Some open-world RPGs put the narrative first, or at least in a high position to get players to follow the main quest. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a good example that makes it seem like Citi will be in grave danger if Geralt wanders around the woods aimlessly.
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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is another good example, although that game has the benefit of returning PS1 Final Fantasy 7 fans who want to see how the new, tweaked story plays out. Either way, these other open-world RPGs may have good stories too, but they try to get players to explore the environments instead for one reason or another. With each example, this will become clearer.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
The First Game That Dared You To Get Lost
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was one of the first open-world games that gave players the keys to the kingdom and basically told them to have fun. The story was never that pressing, even though it started with an exciting prison break involving a dragon, but once that was over, players could wander wherever they wanted.
This low-key approach to the story is what made it more fun to explore and level up their character, which did make returning to story missions later much easier. This openness is a big reason why it’s still valued today.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Expanding Your Viking Empire
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is all about Vikings conquering England and expanding their land. If players followed strict story missions, they wouldn’t have an impressive settlement to use against their enemies. Exploring side areas and leveling up both their compound and their character is what the game wants.
It makes sense in the narrative to gather resources and to become more powerful instead of sidelining main missions just to get to the end. Otherwise, players are going to have a rough go.
Borderlands 4
All About The Guns
Borderlands 4’s story is about Vault Hunters coming to a new planet, Kairos, which was cut off from the rest of the galaxy for centuries before it got breached. Stopping an evil empire is pretty cliché, along with helping rebels take it down.
Borderlands, as a series, has always been about one thing: loot. The world has been designed in a way to encourage players do side activities and explore to find rare guns. The story is not bad, but loot and even co-op are definitely the reasons Gearbox knows players are buying the game for.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Hard To Ignore Those Waves, Bro
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has a great story, and a pressing one too. After an initial bit in Japan, things kick off in Honolulu when the protagonist, Ichiban, wakes up with no recollection of how he got there. That’s one priority, along with trying to find his mom and also stopping a gathering cult.
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These worlds are so great, you’ll want to embrace them by walking or using some other means of traversal.
Players may feel compelled to continue the story, but side activities keep getting thrown in their faces to sort of hint that they should slow down. The more side content they do, the more they will level up or earn cash to get better gear. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has no difficulty levels, and it is very challenging, meaning that grinding is necessary to continue the story.
Diablo 4
All About Character Builds
Diablo 4 is another game that puts loot ahead of its story, even though it is more compelling than the narrative in Borderlands 4. Diablo is one of the OG looter franchises, which has survived because fans love building up their characters alone or with friends online. Without the addictive gameplay, there aren’t a lot of fans who would stick around for just the deep lore.
In Diablo 4, Players can customize their character, choose a class, and then they are let loose into the top-down open-world. While playing solo, it’s more imperative to do side content and level up to make it through the story missions, as they can get intense for low-level builds without a partner or two.
Final Fantasy 15
On A Bro-ad Trip
Final Fantasy 15 is very different from the rest of the Final Fantasy series in a lot of ways, one being how it opens. Noctis and his three amigos are cruising in his convertible when it breaks down, and they have to push it to a garage to get it fixed. The overall point of this journey is to sightsee and get stronger so that Noctis and his gang can stop the empire.
This means training through soldier drops, monster hordes, bounties, and tomb raiding. The process of leveling up is built into the story, encouraging players to take their time getting to the next main objective.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Rebuilding Civilization
Xenoblade Chronicles X values exploration above all else because that is the objective of the game initially. As a recruit for New L.A., the human colony that is trying to establish itself on an alien planet, players need to go and set up beacons, which can serve as fast travel points and ways to both survey the land and gain materials.
Eventually, a thicker plot starts to develop when the alien natives begin fighting back, but the story is a slow rollout overall, as if the game is saying not to worry about it. Xenoblade Chronicles X is also incredibly challenging, so there is a need to grind.
Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
All About Action
In Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, players wake up after dying, having somehow broken the bonds of fate. While it may seem intriguing to unravel that thread and find out how they came back to life, it’s ultimately not that important.
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This is an open-world RPG wherein the developers knew they were putting their combat foot forward. Fighting monsters, exploring, and doing fetch quests to build up their strength is the core gameplay loop, with the story being only a small part of why Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a great and severely underrated game.
Sand Land
Have A Sandy Adventure
Sand Land is about demon and human forces teaming up to find a mythical water source in a post-apocalyptic world of sand, hence the name. There’s kind of a need to follow the story for a few hours to unlock the critical reason why this game sticks out: the tank.
Once players reach and establish a link in the first major city, they are encouraged to go out and explore. The game is never too difficult without doing side content, but the low-key story ensures players latch onto the game’s unique gameplay hook of fighting big and small battles with tank combat and, later on, a mech.
Starfield
Bethesda’s Space Epic
Like Bethesda’s other big RPG, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Starfield’s story comes second to the core gameplay loop: exploring space. As a miner turned explorer looking for ancient MacGuffins, Starfield is all about making the most out of the universe.
Players can fine-tune their character with various skills, gear, and they can even tweak their spaceship. It’s the ultimate space fantasy game with more of a core plot and significant gameplay loop as opposed to something like No Man’s Sky. For anyone dreaming of going to space, Starfield is a good game to check out.
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