vailable on: PS4, PS5 Although you may be surprised to find a samurai game full of swords, blood and violence in a list of the best open-world games to play right now, hold back your shocked faces. Away from the sword clashing, Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima(opens in new tab) is surprisingly zen. Craft haikus whilst you marvel on a peaceful lake,
Geralt isn’t perfect. His surroundings aren’t perfect either. War ravages most of the countryside, with bloodthirsty creatures who don’t even stick to the shadows anymore preying on innocent civilians, while others try to keep their identity secret in the human-dominated landscape. Yet that’s what makes The Witcher 3(opens in new tab) the best open world game to play right now. Because everything is broken in its own special way, there’s always something plastered on peeling notice boards for Geralt to do (for gold, of course). Stick to the dirt country roads and help villagers with the monsters baying at the door while they look at you and your yellow eyes with suspicion, negotiate with a well-meaning poltergeist in the middle of a city, or just uncover all those mysterious question marks dotted over the map. The Witcher 3’s imperfect world makes for a perfect game, meaning it’s set an incredibly high bar for the future of open world games.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC (Playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X) Doesn’t matter if you want to hunt. Doesn’t matter if you want to try and help Dutch achieve his elusive goals, and it definitely doesn’t matter if you’d rather just try to own the fanciest rootin’ tootin’-ist wardrobe in all America: Red Dead Redemption 2 is absolutely packed full of activities to keep you busy as soon as you step foot in its world.
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PC Come on, GTA 5(opens in new tab) was always going to be in the top three best open-world games. You know it. I know it. It’s the most successful entertainment product of all time, for Christ’s sake! Driving through the winding streets, taking advantage of certain adult clubs, skydiving, stabbing sharks with knives, tracking a serial killer, running from the police (or fighting them if you’re thirsting for that 5-star wanted rating), going full Trevor and causing as much chaos as possible,
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PC Available on: Nintendo Switch See that mountain? You can climb it. You can also attach octopus balloons to a raft to float into the air, or turn a fallen tree into a deadly projectile. Mixing up the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild(opens in new tab)’s ingenious mechanics is what makes its open world so deliriously freeing as it encourages that special breed of mad scientist experimentation so it’s no surprise that it’s one of the best Nintendo Switch games(opens in new tab)
Available on: PS5, PS4 Horizon Forbidden West has done was many sequels have failed to do before, and bettered its original. Delivering a much larger and far richer open world than the original, with every side quest offering something new and interesting to the one you've discovered before. Aloy's latest adventure is stunning and utterly memorable, with quite the graphical display of what the PS5 can do if you can play it on the latest hardware.
Available on: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC Perhaps one of Elden Ring's greatest assets as an open world is the air of mystery that shrouds almost everything in it. Good open world games thrive on their power to make you wonder 'what's over there?', and all too often repeating mechanics like towers to climb and enemy bases to clear mean you already know
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X All of the recent Assassin's Creed titles have been excellent open-world games, but Assassin's Creed Valhalla is definitely one to check out - particularly because it's already one of the best Xbox Series X games and best PS5 games. Building on the improvements made with Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Odyssey (both of which are very worth your time), Valhalla takes you to the Dark Ages,
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X Skyrim’s world doesn’t revolve around you. Somewhere in the wilds there’s a necromancer trying to animate a skeleton. At the same time during the day you’ll find a pack of bandits taking on a giant (R.I.P.), or wander into a nearby village only to have a dragon attack it when you’re stumbling out of the inn. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim(opens in new tab) is made for stories, and it’s so eager for you to sample its delights that
Available on: PS5, PS4 Marvel's Spider-Man was one of those rare games that reinvigorated super hero games. Launching initially on PS4 and later getting a PS5 patch, Insomniac's game has us swinging through a beautiful recreation of New York, filled with epic side quests and other activities to balance out the equally memorial story.