One thing that I’ve always loved about video games is their ability to immerse me in an imaginary world. It’s probably one of the reasons I enjoy open-world games so much. I can’t really explain why, but I’m just one of those people who loves exploring every inch of a game world for the best views or any secret areas I might discover.
It’s probably the reason why I’ve finished every quest, side-quest and NCPD mission available in Cyberpunk 2077 recently. It’s another example of me delving way too deep into a game’s world. What can I say, I just get a kick out of games that let me story my own way. And that’s why I’ve been playing open-world games for as long as they’ve existed.
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Because we all need a safe space once in a while.
Yup, I’m old enough to have seen and played every generation of open-world games that consoles and PC have had to offer. Which means I’ve had a front row seat to see how they’ve grown and influenced each other over the years as well. Some have definitely risen above others to be massively influential across the gaming landscape as a whole. These games and the worlds contained within them stand above the rest as monumentally influential.
10
The Legend of Zelda
The Adventure Begins
In many ways, you can trace modern open-world games back to their 8-bit roots with The Legend of Zelda. The quintessential adventure game drops you into the world of Hyrule with nothing. And if you skipped going into the cave on the first map tile and grabbing the sword, you’d have quite a short adventure. That’s my point though. Zelda required players to discover how to play through exploration.
If you couldn’t get past a point because you needed a bomb or a raft, odds are there was somewhere you hadn’t looked at yet that hid your solution. The game is still a fun experience to this day and worth a playthrough if you’re a fan of retro titles.
9
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Making New Frenemies
Perhaps the greatest Lord of the Rings video game ever made, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor may seem like your average open-world upon first glance, but its proprietary Nemesis system made it something for the history books. As you took on Orc generals and raided their strongholds, they’d remember your victories and defeats. Your enemies could rise up the ranks by kicking your butt or be replaced by new leaders after you chopped their heads off.
The dynamics of the Nemesis system ensured that Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s open-world environment felt one of constant change. Of course, you could imagine my personal surprise when I found out there was a second area in the game after killing just about every Orc on my nemesis tree. A ranger’s work is never done.
8
Far Cry 2
Let it Burn
While the Far Cry series may feel a bit lather, rinse, repeat at this point, when Far Cry 2 launched it was a revelation. The game boasted a massive map inspired by African savannahs and allowed for a new level of environmental interaction. I can’t tell you how many times I have been in shootouts that started massive brush fires that would keep spreading out of control in FC2.
The way you can use the environment to your advantage and approach most combat scenarios from any angle you could think of has become a staple for most open-world games, especially when it comes to Ubisoft’s massive catalog of open-world titles. And much of that Ubisoft style of design had its roots in Far Cry 2.
7
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Monster Mash
I think that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has a few things going for it that have made it influential over the years. For one, I think it benefitted from the fact that there was plenty of lore from the long-running series of Witcher novels before the series became a game. Having a well-formed world and a main character in Geralt of Rivia meant more immersion for players.
It didn’t hurt that the Continent was a lush fantasy environment full of giant monsters either. While it’s a third-person action RPG at its core, the combat feels unique as it’s a blend of setting traps, using magic, and relying on your sword fighting skills to be victorious. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes so many aspects of the first two games and perfects them and that makes it easy to see why it’s such an influential title.
6
Fallout: New Vegas
The House Always Wins
When the Fallout series went first-person with Fallout 3, it was a pretty big moment. But, if I’m being real, I find its vast, bleak wasteland dull and overwhelming. Then Fallout: New Vegas came on the scene and quieted many of my issues with 3’s gameplay. It was a brighter world that streamlined many of the RPG elements and gave us a more lively, if not dangerously radioactive, world to play in.
Many fans still consider Fallout: New Vegas the best entry in the series and I’d have to agree with them. If you haven’t played this amazing entry in the Fallout franchise, and you’re a fan, you owe it to yourself to take it for a spin.
Fus Ro Dah
On the opposite side of the coin from Fallout there’s the fantasy epic that is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game puts you in a massive open world and lets you carve your own path and tell your own story. It’s just such a huge world with so much to do and so many ways to discover your next quest. There’s really no wrong way to be Dragonborn.
Between depth, aesthetics, and immersion, these spaces are a fundamental part of their works’ greatness.
In many ways, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the closest we’ve ever gotten to a first-person D&D game. Skyrim has also had a very long shelf life thanks to one of the most active MOD communities out there. The freedom that Skyrim allows you has been supremely influential to modern open-world RPG designs.
4
Minecraft
Building Worlds
I think the reason Minecraft has had such an influence on open-world games is that it’s basically digital LEGOs meets survival crafting. You can spend your days just building cool stuff with your friends in private servers or see if you have what it takes to survive in a world populated with all sorts of players. Either way, Minecraft lets you tell your own story through mining and exploration.
Players have been able to build all sorts of amazing things in Minecraft, like scale models of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise or a functioning virtual computer. The open-endedness of all of Minecraft’s modes and its signature pixelated style have helped it remain influential since its launch.
3
Elden Ring
It’s Rough Out There
I’m not personally the biggest fan of games like Elden Ring that are tough as nails. They tend to kick my butt, hard, but that didn’t stop me from trying it out. It was just too pretty and intriguing to not give a try, even if that meant immediately getting crushed on the beach by a giant tree monster. Yet that unforgiving, tough-as-nails gameplay is exactly what makes it so influential. It took the already challenging formula of games like Dark Souls and made it even more brutal by letting you wander off in whatever direction you saw fit right away.
I’ve actually tried playing Elden Ring a number of times just because I’m so intrigued by the world and its many amazingly designed monsters. While I find that I personally fall short on the skills needed to get good at such a game, it’s easy to see why so many games are taking a cue from Elden Ring these days.
2
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
You’ll Figure it Out
In many ways, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild starts you off like its 8-bit forefather by letting you loose in the land of Hyrule to do as you see fit. Where it really becomes an innovative and influential title, though, is how quickly you learn to survive by just playing the game. The rules of BotW are set up as such that you’re expected to make some mistakes and figure them out as you go along. Maybe that means having a sword break in the middle of a fight, or it could mean trying out different combinations of ingredients to make the best meals possible.
And between all the hidden temples and Korok seeds to be found, there’s an almost endless amount of enthralling exploration. It also feels like a lot of games ended up using BotW’s stamina meter after it came out. The Zelda series has always been known for having some of the best open worlds to explore, but BotW really knocked it out of the park.
1
Grand Theft Auto 3
Getting Wasted
This is where the current generation of open-world games began in a lot of ways. Grand Theft Auto 3 was one of, if not the first game, to let players cut loose in a massive city map and just be a little chaos goblin. You could do missions, sure, but most gameplay sessions with friends became everyone passing the controller around trying to see how long they could survive with five stars going.
There was just nothing like GTA 3 before it came out. And since its launch, we’ve seen the proliferation of open-world third-person games on the market that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Just about every genre you can think of has at least one open-world title amongst its ranks and that all started here in many ways.
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