10 Best Open-World Games

Open-world games have increasingly become the norm over the past decade or so, with games like and helping to show how engaging expansive exploration can be. At the same time, a lot of open-world titles end up falling prey to repetitive design elements and lackluster environments. When an open-world game does click, it's because it rises above these pitfalls with consistent creativity and a meaningful world to explore.

Although RPGs are particularly common among the greatest open-world games, they certainly aren't the only option, with action-adventure titles and more proving viable contenders.All of these games would be great even if they offered less freedom and content, but the fact that they're bursting at the seams with things to do helps them rise to the top.

There have been a lot of great co-op games over the years, and the best of the best cover a wide variety of genres while maintaining the fun.

The series has always pushed boundaries with huge worlds to explore, starting with the absurdly impressive showing that the first game made on the Wii. might be the most show-stopping yet, with an enormous map full of gorgeous vistas and varied terrain. It isn't the biggest in the series, an honor that still belongs to, but it feels like the most complete package overall.

follows the series tradition of marrying philosophical concepts with familiar Japanese RPG narrative elements, and how appealing that package sounds will definitely define how enjoyable the game is. For anyone who loves that sort of thing, packs in engaging combat, excellent music, and a lengthy adventure. Whether it's the best game to ever bear the tag is a hard question to answer, but as far as open worlds go, this one's hard to beat.

The games didn't reinvent the open-world wheel, building off the basic formula popularized by Ubisoft games like and They did hone it into something that stands out, however, and might be the best game of its sort. A post-apocalyptic future where machines roam