Open world News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

This isn't quite the way I imagined an early access game about being a shopkeeper would begin, but long before I rang up my first customer threw rocks at cardboard cutouts of cowboys, dodged lasers fired by hippo statues, and survived a shootout with a crowd of evil thugs sent after me by a ruthless corporate overlord.

There are a ton of open-world games and in that barrage of titles that hit the marketplace every year, there are a few open-world RPGs that need to be picked up and enjoyed. If you’re going into 2021 with some extra time to sink hours into a big open-world RPG then we have a few titles worth looking into. In this list, we’re going to break it into some great already released and a bit more modern available open-world RPG titles you can play right now along with a few games we are personally interested in trying out when they launch hopefully before 2021 wraps. So whether you need something new to try out or something that will be coming out shortly, we have a good list of games to keep on your radar.

Project Mugen is an upcoming gacha game developed by Naked Rain. In a new «disclosure of production information» trailer, we looked at the next monstrous timesink gunning for Genshin Impact's crown.

After Project Mugen's announcement trailer hit last month at Gamescom, many were quick to draw parallels between the high-flying movements of its main characters and that of Marvel's Spider-Man. However, when I made the comparison to Project Mugen lead producer Ash Qi at Tokyo Game Show last week, he revealed that the inspiration actually came from another source.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the middle chapter of the ambitious Final Fantasy VII Remake project, arrives in just a few short months, and Square Enix has provided more info about the game’s world. We know FF7 Rebirth will feature a much larger, more open world than FF7 Remake and Square Enix has detailed some of the regions you’ll be exploring, including the Grasslands, Junon, and the Gold Saucer.

Are you ready for some big worlds to explore in 2024? If so, you’ll want to check out our Open World Games 2024 list!

To accompany our hands on session with Marvel's Spider-Man 2, we were handed the chance to pose some questions to senior game director Ryan Smith at the London event. Below, we get into how the PS5 hardware has accelerated load times in the sequel, how the open world has evolved, and answer one very important question: has Peter Parker lost any more of his backpacks to collectibles in the years since Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4?

You can look forward to a huge Marvel's Spider-Man 2 blowout here on Push Square tomorrow, but for now, check out this new PS5 trailer all about the open world. It explains how you'll swap between playing as each Spider-Man, what optional activities look like and how you'll find them, and a hint at side quests.

Insomniac Games has let slip a new trailer for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 where they detail new gameplay changes show off a greatly expanded map for the sequel. The new map is significantly larger, presumably to accommodate all the new powers and to make room for two Spider-heroes swinging about at once.

Distinct progress and fast travel have also gotten a new lick of paint.

The latest PlayStation State of Play gave us another look at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, set to be released on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles on December 7, 2023. This time, we got to see a sneak peek at our Na’vi protagonist, who was abducted by the RDA and secluded from her world. Now, it is time to reconnect with her roots and learn the ways of the Na’vi.

It’s almost time for Spider-Man 2, and it’s in that sentiment that Insomniac Games has revealed a brand new look at the game in today’s PlayStation State of Play. In this first look at how the sequel aims to evolve the open world concept, senior director Bryan Intihar showed off the game’s world, which has effectively doubled in size when you consider the inclusion of both Brooklyn and Queens. 

Insomniac popped up during the PlayStation State of Play stream to show off more of Spider-Man 2, and the open world gameplay in particular. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out on 20th October 2023, exclusively for PlayStation 5.

This State of Play is focused on indies and third-party titles, but that didn’t stop Insomniac Games from dropping some fresh new gameplay for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Check out the roughly four-minute-long trailer below.

There is no shortage of rumors, especially regarding the video game industry. However, we have another one to share with you, and this time, it’s about a beloved franchise gearing up to enter full development on a brand-new installment. Mass Effect 5 is in the works, that much we know, as BioWare officially confirmed the game a few years ago. However, we’re not any closer to knowing just when this game will be arriving in the marketplace. Today, we’re learning of a new rumor suggesting that the development team might be dialing things back for this new game release.

Mass Effect developer BioWare is pulling back from Andromeda's open-world approach and plans to streamline its world for Mass Effect 4.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is the game that has BioWare’s full attention right now, but once the fantasy RPG is out (which might be as late as late 2024), the studio will turn its focus to the next instalment in the Mass Effect franchise. The sci-fi RPG is currently in pre-production, which means there’s plenty about it that we don’t know yet, but it seems some crucial details may have filtered through nonetheless.

The next Mass Effect game may move away from open-world exploration.

Announced earlier this year at Summer Game Fest, Islands Of Insight is, somehow, both an open world multiplayer game, and a puzzle game - something akin to The Witness but in a fantasy world you share with other players. There are serene floating islands, wide open flying and a varied chocolate box of puzzles. Publisher Behaviour Interactive (from Dead By Daylight fame) have now announced a free open playtest, available to everyone from now until September 21st. As lovely as the game looks, I’m excited to try Islands Of Insight for myself.

Not in the Need For Speed Mobile Early Access? No idea what the Need For Speed Mobile gameplay is going to be like? Don’t worry! You’re not totally in the dark.

Every now and then I think back to my first experience of Fortnite, back in the dingy early-mid 2010s - a clever but laborious wave defence game inspired by Minecraft and CliffyB's childhood memories of building sofa cushion forts. I compare this project, which seemed pretty much doomed at the time, with the globe-straddling free-to-play battle royale/concert venue/art gallery/Olympic sport/all-swallowing multiverse Fortnite has become, and I feel extremely old. My sense of time's crushing burden is not alleviated for learning that Epic are staffing up for work on "a new experience in the Fortnite ecosystem", which sounds a lot like a Fortnite open worlder. What fresh hell is this, Epic? When will enough be enough?

With Dragonflight Patch 10.1.7 arriving with this week's reset, we've updated all our best Level 70 Talent Builds for Raid, Mythic+, Open-World Questing, and Starter PvP builds direct from our class writers. This update includes fresh builds for Restoration Druids and Mistweaver Monks after their 10.1.7 talent tree updates as well as all other Patch 10.1.7 talent tree changes in Season 2. If you're looking to optimize your character's power and performance in Dragonflight Patch 10.1.7 or just looking for an exceptional starting point to begin your Talent Tree customization journey, then this guide provides recommendations on the best Talent Builds for each specialization. Simply copy the code for your spec below and then paste it in the in-game Talent Tree UI and you're all set. Dragonflight Talent Tree System Revamp

With Patch 10.1.7, Blizzard is restoring hundreds of zone drops and rare spawn drops which were removed over a decade ago with the Cataclysm open-world update. While we don't have an official list, we assume this change will bring back items like

Old World Labs announced a new, upcoming sandbox MMO, Abyss Online. This open-world MMO aims to create an ever-evolving narrative, guild warfare, and more when it hits early access next year.

Old World Labs announced a new, upcoming sandbox MMO, Abyss Online. This open-world MMO aims to create an ever-evolving narrative, guild warfare, and more when it hits early access next year.

Project Mugen is an upcoming free-to-play action RPG from new developer Naked Rain (a subsidiary of Netease) with anime characters who can web-swing through a city like Spider-Man. Its first trailer is a mash-up of Grand Theft Auto and Genshin Impact, an urban anime game with several characters to play as.

We have a new rumor about Gears 6, that’s exciting news given that the game has not yet been officially announced yet.

When Crimson Desert was first announced at The Game Awards in 2020, many wondered whether the clearly ambitious title was simply too good to be true. And now, close to three years later, we've got our next glimpse at South Korean developer Peal Abyss' project.

Open-world games are popping up more and more, and many franchises have even tailored themselves to be more like an open-world game to bring in more fans. As such, you can expect a lot of these titles in 2023. The real question becomes though…which ones should you get?

Today, NetEase Games announced Project Mugen, an urban open world anime roleplaying game. Project Mugen will employ the free-to-play model and launch on PC, mobile, and PlayStation 4/5, following the example set by Genshin Impact.

Open-world games have been all the rage for decades. Sure, the formula has improved with time, but gamers have been experiencing vast open landscapes for so long now that it’s hard to accept when a game lacks that bit of spice. This is especially true with ‘Triple A’ games, and Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon is not immune to this expectation.

Remember Crimson Desert? The impressive looking open world adventure was first shown at The Game Awards back in 2020, and it was one of those gameplay trailers that had people questioning whether it was actually real footage. Roughly six months later, the project was delayed indefinitely, with developer Pearl Abyss stating that it would use the extra time to add «new ideas for an even deeper, more enriching game».

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, after much teasing, has been laid bare, with Activision releasing an explosive gameplay reveal trailer. A direct sequel to last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, we got a good look at what the next COD looks like, with a helpful writeup over on the PlayStation Blog filling in the gaps.

Call of Duty players have enjoyed the iconic Zombies mode over the past several years. It’s proven to be a prevalent game mode, and it’s confirmed to return in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. That shouldn’t be surprising, as we received a teaser regarding a Zombies mode featured in the upcoming game. Unfortunately, details are a bit scarce right now. You might be surprised by that since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III just had its official gameplay trailer reveal. However, there was a small mention regarding the Zombies mode in a new official blog post.

Outcast — A New Beginning just got a brand-new trailer thanks to the THQ Nordic 2023 Digital Showcase, and we know a whole load of fresh details about it, too.

THQ Nordic and Appeal Studios have semi-re-announced Outcast 2: A New Beginning as plain old Outcast: A New Beginning, having sensibly decided that positioning it as a sequel to a 24-year-old game might turn younger audiences away. In a pre-reveal showcase attended by RPS, producer Andreas Schmiedecker walked us through a few sections of this atypically green-fingered open world shooter.

THQ Nordic have announced Titan Quest 2, a sequel to Iron Lore Entertainment's action RPG of 2006, which was kind of a classical variation on Diablo with players touring Ancient Greece, Egypt and China in search of chthonic beasts to slay. The new game is the work of Grimlore Games, creator of Spellforce III and one of THQ Nordic's first internal development studios. It sees you hunting down Nemesis, goddess of retribution, who has gone a bit do-lally and is meddling with the Threads of Fate.

One of the highlights of THQ Nordic's 2023 Digital Showcase was undoubtedly the reveal of Titan Quest II. After paving the way to a sequel with the late Ragnarök expansion to the original, we would have thought THQ Nordic would select Pieces Interactive to work on the game. However, Pieces is busy with the new Alone in the Dark game, so Munich-based developer Grimlore Games has been enlisted for Titan Quest II instead. Grimlore released the real-time strategy-roleplaying game hybrid SpellForce III. After that game was launched, THQ Nordic started looking into assigning the top-down hack-and-slash sequel to Grimlore.

It’s been over four and a half years since Nintendo announced that Metroid Prime 4’s development had been rebooted, with Retro Studios taking over the project, and in the time since then, we’ve heard absolutely nothing about the game. With significant time having passed with next to no updates on the game and with leaks claiming that Nintendo is preparing to launch a new console in the second half of 2024, questions about what Metroid Prime 4’s status is, when it’s going to launch, and if it will still be a Switch game have been asked quite often in recent weeks and months.

A new One Punch Man game is winging its way to mobile platforms and PC, courtesy of Crunchyroll. The One Punch Man: World website is live and there’s a trailer to watch that looks pretty impressive.

Ubisoft knows its way around compelling open worlds, but Star Wars Outlaws is shaping up to be one of its biggest and most densely detailed yet. As previously announced, each planet in the release will be fully explorable, with enough open space to give you a meaningful sense of adventure. And the French publisher is handcrafting every one: there’s no procedural generation.

You can already play Tower of Fantasy on PC or a smartphone, but Sony has been heavily promoting the PS5 and PS4 port, and that’s because the open world gacha is a timed console exclusive. The small print at the end of the game’s latest launch trailer notes that the PlayStation version is deploying “at least 12 months earlier than any other console”. This is boilerplate language for a timed console exclusive, as we’ve also seen with titles like Forspoken and Deathloop.

Star Wars Outlaws is trying to offer "full freedom of approach" to players in its open world.

The New World team has shared a new community Q&A, answering questions about everything from character rename and barber shops, to more open world PVP options, Fresh Start servers, and more. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is promising improvements on its already-excellent predecessors in a number of key areas, and in the gameplay department those improvements are apparently going to be present in everything from the combat to the open world. Recently, after unveiling a new story-focused trailer for the upcoming sequel at San Diego Comic-Con, alongside revealing new story details, Insomniac also offered some more brief tidbits on how Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is powering up in those two areas.

The second in a series of new devtalks and previews of features in the works for Albion Online, the team has announced that Tracking will be a new open-world activity option.