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For someone who has never been into "open world" games, whats a good way to start?

RoadHazard

Gold Member
My favorites:

Breath of the Wild
The Witcher 3
Ghost of Tsushima
Spider-Man PS4/PS5
Elden Ring

Play God of War. It’s not a full on open world for the entire story, but it’s got an open world.

Good start.

No it doesn't. It has an open hub in the middle, but it's not really an open world at all. It's just interconnected, like Dark Souls.
 
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MMaRsu

Banned
If you want a cinematic experience with incredible performances and incredible characters in a fully realized world, Red Dead 2. If you want a theme park like World of Warcraft, any Ubisoft open world title will do. If you want a playground, Breath of the Wild.
How is wow a theme park lol
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
How is wow a theme park lol
World of Warcraft is literally the quintessential theme park MMO, a guided experience from level 1 to cap. You have exclamation marks telling you “start the ride here” and you are told precisely where to go and what to do to end the controlled experience.
 

Topher

Gold Member
AC Origins or Odyssey are really good modern introductions to open world games.

Most open-world games are good including ubisoft games, gaf just hates on them. The problem is, you will get fatigued really fast playing them all one by one. Just mix them with linear stuff.

I don't think most of GAF hates Ubisoft games. I think the ones who do hate them are just damn loud about it.
 

zephiross

Member
Witcher 3 / botw / ac origin.
This. I would personally add Cyberpunk 2077 for that urban environnement experience. I think it's one of the only games that gets the sense of scale right. It's one of the most immersive games to play imo because it really has a special atmosphere.

EDIT: AC Odyssey is also very good but either play this or origin depending on which setting you prefere, not both because they will burn you lol. I enjoy Origin more because it's more action/stealth and less RPG but that's personnal preference.
 
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First of all I just want to mention that i played a lot of Oblivion and World of Warcraft. Never got into Skyrim. So im not sure where that puts me in the totem pole of "open world gaming experience".

I have never played a GTA game.
Nor Zelda botw.
Nor RDR2, Horizon, Elden Ring, Fallout, etc.

So whats a good way to start? I mean i dont want to jump into something super hardcore right away, but neither do i want to waste my time with "fake" open world experiences. I want the real thing.
Breath of the Wild is probably the easiest to get into and still one of the best games ever done.

Aside from that, try Witcher 3, Fallout 3 or New Vegas (all amazing games in their own right). RDR2 is also supposed to be really good but I haven't played it yet. I'm currently playing Kingdom Come Deliverance and enjoying it's take on open world as well (smaller, more compact but still open) but dificulty is steep in that game for people not used to RPG's.

Avoid the likes of Horizon ZD/FW, Fallout 4, and anything ubisoft.
 
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MMaRsu

Banned
World of Warcraft is literally the quintessential theme park MMO, a guided experience from level 1 to cap. You have exclamation marks telling you “start the ride here” and you are told precisely where to go and what to do to end the controlled experience.
I dont know why you would call it a theme park lmao
 
I wouldn’t say BOTW because I’d recommend something more narrative driven.
(...)
Elden Ring if you can deal with ‘hard’ (but fair) games.
I wouldn't call Elden Ring a story heavy game either.
Ironically, Fallout 4 has the best open world out of any Fallout game and it's not even close.
It's super boring though.

I would recommend it to someone who is insomniac and needs to sleep.
 
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MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
It's super boring though.

I would recommend it to someone who is insomniac and needs to sleep.

It's not if you're looking for a chill exploration game. It's actually one of the best exploration games ever made. Is it a good RPG? :messenger_tears_of_joy:, no it's not. New Vegas is in a different league compared to Fallout 4 when it comes to quests or RPG mechanics.

But in terms of open world exploration, Fallout 4 is in major leagues. New Vegas is one of my favourite games ever made but I "only" clocked like 60 hours in it. I have twice as much in Fallout 4.

Explore → Fight → Gather → Build gameplay loop is addictive as hell. Just don't go into this game expecting an RPG.

Oh, and Far Harbour is actually an excellent Fallout story!
 
Ironically, Fallout 4 has the best open world out of any Fallout game and it's not even close.

open world design is great but without any good side quest it gets ruined and frankly the side quests were utter shit in F4. Put anntenas in 1000 places, build settlements, retrieve somehting from these 1000 places. Plus every unique location was just populated with generic enemies, like legendary mirelurk or whatever, instead of having unique creatures. Fallout 3 on the other hand has some really nice side quests like the town with the cannibals or the town with the superheores or the town with only kids and so on. Everything was unique in that game and thus makes its world superior to 4. Sadly playing Fallout 3 nowadays is a fucking nightmare due to how many issues it has. We need a remaster.
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
open world design is great but without any good side quest it gets ruined and frankly the side quests were utter shit in F4. Put anntenas in 1000 places, build settlements, retrieve somehting from these 1000 places. Plus every unique location was just populated with generic enemies, like legendary mirelurk or whatever, instead of having unique creatures.

Again, depends what you're looking for. If I want to just explore and chill I don't need any side-quests or a reason to go and explore. Cool that you like Fallout 3 world. Everyone who will look past terrible quest design in 4 will see that the map is simply amazing with many beautiful locations. There's not even a comparison to 3 and New Vegas is even worse in this regard (again, one of my top games).

Sadly playing Fallout 3 nowadays is a fucking nightmare due to how many issues it has. We need a remaster.

Is it? I play it from time to time on PC with community patch and it runs almost flawlessly.
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
Big disagree, Fallout 76’s West Virginia is far more interesting.

Maybe. I wouldn't know as I only played few hours. I wish there would be a way to play it offline because the fucking lag when I try to swing my fire axe at the enemy is making me ALT+F4 the game every time I try to get myself immersed in it.
 
It's not if you're looking for a chill exploration game. It's actually one of the best exploration games ever made. Is it a good RPG? :messenger_tears_of_joy:, no it's not. New Vegas is in a different league compared to Fallout 4 when it comes to quests or RPG mechanics.

But in terms of open world exploration, Fallout 4 is in major leagues. New Vegas is one of my favourite games ever made but I "only" clocked like 60 hours in it. I have twice as much in Fallout 4.

Explore → Fight → Gather → Build gameplay loop is addictive as hell. Just don't go into this game expecting an RPG.

Oh, and Far Harbour is actually an excellent Fallout story!
Well, that's an opinion I haven't heard before.

Thank you for your insight. It's the first game I purchased for PS4 but I've concluded it wasn't for me. If I ever go back to it I'll remember what you said and try to reach Far Harbour at least (but I doubt I ever will).
 
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MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
Well, that's an opinion I haven't heard before.

Thank you for your insight. It's the first game I purchased for PS4 but I've concluded it wasn't for me. If I ever go back to it I'll remember what you said and try to reach Far Harbour at least (but I doubt I ever will).

Main Fallout 4 is only fun if you ignore the main quest and just go and explore, find your own fun.

New Harbour is a great story, worth of a Fallout name.
 
Horizon Zero Dawn is baby's first open world game. It has all the tropes you will find in 90% of other open world games but also a better story than most. The open world is just right in that its not too big to get overwhelmed and not finish the game.

After that its the Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 for what an open world can actually accomplish if the devs are ambitious.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
I really need to return to FO4. I stopped my playthrough because I encountered a bug that stopped me from progressing a quest and it just turned me off.

I mean I finished the game three times already but this playthrough was the first time I ever bought the DLCs specifically the goty edition so I wanted to do everything in the main game first before doing the DLCs.

Sad part is I’m playing on survival mode so no previous saves before the bug. Also on console so I’m double fucked.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Maybe. I wouldn't know as I only played few hours. I wish there would be a way to play it offline because the fucking lag when I try to swing my fire axe at the enemy is making me ALT+F4 the game every time I try to get myself immersed in it.
I really encourage you to give it another shot and try playing a non-melee build utilizing their real-time VATS system. It’s clunky as hell, but you’ll find it worthwhile to explore their take on post-apocalyptic West Virginia. I enjoyed Fallout 4’s Boston a lot, but 76’s scenario is just infinitely better. So much to see, and a fantastic story depicting the conflict between corporate America and the exploited working class told through environmental storytelling and via the existing factions in the game.
 

Flabagast

Member
The Witcher 3 is the best open world of last gen bar none.

Otherwise Assassin's Creed Origins might be a good starting point. As you don't know the genre you will not get exhausted, the game does well on all the basic staples of this type of productions and has a really beautiful and reactive world to explore.
 

ParaSeoul

Member
Elden Ring if you've played previous Souls game so you can see the ups and downs of open worlds in real time.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
First of all I just want to mention that i played a lot of Oblivion and World of Warcraft. Never got into Skyrim. So im not sure where that puts me in the totem pole of "open world gaming experience".

I have never played a GTA game.
Nor Zelda botw.
Nor RDR2, Horizon, Elden Ring, Fallout, etc.

So whats a good way to start? I mean i dont want to jump into something super hardcore right away, but neither do i want to waste my time with "fake" open world experiences. I want the real thing.

Vice City
San Andreas

Pick one depending on what aesthetic you vibe with more (80s miami scarface pop or 90s LA gangsta hip hop). Avoid the most recent remakes…

These are good cuz they have fun open worlds but can also funnel you through fully featured voice acted stories if you want a focused narrative. Stone cold classics that have some jank by modern standards but are more than playable.
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
I really encourage you to give it another shot and try playing a non-melee build utilizing their real-time VATS system. It’s clunky as hell, but you’ll find it worthwhile to explore their take on post-apocalyptic West Virginia. I enjoyed Fallout 4’s Boston a lot, but 76’s scenario is just infinitely better. So much to see, and a fantastic story depicting the conflict between corporate America and the exploited working class told through environmental storytelling and via the existing factions in the game.

Man, maybe this is where I went wrong. Melee build. I played a little too much Fallout 4 lately so I'll wait until I get Fallout hungry again and give 76 another try.

on win10? steam version? how do you not get crashes constantly?

What did you install exactly?

I believe it was this one:

 
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Final Fantasy 12 one of the best games it has open world parts and half open world.Amazing battle system very addicting tons of fun and an great story.But it’s not truly open world like fallout or so.
 
Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Elden Ring.
R*.
Spider-Man.

Can't go wrong with any of these.

Avoid Ubisoft and Bethesda games, they are not worth anyone's time.
 
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Holammer

Member
I would go with BotW, GTA5 and fallout 4/New Vegas.
All of them great games, BotW is the closest to an actual open world where you can actually basically go anywhere with few limits once you finish the first tutorial bit.

Those are still games with story & structure, consider playing survival/crafting games like Valheim, No Man's Sky and Minecraft too for actual open worlds.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
So whats a good way to start? I mean i dont want to jump into something super hardcore right away, but neither do i want to waste my time with "fake" open world experiences. I want the real thing.
Depends on what exactly you're looking for in a open world and what you're calling fake/real. We tend to thrown them all together in the same category but different open world games can have largely different focuses.

We have sandbox type where the open world is just a venue for the mechanics (most common in racing/driving games as well as survival games like No Mans Sky and Minecraft), we have the kind where devs basically fill the world with a bunch of minigames and random events (GTA/RDR are the more well known for this, though i'd argue yakuza does it much better), we have the ubisoft/checklist type where you're basically just following markers, there are a few with more focus on actually exploring the world like Elden Ring or BotW or Outer Wilds, there are some who mix these concepts like Oblivion and Skyrim you already played. And naturally they come in all shapes and sizes.
 

Evil Calvin

Afraid of Boobs
Witcher 3

It has a great story and keeps you on the path. Easy to do and find side missions too

Many say BOTW but that one is too open and doesn't give direction. Good game but maybe not as a starting point.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Pretty hard to go wrong with GTA5? Witcher 3 also a great choice. And I would actually recommend Cyberpunk as well if you have the hardware. It eases you into the open world thing pretty well.

BotW might be a little TOO open for a starter game, like there's almost no narrative or structure ar all. It's also extremely overrated, though it's still a.decent game.
 
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Kabelly

Member
If you can wade through the sluggish first couple of hours (and generally deal with the sometimes frustrating mission fail triggers) of RDR2 you'll end up with pretty much everything you can ask for from an open world game. Then Elden Ring.
everything except good gameplay
 
Ryu Ga Gotoku games like Yakuza and Judgment series!
It's a small and extremely fun openworld!
 
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cireza

Banned
Phantasy Star on Master System. Best open-world I have played.
Zelda 1 on NES is also a great game in the genre.
 

kyliethicc

Member
My favorites:

Breath of the Wild
The Witcher 3
Ghost of Tsushima
Spider-Man PS4/PS5
Elden Ring



No it doesn't. It has an open hub in the middle, but it's not really an open world at all. It's just interconnected, like Dark Souls.
You realize Spider-man is just a bunch of linear Uncharted style levels in a big hub world right?

Many open world games are just hub + levels. Some just hide it better by using larger spaces or other trickery.
 
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video games dragon GIF
lightning video game physics GIF
Nah. Open world games have been done a to n better many times over since that overrated, janky, buggy copy-paste game.
 

Tams

Gold Member
100% Lego City Undercover like others have said if you are into all-ages type stuff.

The world just has so much to do.

BOTW is great, but the world is pretty dead and empty. The Witcher 3 is great story-wise, but the combat can be pretty shit.

If you like shooting, driving, etc. then Sleeping Dogs is great if you want a good story, and a Just Cause game if you want more of a sandbox.

Despite all the moaning, Far Cry games are good, as are Assassin's Creed ones. Choose one that has a theme that fits your fancy (it'll help paper over the cracks well enough).

Rockstar games (GTA, RDR) are fantastic if you get into them, but they can also feel quite dead and cliché if you don't chime with them.

Eldar Scrolls games are also great if you get into them, but despite them trying to give them depth, they are still very shallow and samey. I wouldn't really recommend them.


If you don't mind a semi-open world game, then I strongly recommend The Saboteur.
 
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nemiroff

Gold Member
everything except good gameplay
"Gameplay".. It's sometimes in the eye of the beholder, it can mean anything. Anyway, I don't care about reductionism as long as the overarching experience give me good value. I even liked the story, but Just roaming around trying to take in and explore the open world and its inhabitants was amazing in itself to me. Once I boarded a train, sat down in the back and just watched the world and the attention to detail go by, it was mesmerizing. How the game uses the open world is one of its strengths IMO. The game has its flaws though, the mission structure and execution (as I mention the mission failure mechanism is at times atrocious) could do with some polish, as well as the controls.
 
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