Open-world video games have seen a major rise in popularity in recent years, mainly because technological advancements have not only allowed some of the most talented development studios to create massive worlds full of content, but also to break new ground with them. It’s safe to say that this is now one of the best moments to be a fan of the genre.
Best Video Games With A Living, Breathing Open World
The open worlds in the following video games feel truly alive, making them immersive to explore time and time again.
But, of course, with so many high-quality options currently available on the market, it may be hard to choose just one to buy, play, and spend hundreds of hours in. Fortunately for gamers, the review aggregation website Open Critic is a great place to start, as it features an extensive list of some of the best video games of the past few decades. Needless to say, many of them belong to the open-world genre, and the following ten have scores of 90 or more, which is a testament to their quality and their influence.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild / Tears Of The Kingdom
Open Critic Scores: 96 (BOTW), 95 (TOTK)
There’s no denying that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild changed the open-world genre, as Nintendo successfully created and introduced an open-ended style of gameplay in which players are allowed to go anywhere they want, whenever they want, and solve puzzles or defeat enemies in various ways. Combined with its beautiful presentation and its lovable characters, it’s easy to understand why Breath of the Wild is the third-highest rated game on Open Critic.
Of course, closely behind Breath of the Wild lies its direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. This game took everything that made its predecessor so special and expanded on it, with a bigger map that’s made up of three giant interconnected areas and a groundbreaking Ultrahand mechanic that allowed players to use their imagination to create all sorts of vehicles, tools, and weapons. The two most recent mainline entries in the Legend of Zelda series are basically two of the best open-world video games anyone can purchase and enjoy for four hours on end.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Open Critic Score: 95
Rockstar Games single-handedly revolutionized and revitalized the open-world genre during the early 2000s, so it should be no surprise to learn that several of the studio’s games have earned a place in Open Critic’s list of best games. Curiously enough, however, GTA is not sitting at the top, as Red Dead Redemption 2 is actually Rockstar’s highest-rated game, with a whopping score of 95 (making it a tie with Tears of the Kingdom).
Red Dead Redemption 2 is not only a magnificent and immersive adventure in which players take control of an outlaw while they explore the American Wild West, but it also tells one of the most nuanced and emotional stories ever put in a video game, not to mention that it stars Arthur Morgan, who is also one of the best-written video game characters of all time. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an almost flawless masterpiece from start to finish, and it definitely deserves its reputation as one of Rockstar’s best video games.
Grand Theft Auto 4 / Grand Theft Auto 5
Open Critic Scores: 95 (GTA 4), 92 (GTA 5)
The GTA series didn’t fall far behind its cowboy-centric counterpart, however, because Grand Theft Auto 4 is the sixth highest-rated video game on Open Critic’s list. This is quite surprising, however, because even though GTA 4 is a really entertaining and ambitious video game that showcases what sandbox open-world games could be like in the seventh console generation, it is often seen as inferior to its immediate follow-up, Grand Theft Auto 5.
Open-World Games With The Highest Steam Player Count Peaks
After years of anticipation or thanks to bursts of popularity from streamers, the following open-world Steam games had the highest player counts.
GTA 5 has three fewer points than its predecessor, most likely because it’s connected to Grand Theft Auto Online and/or because it was the last game in the series Rockstar has released in over thirteen years. Nevertheless, this is still the quintessential open-world sandbox game with an urban setting, and it has so much content that it’s almost impossible for one player to see everything in just one play-through. Furthermore, fans can’t help but wonder what score GTA 6 is going to receive on the site once it finally comes out in November 2026.
Elden Ring
Open Critic Score: 95
Elden Ring is the seventh highest-rated game on Open Critic, which also makes it the highest-rated game by FromSoftware on the entire list. This is a truly fascinating addition because, unlike most mainstream open-world titles, this game puts a bigger focus on its combat system, since it borrows numerous elements from the Dark Souls series.
On top of that, Elden Ring also follows Breath of the Wild’s open-ended gameplay design, meaning that players are allowed to visit almost any location on the map while they search for weapons and items. If they find an enemy or boss that is too powerful for them, they can simply go somewhere else and return when they’re stronger. It’s a simple but effective gameplay loop that works perfectly, and it makes the high difficulty of this game’s encounters feel a lot less uninviting. This brilliant game design is one of the many reasons Elden Ring has won so many accolades, including the Game of the Year award at the Game Awards 2022.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Open Critic Score: 93
The massive popularity and influence of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has directly inspired many western studios to create their own open-world fantasy RPGs, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is often considered the absolute best example of this practice. After all, CD Projekt Red had made other games in The Witcher series before, but this third entry was so impressive and so successful that it single-handedly put both the studio and the IP on the map.
The main reason The Witcher 3 made such a huge impact when it first released is because it takes place in a dark yet captivating world full of terrifying monsters that Geralt of Rivia (who’s quite a likable and compelling protagonist) has to hunt down. On top of that, every single one of its side quests is worth completing, it boasts a truly unforgettable narrative, and its DLC, Blood and Wine, is so amazing that it even has a score of 92 on Open Critic, just by itself. The Witcher 3 changed the fantasy RPG genre forever, and it paved the way for many open-world games that came after it, including CD Projekt Red’s very own Cyberpunk 2077.
Open Critic Score: 93
The terms “stealth” and “open world” don’t seem like they would go well together, but the legendary Hideo Kojima (one of the industry’s most innovative video game auteurs) managed to combine them both in one solid package. The final result was obviously Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, which is one of the most distinct games in the entire genre, and the final Metal Gear game that Kojima worked on before departing from Konami.
The Phantom Pain boasts a simple but extremely effective premise: Venom Snake can traverse through two large maps that are filled to the brim with buildings and guards that protect them. Players can use his vast array of tools, weapons, and companions to infiltrate each base, but the NPCs’ AI can actually learn from and adapt to their individual play styles. Truth be told, this is a really groundbreaking style of gameplay (especially for the stealth genre) and, in many ways, it’s strikingly similar to what Breath of the Wild would allow players to do just two whole years later.
Forza Horizon 5
Open Critic Score: 92
Racing is one of many game genres that benefited from collaborating with the open-world genre, and Forza Horizon 5 is the perfect example of this surprisingly refreshing combination. In this game, players can use a vast collection of real cars to explore a large open-world map, where they can participate in various races and/or complete the campaign mode.
The open-ended design of the map excellently complements Forza Horizon 5’s driving mechanics, as it gives players a playground to try out almost every technique and trick. But, of course, the Forza Horizon series always prioritizes hyperrealism, and this game did not disappoint in that regard: not only do the vehicles look almost exactly like their real-life counterparts, but the diverse environments of the maps look absolutely beautiful and lifelike, which further proves how advanced the graphics of this four-year-old racing game are.
Shadow Of The Colossus
Open Critic Score: 92
Shadow of the Colossus is one of the most incredible and artistic video games of all time, and its initial PS2 version had a huge impact on the gaming landscape. Fortunately, Bluepoint Games’ 2018 remake of the same name maintains everything that made the original so special, while also boasting the absolute best HD graphics that thirteen years of technological advancements can offer.
Best Open World Games For Feeling Weak & Underpowered
Some open-world games, like Elden Ring and Days Gone, keep the player on their toes by making them feel underpowered throughout their playthrough.
Shadow of the Colossus is undoubtedly the strangest and most distinct game on this list, as its huge open-world map takes a backseat while it focuses mostly on the epic encounters against the sixteen titular Colossi. While this may make the world seem insignificant at first, its addition is actually quite brilliant, as traversing along the map on horseback gives the player some much-needed moments of levity and relaxation, before they find the next Colossus that they’ll be forced to take down.
Satisfactory
Open Critic Score: 91
Back in 2024, it was almost impossible to visit the internet without hearing and/or reading the word Satisfactory, as Coffee Stain Studios’ base-building open-world game quickly became a major commercial and critical success, not to mention that it also managed to gather a large following in the span of a few months.
While both the combat and the exploration of Satisfactory are quite solid, this game focuses mainly on one aspect of its gameplay: the building. Collecting resources and building massive automated factories is incredibly satisfying, especially when it’s done with friends in its co-op multiplayer mode. In a way, Satisfactory feels like a more advanced and complex version of Minecraft, and it’s absolutely perfect for any aspiring engineers who may be interested in trying it out.
Minecraft
Open Critic Score: 90
The fact that Minecraft, the Indie darling that single-handedly redefined what an open-world sandbox game should be, has a score of 90 on Open Critic is undeniable proof of how densely packed the site’s list truly is. Nevertheless, it obviously still deserves that high score as it still has a massive player base that regularly spends countless hours inside its procedurally-generated worlds.
Minecraft is an extremely popular and timeless game, not only because it allows players to explore large maps full of mobs, biomes, structures, and resources, but also because it lets them put their imagination to good use and utilize those same resources to build all sorts of incredible constructs. At the end of the day, Minecraft is not just an open-world sandbox experience (and a very good one at that); it is also a tool for the most creative and inventive gamers out there to make whatever they want.
You’ll Stop And Marvel At The Breathtaking Sights In These Open-World Games
Open-world games are often known for their beauty. These games feature amazing sights that can stick with players forever.
