The 10 Best Open World Games in 2024

Open-world games are among the most popular gaming genres today, with a dozen aspects that captivate players to spend up to hundreds of hours exploring their contents and secrets.

Whether as a samurai looking to save their home, a space traveler, a hunter of dinosaur machines or even on a journey with friends and/or as the chosen one to save the world, this genre brings some of the most striking titles in recent times.

In this article, we present ten of the best open world games today based on their popularity, mechanics, critical reception and their sense of immersion with players!

10 - No Man’s Sky

Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series

No Man’s Sky is one of the absolute premier open-world experiences available on modern consoles. Its theme around intergalactic travel and exploration between planets, each with its own distinct fauna, flora and life forms, makes this one of the greatest titles of its kind ever created.

Its expanding universe, with mechanics of survival, discovery and territory construction make this an inspiring title that rewards players for their creativity and dedication while seeking to keep the experience light and fun, being ideal for fans of sci-fi and space exploration who seek an immersive adventure beyond the stars.

9 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Platforms: PlayStation 5

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth sounds like a love letter to the original game released in 1997, featuring a vast open world divided into regions with distinct fauna and flora, some with highly complex levels of exploration and all with dozens of content, quests and materials to be collected.

While it's not the prettiest or most immersive of open worlds, FFVII Rebirth stands out for its innovative take on bringing to life a vast world known to many of its fans, with a map meticulously designed to bring a unique feel to each region while its cities sound extremely vivid, with bands playing in bars, dialogue about recent events between NPCs and the feeling of being immersed in a map that, before, we only saw with a few polygons.

8 - Grand Theft Auto V

Platforms: PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC

Few worlds feel as complete, alive and full of activity as those in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and GTA V remains one of the best open worlds eleven years after its official release.

Los Santos is still one of the most vivid cities in games, and the possibility of traveling through it with three different characters makes everything more immersive and fun, despite the random absurdities that we can encounter while walking down the street.

Furthermore, the GTA series is known for the freedom given to its players, and while we wait for Rockstar Games' next title to revolutionize the open world concept, Grand Theft Auto V remains a great choice for the genre.

7 - Horizon: Forbidden West

Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC

The story of Aloy and her search for answers in a world where wild mechanical dinosaurs are part of the planet's ecosystem begins in Horizon: Zero Dawn, but it was in Horizon, Forbidden West that Guerrilla Games' series became known as one of the most beautiful open worlds of the current generation.

Aesthetics are a key point in the Forbidden West. The way the grass moves, the sun passes through the trees, the water through the rivers and the chracters and monsters' movements make everything extremely vivid and exciting to explore, giving even more color to Aloy's journey full of twists and turns, creating a one of the best adventures of the current generation and a title that deserves the attention of any fan of action games.

6 - Ghost of Tsushima

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC*

Considered by many one of the most beautiful open worlds of all time, Ghost of Tsushima puts you in the role of Jin Sakai, a samurai from Tsushima Island who survives the massacre in the battle of Asamo Bay and decides to give up his honor and bet on subterfuge to save his home.

The island is one of the most satisfying open worlds to explore. Each detail of it brings some new information about an event that happened there or even a sign of an event that may be occurring nearby, for example, when following smoke in the sky.

Another very elegant detail is how Ghost of Tsushima makes use of visual resources such as the wind or birdsong to guide the player to side quests and other activities, creating a real sense of reward when exploring the map instead of following from point A to B - all while Jin hones his skills and forms alliances against the Mongol army.

5 - Elden Ring

Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC

There's some strange beauty in traveling through a vast, detailed world where absolutely everything that breathes (or not) in it wants to kill you - and has the potential to do so if you're careless!

Elden Ring set a new precedent in Soulslike games by merging famous elements from the Dark Souls series with a vast world where the player can build their story and explore every corner the way they prefer.

Each item, boss and region in the game has its own story and enriches a lore as vast as the world itself, with an intriguing narrative using the formula already known in Hidetaka Miyazaki's works, where the details illuminate the player's knowledge of the world and characters.

Despite not being a game for everyone, Elden Ring is one of the best open world games ever made, being a must-play for those looking for a good challenge.

4 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, PC

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim dictated the way open-world games were constructed upon its release and became one of the most influential titles in the genre of all time, and 13 years later, it is still one of the most immersive, complete and fascinating open world title in gaming history.

In the role of the Dragonborn, players choose their race and origin and travel through the vast regions of Tamriel shaping their stories, creating alliances and exploring dungeons, uncovering the secrets of the dragons. The lore surrounding this world is gigantic and the sense of freedom and number of quests is so comprehensive that it's easy to get lost and just wander aimlessly between each region, discovering its secrets.

With a very active community to this day and support for mods keeping the game lively, Skyrim remains one of the industry's absolute open-world, sandbox experiences, and a must-play for any RPG fan.

3 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC

Geralt of Rivia was already famous among literature fans and with the first two games in The Witcher saga, but it was with Wild Hunt that he conquered an entire generation and became one of the most iconic characters in the recent industry.

The world in The Witcher 3 may not follow sandbox standards, but the way it mixes its narrative with freedom to explore the maps, do quests and find secrets and new challenges makes Geralt's adventures extremely immersive in the game, giving that feeling of satisfaction when finding a hidden cave with treasure or even a map to the blueprints for a new armor.

Furthermore, the characters surrounding the Witcher are extremely captivating and feature some of the best dialogue of their generation, in addition, of course, to the player's ability to shape the destiny of the kingdom, Geralt's romances and even the life or death of other characters during the journey.

2 - Zelda: Breath of the Wild / Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Platforms: Nintendo Switch

Exploration has always been part of The Legend of Zelda and was one of the factors that made Ocarina of Time one of the best games ever, but it was with Breath of the Wild that the franchise gained a new look completely focused on the open world, and the result was to launch one of the best games in Nintendo's history, acclaimed by fans and critics.

The stakes have been doubled in Tears of the Kingdom, a sequel that puts Link in the role of saving Hyrule again in dozens of areas ready to be explored while improving many of its predecessor's resources and further exercising the player's creative capacity by controlling engines, machines and other elements to build what is needed at each moment.

Far beyond just an open world game, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom give a new identity to The Legend of Zelda, making it one of the main reasons to have a Nintendo Switch in 2024.

1 - Red Dead Redemption 2

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

As we mentioned with GTA V, Rockstar is known for revolutionizing open world concepts, exploration and offering a lot of freedom to the player - and no title exemplifies each of these aspects as much as Red Dead Redemption 2.

Arthur Morgan may not captivate every player, but the activities around America at the beginning of the 20th century bring an innovative level of immersion, with activities of all types at all times and the possibility of exploring everything everywhere - there is a priority on reproducing not only the conflicts, but also the lifestyle of that time in the simplest of activities.

Other highlights include the high level of realism in the game's physics, the unpredictability of what can happen on the map as a reaction to your attitudes and the story around Arthur and his arc as the plot unfolds, in addition to the many activities and missions available It's easy to get lost or spend entire days just doing simple activities.

The wealth of visual and narrative details in Red Dead Redemption 2 are references to this day when we discuss the most beautiful games of recent generations and certainly leave another historic legacy from Rockstar to the industry, making it the best open world game today!

There are several other titles available between consoles and PC that may please many other players. It all depends, in the end, on what kind of journey you are looking for in an open world game.

The RPG guise may not please some, while it captivates others to live as a traveler in the lands of Tamriel, or to be in Aloy's shoes, facing colossal machines and exploring the jungles. Others, however, may prefer the sense of realism and immersion of Arthur Morgan's journey, or even a story more full of magic and the fantastic with Cloud and his friends.

We recommend that you try each game and find which niche you like best, and thus, look for other works and genres that fit what you are looking for in an open world adventure.

Thanks for reading!