Ghost of Yōtei

Everything about Sucker Punch’s sequel is a step up from Ghost of Tsushima. The exploration feels more organic as Ezo is brimming with interesting stories, Mythic Tales, and activities (with far fewer restrictions on where to go). Combat is more visceral than ever, with the different weapons mixing up the formula in fun ways. All in all, a fantastic sequel and a stellar open-world game in its own right, which brings us to…

]]> 629864 https://gamingbolt.com/15-amazing-first-person-horror-games-you-need-to-play-2025-edition Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:23:47 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=627801 Horror and immersion go hand in hand. It’s a genre best experienced with all of one’s senses—and what better perspective to heighten that than first-person? Sure, over-the-shoulder camera angles have dominated horror games for some time, but nothing can quite capture the immediacy of a jump scare like the first-person perspective. We’re aware that some especially iconic titles may not be represented here. This is a list comprising hidden gems alongside some other titans of the genre, so don’t be too discouraged if your favorite game isn’t included (and let us know what it is). Without further ado, here’s 15 first-person horror games you absolutely need to try out.

Sons of the Forest

Sons of the Forest is perhaps one of the best-realized fusions of survival sandbox gameplay and horror. At first glance, it seems like just another in a long line of sandbox crafting games. Yet it executes both elements so well that the experience eclipses expectation. Between the uncanny swamp mutant abominations to the unpredictable scenarios and clever diegetic crafting menus, Sons of the Forest is not to be missed.

Layers of Fear (2023)

If you prefer more subtle horror with psychological leanings, Layers of Fear may just end up being a new favorite. Labyrinthine creepy mansion: check. Mysterious past to uncover: check. Heaps of atmospheric storytelling and puzzles to solve: check. This game hits all the marks of classic survival horror from days past, with echoes of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and even The Shining. Fans of the Silent Hill 2 remake should especially consider checking out this gem from Bloober Team.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Ghostwire: Tokyo takes a more unconventional approach to horror, ditching the ‘survival’ aspect and replacing it with some good old karate….with magic. The atmosphere of the game is a highlight. Shibuya is haunted and desolate, with nothing but neon lights and abandoned belongings of those who went missing. Your adversaries are modern-day interpretations of Yokai from Japanese folklore. These take the form of blank-faced salarymen and headless schoolgirls to name just a few. The fast-paced action of the magic karate doesn’t take away from the unsettled nature of the empty Tokyo streets or the creative enemy designs.

Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil does all the things excellent survival horror is supposed to be. It situates players into a vulnerable position with lack of resources, and the atmosphere and zombies are downright terrifying. Resident Evil Village does the classic formula and vibe well, filling the journey with a blend of slower-paced exploration and puzzles with tense set-piece moments and boss fights. Village does a particularly good job with its contrasting environments and themes. The baroque Castle Dimetrescu feels so distinct from Heisenberg’s industrial factory. And it’s all framed through an interesting folktale lens to boot.

Amnesia: Rebirth

The Amnesia series does one thing better than pretty much every other horror series: instilling vulnerability to the player. Like previous Amnesia titles, Rebirth features no combat. Encounters must be overcome through escapes, puzzle-solving, and exploration. But unlike other past games, Rebirth takes place out in the desert instead of a factory or other claustrophobic interior. You play as Tasi, a pregnant woman searching for her missing crew within the vast Algerian desert. You’re still sneaking through interiors such as pitch-black caverns and creepy abandoned ruins though, so it retains that dark atmosphere despite its unique setting.

System Shock Remake

For those itching for deep choice-driven gameplay mechanics, System Shock Remake is a sure bet. The original is a seminal classic in the survival horror space, being one of the first immersive sim games to reach broad appeal. The ship’s AI, SHODAN, remains one of the more engaging villains in the genre. The sci-fi ship almost feels haunted by SHODAN, with the persistent monitoring and sabotage of various ship systems engaging the player’s every move. The game’s atmosphere compliments her constant presence with eerie rattles and distorted sounds almost too well, and the modern remake polishes those scares to a beautiful and terrifying shine.

Choo-Choo Charles

Taking a different turn is the indie game Choo-Choo Charles. This is the ideal horror game on the list if you don’t have a lot of time to invest as it only takes around 3 to 4 to go through. The premise is both unique and simple. You collect eggs and do tasks for NPCs in order to summon the villainous train, Charles, to defeat him. It’s a unique and charming concept and Charles’ jump scare attacks provide ample scares.

Visage

Visage is another indie horror game but this one is often lauded as a spiritual successor to P.T. You’re stuck exploring a 1980s suburban mansion, one that’s both haunted and filled with locked doors. Aside from the numerous puzzles to solve, you must keep your sanity in check by avoiding dark zones and ghost attacks. Those looking for an unpredictable P.T.-like experience owe it to themselves to play Visage.

The Mortuary Assistant

Ever want to inspect dead bodies and exorcise demons in a video game? Well, This solo-developed indie horror title provides that and then some. The Mortuary Assistant puts the player into the shoes of a newly trained assistant at a morgue, tasked with performing her job of preparing corpses for burial. However, it isn’t just another mundane job; demons regularly inhabit the corpses and Rebecca must exorcise them out in-between her paid work. The story is somewhat procedural as well, providing a good amount of replayability.

Ad Infinitum

Ad Infinitum represents yet another creative premise on this list. Players take on the role of a World War 1 vet coming home to take care of an ailing father. The horror takes form from the trauma suffered  in the trenches. This trauma is represented by monsters scouring the house through the mind of the veteran. In gameplay terms, this means solving puzzles around the large house while overcoming the threat of monsters.

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia is perhaps the most widely played game on the list, which may come as a surprise for some. Social deduction games have been popular of late, and Phasmophobia channels that chaotic premise into a terrifying horror atmosphere. Investigating ghosts as a team may not sound like the most terrifying thing compared to other horror games, but the slow unraveling and eventual reveal of the ghost, and the player’s possession by it, can be a shock, even in a group setting.

Still Wakes the Deep

Described as “The Thing on an oil rig”, Still Wakes the Deep is another game on the list with no combat whatsoever. Players must rely on stealth and avoidance when it comes to monster encounters. The oil rig evolves as the story progresses, with previously explored areas becoming flooded or wrecked. The lack of a HUD helps sell the atmosphere even more. If you enjoy traditional explorative horror, give Still Wakes the Deep a try.

Nightmare of Decay

For those on a tight budget, this $4 indie horror game just might do the trick, especially for fans of old school action horror titles. Nightmare of Decay plays a bit like a first-person Resident Evil 2 with its generous ammo supply and healthy number of zombies infesting the mansion. And there’s plenty of mansion to explore here with puzzles and numerous weapon types scattered about. This is a hidden gem for the Resident Evil 2 fans.

Stay Out of the House

You didn’t think we’d get through this list without a slasher themed horror game, did you? Stay Out of the House is a straight-up cannibal escape simulator. Your goal is simply to survive from the serial killer cannibal stalking the house and surrounding neighborhood. It’s done on a budget, but with tasteful retro filters to make the PS1 aesthetic charming rather than a detriment.

The Outlast Trials

The Outlast Trials is a clever take on cooperative horror gameplay. The game follows a structure that updates the player’s abilities upon successful trials. It’s one of those titles with superb gameplay/story integration. Set during the Cold War, recruits are sent to compete in trials against failed recruits who have become psychologically deranged and dangerous. There’s plenty of lore through radio recordings and environmental details that enrich the experience beyond that of just another horror game.

Dying Light

Dying Light taps into what makes horror games so irresistible. It’s got a scarcity of resources, infected humans transforming into zombies, and the fear of nighttime adding anxiety on top of it all. And while most gamers would argue the best horror games are linear curated experiences in nature, Dying Light uses its open-world to ramp up the horror in ways only it could. Threats aren’t fully scripted and can come from pretty much any direction in the map. Similarly, scrounging for resources takes on a new life given the large dynamic environments. Dying Light 2 would take the parkour of the first one and really polish it up while adding a paraglider for faster traversal. Though fans still largely prefer the darker tone of the first game over the more colorful style of the sequel.

Days Gone

Want to simulate what it would be like to outrun and outgun an ocean of zombies out in an open field? Well, Days Gone is the closest thing to that experience on the gaming market – yet nothing could prepare us for the sheer size of hordes that the game would bless us with. While it would have been amazing to mow down zombie hordes using pick-up trucks or even a combine harvester, Days Gone limits its vehicles to primarily bikes. Still, the bike controls are quite smooth and ramming into zombies is a fun, though less ideal, way to squash their huge numbers. The icing on the horror cake are the stealth sequences, which make for some terrifying moments when swarms get alerted. Now if only we could finally get a sequel that gives us more vehicles to mow zombies down with.

The Evil Within 2

The world design of The Evil Within 2 may not be as open-ended as the previous games on this list, but it makes up for it in its tightly crafted narrative. Sebastian Castellanos’ mind is still reeling from the events of the first game, but he still has to rescue his daughter, Lily within the surreal Union labyrinth. The stakes are more personal here than in the first game, amplifying the psychological aspect tenfold. The semi-open world design adds some interesting side stories and secrets to discover, nicely contrasting the more claustrophobic sequences. Oh, and the bizarre, surreal world can even be experienced in first-person thanks to a 2018 update to the game.

Sons of the Forest

Being stranded on an island full of cannibals has to be one of the more harrowing concepts in horror, and Sons of the Forest executes it frighteningly well. The size of the island and its predominant forest biome is four times larger than the first game. The larger layout both helps the player and hinders them with helpful NPCs and a host of new terrors lurking in hidden corners of the map.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

After developing The Evil Within, Tango opted to go fully first-person with Ghostwire: Tokyo. The more intimate perspective combined with a supernaturally shifting environment enveloped in fog gave it a unique brand of horror. The game’s developer describes battles with the phrase ‘karate meets magic’. You’d think being adorned with such supernatural abilities neuters the sensation of helplessness a bit, but no, the many occultic monstrosities populating the possessed Tokyo are enhanced with even more terrifying abilities than the player character, making for an unpredictable and haunting journey.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Stalker 2, actually the fourth game in the series, was first announced way back in 2010. Typically, games with development hell history turn out poorly, but Stalker 2 nailed the post-apocalyptic premise and gameplay the series had been celebrated for prior. The limited inventory space and sparse resources within the Exclusion Zone make for a true survival experience. Add on a hunger and sleep meter and some reality-altering anomalies within the open-world and you’ve got a game sure to raise players’ blood pressure.

Dead Rising

This 2006 game may be the oldest on this list, but it’s also one of the most iconic in terms of open-world horror. Willamette Parkview Mall makes for a fantastic locale to combat hordes of flesh-hungry zombies. Part of the endless charm of the series is the sheer variety of weapons available to smash zombie brains with. The first Dead Rising hosts 250 weapons ranging from useful shotguns to fun props such as Mega Man’s Megabuster. The horror aspect, while less severe than others on this list, still comes into play when dozens of zombies close in on a defenseless and unaware Frank.

State of Decay 2

The State of Decay series has quickly become one of gaming’s most immersive zombie survival experiences. There’s few games that can match the feeling of building outposts and combating zombies together with other co-op partners quite like State of Decay 2. The series has always been primed for co-op, yet the first game lacked any multiplayer, being a purely solo affair. Besides the four-player co-op, the additional facilities and utilities, as well as a far more diverse map made for an improved gameplay loop. The improved open-world may have sacrificed some of the memorable story moments the first had, but the series is certainly headed in the right direction, giving us optimism for State of Decay 3.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is another game that uses its semi-open world structure well. The Volga, Caspian Desert, and Taiga regions feel so distinct from each other, as opposed to the largely monotonous regions of previous games. But the game still hones in on those narrow tunnel corridors that the original did so well. The Metro series also evokes a peculiar sensation of dread with the semi-frequent hallucinations and horrific mutant creatures aptly named The Dark Ones.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island takes a more arcady and fun approach to its horror, though getting overwhelmed by zombies still provides some tense jump scare moments. The sequel partitions up its open world into regions, helping to make each area distinct. What really makes Dead Island 2 stand out from the rest is the environmental interactions. Most objects lying around can be used as weapons, and a number of hazards such as electric and fire can be used against zombie hordes.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Combining a spaghetti western wild west setting with a zombie apocalypse probably hasn’t been done in games before Red Dead did it with Undead Nightmare. It’s such a unique fusion of disparate elements, yet feels so satisfying and fun to experience. The addition of classic folklore monsters, from Chupacabras to Sasquatches, is just the cherry on top of a well blended horror-tinged desert of the Red Dead franchise.

Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid takes a unique twist on survival horror. It’s not about how you survive, but how you die in this game. Players are fated to get eliminated by a single slow zombie bite, yet the game manages to make this process rewarding and, above all, fun. The unlimited nature of sandbox mode puts all the tools in the player’s hands, giving control of the zombie population, weather patterns, and loot. It’s a top-down 2D game though, so if you’re just in the mood for a cinematic and graphically intensive horror experience, others on this list will have to substitute.

Once Human

One of the most recent entries on the list, Once Human prides itself on its community-focused gameplay. Players can craft and build base camps meant to serve as a home base within the game world. Hunger and sanity needs to be kept in check lest players lose their loot with a respawn. What helps separate Once Human from other multiplayer survival games is the wild creature design. I mean, there’s a walking bus monster that players can use for transportation for crying out loud. Once Human isn’t lacking in creative  charm.

Beyond Hanwell

Surprisingly overlooked despite its quality, Beyond Hanwell lets players loose in the rainy streets of Westminster London amid an outbreak of mutant anomalies. The sound and music in particular really create an unsettling atmosphere, which is further aided by the environmental details of within the first-person perspective. Your primary source of self-defense is a pistol and some other light weapons, but a bigger aspect of the game is simply exploring the old buildings for notes and objects that help uncover the mystery.

The Sinking City Remastered

Fans of Lovecraftian horror should check out The Sinking City if they haven’t already. It’s filled with a variety of weird monsters beyond the familiar mortal coil, and even features a mental stability meter that diminishes as you learn new truths. The semi-open environments help fill out the background lore of Oakmont well, and the motorboat is just plain fun to traverse the waters with.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Developer GSC Game World brought the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series back into the limelight with the recently released Heart of Chornobyl, which undoubtedly represents the peak of the series. It takes what worked in prior entries, and creates something that’s bigger and better in almost every way. It blends a modern gameplay framework with the brutal survival mechanics of past entries, and that culminates in an experience that’s sure to stay with you long after the credits roll.

FINAL FANTASY 7 REBIRTH

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth went full open world, and boy did it do so in the most thorough manner possible. Across this epic odyssey, you travel to a vast number of locations throughout the Planet, which means there are several large open world maps to explore, each completely different from the other in their biomes, design, and more. A barrage of optional activities and side quests, unique traversal mechanics to each area, and more allow each area to feel yet more distinct, with all of it coming together in what’s easily one of the most massive (and impressive) games of 2024.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: HEART OF CHORNOBYL

In the lead-up to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s launch, GSC Game World promised one of the biggest open worlds ever made, and boy does the game deliver. At over 60 square kilometers, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s Exclusion Zone is a gargantuan play space, and brimming with things to see. There are over 20 distinct areas comprising the map, featuring a healthy mix of new locations and locations that will be familiar to fans of past instalments (many of which have been expanded or overhauled). “Huge” doesn’t begin to do it justice.

DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD

BioWare failed to nail the open world formula with Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, as a result of which the developer reverted to a semi-linear mission-based structure with Dragon Age: The Veilguard this year- but that doesn’t mean this game is small in scale by any means. Though story missions are decidedly linear, between such missions, the game lets you explore a number of semi-open world maps that are not only sufficiently large, but also hide no shortage of optional content and hidden secrets. Even though The Veilguard isn’t open world, this is still the largest Thedas has ever felt in a game.

ONCE HUMAN

Post-apocalyptic survival game Once Human’s open world design is different from some of the games we’ve spoken of so far, primarily thanks to the fact that this is a multiplayer-centric game. Regardless, in terms of size, it’s definitely one of the largest games of the year. Once Human’s map is 16 kilometers by 16 kilometers, all of which is split into four separate zones, each of which brings its own unique biome. Whether it’s size you’re looking for or variety, Once Human’s world doesn’t disappoint.

ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE

Elden Ring delivered a mind-bogglingly huge world when it launched in 2022, and though the new map in its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion wasn’t quite as large, it was still a much bigger map than most had expected from an expansion. Exploring the Land of Shadow fully and seeing everything it has to offer is not something you’re going to be able to do if you don’t have plenty of time on your hands. More importantly, the incredible level design exhibited throughout the map ensures you’ll never have a dull moment as you explore every nook and cranny.

LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTH

Like a Dragon games never fail to deliver dozens upon dozens of hours of content, but they generally tend to do that through density rather than size. The same is true for Infinite Wealth. The eighth mainline entry in the series takes players to Hawaii, and though the map is definitely a large one (certainly much larger than anything else we’ve seen from the series in the past), it’s not nearly on the same level as some of the other open worlds we’ve discussed here thus far. Still, the game does a great job of encouraging you to explore every inch, not only because of the immaculate vibes, but also the abundant content on offer (most of which is a heck of a lot of fun).

STAR WARS OUTLAWS

There’s plenty that Star Wars Outlaws gets wrong, but even many of its critics will tell you that as far as its open world is concerned, it’s one of Ubisoft’s best productions in years. Star Wars Outlaws avoids the pitfalls of open world bloat, which we’ve grown more familiar with over the years than we’d like to admit, by ensuring that none of its maps ever feel too large, and that exploration always feels organic. It’s a compelling open world experience, and one that makes great use of its impressive scope.

BLACK MYTH: WUKONG

Here’s another example of a game that manages to achieve a sense of scale in spite of being a non-open world level-based game. No, it’s nowhere near as big as most other games on this list, but with a mix of linear levels and larger, more open-ended areas, it does manage to craft a sizeable world nonetheless. This is a game you can easily spend over 50 hours in (depending on how extensively you’re engaging with the optional content), which tells you that there’s plenty to explore for players.

SONS OF THE FOREST

After spending a year in early access, Endnight Games’ highly anticipated open world survival game Sons of the Forest celebrated its 1.0 launch this February, and it didn’t take long for players to fall in love with it- which didn’t come as a surprise, after the game’s early access period. There’s a lot to love in Sons of the Forest’s horrific world, of course, and its sizeable map is high on that list. Not only is it significantly larger and much more detailed than the map in its predecessor, its also a constant thrill to explore, with the game doing a remarkable job of making exploration feel consistently terrifying and yet rewarding.

SATISFACTORY

After five and a half long years in early access, Satisfactory launched in full this September, and though a a large map isn’t necessarily something you’d expect from a factory management simulation game, not only does Satisfactory deliver it, it also uses it to great effect. Exploring its vast and hostile world always remains one of the experience’s highlights, and contributes significantly to the game’s engaging core loop.

DRAGON’S DOGMA 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a wholly unique game, delivering a kind of emergent open world experience that you can’t find anywhere else. A lot of that is down the game’s complete refusal to hold your hand and its systems-driven sandbox nature, but the size of its world is also a big part of the game’s success. Exploring the massive fantasy world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is always a blast, whether you’re exploring the lush landscapes in Vermund or the harsh desert landscapes of Battahl. Though more environmental diversity would have been appreciated, at least there’s plenty to explore, and consistently enjoyable, dynamic combat shenanigans to get into.

DRAGON QUEST 3 HD-2D REMAKE

Dragon Quest 2 HD-2D Remake is obviously a very different kind of experience from most other games in this feature, given the fact that it is deliberately designed as a throwback experience that harkens back to classic RPGs with its overworld exploration, town-hopping fantasy odyssey, dungeon crawling, and what have you. And though it is ultimately an old game made new, it’s also a sufficiently large experience- large enough, in fact, that there’s plenty to whet the appetite of all intrepid explorers out there. Its world isn’t colossal, but it feels large enough nonetheless, and exploration always remains gratifying.

RISE OF THE RONIN

Yes, we’ve mentioned a few rough-around-the-edges games here, but Rise of the Ronin certainly does deserve its place here. Team Ninja’s first crack at an open world game, though it suffered from formulaic design and cookie cutter open world content, it also wasn’t without its strengths. For starters, the game deserves credit for bringing its 19th century setting to life, at least from a visual perspective (even if the locations can feel a bit too lifeless at times). More prominent, however, are the traversal mechanics, with the mix of horseback riding, gliding, and running around making for a fun loop that keeps exploration enjoyable.

LIGHTYEAR FRONTIER

Since its early access launch in March, Lightyear Frontier has been praised by most who have played it, and its tranquil open world map  in particular is something that many have shined a light on. Calm exploration and zen traversal are the name of the game in Lightyear Frontier, owing to its very nature, which is a perfect fit for the pleasant, beautiful environments that you tend to find yourself in as you explore its world.

MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2024

Recreating literally the entire planet Earth, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 follows in the footsteps of its 2020 predecessor in going above and beyond with its open world map. That is, however, an important part of the experience here, just as it was in 2020, and once again, there’s no shortage of things to see, and even more things to do. The world sports a much greater level of detail and boasts an even greater level of authenticity, which makes Flight Sim 2024 a great experience for all the virtual tourists out there.

Nailing down any one aspect of PC gaming is challenging, but it’s that diversity that really makes it shine. Let’s check out the 30 best PC games that have stood out through the decades.

Sons of the Forest

The first rule of playing Sons of the Forest is to experience the original if only to appreciate its story-telling and how things work. Then dive into the sequel and really start to grasp all the different tools that Endnight Games has offered, from solar-powered golf karts and hang-gliders (with launch pads) to an extensive range of firearms, new melee weapons, and mechanics, like AI helpers and a revamped building system. Though its narrative won’t quite hook you, the sheer amount of stuff to do on the island – inhumane and otherwise – provides hours of fun.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

GSC Game World’s sequel isn’t a particularly challenging survival experience when managing hunger and radiation. However, patience and endurance are key, whether deducing and defusing anomalies, surviving encounters with Mutants or managing your inventory and dealing with the encumbrance. Doing all this without any fast travel is just the cherry on top. The lethality of firearms also goes both ways, ensuring each gunfight could be fatal with proper preparation.

Silent Hill 2 

Konami’s Silent Hill 2 continues to be a benchmark for survival horror games even after all these years later, and that legendary status can largely be attributed to the excellent atmosphere that never fails to keep you guessing. The fog-infested town of Silent Hill is brimming with horrors that would give you nightmares for weeks to come, and everything from the story to the music and puzzle design works in symphony to support the central themes of uneasiness and inducing a sense of fear of the unknown. 

DRAGON’S DOGMA 2

Most companies developing a long-awaited sequel to a relatively niche game that was considered too opaque by many who played it would have tried to streamline things to appeal to a broader crowd, but with Dragon’s Dogma 2, Capcom not only stuck to its original vision, it doubled down on it. Whether its through its lack of quest guidance, the by-design unreliability of its autosaves, its limited fast travel options, or mechanics such as Dragonsplague, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is all about creating engagement and memorable gameplay through an abundance of friction. Something like that can easily break an entire experience, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 thrives with that approach.

ELDEN RING

Elden Ring obviously had to be on this list. FromSoftware’s design ethos has always revolved around offering players as little guidance as possible, something that has enabled some truly excellent experiences over the years, and that same philosophy enables Elden Ring to craft a spectacular open world. Funnily enough, with its generous checkpointing and fast travel system, Elden Ring actually feels more hospitable than previous From titles in some regards, but the feeling of absolute freedom to go anywhere in its massive, gorgeous, intimidating world isn’t something that many other games have been able to nail in the past- or at least not nearly as well as Elden Ring did.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM

Even if Tears of the Kingdom had been a cut-paste follow-up to Breath of the Wild, its open world experience would have merited it a place on this feature, with the whole point of these games being to place no restrictions and offer no suggestions to players about how they should play. All of that is, of course, present and accounted for in Tears– but this is also a significantly larger and more complex game than its predecessor, which makes it that much more impressive to see how well it balances its lack of handholding and how easy it is to grasp its core concepts. Tears of the Kingdom very rarely nudges you in any specific direction, because it has the confidence that no matter what you do, you’re going to end up having fun- and honestly, that confidence is well earned.

OUTER WILDS

Outer Wilds is obviously not your typical open world game, to the extent that labelling it as an open world experience almost feels inaccurate, even if it isn’t on paper. How it’s structured has a huge hand in that. As you go through multiple, repeated 22-minute loops and explore more and more of its mysterious space setting, the pieces of its narrative puzzle slowly start falling into place, and as its many fans will tell you, that’s only as effective as it is because the game goes out of its way to stay out of yours. You’re the master of your own destiny in Outer Wilds, and the game simply cannot be praised enough for how confidently it gives you the freedom to unravel its tantalizing mysterious however you wish.

SUBNAUTICA

In Subnautica, you crash on an alien planet and find yourself in hostile underwater locations. Your only objective? Survive, and find a way off-world. How you choose to do that in its oceanic setting is left up to you. Braving the surreal yet alien depths of its underwater locations, you constantly have an abundance of choices to make, with very little restrictions placed on you in where you want to go, what you want to explore, or what you want to build. The fact that the game manages to have the balanced progression curve that it does in spite of how hands-off it is for the vast majority of the times probably doesn’t get as much recognition as it should.

SONS OF THE FOREST

Sons of the Forest isn’t a friendly game. It’s setting is brutal and harsh, it’s brimming with nightmare-fuel of the scariest kind, and mechanically, it’s not afraid to piss you off with how opaque it can be from time to time. But though all of that could easily turn many people off, its harshness is exactly what makes Sons of the Forest the brilliant game that it is. Every second you spent on its cannibal-infested island is the definition of a waking nightmare, and the fact that the game makes no effort to make that experience even slightly pleasant for you only makes its terrifying offerings stand out in memory that much more.

OUTCAST

Easily one of the oldest games on this list, but a feature like this one would be incomplete without any mention of Outcast. Recognized as one of the first true open world games ever made, above all else, Outcast emphasized immersion. A lot of that came through the use of diegetic elements rather than the overreliance on UI that modern open world titles have become known for, which, paired with the game’s focus on player freedom and agency, made for a game that, for its time, felt truly limitless. Obviously, it had a great deal of technical issues (especially if you play it today, even if you’re playing the remaster), but from a design perspective, it was very much ahead of its time.

METRO EXODUS

Metro Exodus isn’t a fully open world game, instead letting players explore a series of larger, semi-open maps, but it uses its openness to great effect, because never does it feel like it’s inundating you with pointless, filler content, or offering excessive guidance in what to do, or how to do the things that you’re doing. That was, of course, the case with its predecessors as well, but Metro Exodus takes those elements and cranks them up to eleven. Conserving ammo, dealing with the dangers of a post-nuclear wasteland, finding your way around environments, and hell, even using a map- almost nothing in this game feels “gamified”, for the lack of a better word.

KENSHI

Kenshi is definitely a flawed game, especially from a technical perspective, but if you’re aching for an open world RPG sandbox that lets you have whatever kind of adventure you want, it’s well worth a look. The level of systemic and mechanical depth on offer here is almost staggering, to the extent that it can be a bit much in the early hours, but once you get to grips with it, it’s hard not to be taken aback by the agency that you as a player are constantly afforded in Kenshi.

ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED

Like a few other survival games (some of which are on this list), Ark: Survival Evolved prides itself on being almost entirely devoid of handholding, to the extent that it can be almost intimidating to completely new players jumping in for the first time. Its large, unforgiving open world is brimming with a variety of different challenging, and figuring out not only how to get past them, but even learning what those challenges are, is left entirely to you and your ability to explore, discover things, and improve at the game.

VALHEIM

Yep, another survival game- this is a a genre that lends itself incredibly well to the no-handholding philosophy. Valheim is admittedly a little bit more welcoming than a lot of the other games we’ve spoken about on this feature, but even so, when you first jump in, the game tells you awfully little about how to move things forward. Thankfully, everything from combat to exploration to gathering resources to building your bases is a hell of a lot of fun in Valheim, so even when the game’s being a bit opaque about what it wants you to do, it’s still a hell of a lot of fun.

Maybe the island is really just a test to see how far one is willing to look into the abyss, superseding those so-called monsters. “Maybe we really were The Forest’s Sons,” I told Kelvin, who probably nodded vacuously or gathered more wood, but that’s only one component of Sons of the Forest, which recently left early access almost exactly a year after it entered.

"Fans of the first game will doubtless appreciate the connections and continuations from the first game, but make no mistake – this is more of a Volume 2 to the ongoing saga than the answers to all your questions."

On the flip side is the set-up and story. You arrive on a mysterious island dubbed Site 2 to locate Edward Puffton, CEO of PuffCorp, his wife Barbara and their daughter Virginia after they go missing. It’s not long before your helicopter mysteriously loses power (in a call back to the first game) and crashes. With a survival pack, the faithful Kelvin and a whole lot of incentive, you need to survive and probably find the Pufftons.

Things aren’t quite that simple, as vicious cannibals roam above ground while the caverns are teeming with mutants. As you discover the fates of your other team members, various clues about the Puffton’s dealings with the island, his rivalry with Sahara Therapeutics from the previous game and the involvement of Jianyu Zhang, a PuffCorp employee-turned-Sahara agent who takes none too kindly to your presence. What is the mysterious Cube, and why does everyone want it? Those are but some of the questions to answer.

Fans of the first game will doubtless appreciate the connections and continuations from the first game, but make no mistake – this is more of a Volume 2 to the ongoing saga than the answers to all your questions. Furthermore, the plot boils down to going from one waypoint to another on your GPS, though occasionally, you need to explore the different caves to acquire the items necessary for further progress. For some, that may be underwhelming, especially considering the open-ended nature of some mysteries.

The characterization also leaves a bit to be desired – outside of some returning characters, there’s little known about Kelvin and Virginia beyond the personal bonds you forge with them. Some of the lore bits and notes are interesting as cover plans to turn the island into a resort emerge. Meanwhile, the maintenance workers and employees slowly discover the bodies on this supposed abandoned island. The main plot may as well be in the background during most moments (and isn’t that long if you know what to do).

"The longer you survive, the tougher the survival experience becomes. Mutants start to appear top-side while cannibals begin donning stronger armor."

While the game doesn’t restrict you from focusing on the narrative, mulling about and leveraging the survival crafting mechanics is another choice. It’s a potent combination that allows for being as hands-on with the story (such as it is) as you like – if you want to stay on the island, surviving its changing seasons and calmly build up a base, then go right ahead. There’s plenty of reason to follow the main story path and explore the various caves inhabiting the island, as they unlock tools that can benefit your crafting needs.

A rebreather for diving underwater and venturing deeper into caves where precious Solafite awaits. A pickaxe for mining said Solafite. A rope gun that allows for quickly zipping along lines and makes scaling cliffsides that much easier. Foldable gliders for more easily exploring the island. The list goes on, even if some items – like the putter and golf balls, guitar and radio – are more for fun than practicality.

It’s all up to you. Collect rainwater to serve as a fresh source of drinking water or live off of energy drinks. Kill animals and cook their meat to serve as a food source, or hoard MRE Packs for your sustenance. Just as you can build a house and bed to serve as a save point and means to pass the day, you can set up camp with little more than a stick and some tarp. Don’t do it on the road or nearby – enemies tend to patrol and will give you a rude awakening at night.

The longer you survive, the tougher the survival experience becomes. Mutants start to appear top-side while cannibals begin donning stronger armor. Camps for the latter slowly but surely blossom into settlements with more complex structures. Other random points of interest may spawn, like a PMC camp littered with bodies, but despite its open-world structure, Sons of the Forest isn’t jam-packed with these. It’s more like a twisted ecology that slowly but surely evolves, with its volatile elements slowly set to blow as you struggle to survive. How you prepare for that and manage aspects of your base-building, arsenal, and traversal is ultimately up to you.

"While the combat in Sons of the Forest doesn’t set the bar for the genre, its responsiveness and impact are still top-tier, whether it’s a shotgun blast sending an enemy flying or limbs coming undone from axe blows."

Enemy AI is a little odd sometimes, but it’s fascinating at others. Some of the locals are content with observing you before suddenly lashing out and will run away if you get too close or reposition. Other times, they may attack all at once just as easily as standing around while you line up a headshot. Some members of the pack have little issue with menacingly walking up. Still, they’re as dangerous as pitiable when begging for their lives.

The mutants are arguably a bigger threat – even the grunts can quickly overwhelm you if you’re not constantly on the move. It makes exploring the caverns much more harrowing, especially some of the more labyrinthine sections that go on seemingly forever. The maintenance hatches and bunkers aren’t quite as impressive but still offer their share of unique sights and dangers.

While the combat in Sons of the Forest doesn’t set the bar for the genre, its responsiveness and impact are still top-tier, whether it’s a shotgun blast sending an enemy flying or limbs coming undone from axe blows. The variety of weaponry and tools is also solid overall, which expands upon further exploration and experimentation with the materials in your pack.

I didn’t experiment too much with the new organic building system, sticking to the tried and true blueprint design instead. Still, it’s impressive how deep the tools can be when designing a house, especially if you decide to scare away enemies and lend a macabre air to your territory or create a launch pad for your hang-glider. Again, it’s to the game’s credit that it doesn’t tie you down with maintaining a base, but if you decide to focus on it, several systems are in place to make it more rewarding. Resource collection rarely feels like a chore, especially with Kelvin helping out.

"As odd as the narrative can feel, especially with its pay-off, the terror and abject horror at some monstrosities – especially those staring back in the mirror – remain as compelling as ever."

While performance on the higher end is reportedly not the best, I found Sons of the Forest to run decently on my ageing set-up at Medium quality (albeit with FSR 3.0 enabled). There was only one freeze leading to a restart and some issues where objects would clip through the world, but otherwise, I didn’t encounter any serious bugs. Your mileage may vary.

Still, the island is truly something to behold, whether witnessing the sunrise on the beach, frantically scrambling on a beach during a thunderstorm or watching the raccoons stand up on their hind legs. Snow piling up and parting is also an incredible detail to behold alongside the lighting and shadows.

Sons of the Forest won’t make the same novel impact as its predecessor when combining a compelling mystery and narrative with impressive survival crafting mechanics. Nevertheless, it does stand out as one of the better examples of the same, especially with how it expands on its predecessor with all kinds of new items and mechanics. As odd as the narrative can feel, especially with its pay-off, the terror and abject horror at some monstrosities – especially those staring back in the mirror – remain as compelling as ever.

This game was reviewed on PC.