10 Most Immersive Open World Games

The most immersive open worlds to lose yourself in.

elden ring agheel
FromSoftware

There's been a trend in game design recently in which the game worlds have been getting bigger and bigger. Developers will excitedly tell eager audiences during demonstrations that the farthest part of horizon can be explored, and sometimes there's even more beyond that

However, as which has also been the case in recent years, bigger does not necessarily mean better.

While many of these interactive worlds are huge in scale and visually impressive, many of them are disappointingly sparce when it comes to actual content. There may be a lot of map markers to hunt down and discover, but what's between these locations is normally filled with nothing empty space, and that's not fun or engaging.

Not all games are created equally, however. For every handful of formulaic open world games that wear the tropes thin, there are a few that have broken the mold to redefine what an open world game can be. In these games, players can spend hours at a time losing themselves in these worlds.

Playing these games is like stepping into a whole new world of adventure and discoveries that players can become wholly immersed within.

10. No Man's Sky

elden ring agheel
Hello Games

Despite a messy launch in which eager players were left disappointed by false promises and an overall lack of content, developers Hello Games have since made good on their word and transformed No Man's Sky into the epic space adventure it was initially intended to be.

Hello Games's survival adventure takes exploration to an astronomic level of excitement. In No Man's Sky the universe is your playground as you discover, scavenge, and explore a whopping 18 quintillion planets. Moreover, with multiplayer now fully incorporated into the game, budding explorers can join with up to 32 friends on PC (eight on console) to build bases and delve deeper into the unknown together.

Due to its sheer scope and ambition alone, there's always something exciting to do during each play session. Thanks to the procedurally generated aspects of the game, players will never know what to expect when they touch down on a new planet. Every journey and discovery will feel unique to them, which only reinforces the fantasy of exploring an untouched universe.

Though a heavy reliance on gathering resources can put exploration on hold momentarily, the excitement of what's to come is enough to push through the monotony.

Contributor
Contributor

Glasgow-based cinephile who earned a Masters degree in film studies to spend their time writing about cinema, video games, and horror.