Open world games with hidden factions that completely change the story

Open world games are made up of several different components, from gameplay to level design, but arguably the most important aspect is the story that ties everything together. While it's nice to have a series of intense action sequences, a strong story is incredibly important because it gives players a reason to keep going and a motivation for being in the world in the first place. Aside from the plot, many open world games have a lot of emphasis fractions and groups of characters. Whether they're good, bad, or somewhere in between, they often become the main focal points for large parts of the game. However, sometimes these factions can actually be a bit more obscure and under the radar, tucked away in hidden areas or behind long, elaborate quest lines, while still having a big impact on the overarching story.

Finding these groups is a real treat, as they almost always offer a whole new perspective on a topic or point of view in the world that players might never have come across otherwise. Some are out for blood and some are out for revenge, but the main thread that binds these hidden groups together is the ability to make real waves in the world without stepping too much into the limelight. In many cases, the primary factions take center stage, pulling players in one direction or another and showing them one side of the story they can choose to follow as their adventure progresses. Yet for many players, minor factions and underground organizations In fact, it may prove more interesting and compelling because it offers a long list of strange and fascinating characters with enough ambition and power to make a real difference, despite their seemingly small scale.

Fallout: New Vegas

A whole world dictated by alliances

• Stories from the past are reframed by different factions.

• Groups like Boomers can play a huge role in later quests.

Fallout: New Vegas it hides some of its most important thematic material in factions that are never positioned as major powers on the surface. The remnants of the Enclave, for example, can be found scattered across the Mojave like broken veterans, quietly reframing the entire history of the land on the surface. Their existence confirms that the most powerful figures of the old world did not simply disappear; they simply failed, grew old, and were forgotten over time. Their presence in the world also makes the central conflict feel more like another chapter in a much larger story that will continue long after the credits roll.

Other groups, such as the Boomers, are presented in a completely different way to serve their own unique purpose. Isolated, paranoid, and technologically dangerous, they represent how various groups have managed to survive in the wasteland, some creating larger civilizations, or in this case isolating themselves from the main crowd. These factions are fairly easy to miss, but once detected, they transform New Vegas from a political shadowy situation to a much more meditative experience that explores ideas of legacy and the inevitable nature of history, presenting players with a story that reaches far into the past and will almost certainly continue into the future.

Lots of underground nations and societies

• Several underground groups are hidden from prying eyes.

• They have a huge influence on the politics and governance of the world.

Skyrim it has plenty of surface factions that are easy to come across, but the hidden ones tell a much more complex story of power and manipulation and the consequences that come with it. Revealed deep into the Thieves Guild story, the Nightingales introduce a Daedric influence into what at first appears to be an established crime story. Their existence turns the guild into pawns in a divine pact rather than mere outlaws, adding a mythological weight that completely negates the impression that the players are acting on each other from the get-go.

If players don't like thieving, then Blades might be for them. Once legendary Dragon Slayers, they now exist as relics clinging to outdated ideologies, forcing players to face the costs of blindly following tradition. Meanwhile, non-aligned factions like the Psijic Order quietly suggest that Skyrim's political struggles are insignificant compared to the forces operating from outside time itself. These subtle extras transform an otherwise traditional fantasy narrative into a much more complex one centered around divinity, and in the end present much deeper questions that players will have to answer for themselves.

Elden Ring

Dictate the Fate of the World

• Entire endings are dictated by faction loyalty.

• No signs to guide the player to the next step in the quest.

Elden Ring is already an ambiguous game in basically every way imaginable. Even when characters are placed on the beaten path, their stories can often take a few Google searches to even get going, but the most transformative quest lines are hidden even further behind the veils and shadows. A raging flame is discovered through a willful transgression that requires players to descend into restricted areas and reject leadership entirely. Aligning with this faction not only unlocks the ending; it also paints a completely different picture of the entire world as a cosmic error deserving of destruction.

Those who live in death offer an even quieter but equally disturbing perspective. Through Fia's questline, immortality is revealed not as a corrupting force, but as a haunted state of existence. This faction exposes the hypocrisy of the Golden Order and turns the Erdtree from a symbol of life into a tool used to exclude those who disagree with its values. Rather than adding flavor or expanding the main plot, these factions actually rewrite the story in major ways, revealing a world built on much darker themes of fear and repression than those in power have outlined. In a sense, tying these groups to specific endings is actually a secondary reward for discovering them, the first being the revelations that come from following the characters across The Lands Between and learning more about the dark history that's tucked just beneath the land.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rival Clans Of All Shapes And Sizes

• Darker elements are otherwise absent from the main story.

• Different kinds of companies hide behind closed doors.

Red Dead Redemption 2 it hides its most disturbing factions away from its cinematic main story. The Night Folk, which you'll only encounter when exploring a few select locations like the Bayou, present a horror element that strips away the boundaries of romanticism. Ritualistic and far from any natural exploration, they raise questions about civilization and its integration with the wild, which is otherwise completely absent from the main narrative.

There are multiple examples of fringe groups like the Murfree Brood serving a similar purpose with the Grizzlies. Unlike Dutch's group, the Murfrees have completely abandoned any pretense of ideology, becoming a group that perfectly mimics what unchecked isolation and violence can create given enough time. There may not be any main quests or alliances in these factions, but what they do offer is a major tonal shift that reminds players that the West isn't just dying because of progress, but because of the weight of those who linger in the shadows.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Full stories hidden under

• Large groups covering several different periods.

• Implications about the story before and after the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt rarely puts its most influential factions front and center, yet there are several examples of camps and tribes that can do just as heavy lifting as any other group in the game. The Scoia'tael exist mostly on the fringes, talked about in hushed tones or encountered in morally ambiguous side quests, but despite their mostly surface-level presence in the world, their war against humanity remains a major point of discussion that delves deep into a conflict that isn't about good versus evil, but about systemic oppression and broken treaties.

The eternal fire works even more subtly, it is talked about much more than it is explicitly seen. Their presence is felt through witch-hunts, public executions, and terrible NPC dialogue rather than direct confrontations, and the lack of head-on confrontations adds more mystery to a group that pulls the strings far more than even Geralt can imagine. They show how belief systems can become weapons and how large groups of people can be controlled by ideology alone, turning the story of heroic destiny into something much more elaborate.