I don't usually like open worlds, but I still loved these games

Lately, a lot of my playtime has been spent collecting fossils and Banandium gems Donkey Kong Banana. DK is just so satisfying to control, between roll jumping, grass surfing, and his light climbing, that it's a joy to hunt down each of these collectibles across the game's many layers. The thing is, though, it's rare that I'm inclined to do that over large, open levels. I don't mind collectathons per sebut I often just grab what's needed to progress instead of every little item on the map. However, this is not always the case.

Banana isn't strictly an open world game, but there are many titles that have had the same effect on me. Often I like the concept of an open world title, but just find it too intimidating to dive into them and stay fully engaged throughout. These titles are the exception though, open worlds that I enjoyed from start to finish.

5

Ghost of Tsushima

The Endless Wonders of Tsushima

As a history buff, it was the setting for Ghost of Tsushima which first got me to try the title. Through the PS Plus catalog it was actually “free” (through the familiar bogus math), so I had nothing to lose by trying it out. The stunning graphics and cinematic action kept me engaged for just a few moments, and as the island began to open up I was more invested than I had been in a game in a long time. One of my gripes with open world titles is a busy UI full of icons, objectives and sub-objectives, and Tsushima removed a lot of it. It's the wonderful world that takes center stage, and just like with the sequel Ghost of Yotei, the sidequests are substantial and worth tackling. In fact, Tales of Tsushima provides invaluable, deeply emotional insight into Jin's allies and their own stories, making them just as engaging as the main campaign (and huge distractions from it).

Of course, there is some busy work in the game's side activities, but they encourage further interactions with the game world and, above all, tend to offer a tangible reward. Increase the spirit meter via successes in, for example, bamboo strikes, or increase Jin's maximum HP by taking a dip in hot springs scattered around the world. The Iki Island DLC added its own cutscenes and, among other things, tested your skills with a bow. The story of Jin's fight against the Mongol invasion, and with his own morality, combined with the game's constantly rewarding and engaging exploration, made this an open-world adventure I couldn't resist.

4

Marvel's Spider-Man

Doing what a spider can

Historically, the webhead has been treated better by the gaming industry than many cartoon characters. The PS1 has an iconic Spider-Man game and 2004's Spider-Man 2 is both an excellent film adaptation and a very solid open world title that really makes you feel like Peter Parker as you swing around the city. But in 2018 Marvel's Spider-Man reached a whole new level that I, as a huge fan of the character, couldn't get enough of.

For me, traversing in open world titles can sometimes feel like a real hassle. Fast travel helps a lot with this, of course, but using it too much can make the world feel a bit redundant. What Insomniac did here was to give each web swing a satisfying sense of speed, allowing skilled players to build a rhythm that made traveling around this bustling metropolis a joy. With a high stakes story that mixed battles against a whole rogues gallery with incredibly heartfelt and emotional moments, I think this was a true masterpiece. The spontaneous events around town and collectibles like the backpacks were also fun to pursue. The varied gadget-based combat is my favorite element of the game though, for the way you can put things together and pull off some ridiculous combos.

3

Grand Theft Auto 5

Our Plucky Trio Fall Foul Of The Law

That was it Grand Theft Auto 2 that really made me embrace the series. I would spend hours searching the map for an ice cream truck to steal. The garage was my favorite place though, as adding these mines or Smith and Heston machine guns to my vehicle was just an incredible concept to me at the time. I lost touch with Grand Theft Auto game some time afterwards, but with the much ballyhoed GTA 5I returned to the series in a big way.

There's so much to see and do in Los Santos, and the stat boost works in such a way that the more you perform certain acts, the better you get at them. It seems like a simple thing, but practicing flying planes and being rewarded with smoother control of them showed me one thing: There is value in almost everything you do in the game. I enjoyed the journey of the three protagonists in developing their criminal empire and creating my own Grand Theft Auto Online expanded the game's vistas even further. I've spent hours just driving the city highways with the radio on, and it's a real rarity for me to engage with an open world to such an extent.

2

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

An epic journey across the seven seas

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag was my very first PlayStation 4 game, my introduction to what was then a whole new (to me) generation of console gaming. I had even bought myself a big new TV by this time, and Black flag I went absolutely crazy when I saw it in motion for the first time. I spent way too long on that opening island, enjoying the view and the ease of the parkour. As already noted with Donkey Kong Bananawhen a character feels incredibly satisfying to control, I'll park myself around the map much longer than I usually do, and I enjoyed capturing the game's sea shanties, treasure chests, exotic resources, Abstergo fragments, and other collectibles.

There is a pleasing variety in the size of the islands in the game, from huge settlements to those that are just patches of land. Depending on the time I had available that session, I could either pick up all the collectibles from Havana, or simply pick up some buried treasure, or liberate a waterfront fort. The parallel stories unfolding in and out of the Animus were intriguing, as Edward sought the observatory against the backdrop of the golden age of piracy while the mysterious hacking of the Animus caused problems in the present day, but I was glad that the later episodes were short. After all, I had a lot of sailing to do with my admiring pirate crew.

1

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

A blasted hyrule stretches before you

I was particularly worried when it appeared The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be open world. First, as I think we've successfully established, this is not usually my kind of experience. Second, the concept of “open-world Zelda” just made me think of the Great Ocean i Wind Wakerwhich was less than riveting to traverse even with access to the warps speeding things up. After an hour or so of playing the game, however, I had found another open world title that I couldn't help but love, despite myself.

It's a revolutionary, magical adventure that rewards exploration. Of course, sometimes it also punishes it severely, as many who tried the old “go straight to Ganon at the start” and were not ready for it found out. It's a huge, absorbing adventure, but one that I didn't find too daunting because it could easily be broken up into decent-sized sessions with a shrine or two. Similarly, scaling and activating turrets revealed the world in sections at a time, so I didn't feel too overwhelmed all the time. A lot of the time my focus wasn't on progress as such, but on experimenting with cooking ingredients, building up a new arsenal of weapons (no, I'm not a fan of the breaking mechanic) or working on a puzzle. In the end, I didn't have it in me to play the game 100%, but I did finish a long playthrough that I had a lot of fun with from start to finish.