Despite being over a decade old, Skyrim still cited as one of the best open world games of all time. But that accolade doesn't come from its great storytelling, as many players found the pacing to be a little off, the main antagonist mediocre, and critics have argued that an RPG of this magnitude should have far greater implications for players' actions and interactions with characters in the world.
Longest Open-World Game
Even the most sophisticated player will be confused by the sheer scale of these games. These are the open world games that take the longest to beat.
The game's mediocre plot hasn't set much of a dent in its legacy, but there are still other open-world titles out there that manage to do a much better job of telling a compelling story. Over the years, gamers have been gifted heart-wrenching adventures across historic landscapes, sci-fi journeys that explore the deepest parts of the mind, and even games within Elder scrolls franchise manages to achieve a higher level of narrative excellence.
Red Dead Redemption 2
An emotional journey through the Wild West
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the gold standard for open-world storytelling, revered as one of the most emotionally wrenching and immersive video game experiences ever made. Its slow-burning narrative follows Arthur Morgan's moral unraveling within the collapsing Van der Linde gang, with a heavy focus on loyalty and tragedy, as the story builds to an incredibly powerful climax hailed as a signature achievement in the open-world genre.
Where Skyrim takes players on a wider journey, RDR2 places a significantly higher amount of narrative weight on individual characters. Each mission feels purposeful and not just filling in the gaps between locations, and what really elevates the story are the performances of the cast, who really bring the characters and story to life in a way that no other open-world game ever has.
Ghost of Tsushima
Goes fully into the spiritual realm
Ghost of Tsushima tells a deeply human story that keeps things grounded in an authentic Japanese setting that's as beautiful as the story itself. Players follow Jin as he wrestles with his internal struggle for honor, forced to choose between tradition and his people in the midst of the brutal Mongol invasion, where many decisions will result in either sacrificing a part of himself or a person close to him.
8 games that let you go everywhere without limits
Restrictions on exploration are never fun. These games take that to heart and let you explore wherever, whenever and however you want.
Skyrim chooses to spread its storytelling across a series of seemingly disconnected quests that merge at certain points, but Tsuhima manages to maintain a constant thread that ties each mission to the main story. And the story itself plays out not just in a select set of tasks across the world, but in almost every action the player takes, with smaller side quests feeling impactful even in a small way, and even the world itself seems to play a role in developing Jin into the character he becomes by the end of the game.
Death Stranding
Stick with your own thoughts
Death Stranding takes a completely different approach to storytelling that sets it apart from almost every other game in the open world genre. Entering a ghostly world, players must slowly make their way from place to place, dropping packages and learning more about the current state of humanity and the potential future that awaits them.
Where the game goes dark Skyrim is inside how ambitious yet well executed the story is. The story can get quite convoluted at times, but thanks to the acting, cinematic presentations and creative world-building, every moment carries a sense of meaning, making the player's actions have much more meaning than a series of fragmented events.
Fallout: New Vegas
A journey in the middle of the conflict
Fallout: New Vegas is widely considered to be one of the best examples of a true branching story in an open world setting. Set in a wasteland full of moral greyness, players are caught between warfare and political disruption, with all the freedom they need to control the outcome of individual characters and the fate of the world itself.
Compared to Skyrims simpler hero's journey, New Vegas delivers a much more nuanced story that values ideologies and philosophical decisions over spectacles. Players can side with evil or good, or even take a path completely unique to them, but no matter what decisions they make, the conclusions will always feel cohesive, even when things deviate far from the typical path.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Find meaning through others
The Witcher 3 takes players on a journey into one of the most impressively designed open worlds, paired with an equally impressive story. Geralt's search for Ciri provides an emotional backbone that remains throughout the story, underpinning each mission with a sense of personal significance, but even when players embark on side quests, things always feel impactful.
What puts it above Skyrim is its narrative focus that keeps players on a constant path toward a set goal, whether they're deep in the woods or exploring a bustling city. Each path leads to a new branch of the same story, and as players progress, so do the world and characters, making the game feel more like a living storybook than a linear narrative experience.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Actions always have consequences
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
10/10
- Released
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+/Use of alcohol, blood and grime, sexual content, strong language, intense violence, partial nudity
- Developer
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Warhorse Studios
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 builds on its predecessor's dedication to realism and historical accuracy by elevating every minute of action and interaction to a new level of authenticity. The story is a grounded tale of revenge that follows players on a journey through peasant towns and royal courts, each showing the harsh realities of real medieval life.
6 Best Open-World Games with a Focus on Realism, Ranked
Everything doesn't have to feel real, but these amazing open-world games are ridiculously realistic.
Far from the fantastic quest lines Skyrimit finds its strength in its humanity, as the drama feels personal and the decisions the players make carry weight because of how close they feel to reality. That focus makes the game feel like a reinvention of the RPG genre, taking players on a journey that's an exploration of what it means to be human and not an escape from the real world.
Cyberpunk 2077
What is real and what is manufactured
Cyberpunk 2077 has emerged as one of the most narratively powerful open-world games ever made, with CD Projekt Red showing that their talents extend far beyond medieval fantasy. V's journey through Night City is both intimate and epic, exploring identity and freedom in a world ruled by corporations and technology.
The writing does a lot of the heavy lifting, especially between the characters, making the cutscenes and bits of dialogue feel much more immersive than those in Skyrim. NPC relationships also play a much larger role than they do in other open-world games, giving players a greater incentive to pay close attention to small interactions, as every subtle detail can become important later.
The Pinnacle of Fantasy Storytelling
Before Skyrim, Morrowind delivered one of the most intricate and mysterious stories in RPG history. Set on the strange island of Vvardenfell, it tells a story of corruption and rebirth that intertwines with religion and politics, tying each character to the same central plot. Each character has a backstory, and there never seems to be an episode that doesn't have a purpose in the larger context of the story, something later entries often suffer from.
Where Skyrim simplified its story for accessibility, Morrowind embraced complexity by demanding a level of commitment and curiosity from the player. It never holds players by the hand, instead inviting them to uncover the meaning of the world through exploration in a way that feels more natural and rewarding, tying the story directly to an organic sense of discovery.
Open-World games that are still hard to live up to
Despite the constant technological development of the gaming industry, these open world games have remained virtually untouched for years.
