Some open-world games are huge, but not fun to explore because there is nothing in them, or they simply don’t have cool mechanics to invite players to have fun while traversing. It can be difficult for developers to find a good balance between all the gameplay features, and for some players, all they want is a cool world to explore.
Some examples include sailing in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and exploring between land, underground, and air in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Why are these games compelling to explore, and what else made the list? In no order, let’s dive deep.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
Eating Good In The Caribbean
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag is a better sailing game than it is an Assassin’s Creed game, which isn’t a bad thing. The sailing mechanics introduced in Assassin’s Creed 3 were great enough for Ubisoft to further experiment on the idea, leading to players inhabiting a pirate in the sequel who also just so happened to be an assassin. While the climbing and stealth gameplay were good, it was a lot more exciting to sail around the Caribbean looking for little islands, secret grottos, and to get into exciting ship battles. It imbued the very idea of adventure into a video game.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
Paving Your Path Forward
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s greatest feat was giving players more traversal options at the start as compared to the last game, which took longer between big gear unlocks. Between delivering packages across Mexico and Australia, players could explore and traverse the dangerous elements their way. They could build bridges, lower themselves from cliffs using rope, restore highways, or drive trucks, just to name a few things. While combat was part of the experience as well, the true core gameplay loop was all about travel, and getting between areas was both a challenge and a treat.
Donkey Kong Bananza
Nothing Can Stand In Your Way
The fun of Donkey Kong Bananza was that no earthly element stood in the way of players. While they could jump or climb over most obstacles in the game, they could also just punch their way through instead. With Donkey Kong’s fists, no enemy or mountain wall stood a chance. Beyond getting from point A to point B, players could also dig through mountains or dirt to uncover valuable materials, like Banandium, which helped DK get even stronger and thus made it even more fun for players to explore, like unlocking a way for DK to surf over surfaces like the ground or water.
Bananza does vertical and 360 exploration better than pretty much any other open-world game, as players can use DK to smash through nearly every wall or floor. While it might not have a vast map that seems to extend until the end of the world, Nintendo’s game really nails that sense of freedom that these types of titles need to deliver.
Elden Ring
A Scary Place To Explore Alone
Elden Ring is both a great and terrifying open-world to explore. That’s because the very nature of Soulslike games is unpredictable. If players explore, find a hidden cave, and then see an NPC inside, it’s hard to know if they should trust what they say as law or be wary. Also, one never knows when they will be thrown into a boss battle as a giant creature emerges from the shadows like a dragon.
All of these things can be both horrifying and exciting in the heat of the moment, which is why, even more than gameplay, Elden Ring fans adored the game and cannot wait for the developer, FromSoftware, to make another. Whether on foot or on horseback, there was always something cool to find in this densely packed world.
Ghost Of Yotei
Following Animals To Treasures
Ghost of Yotei increased the exploration mechanics over its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima, in some clever ways, making the swordplay just a bit less enticing when there were things like mountains to climb. Across the Yotei region, players could go through obstacle course-like quests to climb mountains, and each one had a lot of secrets hiding within. Beyond mountains, following wolves to dens, yellow birds to hot springs, or randomly discovering an NPC in need were all well-thought-out ideas. In a game about revenge, it was a good way to break up the monotony of bloodshed, and it helped that the game was gorgeously rendered, too.
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