In one form or another, RPGs have to include progression, and most games simply go the “stats up, skills up” route. There's no reason to fix a wheel that isn't broken, but it's still nice to get a game that takes things in a different direction. As progress fundamentally changes the way you interact with the worlda unique version can create a dynamic you won't find in any other game.
Move away from any fires and traditional stat points; let's focus on a few games that experiment with new progression systems and, for the most part, nail their implementation. Since nothing exists in a vacuum, we highlight a mix of classic and modern games, even if the ideas of the former are not so unique in 2026.
I decided to only include three games because I'd rather go in depth. Several other open-world RPGs have new progression systems.
Click on a game with a higher OpenCritic rating.
Gothic (1 or 2)
Groundbreaking progress in more ways than one
Gothic
- Released
-
November 23, 2001
“Almost perfect” might be a slight exaggeration, but the first two from Piranha Bytes Gothic games have firmly established their place in the tradition of both open world and RPG. Focusing on the 2001 original, Gothic it rejected the prevailing trends of its era and moved away from the occasional power-fantasy-based stats that defined most early 3D RPGs. In an absolutely brilliant move, your character animations act as a progress indicatoras it changes as you become stronger.
Get started Gothic as a nameless convict kicked off to a magical prison colony called Mining Valley. If we take “progression” as more than just “growing stronger”, Piranha Bytes differentiates its games by removing conveniences such as quest markers or an accessible mini-map.
Gothic provides traditional stats like HP, Mana, Strength and Dexterity.
While you gain experience to level up, this process only rewards learning points and HP boosts. To really get stronger, you have to use LP and money to get NPCs to train you, allowing you to improve your stats or gain new skills.. We've seen this concept co-opted by people like Kingdom Come: Deliverancebut Gothic he did it better than his successors.
World progress is also entirely based on experience. Rather than artificial walls, players simply learn if they are strong enough for an area when they encounter its monsters. Gothic it even handles story progression differently than most RPGs, making it primarily based on social hierarchy. Factions respond to the player's condition, strength, and wardrobe.
10 Open World RPGs with the Best Customization Options, Ranked
What's an open-world RPG without the ability to make your character look as edgy or goofy as you want?
Kenshi
Want to get tougher? So get ready for a beating
Kenshi
- Released
-
December 6, 2018
Even more than Kingdom Come: Deliverance or even other Piranha Bytes games like Elect, Kenshi looks like a true spiritual successor Gothic. If the 2001 masterpiece wrote the blueprint for organic world building and progression, then this quirky indie darling pushes all the way.
No other open world RPG will make you feel like trash better than Kenshi. You mean nothing in this wasteland. You have no identity, future, present, strengths or ambitions. Rock bottom is your home and moving away is not easy. The world does not exist for your benefit, nor does it scale to fit your abilities. It simply exists and it's up to you what you make of it.
Similar to Gothic, Kenshi has tons of stats and skills, almost all of which gain XP regardless of what you actually do and how you do it. For example, running improves your athleticism, and direct combat increases stats like martial arts or toughness (you have to get hit for the latter). If you want to become a master thief, you have to steal, get caught, end up in a slave camp, try to escape, get beaten by guards and repeat the loop to improve your Stealth and Lockpicking skills.
The above procedure is really only for the initial game, as Kenshi gets progressively more complicated.
Again, “almost perfect” may sound like too much praise, but Kenshi was originally created by a single person, Chris Hunt, and has been part of Steam for almost a decade. Even now, the game averages about 5,000 concurrent players. Given its humble beginnings and longevity, “near perfect” seems fair.
Cassette beasts
Record, Stick, And Fuse
OK, that's enough gritty open world RPGs! Time to talk about something a little more colorful. That said, don't let its cozy 16-bit monster-taming aesthetic fool you; Cassette beasts is much closer to criticism Pokemon formula than confirmation. Although it contains some traditional elements, the indie game stacks mechanics to create a system that is all its own.
You wake up on New Wirral, a bizarre, moving island stuck in an interdimensional pocket dimension where people from different eras of Earth are mysteriously washed ashore. Rather than throwing Poke Balls, you tame monsters by recording them onto magnetic tapes, allowing you to physically transform into them.
You level up the strips until they reach 5 stars and add moves (aka stickers). Great point about stickers is that you can peel them off and attach them to other tapes, giving you a lot more customization options. Unlike many monster tamer games, Cassette beasts“Progress is not a mad rush to find a high-level monster, but rather a journey to harvest stickers to create a very strong core group.
Naturally, Cassette beasts it features an evolution system in the form of remasters, which honestly isn't too different from it Pokemon except that it occasionally offers multiple paths.
Finally, the progression loop culminates with Fusion, which is unlocked as you improve your relationship with your human companions. Since the main character turns into a monster, you can only have one cartridge active at a time and Cassette beasts bypass this by joining companions with the same ability as you. After completing a personal quest, you'll unlock the ability to merge with your companion mid-battle, and you must come up with the best combination of monsters to survive boss battles.
As for the development of the world, Cassette beasts structures its island like a Metroidvania that locks sections behind traversal abilities. It's not a particularly unique progression system, but it's rarely seen in an open-world RPG.
The best co-op games for exploring the big world together
For those who want to really dive into the big world of video games with friends, here are some of the best co-op options available.
