We quite like worlds that set us loose right from the get go, sprinkling interesting distractions along the way to keep us exploring away until our eyes, or hands, or even our controllers demand some rest. And 2025 has blessed us with quite a few of those titles, with each experience bringing a very unique bunch of mechanics to keep things interesting.

With that being said, we have a few that are believed to be a cut above their peers. The nominees for the best open-world games of 2025 are:

1. Where Winds Meet

Everstone Studios has blended wuxia with an action RPG adventure whose sprawling lands and bustling cities are a stage for a very ambitious take on player agency and freedom. This is a world that actively encourages going off the beaten track, its systems being a reward on their own for diligent players.

But that’s not all. With the game actively including clever touches upon actual history and using that to blend in fantasy elements makes for an experience that’s a wuxia fever dream. Where Winds Meet deserves a place of honour among 2025’s best RPGs for its sheer scale, ambition, and the sense of freedom it gives you from the get-go.

2. Dying Light: The Beast

By making the Castor Woods feel like a character in Kyle’s latest adventure, this open world survival horror loop never fails to entertain. You never know what you might end up against as you leave the safety of your hideouts, while the night conceals terrors that can bring a very quick end to your strolls.

But it’s in how the world blends several activities and a well-written story together with some excellent parkour-based traversal and new powers for your character to make an experience that continues to call out to us long after we rolled the credits on it.

3. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

A worthy successor to the first title, Deliverance 2 builds on everything that was great in the first game while expanding on it in both scale and quality. Its story brings a lot of interesting twists to the tale, while the wit and charm of its characters and NPCs can be both endearing and amusing.

This is a world where exploration feels like a very entertaining trek through a world in which you can find both conflict and comedy in equal measures as you go where the roads take you on your quest to witness an end to Henry’s story.

4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

This one definitely was a surprise when it was shadow-dropped by its developers earlier in the year, but it certainly isn’t a surprise that it has made its way back into our hearts after the many years since its original release.

A brilliant visual overhaul aside, improved animations and a revamped enemy AI made the entire adventure feel quite immersive. That’s quite an advantage in an open world like Cyrodiil, where there’s just so much to tease out through careful exploration and countless battles. This is a nostalgia fix you shouldn’t miss out on, and a must try if you happened to have missed the original game.

5. Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Ancient Japan’s chapter of the Assassin’s finally made it to our hands, and Naoe and Yasuke didn’t disappoint. The Anvil Engine brought this excellent recreation of feudal Japan to life in a giant map that was both dazzling to see and riveting to explore.

With secrets to discover, targets to hunt down, fortresses to raid, and so much more, the changing seasons are a showcase of how this game continues to stand tall among 2025’s best RPGs, as resilient as the snow-capped structures it recreates so beautifully.

6. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Sam Porter’s second adventure was bound to be more ambitious than the first one, but On the Beach brings an astounding level of visual flair, engaging gameplay, and a vast world for you to work your magic on this time around.

The game’s opening hour was enough to showcase how Kojima Productions had managed to bring a sequel worthy of its predecessor in every way, while doing enough to stand out on its own as an open world title that’s unforgettable and melancholically haunting.

7. Elden Ring: Nightreign

While it can be easy to see open-world games as ones that have you gradually explore their maps and take things at a generally slower pace, FromSoftware’s roguelike debut put a timer on the exploration and gave you a set of moves and traversal methods that were built for efficient speed.

Making your way across a map before the Night begins to eat away at your life force demands strategy and skill, and taking on the many threats you find along the way with player-controlled Nightfarers at your side could lead to some truly memorable battles or some epic fails. Either way, this one’s a great option for a player who likes to pick up the pace.

8. Tokyo Xtreme Racer

Roaming the streets of Tokyo in your quest to become a street racing legend is a very entertaining part of this game’s racing experience. Challenging racers from rival gangs or just looking to make a mark on their own is never going to get old, and this is a title that is entertaining to both pro and casual racing fans.

This is definitely worth a shot if street racing in an open world is your thing, and it is sure to give you more than a few challenging tracks to take on and rivals to beat.

9. Ghost of Yotei

Atsu took over the reins from Jin Sakai in a sequel that has cemented the Ghost franchise as a powerhouse in PlayStation’s lineup of exclusives. This is a world in which serene beauty, deadly dangers, and riveting stories are waiting to be found, the wind at your back slowly guiding you to them.

Of course, there’s the entire quest for revenge and your blood feud to tend to, but they often take a back seat when an adorable little bird flits into view, urging you to follow it to potentially new discoveries. Ezo is a world that’s a treat to explore despite the many dangers you’re going to have to face down, weapons drawn and reflexes at the ready.

10. Monster Hunter Wilds

Among the more popular additions to the open world genre, this successor to Monster Hunter Worlds was quite an upgrade, adding new mechanics, systems, and massive biomes teeming with monsters to take on for its players.

The game pulled no punches with Wilds, and the effort has made the Forbidden Lands a game map that’s going to be as entertaining now as it was when we first began exploring it. And given the heavy competition in the genre, that’s an achievement worth having.

11. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Retracing the legend of King Arthur in this darker take on the king’s story was an interesting time, with a frankly astounding number of quests that you can find in its open world. Dealing with the Red Death and the Wyrdness is often the catalyst for smaller, more nuanced tales that tell you more about the world that once was, while also giving emotional heft to the world that now exists.

It’s a map that takes you to places you cannot forget once you visit them, while the game’s other systems and story work well to have you forgetting the hours as you immerse yourself into the adventure.

12. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PS5)

With GSC finally bringing out the PS5 version of STALKER 2 and making great use of the console’s unique features, the experience that the studio set out to deliver is finally here. The Zone has everything you’d expect from a title in the iconic franchise, and exploring it is a gaming experience that remains unique among its peers.

This is a title that keeps you on your toes, its story and the grind for survival working well to make your character feel like the predator and the prey. This one is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t had the chance to experience a very unique flavor of mayhem.

13. Days Gone Remastered (PS5)

While the choice to remaster Days Gone might have raised a few eyebrows, this remaster is now the best way to experience the original title’s utter unpredictability and terrifying chases through uncharted territory with hordes of vicious zombies on your tail.

Deacon’s harrowing adventure is a great story and an even greater launchpad for an open-world experience that’s both chilling and engaging. It’s just you, your motorcycle, the open road, and of course, the zombies in a game that can stay with you long after you complete its story.

14. Borderlands 4

It was a joy to rejoin the ranks of the Vault Hunters after all this time and take on the Timekeeper in this addition to the Borderlands franchise. WIth laughs and a thrilling looter shooter making this one a very fun way to enjoy your gaming hours, this is an open world that can have you lost in its cel-shaded adventures.

It’s also a great option to get your buddies together for some cooperative play in a map that can have a lot of fun just waiting for you to discover.

15. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition

If you’re wondering what the fuss about the STALKER franchise is all about, this one is a great way to experience the original games in all their glory and then some. With improvements to both visuals and performance on each of the three titles packed in, there’s a lot to like in this bundle, thanks to how the STALKER games are engaging enough to gain a following over the years.

These are worlds that you just cannot miss, thanks to how memorable they have managed to be despite the years that followed their release.

While each of these games brought a lot of fun and innovation to the table, we must pick a winner.

The winner of best open world game of 2025 is:

GHOST OF YOTEI

Atsu’s story and her trip across Ezo is simply too well-crafted to be ignored in favor of other games. This is an open world that engages with you just as much as you interact with it. It’s alive and humming, willing you to listen and follow its paths to your next hours of adventure. Mount Yotei and its surroundings have been a pleasure to explore, and Sucker Punch has nailed its take on the turbulent land.

Dubbed S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition, the compilation includes native 4K with 60 FPS and 120 FPS options on Xbox Series X, PS5 and PS5 Pro. However, the developer also promises new lighting, 4K cinematics, and improvements to the textures, shaders and reflections.

There’s Steam Deck compatibility for PC, and console players can utilize a keyboard and mouse. Mod support is also available for both audiences.

Stay tuned for more details on the trilogy ahead of its release. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy is available for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Check out our review for the base release.

The first round of A-Life 2.0 updates went live with yesterday’s patch, so it’s a given that there will be more improvements. Two story expansions are also in the works, so perhaps GSC Game World has release windows and potential features to outline in its roadmap.

Interestingly, the development team is also updating S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, the re-release of its original trilogy. It will receive a next-gen patch for consoles, while the PC version will receive more updates. Stay tuned for “exact dates” in the coming months.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review, where we gave it a nine out of ten despite its various issues. It’s sold one million copies in the first few days, with many more players joining through Game Pass.

The еnd of the year message from the GSC Game World team about plans for 2025. pic.twitter.com/vxzNWXIocc

— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) December 20, 2024

With a new trailer, GSC Game World has announced that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy will launch for the Nintendo Switch on October 31. The collection – which compiles three games in the form of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat – will be sold at a price of $39.99, though players will also have the option to purchase each game individually for $19.99 apiece. 

On Switch, the collection will also feature gyro aiming, touch screen support for the UI, and more. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of what the first-person shooters will look like on the console. 

The two biggest features – mod support and a current-gen patch for further improvements on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S – are coming later. However, as it stands, the trilogy isn’t just a great way to experience a piece of gaming history but showcases the long-standing appeal of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as a whole, jank and all.

Though based on the original Chornobyl disaster, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s overarching lore is alternate history. It follows a second nuclear disaster occurring in the Exclusion Zone, leading numerous Stalkers towards the region for their own ends. Some seek profits from the mysterious Artifacts that have begun cropping up through the Zone, while others are lured by the mystery surrounding the center and the riches it could hold. There’s much more going on than meets the eye, but in each title, that’s not your immediate concern.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl sees you controlling the Marked One, discovered in a “death carrier” truck and somehow mysteriously alive. You have only one objective – find and kill Strelok. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a prequel to the first game and sees Scar, a mercenary, joining the faction Clear Sky after mysteriously surviving an emission in the Zone.

Eventually, his fate becomes intertwined with Strelok as well. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is a proper sequel with Major Alexander Degtyarev venturing into the Zone to investigate the aftermath of Operation Fairway, where five military helicopters are sent in to assess the zone and subsequently crash.

Unlike many other first-person shooters at the time, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy unfolds non-linearly. You could follow the objectives on your PDA or take on various jobs and interact with the factions inhabiting the Zone. It’s advised to explore for better weapons, ammo, and items that replenish your health or take care of any radiation sickness. However, it’s also a way to familiarize yourself with the Zone and its various complications.

Along with hostiles like Bandits, you’ll also run afoul of mutants, from dogs to other monstrosities with special abilities. There are also Anomalies which manifest in different ways and are capable of outright destroying you. “Seeing” the effects of each Anomaly is difficult – though you could toss a trusty bolt and see what happens – and while you could avoid them well enough in Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat ensure they’re the prime locations for Artifacts.

When you take damage in S.T.A.L.K.E.R., health isn’t regenerated. You’ll suffer effects like bleeding when taking damage, and while some bandages can patch things up, the severity can be intense. Then there are the emissions, which can cause death if you don’t seek cover.

With each subsequent title, the Anomalies, emissions, Artifacts and survival become more nuanced. It can seem challenging to get into, and each title can come across as janky or unrefined from the outset. Give it time, delve further in, and the intricacies gradually unfold into something magical.

Take Shadow of Chornobyl, for example – at the start, you can take on some jobs to rescue a person of interest, Nimble, for the group that’s set up camp in the starting area. It involves working with others and clearing out some ruined buildings with bandits armed with only a pistol. Upon rescuing the individual, you acquire his flash drive and can turn it in to progress further. Maybe Nimble has a job for you after that to retrieve a suit, but you can also obtain tasks from others like Wolf.

Before you can do any of that, the town is attacked by the military, and despite a valiant defense, your newfound comrades are torn to shreds. It’s all you can do to survive, but any jobs taken from NPCs in the location have failed since they’re all dead. There’s nothing left to do but move forward, scavenging whatever you can find while staying alive.

Such moments are all the more apparent in Call of Pripyat, the most refined title in the series, as you’re taking on tasks to retrieve tools or barter information one moment and jumping through Anomalies and conducting night-time ambushes at others. You may be tasked to retrieve something from a car, only to find it sunken into a ravine.

Do you try to navigate the caves filled with deadly Snorks to try and get to it, or navigate the cliffs leading downward and attempt to rush through? Speaking of that night-time ambush, if you choose not to get your hands bloody, you won’t get a cut, but at least they’re open to second chances.

This mix of missions and emergent gameplay is even more incredible with how old these titles are. That being said, the jankiness is still apparent from the repeated responses of some characters and the general animation quality to the artificial intelligence. In Shadow of Chornobyl, your enemies are pretty competent, using foliage as cover and knowing when to retreat.

Meanwhile, your allies are running into walls and barely helping. Enemy AI tends to feel a little overturned in Clear Sky, relying on grenade spam and generally feeling obnoxious to fight against. Call of Pripyat feels more well-balanced, with teammates and enemies putting up a good fight without feeling unhelpful or cheap.

Shadow of Chornobyl and Call of Pripyat are clearly the superior titles, with Clear Sky feeling like the weaker entry (despite introducing elements that would become a mainstay in the third game). This isn’t to say that the latter doesn’t have its merits, even if Faction Wars may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s more challenging and requires a slower pace than one may be accustomed to in the other titles.

As for the new additions, each title delivers a consistent 60 frames per second, while the amount of vegetation feels denser and the lighting improved. It’s probably not all that noticeable without comparing side by side with the original games, but the experience feels smoother overall. The atmosphere of all three games is enhanced, making you feel more isolated and alone when traveling through the Zone as if death can occur at any moment (and it often does).

The shooting also feels good, though I’m still experimenting with the new aim assist settings to find the right balance. Tracking assist apparently doesn’t play very well with everything else, and it can be a bit difficult to get a bead on things, especially when getting used to the weapon sway. Still, having options to control recoil is nice.

With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy, what you see is what you get – three classic titles for a pretty fair price (also available individually) that still hold up after all these years. The improvements are significant without altering too much of what makes each game endearing. PC players may be better off playing the standalone Anomaly mod, as it combines all three into one map while overhauling progression and adding new content. For console players, the trilogy is a great way to delve into the series.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Co-developed by MATABOO, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy features three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles, namely Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat. Since this is the first time all three titles are available on consoles, the games have seen optimisation for the new platforms, including a new UI and control scheme, updated shooting mechanics, as well as refined visuals.

The trilogy is also slated to get mod support down the line through future updates through mod.io. This will allow both PS4 and Xbox One players to access what is widely considered to be one of the best things about the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles, the user-made mods.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy will also get an update to bring current-gen compatibility, allowing the three games to utilise the more advanced hardware of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with visual and performance improvements and other new features.