Open-World RPGs That Are Fundamentally Perfect

The world of open-world RPGs is wide and full to the brim with incredible games. However, more often than not, the core fundamentals are either lacking or not fully formed, meaning that even if they have an incredible story and a huge amount of polish, you struggle to fully experience it due to a subpar basic gameplay loop.

On the other hand, a handful of open-world RPGs actually do prioritize the fundamentals and, as a result, feel much more enjoyable to play from start to finish. They keep the combat interesting, the exploration satisfying, and they give you the sense of freedom that the genre is known for, ensuring the fun stays with you from start to finish.

Fallout: New Vegas

Questing At Its Finest

• Engaging loop centered on skills and quests.
• Progression is tied to choices throughout.

Fallout: New Vegas may be a little rough around the edges, but the role-playing elements more than make up for any bugs or performance issues. The Mojave is your canvas to paint whatever story you choose, and the game makes it very clear that choices and quests come first, no matter how big or small.

Everything from your skills to your reputation determines the outcomes of NPC interactions, combat, and entire plot arcs, putting traditional role-playing at the heart of the gameplay. Your character is the story, and whether you decide to be a tyrant or a pacifist is entirely up to you thanks to the sheer amount of freedom the choice mechanics give you from the get-go.

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor

Turn Every Orc Into A Story

• Creates a constant threat from past enemies thanks to the Nemesis system.
• Individual fights are given far more weight.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is well-known for its patented Nemesis system, and it is easy to see why so many people love it. Rather than slowly making your way across an orc-infested world and clearing out enemies one step at a time, you are actively building long-term rivalries across the land, many of which will come back to bite you when you least expect it.

As you encounter more enemies and build a reputation, the core loop comes into play. Old and new targets confront you with a vengeance, all hoping to take you down in a battle of blades. Because of how varied the system is, regardless of how many times you play through the game, there will always be more grudges to be formed and enemies to show who is on top.

Your Bog Standard Fantasy RPG

• Simple yet addictive exploration loop.
• There’s always a reason to delve deeper into quests and the world.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is about as standard as it gets when it comes to RPG gameplay, yet that simplicity has helped it stay relevant in the space all these years later. Like any good hero, you set out in search of adventure, running into whatever caves, ruins, or taverns you can find, taking on quests and uncovering riches beyond your wildest dreams.

The joy comes from how easy it is to hop between locations and choose the stories that interest you most. One minute you’ll be hiking through the mountains in search of mages, and the next, you’re sneaking in the shadows waiting for your target to walk by .Thanks to the Radiant AI, those quests just keep on coming for as long as you want.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Preparing For The Adventures Ahead

• Combat style is utterly unique.
• Pawns add a ton of systemic depth to your playthrough.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 places a huge emphasis on studying and understanding the world and the creatures around you, as only the most prepared travelers will survive it. The standout mechanic is monster climbing, where you can mount huge creatures and attack them from in close, working in conjunction with your pawns to take down foes far larger than you could alone.

That combat cycle is chaotic, with many random encounters turning into all-out brawls where monsters react to both your actions and the environment at the same time. It’s all about figuring out how to stay alive against overwhelming odds, and just when you think you and your group have mastered the basics, another curveball will be thrown your way, adding new layers to a solid baseline that never fails to impress.

Cyberpunk 2077

No Two Streets Are The Same

• RPG freedom within builds and mission outcomes.
• Radically different playstyles dictated by your upgrades.

Cyberpunk 2077 is as good as it gets when it comes to futuristic RPGs, and a driving force behind why the game is so good is the way your build interacts with your playstyle. Starting as a lowly mercenary, you take on jobs and improve your cybernetic abilities, which in turn affects how you engage with later missions and the rest of the world.

Everything revolves around your character and the build paths you choose, whether that be full stealth hacking or a more aggressive melee build that lets you get up close and personal. Because of how many options there are, it’s common for people to play through Cyberpunk 2077 several times with a different build each time, something that is only possible thanks to its cohesive progression loop.

Elden Ring

Where To Next?

• An organic, unguided journey across the world.
• Classic soulslike gameplay drives combat.

Elden Ring takes the tried-and-tested soulslike formula and blows it up to an open world scale with more content to enjoy, but all the same grittiness you would expect from the combat. Bosses and loot are the main highlights. When dueling a tricky enemy or finally slaying a fearsome dragon, the level of satisfaction is so high due to the challenging nature of the gameplay.

You need to roll, manage stamina, heal, and weave in attacks of your own, and that basic concept applies to every single fight in the game, with a few exceptions that add an extra layer of depth to an already complex system. Unlike other soulslikes where you’re following a linear path, here you get to wander off in any direction you choose. This is what I think makes Elden Ring really stand out due to the sheer number of locations and secrets found in everything from a cave to a giant castle in the distance.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Foes That Get Bigger And Bigger

• The hunting loop demands prep and mechanics during the fight.
• Seamless progression from hunts via resources

Monster Hunter Wilds sends you into a land where giant monsters dominate, and it is your job to scout and execute them one by one. Each hunt follows the same perfect rhythm, which starts with the prep work, where you decide what fear and weapons to bring, and then once you have tracked the beast down, it turns into a dance of slashes and attacks that only ends with one winner.

With 14 weapon types, each with its own combos and attacks, there is a good amount of variety in your arsenal, and features like Focus Mode and Wounds to target weak points, you are able to apply the same principles to many different creatures, while accounting for additional strengths and weaknesses. And even when you feel strong enough to take on the world, I can assure you there is always a bigger bounty to hunt down, with even bigger rewards for those willing to chase it.

Horizon Forbidden West

Adapting To The Future

• Every enemy poses a new challenge.
• Different combat techniques that evolve over time.

Horizon Forbidden West takes many concepts from the original game and improves them to deliver a more well-rounded and robust gameplay loop. Most of the game has you exploring and taking down giant mechanical beasts by scanning them and looking for weak points or elemental vulnerabilities. Once they fall to the ground, you can loot the parts you need to craft better gear and, as a result, face tougher and more aggressive enemies.

Every machine requires a different plan, and the variety of weapons and enemies turns encounters into tactical puzzles that reward your foresight as much as your ability to aim. All of that is without considering the sprawling sci-fi narrative and gorgeous world to explore, things that feel even better to experience as a result of how well-made the gameplay loop surrounding them is.