5 Best Open-World Games Of All Time, Ranked

While many video games feature their own immersive qualities, open-world experiences take this distinction to the next level. Whether it's sweeping fantasy realms or sprawling sci-fi metropolises, open-world titles present gamers with memorable worlds that are rewarding to explore. Beyond just serving as a backdrop for the main stories being told, these expansive environments help build out a given game's world and overarching narrative. Gameplay-wise, memorable open-world titles take advantage of their settings with loads of side quests and activities that keep players enthralled.

With so many open-world games available, we're highlighting those that stand above the rest, both in terms of utilization within the core experience and the quality of the environments themselves. We're looking at game environments that are extraordinarily detailed and feature-rich to keep players occupied for hours to come. Moreover, these environments don't feel like an absolute chore to traverse, but instead retain their underlying appeal. These are the five best open-world games of all time, ranked, with each providing delightful environments to get lost in.

After popularizing the Soulsborne video game genre with relatively linear titles like "Dark Souls" and "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," FromSoftware went open-world for its 2022 game "Elden Ring." The dark fantasy game is set in the ethereal Lands Between, with the realm's host of demigods corrupted by shards of the mythical Elden Ring. The player character, known as the Tarnished, embarks on a quest to restore the Elden Ring, defeat the corrupted demigods, and preside over the domain. The 2024 DLC expansion "Shadow of the Erdtree" has the Tarnished enter the Land of Shadow for a renewed conflict against the rogue demigods Miquella and Radahn.

"Elden Ring" arguably the most accessible FromSoftware Soulsborne game, with a relatively easier difficulty that still retains the precise challenge that the genre is known for. The Lands Between is a majestically conceived environment, and there are numerous genuinely awe-inspiring sights to take in. For those that survived the main quest, "Shadow of the Erdtree" feels like its own game, significantly adding to the world's sheer scale. A beautiful dark fantasy nightmare to explore every nook and cranny of, "Elden Ring" stands as FromSoftware firing on all cylinders.

In terms of progression and gaining access to additional areas of the map, "The Legend of Zelda" has typically offered something similar to a Metroidvania experience. This all changed with 2017's "Breath of the Wild," providing players with an open-world exploration of its newest iteration of the fantasy realm of Hyrule. Revived a century after Calamity Ganon and his corrupted Divine Beasts ravaged the kingdom, Link sets out to defeat Ganon for good. Link traverses Hyrule, growing stronger, regaining his lost memories, and liberating the Divine Beasts as he prepares for a final showdown with Ganon in the ruins of Hyrule Castle.

"Breath of the Wild" is one of the best open-world games ever and a stunning reinvention of what "The Legend of Zelda" can become. The game's vision of Hyrule is familiar to franchise fans, but markedly unique at the same time, repositioning its fan-favorite communities and iconography in exciting new ways. Once players emerge from the starting location and its tutorial, they're granted freedom with how to proceed, fueling bizarre ways gamers have beaten "Breath of the Wild" since its launch. Perfectly accessible to longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise alike, "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" marks a rebirth for the long-lasting fantasy property.

Rockstar Games released a thoroughly cinematic and immersive open-world experience with 2010's Wild West game "Red Dead Redemption." The 2018 prequel "Red Dead Redemption II" depicts the exploits of the Dutch Van der Linde gang primarily back in 1899. As the Wild West and frontier outlaw way of life begins to come to a close, tension surfaces within the gang, putting protagonist Arthur Morgan on the defensive. As this internal strife boils over, Arthur and the gang try to carry out one last score to retire while being pursued by the authorities.

There are so many things about "Red Dead Redemption II" that are too good to be true, creating an even more expansive vision of the Wild West. The saga of Arthur Morgan and his drive to end his banditry on his own terms is beautifully staged across a sweeping vision of the frontier. The number of activities has increased from the preceding game while the attention to detail in bringing this period piece setting to life is truly remarkable. As fantastic as Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto" games are, the depth and breadth along with the emotional story behind "Red Dead Redemption II" goes far past it.

Bethesda Softworks has been making acclaimed open-world games for some time, but the pinnacle of its efforts in this arena remains "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." The 2011 fantasy game takes place in the titular northern and mountainous region of the medieval continent of Tamriel. Set 200 years after the events of the previous game in the "Elder Scrolls" timeline, Skyrim has descended into a brutal civil war. As the player character picks sides within this conflict, the region contends with sudden dragon attacks led by the formidable Alduin.

"Skyrim" expands significantly upon the foundation laid by "Oblivion," with each community boasting multiple activities, including side quests and characters to interact with. The guilds and factions in the game are more richly developed than preceding entries, each with more engaging quest lines to complete. The dragon encounters feel much less obtrusive and repetitive than the Oblivion Gates in "The Elder Scrolls IV," each providing their own tangible rewards. Still standing as the definitive Bethesda Softworks game, "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" holds up magnificently 15 years later.

After releasing one of the best fantasy games of all time with "The Witcher III: Wild Hunt," CD Projekt shifted to a very different open-world adventure with "Cyberpunk 2077." The game is set in the sprawling near-future metropolis of Night City, which is effectively run by the sinister Arasaka Corporation. The player character, known simply as V, is hired to recover a drive held by Arasaka containing the digital personality of revolutionary figure Johnny Silverhand (voiced and modeled by none other than Keanu Reeves). After Johnny is accidentally uploaded into their mind, V must find a way to separate the virtual echo from their subconsciousness or eventually lose control of their body.

The level of freedom and wealth of options available to players throughout "Cyberpunk 2077" is truly breathtaking and sets a new standard for open-world games. Night City is a haunting futuristic city, full of glamorous vice and packed with countless small details bringing the cyberpunk setting to life. The sheer breadth of customization and experimentation spreads to the character creation and modification systems, with players encouraged to cybernetically enhance V. One of the most immersive science fiction games ever made, and certainly one of the most ambitious, "Cyberpunk 2077" stands as another masterpiece from CD Projekt.