at best. The graphics of this game might not be as advanced as most other open worlds are, but they’re still smooth and add to the ease of exploration that this game prides itself on.
The resourcefulness you have to get used to in order to both survive the monsters and keep yourself alive is the most realistic part of the game for me. The woods, open fields, and snowy mountains of this game are all equal parts eerie and awe-inspiring, and since you’re collecting resources, you’re doing plenty of exploring, too.
5
Sea of Thieves
It Is, In Fact, A Pirate’s Life
The danger on these open seas can either be from computer-generated pirate crews or online threats posed by other player groups. Player-vs-player combat that is technically still avoidable is my ideal scenario, especially since an open-world instead of a first-person shooter game is an easier perspective to manage for me.
The graphics of the water in Sea of Thieves alone are so high quality that it’s hard to find the same in so many open-worlds or adventure games released around the same time, so it’s no surprise this game and its mix of genres is praised for its beauty across all platforms.
4
Enshrouded
Fire Is The Least Deadly Thing Here
The darker color palette of Enshrouded is a welcome sight every time I launch this game, especially since my computer’s brightness is so low, and I’m forced to turn it up to play properly. There’s also a fair bit of danger, since all the boss encounters have their own unique challenges that force you to adapt as you go.
The world’s caves, outposts, and sprawling terrain are so vast and detailed that it’s easy to get drawn in for hours fighting enemies and bosses, completing collections, and strengthening your character by any means necessary. If there was more world to explore than there already is, it would be difficult to ever stop playing.
3
Ghost of Tsushima
High Graphics, Low Detection By Enemies
Ghost of Tsushima has some of the prettiest ambience in the majority of open worlds, from the rain to the bright, leaf-covered forests you can race through. The art piece that is the animated Japanese countryside will never get old, and neither will the art of swordplay in every combat encounter.
Even though my favorite type of kill is the stealthy assassinations, the regular melee is still so beautifully animated that it takes my mind off the difficulty at times. Besides, you can explore the wild countryside for hours without following the main story, which is the kind of freedom that makes an open world so compelling to play.
2
Guild Wars 2
Every Frame A Screensaver
Even though there are still more expansions being added to Guild Wars 2, the base game itself is so uniquely formed that there isn’t a single map that wouldn’t make a beautiful computer background. Nothing will ever replace the feeling of first playing this game for me, and the adrenaline rush of my first drop into the middle of the wastelands of Orr or the jungles of Maguuma.
There are dragons, and they are beautiful and terrifying, but there’s nothing quite as panic-inducing as being surrounded by many small monsters intent on downing your character. Somehow, those creatures are still intricately rendered with love, even as they swarm.
1
Elden Ring
Beautiful And (Very) Deadly
This is an absolute classic when it comes to beauty and intense danger in one well-produced, slightly blood-boiling game. When you think of games that have the potential to make you appreciate the graphics in one moment, and log off for the night in rapid succession, Elden Ring is right there, waiting for you.
If you can make your way through the difficulty, the world behind the hype is beautiful in the most haunting of ways, and it’s worth exploring every area even to just see the Erdtree glow. There are few serotonin rushes quite like running through the bright yet doomed world after finally defeating a difficult boss or a horde of enemies.
