Best Open-World RPGs

Why it's here: This is my top pick, and the numbers back it up — 4.83 from 280,000 players, the most of anything here. It's the open-world RPG everything else gets measured against: a huge, hand-built world where the side quests are written as carefully as the main story, your choices have real weight, and there are multiple endings to chase. Players consistently praise the depth, the world, and the replayability. The honest knock is the combat, which a lot of people still call clunky, and some long stretches of leveling. Rated Mature. If you only play one game off this list, make it this one.

Why it's here: The open-world RPG that defined the last few years. It's FromSoftware's take on the genre — a vast, mysterious world that almost never holds your hand, built around exploration and deliberately punishing combat, with deep build variety and unforgettable boss fights. The 4.71 from 174,000 players tells you how well it landed. Fair warning: the difficulty is the whole point, quest tracking is near-nonexistent, and newcomers can bounce off hard. Rated Mature 17+. There's also online co-op for up to three if you want a hand. We've got a full Games Like Elden Ring page if you want more in this exact vein.

Why it's here: More than a decade on, this is still the open-world RPG I'd hand someone who wants pure freedom. Wander in any direction, build your character however you like through skill-trees and crafting, and lose entire evenings to side content and "just one more dungeon." The 4.74 from 101,000 players reflects how well that freedom holds up. The trade-off is age — some systems and the NPC writing feel dated next to newer RPGs here, and PlayStation players flag the odd bug. It's on PS Plus Extra, so it may be included with your plan. Rated Mature 17+. The benchmark for open-ended questing.

Why it's here: This is the open-world RPG to reach for if you want a modern, neon-soaked setting instead of swords and dragons. Night City is the star — a dense, vertical sci-fi metropolis you cut through with gunplay, stealth, hacking, and branching dialogue that genuinely forks the story. After years of patches and the Phantom Liberty expansion, the 4.53 from 208,000 players reflects a real turnaround from its rough launch. Some bugs linger and a few players still find choices light on consequence. It's on PS Plus Extra, and rated Mature. The standout pick for a story-driven RPG set in the future.

Why it's here: If you want an open-world RPG that's gorgeous and a bit more accessible, start here. You play Aloy in a post-apocalyptic world reclaimed by nature and roamed by machine-animals, and the hook is the combat — tactical, weak-point hunting that rewards setting traps and picking the right tool. The 4.75 from 210,000 players is among the highest on the list. The common gripe is that some side quests and open-world busywork get repetitive. Rated Teen — one of the friendlier ratings here — and on PS Plus Extra. A brilliant entry point if the Mature, punishing RPGs feel like a lot.

Why it's here: This is the most-rated game on the whole list — 313,000 players at 4.60 — so it has clearly connected. It's an open-world samurai RPG set in feudal Japan: fluid, stance-based combat and stealth across a stunning world with a real weather system, plus skill-trees and crafting to grow into. There's even an online co-op Legends mode for up to four. The few criticisms are minor — some janky traversal and unskippable cutscenes. It leans more action-adventure than deep dialogue-tree RPG, so set expectations there. Rated Mature 17+. A standout if "open world" for you means a beautiful world to get lost in.

Why it's here: If you want your open world grounded in real history instead of magic, this is where I'd start. It's a medieval RPG built on realistic simulation — combat that actually demands skill, resource-management, crafting, and choice-based quests, all set in a meticulously recreated 15th-century Bohemia. The 4.61 from 42,000 players backs up how immersive it is. The trade-off is patience: the combat is famously punishing, the save system is unforgiving, and the learning curve is steep. Rated Mature 17+. The clear pick if "open-world RPG" for you means real swords and real history, not sorcery — see our medieval games list for more in this vein.

Why it's here: This is the open-world RPG for people who like to tinker. On top of Bethesda's usual go-anywhere wasteland sits a deep settlement-building system, weapon and armour crafting, and a massive modding scene that keeps it alive years later. The 4.56 from 163,000 players reflects how much there is to do. The honest downsides come up a lot: it crashes, the main story underwhelms, and Bethesda's update-and-microtransaction decisions frustrate players. It's on PS Plus Extra, so it may be included with your plan. Rated Mature 17+. Pick it if building, scavenging, and customizing matters more to you than a tight narrative.

Why it's here: The bigger, better-looking follow-up to Horizon Zero Dawn, and a great open-world RPG in its own right. It keeps the machine-hunting combat and adds more verticality — climbing, gliding, diving — across a striking post-apocalyptic American West. The 4.63 from 63,000 players, and reviews single out the visuals and the improved side missions. The catches: it can get repetitive, the upgrade system is fiddly, and some feel the true ending is locked behind DLC. Rated Teen. You don't strictly need the first game, but playing them in order pays off — a polished, generous open world either way.

Why it's here: Reach for this if you want a party-based open-world RPG with companions you actually care about. It's a big BioWare game — political fantasy story, large regions to clear, a class-and-skill system to build into, and romance options that players still talk about. The 4.57 from 80,000 players reflects how much the world and characters land. The common complaints are clunky inventory, grindy filler zones, and some bugs. Rated Mature. A strong pick if you'd rather lead a party through a sprawling story than go it alone — and a natural next step if you like the fantasy RPGs higher up this list.

Why it's here: If you missed the Elder Scrolls game before Skyrim, this remaster is a fine way in. It keeps Oblivion's freeform open-world questing — go anywhere, join guilds, build a character through skill-trees — while rebuilding the visuals in Unreal Engine 5 and bundling every major DLC. The world and quest variety remain the appeal. Be warned, though: the 4.45 from 30,000 players is dragged down by a rough launch — frequent crashes, performance issues, and thin post-launch support, with some players recommending the original instead. Rated Mature 17+. Worth it for classic open-world questing if you can stomach the technical state.

Why it's here: This is the open-world RPG that turned Assassin's Creed into a full-blown role-playing series. Set in ancient Greece, it pairs huge, beautiful islands with branching dialogue, multiple endings, a deep skill-tree, and naval combat to break up the questing. The 4.52 from 96,000 players reflects how well the package holds together — reviews single out the story, the world, and the soundtrack, with the only real gripe being Ubisoft account hassles. It's on PS Plus Extra, so it may be included with your plan. Rated Mature. A great pick if you want a massive, story-rich open world you can sink 80+ hours into.

Why it's here: A more divisive pick, but a genuine open-world RPG worth a look. It's a Final Fantasy built around a road-trip — you and three friends drive across an open world, camping, hunting, and fighting in flashy real-time combat with AI party members. The 4.61 from 73,000 players reflects how much the brotherhood-and-the-open-road premise charmed people. The honest catch is structure: the story is famously disjointed, with chunks of plot pushed into DLC and tie-in media, and it gets more linear in its back half. Rated Teen, with online co-op for up to four. Pick it for the journey and the combat spectacle more than the plot.

Why it's here: The cult pick I'm glad makes the list. It's an open-world action RPG famous for two things: a flexible class system you can respec into at will, and physical combat where you literally grab and climb larger monsters. Your AI "pawns" round out the party. The 4.66 from 18,000 players shows how fondly its combat is remembered. It does show its age — the world can feel empty between fights, the story is thin, and pawn AI and inventory get clunky. Rated Mature. A great fit if you want open-world combat that still feels unlike anything else here — and the warm-up for Dragon's Dogma 2 further down.

Why it's here: The best open-world RPG you can start for free. It's a stunning gacha action-RPG with an enormous, ever-expanding world, an elemental combat system built around swapping between characters, and constant new regions and events. The 419,000 ratings — the most on the entire list — show the scale of its pull, at a solid 4.35. The catches are the free-to-play ones: a stamina/"resin" system that caps how much you play per day, a grindy endgame, and gacha pulls for new characters. Rated Teen, with online co-op for up to four. A genuinely generous open world to explore — just go in knowing the monetization model.

Why it's here: The most ambitious — and most divisive — open-world RPG here. It's Bethesda's spacefaring epic: a galaxy of planets to land on, deep ship-building and outpost crafting, branching dialogue, and a New Game+ that reframes the whole story. When it clicks, the sandbox freedom is the draw. But the 3.64 from 10,000 players is the lowest on this list for a reason — players cite crashes, repetitive procedurally-generated content, constant loading screens, and a main story that underwhelms. Rated Mature. I've included it because it's the definitive open-world RPG for space exploration, but go in clear-eyed: it rewards Bethesda-sandbox tinkerers more than story-first players.

Why it's here: A sprawling Viking open-world RPG, and the most divisive of the Assassin's Creed games here. The pull is obvious from the 4.08 across 83,000 players: a gorgeous recreation of Dark Ages England and Norway, a long Viking saga, raids, settlement-building, and endless quests and activities. That same scale is the problem — reviews repeatedly call it bloated and grindy, flag technical issues, and argue it strays too far from the series' stealth roots. It's on PS Plus Extra, so it may be included with your plan. Rated Mature 17+. Pick it if you want sheer quantity of open world and don't mind a long, padded ride — Odyssey above is the tighter Assassin's Creed RPG.

Why it's here: The long-awaited sequel to Dragon's Dogma, and a true open-world RPG for combat enthusiasts. It doubles down on the original's strengths — the climb-the-monster melee, the deep vocation/class system, and the AI pawns who learn and travel between worlds. When the combat sings, little else here matches it. The 4.05 from 38,000 players is held back by its launch: performance problems, a fast-travel system many found stingy, and a world that can feel thin between encounters. Rated Mature 17+. A pick for players who came for the fighting and the builds first — and a natural follow-on if Dark Arisen above won you over.