Most RPGs, and games in general, often feature save-the-world, or at least save-the-kingdom plots. It’s a common trope, but as long as the story is filled with engaging characters and quests along the way, then the end result doesn’t matter as much. In open-world games, even though they may be guided to the end goal master, players may find themselves uninterested in following the critical path.
Best Open-World Games That Let You Customize Everything
These open-world games offer freedom beyond expansive areas to explore by letting you customize almost everything in sight.
They may even find themselves tired of combat and normal gameplay loops, which is where these games come in. If players want to build a life and get distracted for a bit, then these games are the best way to live out a digital paradise.
Minecraft
Just Have Fun
Minecraft doesn’t force players into worrying about some sort of epic quest, as it’s just a sandbox where they can do whatever in. If they want to arm themselves with the best gear to fight monsters at night or underground, then they can do that.
However, the game is more about building a life wherever they want, be it in a normal house with a little garden or a full-fledged village with players acting as the mayor. The mechanics are simple to pick up for the new or experienced, for whoever wants to check Minecraft out.
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Friend Island
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is set up in a blocky world with similar gameplay mechanics to Minecraft, but there actually is an ever-looming darkness that wants to destroy the world. Chapter by chapter, players can do the bare minimum to rebuild villages back to prominence after monsters destroyed them, or they can really rebuild them nicely.
If players really want to take a break from the action, then they can go to an island detached from the story, wherein they, and three other friends online, can build and run a village together.
My Time At Sandrock
A Sandy Marriage
My Time at Sandrock is set within a dusty area, seemingly where nobody wants to live. That’s where players come in as a new adventurer determined to rework the land to build a life for themself and to help their town grow.
It does have decent action-based gameplay and a story, but the scope of it is minimal. Through and through, this is a life-sim wherein players can decorate their house, plant crops, and even choose a partner to marry.
Palworld
Live Free With Your Monsters
Palworld can essentially be likened to Pokemon meets Minecraft without the blocky world. Players can create their character, drop into the world, and then choose where they want to set up camp. Here, players can build a home, plant crops, build fences, workshops, and so on.
Best Open-World Games That Let You Do Anything
Freedom is everything in these open-world games.
What makes this game unique is the monster-catching mechanics, as players can use them as partners in battle, mounts, and they can even be assigned tasks at the base. There is an underlying story, but it’s not important to the gameplay.
Grounded 2
Shrinky Dinks
Grounded 2 is still in Early Access, but it’s already a bigger game than its predecessor, showing that Obsidian Entertainment has come a long way. As one of the chosen children, players will continue their existence as a shrunken hero, this time in a new backyard.
The main goal is not to save the world, but to become normal again, which is important. However, players can also choose to make the best of a bad situation by gathering materials in the world or by fighting bugs. Homes, furniture, weapons, armor, and more can all be forged.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Nuts And Bolts
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is three times bigger than the previous game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, thanks to the underground and sky islands. Ganon is threatening to return again, so there is a world-ending event always at play.
However, unlike the last game, players won’t merely get lost in exploration as they delay the inevitable. They can now build things like houses and makeshift vehicles, leading to endless creativity in this massive version of Hyrule.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Welcome To Dondoko Island
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth does feature a big plot involving a cult and former Yakuza running amok in Hawaii, but it is nowhere close to an end-of-the-world scenario. It is engrossing as the latest mainline Yakuza game, though, as players make their way through Honolulu one turn-based battle at a time.
There are plenty of mini-games to pass the time, too, like taking photos of weird men, playing arcade games, and delivering food. The most freeing side quest is on Dondoko Island, wherein players can customize a home and craft the island to their liking.
Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time
A Life For Every Player
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a class-based action RPG wherein players can go through epic quests to help the people of the world, or they can go through it slowly. These classes, known as Lives, have a lot of crafting and gathering options like a cook or a lumberjack.
Best Open-World Games With No Real Objective
If you want fewer goals, these open-world games aren’t that pushy with a main quest, instead letting you leisurely explore at your own pace.
Even doing menial things like gathering wood can progress the story and level up players, all leading to a home they can call their own. It truly is a fantasy life with more options in how players can progress than perhaps any modern RPG out there.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
The World Is YOUR Property
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has a plot too large to digest quickly, but essentially, players are trying to reconnect one bunker at a time across Mexico and Australia. They can speed through this objective to get through the bizarre story, or they can fully commit to the hero, Sam, being the best courier he can be.
Players can build relationships between bunkers and gain new blueprints to build gear or other things, like homes. The world is essentially the player’s property, as they can build anything anywhere they want, which will appear in the world of other players through the asynchronous online mode, which is a cool feature.
Just Keep Playing
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has some life-sim options, like the ability to buy a home or create gear through blacksmithing, but crafting is not the game’s strong suit. Instead, Skyrim is a world that is easy to get lost in metaphorically, since there are so many dungeons to explore and quests to pick up beyond the main one.
Even though the game has existed since 2011, it’s safe to say, even through the various iterations, that a lot of fans have never properly finished it, and that’s okay. It’s a game that implores players to experience it their way.
10 Open-World Games With Weather Systems That Completely Change How You Play
Be it rain, snow, sand, or anything in between, the weather in these games can be tricky and will directly affect gameplay.
