Some people love open world games for their free freedom. However, even these big games usually benefit from some structure. Without a clear goal or progression, some players may feel that the game is pointless. All of the games below do a great job of trickling in content and new areas to make progressing through the story worthwhile.
The trick is to always make it feel like there's something to explore and see even from the opening moments, but promise more as they continue the story. It also prevents some of the larger maps in open-world games from feeling completely overwhelming for those more interested in story than exploration.
5 Red Dead Redemption
Go to Mexico half way through the company
Red Dead Redemption is one man's journey to take down the bandits he traveled with in order to reunite with his family. There's a brutal moral ambiguity to it, but John Marston is willing to betray the bank robbers who raised him in order to see his wife and child again.
The map is relatively small compared to the prequel, but it's not completely unlocked from the start. There's a mission that ends up bringing John Marston to Mexico for a new chapter, and then the last act of the game opens up the northern part of the map. It hasn't seemed too restrictive since Red Dead Redemption more focused on an immersive experience rather than encouraging exploration and going off the beaten path.
4 Death Stranding
Connect the world to the chiral network piece by piece
Death Stranding is the second open-world game from director Hideo Kojima, the first Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The map is a complete area, but players can't access it from the start due to both the story and game-imposed restrictions. Players simply don't start out with the necessary tools to get through the harsh, barren rough.
Each chapter of the story takes players to different parts of the map where they connect it to the Chiral Network. After that, the contributions of other players will begin to appear on the map, which makes it easier to move around. Part of the fun in Death Stranding uses all the gadgets and structures in the next part of the game to cross the territories that were once so difficult to traverse.
3 Ghost of Tsushima
New parts of the map are opened with each act
Ghost of Tsushimaimpressed gamers with its wonderful graphics. It had a lot of open world tropes that were in other titles, but they were better integrated into the game world. Even the user interface felt organic, with the wind guiding players to waypoints and objectives instead of an arrow or a line on the ground.
The world of the game is clearly divided into three separate parts, and the following areas are opened in each new act. Each area offers plenty to do in terms of side quests and collectibles, catering to both story-driven and do-it-yourself gamers.
2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Bridges to different parts of the country are opening
It's easy to take for granted how big San Andreas today, but it was a revelation to PS2 owners back in 2005. There's a reason it's consistently ranked as one of the best video games ever made, even if some of its gameplay isn't that smooth by today's standards.
The map is so large that it's not even a big deal that players have to overcome a significant chunk of the story before unlocking the final areas of the game. Each of the game's three zones – Los Santos, San Fiera and Las Venturas – has its own unique architecture and vehicles. San Andreas was also known for having vast expanses of desert in addition to its bustling metropolises.
Grand Theft Auto 3
and
Vice City
also block your areas for story missions. However, in these games, players unlock the map faster simply because they are much smaller than
San Andreas.
1 Elden Ring
No matter how big you think the map is, it's actually bigger
Part Elden Ring magic is how he manages to convey the thrill of exploring an unknown world in an age where most gamers are smart enough to know what a title is waiting for. Nothing shows this more than the way the map shows itself. Players only unlock parts of the map when they find pieces of the map on the road in front of certain monuments, making it difficult to estimate the actual size of the map.
One might not even think that the northeastern part of the blank canvas where the map is located has land that they can access, but then they reach the Giants Peaks a little more than halfway through the adventure and discover that there is a completely different piece, which must be passed through.
Elden Ring's spot on the list doesn't even take into account the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which has a high barrier to entry. The map is huge and contains more content than most full-length video games.
