8 Best Open-World Games Where You Can Create Your Own Path
Throughout the years, open-world games have evolved significantly, taking advantage of the various unique game mechanics at their disposal. Implementing several NPCs to give players side quests, powerful weapons, and resistant armor, there’s no shortage of things to discover. One of the main things that makes open-world titles so great is the choice that players have in their characters’ stories, and how they interact with others.
7 Open-World Games Where Your Choices Really Matter, Ranked
Open-world games have a lot to offer players in various regards. However, the best titles are those where choices matter. Here are some of them.
In some open-world games, players will take on the role of a very powerful individual, whereas in others, they will be an ordinary person who must face insurmountable odds. Whatever the case, being able to choose the life they want to lead is always something players welcome. Here are some of the best open-world games where players can create their own path.
8
Outer Wilds
Explore, Discover, And Learn In 22-Minute Adventures
- Players have to decide where to go and what to do
- The open-world isn’t big, and the game doesn’t feature any RPG elements
- Premise: The sun goes supernova and destroys a planetary system, trapping the protagonist in a 22-minute time loop.
When we think of “open-world freedom,” we usually picture vast lands stretching into the horizon, promising seemingly endless opportunities. Outer Wilds is not one of these games, and its sandbox is not absurdly big or overwhelming. However, the game forces you to carve your own path, to the point of centering progression entirely around player-driven exploration and discovery.
With no waypoints or forced objectives, you have no choice but to jump into your spaceship and explore the planets in this solar system, all in the hope of acquiring knowledge that will eventually paint a full picture and hopefully break the time loop. Outer Wilds doesn’t have RPG mechanics or build options, so it offers a different type of freedom.
7
No Man’s Sky
The Universe Is Your Playground
- Players define their goals
- Planets can get samey after a while
- Premise: Survive and explore an endless, procedurally generated universe.
Hello Games’ once mocked flop is now rightfully hailed as one of the greatest open-world games ever, and the developer worked tirelessly to complete this redemption story. In some ways, No Man’s Sky is the ultimate “you decide” game, as players are in full control of their journey’s direction, priorities, and goals. While you might eventually want to reach the center of the universe, that is a minor element and can be largely ignored in favor of discovering your preferred place in this universe.
Thanks to an impressive run of free updates, No Man’s Sky is nowadays extremely flexible. You want to peacefully explore different planets in search of materials? Go ahead. Want to engage in trade? Become a trader. Want to be a space pirate? Yeah, that’s possible. With no traditional progression or optimized builds, players are completely free to write their stories without sticking to a script.
6
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
You Decide Where Link Goes And How Long His Adventure Lasts
- After the intro, the whole world becomes available
- The only must-do plot point is to defeat Calamity Ganon
- Premise: Link wakes up from a long sleep in a post-apocalyptic Hyrule, and he must end Calamity Ganon’s influence.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild embodies this topic, at least in terms of open-endedness. While you cannot really change Link in any meaningful way, you are entirely in charge of his adventure. After the Great Plateau, Link finds himself staring across Hyrule and towards a decrepit castle that is nowadays home to Ganon. The hero must defeat his arch nemesis, but that’s all he must do. Everything else is optional, and foolhardy players can immediately sprint toward the castle and take on the final boss, difficult as that path would be.
8 Best Open-World Games Where Exploring Freely Is More Rewarding Than The Main Story
These open-world games do offer a main story campaign to complete, but their settings are so immersive that exploration almost always takes priority.
With no zones, locks, or fixed order of quests, BOTW simply lets players wander freely, a journey that naturally leads them to allies, enemies, shrines (aka puzzles), and opportunities to test out Link’s new abilities. The game is anti-checklist in a big way, prioritizing player-driven exploration that rewards creative problem-solving.
5
Cyberpunk 2077
There Are Different Endings For V Depending On Players’ Choices
- Carefully crafted futuristic dystopia
- Players can choose how V’s story ends, with the game offering quite a few different endings
- Premise: With Johnny Siverhand along for the ride, V must endure Night City’s high-tech corruption as he tries to save his own life.
When Cyberpunk 2077 was first released, it had a rough start among players as there were many performance bugs, and a good number of details to iron out. However, CD Projekt RED worked on every one of them over the years, and the game is now one of the best dystopian futuristic titles out there.
The game offers one of the best atmospheres in open-world titles, as well as a wide variety of weapons, side quests, and NPCs. Along with many character choices that impact the story’s progression, Cyberpunk 2077 supports multiple playstyles, be it stealth, gunplay, or melee. Missions can often be approached in different ways as well.
4
Minecraft
You Literally Carve A Path
- Infinite possibilities thanks
- Players set their goals
- Premise: In a block world, build, survive, and thrive.
Well, of course, Minecraft belongs in this article. The biggest game ever is all about carving your own path and creating your own fun. Using procedural generation, each world is technically different and stretches for what seems like forever, meaning that exploration is almost entirely driven by curiosity, since you can mostly ignore the whole “defeat the Ender Dragon” part.
Although their viability changes slightly depending on the chosen mode, players can generally opt to become survivalists, builders, engineers, or explorers, and the community has created some truly impressive works of art using Minecraft‘s blocks. More so than nearly any other open-world game, Minecraft rewards creativity and imagination.
3
Fallout: New Vegas
Cruel Choices Have An Impact On Companions
- Players can choose violence or diplomacy, depending on the situation and their skills
- Siding with different factions will result in multiple endings
- Premise: A courier survives betrayal in the Mojave Wasteland, choosing alliances and ideologies that decide the future of New Vegas and the region.
Most Fallout games fit this topic to an extent, but New Vegas is the best overall example. Obsidian’s spin-off combines Fallout 3‘s modern (for the time) accessibility with the RPG freedom of the classic isometric entries, reaching a middle-ground that has allowed the game to appeal to an absurdly wide audience. New Vegas follows a non-linear structure, where players can take on major conflicts in different orders or even ignore them entirely. Their choices impact the main quest, and that also goes for their character’s personality.
Obsidian tends to lean into role-playing above action, and New Vegas is a prime example. The game supports an impressive range of build and character options that meaningfully change the experience, as players can decide to be everything from a cold-blooded killer to a pacifist.
2
Red Dead Redemption 2
High Honor Runs Have Different Outcomes In Many Situations
- Amazing game mechanics and immersive narrative
- Players’ Honor level can change the outcome of a few situations
- Premise: An outlaw on the run faces a changing America, choosing loyalty, honor, or survival as his gang slowly falls apart in a vast frontier.
Red Dead Redemption 2 opens with a lengthy snow section that sets the tone for the rest of the game, while acting as a tutorial. On top of its likable characters, interesting plot, beautifully designed locations, and exciting gunplay, Red Dead Redemption 2 also features a complex Honor System.
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Open-world games are masterfully crafted with beautiful stories, but sometimes end tragically.
If players decide to use Arthur to kill and rob the innocent, they will have Low Honor, whereas if they choose to help those in need and greet strangers as they walk down the street, their Honor will be high. Arthur’s Honor level can greatly change how certain situations unfold. A good example of this is one of the last debt collection missions that Leopold Strauss sends Arthur on, as its conclusion changes greatly depending on the protagonist’s Honor.
1
Elden Ring
Carve A Path Through The Lands Between
- Build variety
- Non-linear progression is the norm
- Premise: A fallen Tarnished explores a shattered realm, battling demigods and uncovering lost power.
FromSoftware perfected the Souls formula with Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, and then the developer rewrote it for Elden Ring. A shift to an open-world was by no means guaranteed to work, but The Lands Between’s brilliance lies in its sandbox nature. After completing the introductory section, players are dropped into the world and effectively told to have fun, which means head forth and follow your heart. Although certain bosses must be defeated, you are left to your own devices on how to get there and in what order you tackle them.
Beyond the world itself, Elden Ring‘s customization options are absurdly impressive for a game of this scale, and your build is essentially your path. Opting to focus on Magic instead of Strength results in a wildly different experience since it impacts pretty much every fight in some way or another.
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