We're living in an open-world golden age.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 If there's one thing, and there aren't many things, that we can all agree on when
00:03 it comes to video games, it's that, boy, there are a lot of them.
00:07 No matter your preferred genre, game length or mechanics, we're all bound to miss out
00:11 on a gem here and there.
00:12 That's perhaps no truer than when we're dealing with open world games, which often,
00:17 but not always, take a lot of time to get through.
00:20 Nobody would blame you if you opted to pick up a sure thing like Skyrim over the games
00:24 on this list, but I'm betting if you have played any of these, you can attest to the
00:28 fantastic gaming experiences that can be found beyond the front page of digital storefronts
00:33 on your platform of choice.
00:35 Now obviously, inevitably, some of you will have played these games, but if you haven't,
00:39 our title holds up, and if you have, hopefully we can have a good little nostalgia trip in
00:44 the comments.
00:45 I'm Jess from WhatCulture, and here are the 10 best open world video games you didn't
00:49 play.
00:50 10.
00:51 Eastshade Eastshade is a combat-free open world adventure
00:53 game that's achingly pretty.
00:55 The game kicks off with you shipwrecked on potentially the world's prettiest island,
01:00 inhabited by a bunch of humanoid animals and other critters.
01:03 While you won't be battling it out, you will be doing a good handful of other things,
01:07 like exploring, crafting, creating paintings, completing side quests, and a few more, well,
01:14 eccentric activities, like solving a crime and playing matchmaker between a couple of
01:18 bears.
01:19 It's an odd little game that won't be to everyone's tastes, which makes it easy
01:23 to overlook, but if you can get past the technical stumbles and it sounds like your thing, it's
01:28 a rare gem of a gaming experience.
01:31 9.
01:32 Biomutant Another great open world game with an eye-catching
01:34 art style is action RPG Biomutant.
01:37 Trading out the all-too-common colour palette of grey, brown, and more grey, Biomutant instead
01:43 decides to paint its open world and colourful characters in vivid hues.
01:48 While some people found it a little rough around the edges, it earned praise for the
01:51 flexibility with which you can build your character, the ability to blend playstyles,
01:56 nuanced RPG mechanics, and letting you choose what kind of fuzzy anthropomorphic mammal
02:01 you want to be and how you'll treat those around you.
02:04 This one doesn't reinvent the wheel, and as a result its critical success wasn't
02:08 much to write home about, but the combat is slick and satisfying, there's plenty of
02:12 quests to cross off for that dopamine hit, and the world is just really pretty and fun
02:17 to be a part of.
02:18 There's a ton of different skills and abilities to spec into for the RPG fans, dynamic action-oriented
02:24 combat for the action buffs, and an adorable protagonist for those of us who just want
02:28 to say "awww look how fuzzy!"
02:30 If you ignored this one because it didn't get Gangbuster review scores, you may want
02:34 to give it another chance.
02:35 8.
02:36 Pathologic 2 There's a few reasons this one might have
02:39 passed you by.
02:40 It's a sequel, it's brutally unforgiving, we're dealing with a heavy dose of weird,
02:45 and it's more than a little spooky.
02:47 If you can deal with that though, Pathologic 2 is a heck of a game you don't want to
02:51 miss.
02:52 The 2019 adventure survival game casts you as a man who once left the strange town and
02:57 has now returned to find it plague-ridden and strewn with bodies.
03:00 You'll need to manage your time as you'll be playing on a clock, and there is a nuanced
03:04 decision-making system that can have dire consequences.
03:08 NPCs will give you quests, you'll need to balance your resources, manage your hunger
03:12 and health, and unravel the story to get to a satisfying end point.
03:16 Pathologic 2 might be extremely difficult as survival games go, but it's rewarding
03:21 when you discover a path forward, and its mysteries are incredibly enticing.
03:25 Some players were admittedly put off by its bugs and difficulty, but if that sounds like
03:30 something you can handle, its positives are more than worth it.
03:33 7.
03:34 The Forgotten City Given this one began as a mod for Skyrim,
03:37 it's a really impressive standalone game.
03:39 In this really clever RPG, you find yourself in an ancient Roman city, cut off from the
03:44 rest of the world, and, it seems, the rest of time.
03:47 You'll take on various side quests from the city's other inhabitants as you learn
03:51 more about your predicament, unravel the mysteries of the strange place, and try to figure out
03:56 why everybody turns to gold when somebody breaks a specific set of laws.
04:01 This one easily could have flown under your radar, as the original mod was made by just
04:05 a single developer, and even the full game was only made by a small Australian studio.
04:10 Despite all that, the result is pretty darn special.
04:12 There are a multitude of endings to achieve depending on your choices and how much of
04:16 the story you unraveled, and piecing together the puzzle as you go is immensely satisfying.
04:21 If you're one of those who didn't try it out for one reason or another, and you're
04:24 a fan of unique open worlds with enthralling narratives, this one will be right up your
04:29 alley.
04:30 6.
04:31 The Pathless This is an open world game that you might
04:33 not have played because it came out at the end of 2020 in an absolutely packed release
04:38 period.
04:39 If you're anything like me, you might remember The Pathless when it debuted at the Game Awards
04:43 in 2018 with a very cool trailer, and perhaps you also didn't even realise that it launched.
04:49 Which honestly can happen when you bring out an indie game in November, the busiest release
04:53 month of the year.
04:55 Those who did play it, though, could tell you The Pathless did a pretty darn good job
04:58 of delivering on its promises.
05:00 The game has a gorgeous aesthetic, satisfying traversal controls, and smooth hunting mechanics.
05:05 The dashing mechanic that enables you to move faster the more you shoot targets to maintain
05:09 momentum is pretty cool in action, and the world design is an absolute treat.
05:14 Though the game was criticised for being repetitive in some sections, boss fights were praised
05:18 for their intensity and level of challenge, the soundtrack is lovely, and the vivid colours
05:23 and lighting used throughout the map are enchanting.
05:26 5.
05:27 Gothic 2 I'm going to guess you fall into one of two
05:30 categories here.
05:31 You either haven't played Gothic 2 and our title holds up, or you have played Gothic
05:36 2 and think "more people really should play Gothic 2".
05:38 This is a game you might have missed since it wasn't a universal critical success compared
05:42 to some other early 2000s RPGs, but for those willing to put a little more work in to wade
05:48 into the challenging signpost-free game world, Gothic 2 is really something special.
05:53 Made by Piranha Bytes who also created Risen and Elex, two more games that could be right
05:58 at home on this list, Gothic 2 is a perfect example of Eurojank.
06:02 It's a genre that doesn't appeal to everyone, but these rough-around-the-edges experiences
06:07 can be oozing with charm, dozens of different mechanics, and inspired game worlds peppered
06:12 with interesting characters.
06:13 Gothic 2 may indeed be two decades old now, but if you missed out on it, it could well
06:18 be one of the best fantasy role-playing experiences you've ever played.
06:22 4.
06:23 The Saboteur In 2009, Pandemic Studios released The Saboteur,
06:27 an action-adventure set in Paris in the 1940s.
06:30 The open-world game casts you as an Irishman fighting for a French resistance group in
06:35 World War II, though you engage by sneaking about and sabotaging behind the scenes instead
06:40 of through all-out combat.
06:41 The intriguing art style is also gorgeous as the open world is initially coated in a
06:46 black-and-white filter, which falls away revealing the natural colors beneath once you liberate
06:52 each of Paris' boroughs and its surroundings.
06:54 Beyond its compelling unique qualities that set it apart in the genre, The Saboteur also
06:59 delivers super enjoyable moment-to-moment gameplay.
07:02 Despite all that, it actually didn't see any wild critical or commercial success, so
07:07 it could have easily passed you by.
07:09 But hey, it's on your radar now.
07:11 3.
07:12 Greedfall Now, the last time I compiled a list of RPGs
07:15 that were sorely underrated which more people should have played, I did not put Greedfall
07:19 on it, and we're not going to make that mistake again.
07:21 This is another unique game that might be overlooked simply because it isn't from a
07:25 AAA studio.
07:26 The action RPG was released in 2019 by French studio Spiders and published by Focus Home.
07:32 The setting blends fantasy and 17th century colonialism, which was music to the ears of
07:37 some and off-putting to others, resulting in a bunch of people giving the game a miss.
07:42 Under the hood, though, there's well-balanced Witcher-esque combat, a gorgeous game world
07:46 to explore, and genuinely satisfying RPG progression alongside a healthy dose of challenge, particularly
07:53 in boss encounters.
07:54 This is yet another game that you could have missed out on if you saw one or two bad reviews,
07:58 but if it sounds like your thing, don't be put off.
08:01 2.
08:02 Immortals Fenyx Rising If there's one thing we're trying to convey
08:05 in this list, it's that just because a few major outlets may not have loved a game doesn't
08:10 mean you won't, and Immortals Fenyx Rising is another great example of that.
08:15 Cast aside by a good number of people for being Breath of the Wild Light, a good number
08:19 of people didn't even try their hand at this one on reputation alone, which is a darn shame
08:24 because it's a pretty entertaining game in here.
08:27 It may not have garnered the scores for you to run out and pick it up as a must-play,
08:31 but Fenyx Rising has a grand, colourful world replete with mythical beasts to best, intricate
08:36 puzzles to solve, and a story to unravel.
08:39 The combat is satisfyingly complex, there are powers to utilise, and unlike a lot of
08:43 these very serious RPGs, Fenyx Rising isn't afraid to have a bit more fun with itself.
08:49 Dialogue is often amusing, and the whole narrative plays out as a story being told to Zeus by
08:54 Prometheus.
08:55 The humour is a really lovely touch, as is the vivid, oversaturated game world, because,
09:00 as we said earlier, we've really had enough of Grey.
09:03 If you played Breath of the Wild and wanted more of that vibe, but in a smaller package,
09:07 Fenyx Rising gets the job done.
09:09 1.
09:10 Mad Max Mad Max is such a bizarre case - I remember
09:13 everyone talking about this game before it came out, and then it seemed like next to
09:17 no one played it because it wasn't universally critically acclaimed upon release.
09:21 That remains true, but it's a massive shame because the one person I know who did play
09:25 it absolutely loved it, and if that happens to be you and your friendship group, I'm assuming
09:30 you agree with me.
09:31 The 2015 action-adventure was made by Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, and while
09:36 it was criticised by some reviewers for having a lacklustre story, there's a lot to love
09:40 in there too.
09:41 The compelling world design and sprawling sandbox offers up the ideal playground for
09:45 vehicular combat, exploring and action encounters.
09:49 In particular, the game was also praised for its exciting weather effects, impressive map
09:53 scale and unique regions.
09:55 Perhaps most importantly, Avalanche just did an excellent job of bringing the enthralling
10:00 and violent world of Mad Max to a video game experience.
10:03 Though many gave it a miss because of its uneven review scores, those who vibed with
10:07 its strengths are really glad they gave it a go.
10:09 That's the end of our list, but do let me know down in the comments if you can think
10:13 of any other open-world video games that not enough people have played.
10:17 As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
10:20 If you like, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account where I'm @JessMcDonnell,
10:25 but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.