I need a new open world game

Duders, I'm looking for a awesome open world game to lose myself in. I'm a huge fan of the genre, and I love it when those types of games manage to lure me in for long stretches of time. If the game is set in a time and place far from our own, all the better.

These are some of my favorite open world games:

• Red Dead Redemption
• Morrowind, Skyrim, Oblivion
• Fallout 3 and New Vegas
• RAGE
• Dark Souls

Without further ado, please present your suggestions.

@legion_: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - close thread, take a week off from work, enjoy.

Cube World?

Panzer Dragoon.

Stalker SoC or CoP.

Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen, Saints Row 3 also Dark Souls isn't an open world game. Its connected series of levels.

Dragon's Dogma or Kingdoms of Amalur. Both are open-world RPGs with an emphasis on combat and character development over story and world, but other than that broad descriptor they could not be more different.

@legion_: Don't buy LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins for 3DS.

The Borderlands series, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed - I wouldn't put them in the same 'open world' league with the Fallouts and the Elder Scrolls, but they're all pretty open games with a main story arc and lots of side quests. The Witcher 2 may be even better for you - it's a pretty deep game mechanically.

Bounced in to post this....so I'll just second humanity's suggestion.

Zeno Clash 2? Although, I think you should also play the original first (which is not an open world game).

Sleeping dogs, Infamous, Saints row 3, (and i hear that state of decay game is good but i haven't tried it yet).

I"m not a big open world fan though, i find i end up never finishing them after spending hours doing random stuff that has nothing to do with the plot lol.

Just Cause 2

Played it, hated it. That's just not a good game at all.

I've played most games mentioned in this thread already. Anyone got experience with Ni No Kuni? Is it even an open world?

Kind of weird to be complaining about a game having too much content, but this is generally the problem I have too. Just Cause 2 being one of the worst offenders.

Anyway, Sleeping Dogs is well worth picking up. Cut and paste of my Steam recommendation:

A visually stunning GTA-style game with interesting cultural tones and a great combat system. Not quite as bombastic as Saint's Row 3, but good visceral fun nonetheless.

Also a really well put together PC port, but still best played with a 360 controller.

This thread has all the best recommendations already, pick one :)

Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga and Two Worlds 2 are both underrated.

Go retro, play Canis Canem Edit (Bully).

Wow woww ..what? Might as well quit life right now because there is no hope for you. One of the best RPG's of this generation and it's not a good game at all? After you slogged your way through Skyrim too... I'm sorry I mean I know personal taste and everything but I'm flabbergasted by this concept of Dragons Dogma being "not a good game at all" .. I .. I think I need to rest..

@humanity: It ain't all that. Plenty enough flaws in there for somebody to end up not liking it.

Sleeping Dogs

Having played through Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row the Third and Bully for the first time in the last three months, plus replays of Red Dead Redemption and GTA IV, I'm gonna say that Sleeping Dogs is possibly the best game in the genre of the generation. Dark Souls is really good too but it's hard to compare the two.

Stalker Call Of Pripyat, and add some mods on it too.

I can recommend the Misery mod.

I was looking at a Sega Saturn advertising this very game not 2 hours ago....

Saints Row 2 (fuck Saints Row 3) and Sleeping Dogs. The inFamous games are fun from a gameplay perspective but the world itself is not something you will spend hours just exploring in.

Every game has flaws obviously, but not many attain the same level of greatness that is present in Dragons Dogma. Skyrim, everyones favorite "RPG" doesn't even come close in terms of complexity to what you can experience in DD. But I suppose people these days rather loot a hundred identical caves and giggle at ragdolls rather than experience a deeply satisfying RPG with rich systems and novel game mechanics. To each his own as they say.

If you havent played san andreas, that's is definitely worth a look. Though, if you get it on pc, be prepared to either a) buy a usb controller or b) deal with incredibly shitty flying controls on keyboard and mouse

Here are some other winners

Sleeping Dogs

Borderlands (I recommend 2 over 1)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (not technically open world, but it's more open world than RAGE or Dark Souls)

Saints Row 3

It might have more fluid gameplay, but it is nowhere near as complex as bethesesda games. It's also the most souless game I've ever laid my hands upon. The world/story/characters are completely incidental additions to the game that add no value, where the world and its inhabitants mean something in bethesda games.

@naru_joe93: I don't want to derail the thread but there is nothing more soulless than the robotically plodding wooden mannequins that pass off as NPC's in Bethesda games.

I will agree with Borderlands 2 being a cool open ended game especially if you liked RAGE.

Yeah, Sleeping Dogs really can't get enough praise imo. It takes a very well known, extremely overdone format, and somehow iterates on it nearly perfectly in every aspect to make an ultimately unique game. The cultural themes are also as interesting as they are unseen in quite literally any other big-budget game. Realistic, yet relatable Chinese protagonist in a medium full of Soaps and Prices on the western side, and westernized girly men on the eastern side? Pretty crazy that even got out the door.

I'll just echo a few of the suggestions people have already made.

Sleeping Dogs - It's an amazing game. Great hand to hand. The world is awesome and feels unique. The story is actually pretty good, It's just god damn fun.

Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen - Great RPG. The story is balls. You think you beat the game but theres this massive unexpected thing, and then you gotta do the most obvious and annoying grinding ive seen in a game in awhile, for a nonsensical dumb 10 minute exposition dump, worse than ME3 imo. BUT! the game is a blast to play, fast fluid combat, super fun boss fights where you're climbing ontop of the enemies, hitting their weakspots. Just really great gameplay. But seriously, the story is awful.

Far Cry 3 - It's super fun. Great shooting, Huge open island to explore and mess around on. I liked the story, and its really not as bad as people say it is, its actually pretty good. People are just overly swayed by Jeffs opinion that the story shoulda gone in a different direction. But seriously, theres nothing cooler than stealthing through an outpost only to get mauled by a tiger halfway through, panic, accidently throw a molotov cocktail at the tiger so theres a flaming tiger running around this base, you sprint off to heal, the guards call reinforcements and then a pack of komododragons eat half the reinforcements. It's CRAZY.

@naru_joe93:

'It might have more fluid gameplay, but it is nowhere near as complex as bethesesda games. It's also the most souless game I've ever laid my hands upon. The world/story/characters are completely incidental additions to the game that add no value, where the world and its inhabitants mean something in bethesda games.'

That comment...just wow. I can't disagree more. I put 300+hrs into Skyrim, and 400 or so into Dogma lately with no end in sight right now, and it's really not close. If anything Skyrim felt so repetitive late game and there were no hooks at all to keep at it except new dlc(that was very meh). The whole pawn system(creating, renting, gifting, upgrading, trying new vocations, adding augments...it just goes on and on), the loot, the classes, the skill option/choices, and the character customization in Dogma all rule. And the BBI expansion is just amazing. Have you experienced The Fallen City post initial Daimon? Simply incredibly fun and challenging no matter your lvl.

To each there own though. :]

You should try Saints Row 2 because it has a bit more replayability than 3, and then if you like it try Saints Row 3

Red Faction: Guerilla is incredibly fun.

Misery mod is probably a bit too hard for someone new, I'd probably recommend I Work Alone first and then step up to Misery 2.0.

wait i am not saying your wrong but why is dark souls not a open world game, you can go anywhere yes you need to go though some part to get to it but you need to do that in every open world game.
i could understand if it was demon's souls since its multiple levels integrated in to one instance and then integrated in to a hub world, the only barriers in dark souls are mist barriers that you can easily go though with no requirement, and even most of the bosses are located in a offshoot of that part of the world so you don't need to go though them to actually progress. most locked gates are just shortcuts.
the only thing really hindering you full journey are the tower bells, and that the same as in any other open world game where there is a thing blocking your path so you cant go directly from the start to the end game.
granted the tutorial level is not connected to the main world and yes you can go back but its not a critical path, you don't need to go there if you don't want to as far as i can remember.

@legion_:

I played it and beat it. It's linear as to cities you go in the beginning. The world map is used as a leveling area. Later you can go back to previous cities and a few hidden areas. The hidden areas are only mildly entertaining. I loved the game for the first 30 hours. It's a good old school rpg with a collecting aspect. At some point though you'll give up exploring your pets and just go back to the most powerful and move the game along. The leveling can be extremely repetitive.

Overall though, it's worth it to find and try it. Just know depending on your personality, you could get bored with the search out monster quests and leveling. The story is a lot of fun.

I highly recommend Sleeping Dogs. I picked it up a while back for $20. Definitely worth the price.

Just Cause 2 is fantastic. Sure, the plot is really bad, the voice acting's weak and the combat is just barely serviceable, but there is so much amazing dumb fun to be had. Slamming jumbo jets into military bases and jumping speedboats over bustling intersections never gets old.

Sleepy Dawgs, Saints Row #3, and Just Cause 2 are all fantastic suggestions.

Repeating all the prior when I say SLEEPING effin DOGS. That may be one of my top games of the entire generation, and one of the only ones I played through more than once

I'm a sucker for a well-realized, authentic world with lots of things to do. Dragon's Dogma was a ugly, boring game, and I found nothing interesting about it.

Terrible visuals (with that fucking letterbox that cropped a third of my screen), no story to speak of, insultingly bad voice acting, only one character slot, offers of microtransactions that alter the games difficulty before I even started, boring world. That's just a few of the things I hated about that game.

The stuff I loved about Skyrim is that it has a fantastic world that looks stunning, deep lore (TES-fans know what I'm talking about), tons of stuff to do, great environment for role playing, and just tons and tons of exploration that always feels rewarding. Oh, and you can be a werewolf. Nothing can really compete with that.

And to all of you Sleepy Dogs out there, I've played that as well. It's pretty good.

Huh, all of a sudden Saint's Row 3 is free for PS Plus members. Guess that somewhat solves my problem.

Thats also a great game - don't get dismayed by some of the early missions which are basically tutorials. After they are done holding your hand and explaining what each side activity is the game really opens up.

Yep, I certainly didn't find DD deeply satisfying - the majority of the game being a walking sim saw to that. The highs were high, but too few and far between among the sea of lows. It did have good combat mechanics by open-world standards though, and I'd expect a sequel to be a vast improvement. It's the game which should most be influencing how Dragon Age 3 plays (in terms of combat).

Dragon Age 2 should be the game that most influences the combat of Dragon Age 3. Say what you will about that game, but no one can really deny that it has fantastic combat mechanics.

@legion_: Lots of good recommendations here. I'd also suggest the first Crackdown, plenty of fun world traversal, especially when you start grabbing power-ups. Can be had for half a groat these days, too. And I'll give another vote to Sleeping Dogs. Playing it currently and while there's no particular aspect that blows me away, the melee combat gets quite fun once you get the hang of it, the story's pretty interesting, and there's enough to do in the world to keep you going.

You love story? Well you'll love Far Cry 2!

I would love to forget everything about Deus Ex: Human Revolution to play it fresh again. For real.

Crysis is open-worldish, and it also happens to be one of my favorite games of all time.

EDIT: Also, Prototype 1&2 (even though I recommend 2 since it's pretty much 1 but improved in most ways).