Favorite Open World worlds?

[noiseredux]

I know I'm opening the door for "Open World Fatigue" talk, but that's not my aim here. What I'm curious about is what are your favorite open worlds to explore and revisit, and why? I was thinking about this because I've been playing Witcher 3, which is a fine game. But I don't really 'care' about its world. I'm fine just playing the main quests and following the automap, y'know?

Which got me thinking about Skyrim and how much I love that game and its world and would purposefully not look at a map and never fast-travel. I just loved that world so so much that I was happy just exploring at my own pace, letting myself get naturally drawn into side-quests I stumbled upon. It's the kind of open world that I want to keep going back to.

The other - for a modern setting - would be GTA5. Like Skyrim's world, Los Santos is one I want to keep going back to. And actually in the case of GTA5, I would have been happy with nothing but the huge sandbox. The story was never as compelling to me as just wandering around and discovering all the crazy stuff going on be it in the thick of the city, the ocean or the mountains.

[ElkinFencer10]

Xenoblade Chronicles X is definitely my favorite open world. Not only is it (IIRC) the largest continuous open world ever to appear in a video game, but it's extremely diverse and has lots of little secrets and hidden areas to explore.

Fallout 4 is probably my #2, though.

[MrPopo]

Morrowind has been my favorite. It's got an alien quality to it that makes exploring it a treat. And the backstory has a fair amount of focus on the mystery of the disappearance of the Dwarves, which is still unsolved (and doesn't get resolved either).

[marurun]

Morrowind has been my favorite. It's got an alien quality to it that makes exploring it a treat. And the backstory has a fair amount of focus on the mystery of the disappearance of the Dwarves, which is still unsolved (and doesn't get resolved either).

This is my top pick, as well. Every little noon has a story to tell.

[Exhuminator]

For me it's the original Fallout's and Red Dead Redemption's. Fallout 1 just felt thoroughly authentic, and I'm a sucker for western scenery.

I'm sure there's plenty more great ones I haven't experienced yet.

[TEKTORO]

Deadly Premonition the suspense keeps you going the whole time, the town has its own agenda and it's a genuine creepy game with an awesome story.

Saboteur is objective based but there is a good variety on how to tackle each task, not super open world but open enough. Badass gameplay although the driving suffers much.

7 Days To Die damn you are literally really trying to survive in this game, no direction on what to do or where to go but work hard enough to build your skills you will be on a good path to survival so you can make it deeper and deeper into this game. The environment plays a big role on resources and finding new safe havens could never get old, plus the map is rather huge.

Saints Row & GTA both differ to me but like what both offer, Saints Row is Goofey, Gangsta and Pimpin all the way and GTA just has that polish you'd want from a Saints Row game with great missions/stories.

Dragons Dogma Honestly haven't played much but compared to Witcher and others similar, I prefer the elements in DD. Still need to dig deeper but has high potential to be a fav of mine.

Morrowind is my favorite Bethesda game and it's my favorite Elder Scrolls I just get sucked into this one which is enough for me as I don't need the others really.

[J T]

Skyrim. I didn't even try to play the game straight. I hiked. Took pictures. Kept restarting to use the character creator again. Fussed with mods. Picked fights with giants. Jumped off waterfalls. I think the game is about dragons or something.

[Ack]

Get out of here, stalker.

[Jmustang1968]

Warcraft/WoW'so world. So expansive and is rich with lore and history.

This one is kinda cheating, but Forgotten Realms. This world has so much depth due to the amount of content that has been put into it. Many games such as the Baldur's Gate series as well as books and table-toput campaign support are in this world.

[Xeogred]

You guys better hold me back...

- Vice City because it had a cool aesthetic.
- Crackdown because I felt its city had personality.
- Assassin's Creed 2 because the settings were actually interesting and gorgeous.
- Skyrim if only for Jeremy Soule and snow.
- I like New Vegas more, but Fallout 4's world design was way better and interesting.
- Phantom Pain did it right because it broke up areas into missions.
- Been a Far Cry fan with 2-4, but I'd say 2's world stands out the most for me.

The new Zelda will probably make the cut.

Other than that though, you guys know how much I hate this genre nowadays. There's still some games I want to check out, but it's an exhausting exception to make and 9 times out of 10, nothing about your gigantic world or level design is going to stand out when it just feels like something with a bunch of rocks and mountains slapped on.

Metroidvania and the Deus Ex style are the perfect middle ground for me.