Open-world games are a staple of the gaming industry in this modern era, and by their very nature, the gaming format has the most potential for scope, scale and immersion. That doesn’t mean that it’s a given, mind you. Even in this hit-and-miss period for the genre, however, I still maintain that only open-world games can truly transport the player to another realm, providing an unparalleled sense of escapism that gaming is known for.
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But the term ‘immersion’ is often thrown around carelessly and attached to just about any game that’s big and pretty, and I’m sorry friends, but that isn’t right. Immersion requires deep gaming systems, expert world-building and a sense that the world around you would go on with or without you. So, with that in mind, here are ten games that earn the label of immersive open-world games.
Just to be clear, if you’re expecting to see any Ubisoft titles, or games of a similar build or format with tickbox events to clear, repetitive and/or one-note quests, and a vast open world that feels big for the sake of scale (Like Hogwarts Legacy, for example), you won’t find it here. And one entry per franchise, because variety is the spice of life!
1The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Game Release Date
08 June 2025
Metacritic Score
I won’t deny for one second that I much prefer The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; I have to give Skyrim its props. It’s a masterclass in immersive world-building, and a game that’s ahead of its time in a lot of ways.Skyrimprovides all the Elder Scrolls staples that have made games like Morrowind and Oblivion immersive RPGs in their own right. The lore is dripping in detail; the questlines are plentiful and interesting, and the world is densely packed with intriguing landmarks, random events and oddities.
But what I credit the immersive nature of this RPG to is the technology that works in the background to make the world tick. Every single NPC in this game has a routine and jobs to go to. The game regularly creates scenarios that naturally throw you in the middle of side quests, and while they’re a little underwhelming in 2024, the visuals, dynamic weather effects and bustling cities of Skyrim were mind-blowing back in 2011. It’s a game that many companies have tried to recreate in part with an abundance of map markers, and endless side-quests and dungeons. But, as Bethesda’s many re-releases of this game shows, there is still a hunger for Skyrim, and no one has quite matched this fantasy RPG yet.
30 June 2025
As a designer, there are many ways to create a game that fully immerses the player, but one of the most surefire ways is to create a world that feels incredible to simply exist within, andRed Dead Redemption 2does exactly that. Sure, the game has one of the most compelling stories ever told in video game form. It also has visuals that put most other games to shame, and it has a series of unforgettable missions, too. But for me, the immersion comes from the sheer amount of detail in every nook and cranny of this world.
If you want to be a hunter and spend all your time tracking game, you may do that. If you want to roam the land as a poker-playing extraordinaire, you can. Or if you just want to rob trains, and be an agent of chaos, then the game accommodates this too. In short, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a complete Western experience that spares no expense to sell you on the notion that you aren’t sitting in your living room but, instead, are a true-to-life cowboy. It sold me on this fantasy and I would wager it’ll do the same to you.
3The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
02 June 2025
As mentioned, lore is a huge part of creating an immersive video game world andThe Witcherseries has some of the most interesting and fleshed-out lore within the fantasy genre, courtesy of the series' writer Andrzej Sapkowski. So this means that even if you are someone who hasn’t played The Witcher 1 and 2, the strength of the world design, lore and storytelling will compel you to find out through exploration, reading extracts, and hanging off every word Geralt says.
But it’s not only the pre-established monsters and Witcher customs that make this game superb. It’s also down to the dynamic world laid out before you, filled with cities and towns with gritty and interesting stories for you to unfold. It’s the relationships you’ll establish along the way. It’s the moral dilemmas you’ll face that have no right or wrong answer. Heck, there’s even a card game that’s gone and become its own game. It’s that engaging. Every inclusion made by CDPR feels so intentional, and nothing feels like it’s done to pander to an audience of open-world lovers, which, in turn, makes this one of the finest open-world games in existence.
4Kingdom Come: Deliverance
14 August 2025
Another way to achieve immersion in open-world games is to make realism your primary focus and never deter from that, even if it’s to the detriment of traditional gaming practices and what many would consider ‘fun.’ That, along with a focus on historical accuracy, is howKingdom Come: Deliverancecaught the attention of the gaming masses back in 2019 by offering a historically accurate depiction of 15th-century Bohemia, which is determined to make you work for every single little win you get.
In this game, instead of taking on the role of your typical video game RPG protagonist who seems to have the ability to slay dragons and perform feats that defy physics almost instinctively. You begin as a peasant called Henry, a man with very few distinct skills. And you’ll need to fight tooth and nail to survive, develop new skills and abilities, and generally carve out a legacy for yourself in this punishingly realistic RPG. It’s one that won’t suit everyone, but for those looking for an RPG that truly forces you to engage fully and wholeheartedly, this is one you’ll want to try.
5Outer Wilds
Back to back games released on the same day. How serendipitous. Of all the games on this list, this is my pick of the bunch where immersion is concerned. Unlike a lot of AAA titles, indie games have the luxury of not pandering to corporate entities concerned with the bottom line. And when developers are working in that kind of environment, games likeOuter Wildscan bloom. This game achieves immersion by simply trusting the player wholeheartedly. In this game, you are presented with a puzzle in the form of a22-minute timeloopthat takes place in a pocket solar system, and you need to explore this little universe, and figure out how to make it stop.
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There are no map-makers, and no quests to speak of. There’s no reward tree, and there are no tutorial menus popping up every ten minutes. You are shown the basics, given a ship, and when you take off from Timber Hearth, you are on your own to piece together the puzzle bit by bit. It’s a game where the gameplay loop is based on discovery being its own reward, and it works incredibly well. But that’s all I’m giving you because you need to witness this masterpiece completely blind to get the most out of it. So, do yourself a favor. Play Outer Wilds.
6Grand Theft Auto 5
06 June 2025
If we are going to include Red Dead Redemption 2 based on its ability to provide a sandbox world that feels amazing to exist in, then on those grounds, we simply have to have a GTA game here. GTA VI may be on the horizon, but for now,GTA Vis still the best option where GTA games are concerned, and despite being over a decade old, this game still continues to provide players new and old with amazing emergent moments, and that is down to the colorful setting that is Los Santos.
This game offers a quintessentially engaging, silly and bombastic GTA storyline; it has the cutting satirical humor the series has built its reputation on, creating a re-imagined LA setting that seamlessly blends reality and fiction. But it’s the fact that you can simply go play golf, hike in the mountains, become a wanted criminal or become an exporter of luxury cars that makes this game so immersive, and believe me, that it’s nowhere near an exhaustive list of the things to do in Los Santos. I think the best argument for this game being listed here is that there are multiple online servers where people play in hyper-realistic roleplaying scenarios that showcases the scope for immersion here. So, if you feel that itch to get back into GTA again, I assure you, there’s always something new and interesting happening in GTA V.
7Marvel’s Spider-man 2
14 July 2025
In truth, this was a toss-up between Batman Arkham City and this one, but I went with this one partly because I feel it just slightly one-ups Gotham’s finest, that that decision may be slightly affected by my love of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, so make of that what you will. I wanted to include one game that manages to make you feel, in as authentic a way possible, like a superhero, and of all the many attempts to do this,Marvel’s Spider-manis the series that I feel nails this one the head.
This game ups the ante on the series' first title, offering a compelling dual story of Peter Parker and Miles Morales, and alters traditional story beats within the movies and comics to spice things up. But it’s the gameplay and setting that makes you feel like the titular webslinger. The level of painstaking detail that has gone into creating a boiled-down, yet true-to-life recreation of New York is staggering. From the ray-tracing effects that allow you to stare at your reflection as you swing by one of the city’s many skyscrapers or the many lines of dialogue recorded among the city residents that the majority of players will simply miss because most players won’t spend time at ground level. It’s all this and more that makes this a visual, mechanical and immersive storytelling masterclass well worth diving into.
8Elden Ring
01 August 2025
It’s a game I referred to in my Best Soulsborne Games list as an open-world format I simply didn’t think was possible. But, as Miyazaki is known to do, he raised the bar again within the Souls genre, creatingElden Ring, the first ever completely open-world Souls game. Souls games, in general, are immersive games by their very nature. Due to the environmental storytelling, the interconnected map design and the harsh but fair mechanics, if the player doesn’t immerse themselves, they’ll miss all the wonderful things within the world, not to mention, die a ton.
Elden Ring, however, is a slightly more accessible Souls game that retains the unforgiving nature of tough Souls games, but through the open format, allows players to engage with what interests them at their own pace, and in their own way. Essentially, it’s the most free and emergent Souls experience on the market for this reason, and on top of that, thanks to the collaboration of great minds like George R.R Martin and Miyazaki, you experience a world that is about as fleshed out and phenomenal as any other fantasy setting. It’s so easy to get lost in the minutia within Elden Ring, and that’s what immersive gaming is all about.
9Fallout New Vegas
07 June 2025
While I don’t necessarily like the way the term ‘choices matter’ has become a vague tagline used by AAA marketing teams, regardless if there is any truth behind it, I still adore games that follow through on this promise, and I thinkFallout New Vegasis the pinnacle of this. One thing that can guarantee immersion is by allowing players to explore the ‘what ifs’, and because of the staggering player freedom that is exhibited through Fallout New Vegas' side quests, you’ll complete multiple asides in this game that have much more nuance than a binary good or bad outcome. Looking at you,Bethesda.
This is the standout aspect of FNV in my eyes, but the game is also the only modern Fallout game that really takes the existing lore of the Black Isle era Fallout games and expands upon it to great effect. It’s a world that captures the innate silliness and grittiness of the Fallout Universe. Plus, when you look into the truncated development time, and limiting factors of FNV’s development, you get a full picture of how great this game is, despite having no right to be. It’s a world I have personally existed in for literally thousands of hours and I reckon that’s enough endorsement for you to give it a try.
10Pathologic 2
18 June 2025
Then, lastly, we wrap up with an obscure one, and a game that simply is not fun in the slightest, but much like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, this relentless focus on realism makes this game a cult classic worth checking out. Pathologic 2 sees you play as Artemy Burakh as they return to their hometown to help treat those suffering from a plague. As things progress, however, it becomes clear that you’ll need to pick and choose who lives and dies while also making sacrifices to ensure your own survival as the town’s economy, living standards and collective sanity crumble around you.
The core mechanics of the game are designed to make you suffer and make every decision agonizingly difficult, and unlike most modern games, you can’t just shoot your way out of trouble because the combat is intentionally cumbersome. It’s one of those games where, through avoiding traditional gaming practices, it aims to serve as a thought piece rather than a ‘fun game.’ Yet, despite this, it’s one of the most brilliant, immersive gaming experiences I have ever had, and while you probably won’t have a good time playing, that’s ironically the thing that will make you love this game as well.
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