Open world games where the best way to play is to ignore the main quest

In open world games, the story is rarely at the forefront of the experience and often takes a back seat. Instead, the strongest titles in the genre focus on freedom, exploration, and countless optional activities. Players are constantly sidetracked on their way to the main objective and discover everything the world has to offer. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, getting lost in a wonderful way is one of the best compliments a game of its kind can receive.

Some open world games do this so well that players can completely ignore the main plot, which is probably one of the best ways to play them. That's not to say the stories are weak or forgettable; it's just that the core gameplay loop and loose mechanics are so compelling that players choose to simply live in these worlds, inventing personal goals, exploring every nook and cranny, and putting off the story for as long as possible. Here are some of the best open world games that excel at this.

We're not including open-world titles on this list, which are primarily sandboxes with no fixed story, so games where the story is almost entirely player-driven, e.g. Kenshi, State of decomposition 2or Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlordare excluded.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl

The zone is calling

Like previous posts in the series, STALKER 2: Heart of ChernobylThe biggest attraction is the zone itself. It's a strange balance of unique beauty and danger, a place where countless stalkers wander day after day in search of rare artifacts that could change their lives forever. But few will succeed. The Zone has a way of turning people into lifelong admirers, and once you're in, it can be nearly impossible to leave behind. That is, if you even manage to survive.

This time the world is completely fluid, with no loading screens between areas (although there is a slight artificial sense of separation between regions to mask transitions). The map is huge, full of side quests, activities and hidden caches literally everywhere. While STALKER 2The story is surprisingly long, cinematic, branching and worth experiencing. It's easy to imagine experienced stalkers abandoning the main quest just to exist in the zone on their own terms.

Exploring eerie underground labs, clearing out bandit lairs, hunting mutants for valuable parts, learning how to navigate anomaly fields, surviving powerful emissions that restore artifacts, constantly upgrading equipment bit by bit, searching for the rarest legendary artifacts that few even know exist, accepting random quests from NPCs, and lugging around crammed treasure that once again stacks another backpack over half. real magic STALKER 2a game that can be unapologetically merciless to leisure.

An original RPG in which you can simply live

Skyrim proved to be one of the best seamless open-world RPGs that allowed players to fully exist in its world, living day-to-day and soaking up the unparalleled freedom of exploration. With so many quests, NPCs with their own routines, places to explore, and activities to pursue, it felt like a living world rather than just a game. over time Skyrim became almost synonymous with the idea of ​​completely ignoring the main quest, simply because it was so much more exciting to wander, experiment, and do what felt right. And after more than a decade, countless players still can't let it go because this special game still feels like home.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim it's perfectly spacious, incredibly dense, full of freedom and really has something for everyone, even if it sounds like a cliché at the moment. Numerous factions with their own quest arcs, activities that influence character growth, endless shining missions, unforgettable NPCs, living cities, forgotten ruins, mysterious caves and large expansions with new features and possibilities — Skyrim it embodies just about everything an open-world RPG can aim for. And that's not even counting the massive modding community that allows each player to customize the world to their exact preferences, making it feel infinitely fresh and personal.

No wonder players are waiting The Elder Scrolls 6 I wonder with excitement and some caution whether Bethesda will ever match the brilliance and legacy that Skyrim continues to hold.

Elden Ring

Wait, is there a main story?

Elden Ring is widely known for its cryptic narrative, where many players complete the game without ever fully understanding what actually happened. In FromSoftware tradition, that doesn't mean there's no story—it's just buried behind vague clues, character dialogue, item descriptions, and environmental storytelling. Players either have to patiently piece it together themselves, or watch one of the countless in-depth lore videos on YouTube afterwards. It is true that this approach has both fans and skeptics, but even without knowing a single detail of the plot, it plays Elden Ring completely blind is already an incredible journey.

With this huge and beautiful world full of hidden areas and secret areas, players are constantly getting lost just figuring out how to get to certain places. With complete freedom to go anywhere (as long as they're strong enough to survive the dangers that lie in wait), there's nothing stopping players from exploring at their own pace and in any order that suits them. Experimenting with weapons, gear and spells, learning about enemy behavior and slowly mastering each challenge becomes its own story. And almost every cave, tomb, castle or dungeon is worth exploring, always offering an unforgettable boss, unique environment and valuable loot.

It is widely recommended to play Elden Ring blind at first launch, without worrying about the “correct” procedure or understanding every bit of lore. He approached in this way, Elden Ring becomes a deeply personal adventure full of surprises, triumphs, mistakes and discoveries.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Embrace the adventurous life of Misthios

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is one of the most impressive turning points for a long-running franchise, for better or for worse. It fully incorporates RPG elements such as random loot, dialogue and branching side quests with multiple outcomes. It's also one of the first entries where the central narrative and entire Templar vs. Assassins overshadowed by a vibrant open world full of discovery, adventure and activity. It is safe to assume that among those who have spent hundreds of hours researching Odysseyfew remember it mainly for the story, as there's simply too much to see and do outside of the main missions after the prologue is over.

While AC Odyssey starts off strong and cinematic, with a memorable Spartan intro, many players found themselves losing interest in the main plot soon after leaving the starting island of Kephalonia. The story is often stretched too far across a huge world, and the freedom the game offers makes it easy to ignore. After all, there's a fully customizable Adrestia ship, crew recruitment and management, countless islands to explore (each with its own little side arc), exciting naval battles, dozens of side quests, tons of loot to hunt, resources to collect, and much more, all set against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War, which is anything but a mission recruiter's paradise.

WITH Odysseydynamic mechanics, including territory control and large-scale conquest battles, endless contracts, massive fortresses that refresh with new objectives, and a random mercenary system to hunt elite enemies (or hunt you); Assassin's Creed Odyssey becomes the perfect playground for anyone willing to embrace the chaotic, opportunistic life of Misthios, driven by personal goals rather than a grand narrative.

Fallout 4

A scavenger's dream for looting, crafting and building

One of Bethesda's biggest games to date already speaks for itself Fallout 4 continues the familiar formula that RPG studios are known and loved for. The post-apocalyptic wasteland of Boston and its environs is vast, dense, and layered. Much like Fallout 3the story is there, but it's so optional that many players hardly feel compelled to follow it. Instead, just like STALKER 2, Fallout 4 is primarily an explorable playground where every new location, vault, bunker, settlement or abandoned factory can turn into an unforgettable detour worth taking.

With his heavy focus on pillaging anything that isn't nailed down, Fallout 4 is a true scavenger's paradise, full of unique weapons, armor, valuables and resources. This time, however, almost everything players pick up can be used later Fallout 4 introduces game-changing crafting and settlement building mechanics (expanded even more in DLC). Weapons, armor and even entire bases can be shaped from scratch, transforming the world and allowing players to leave a lasting personal mark.

In addition Fallout 4 relies even more heavily on randomized shiny quests than previous titles, making the game flexible and highly replayable. With many factions to meet and join along the way, there's always a new direction to take, so it's no surprise that many players keep coming back. Fallout 4 even after thousands of hours.