Wonderful Open-World Games That Let You Experience True Freedom

Freedom is something rare to find, even in Open-World games. No matter how huge their sandboxes are, there’s always something that blocks the path of players or diverts their attention from the main quest. But there are a few selected titles that allow players to experience ‘true freedom.’

Be it that they allow players to ignore the Main Quest indefinitely and explore leisurely, or that their main objectives have no strings attached, these titles are the best Open-World games to spend hours exploring leisurely or choosing your own adventure.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Be A Knight, Be A Thief, Be A Mercenary, Or A Pig

Of all the possible choices for players to experience the thrill of the audacious medieval life, the Kingdom Come series has done more than most by including a huge world to explore, filled to the brim with colorful characters, vicious bandits, and dangerous wolves prowling around its foresty areas. The second iteration of the series, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, has two enormous sandboxes where players can let lose and wander for hours, discovering hundreds of secrets and dozens of quests.

They can choose the path of the honorable Knight, or perhaps dedicate their days to scamming people playing dice at the taverns, or they can even turn into poachers and bandits if they wish to. There’s no correct way to play KCD2, and the best part: Players don’t have a countdown over their heads, nor significant barriers blocking their relaxing exploration. It is true freedom in Bohemia, and with its Hardcore Mode active, it becomes a magnificent medieval life simulator.

No Man’s Sky

An Endless Sea Of Stars To Navigate At Your Own Pace

Nothing compares to the sensation of having literally unlimited space to fly, and from all similar games, No Man’s Sky has become the stuff of legend. With an enormous community-driven universe to explore, players can become space traders, prospectors, conquerors, or xenobiologists.

By discovering new species and updating the community database, naming planets and animals, players not only acquire credits but also put their mark on this ever-expanding game, where there is no true limit to exploration. With over 200 different galaxies and hundreds of millions of planets, there’s no way anyone has seen it all in this procedurally generated game. The thing is, there’s no single way to play this game, and with the regular content drops and Expeditions, no playthrough is the same as the previous one. This game has aged wonderfully, and it will continue to expand into the infinite and beyond.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Lose Track Of Time, Wild West Style

From the dangerous and treacherous Grizzlies, to the majestic views of Big Valley, Red Dead Redemption 2 is arguably the best game ever made by Rockstar, with a huge potential for replay value and a level of freedom that few games of the western genre have granted their players.

Even its predecessors already had a certain special touch, although Red Dead Revolver was entirely linear, and only in Red Dead Redemption devs decided to go for the big sandbox and grant players the ability to forge their own wild-west legend. Still, this magnificent Open-World game has tons of hours of content to explore, and only the most gritted cowboys (and outlaws) will be able to see it all, and collect all the trophies/achievements to platinum. It’s a massive game that makes players lose themselves in the world, riding into the sunset.

Enshrouded

Forge Your Own Path Through The Deadly Shroud

Enshrouded is a gratifying and unique experience that allows players to explore a world devastated by a mysterious fog called The Shroud. Players are survivors from an ancient order that can push back this plague that ravages the land, and they will do so by lighting powerful beacons of mystical fire, building their bases, and eliminating the Shroud Roots that cause the fog to extend through the Embervale.

The game is still under construction, but players can already enjoy a vast Open-World map, which allows them to explore leisurely at their own pace, without caring for following a main quest. There are hundreds of quests and objectives to unlock, since players need to rescue other survivors like them, NPCs that will assist with crafting new and powerful gear to keep advancing and fighting against The Shroud. The addition of a Grappling Hook to climb and balance between cliffs, and a flysuit, grants this game some unique traversal mechanics that few other Open-World Survival RPGs have. With its Wake of the Water update right around the corner, there has never been a better time to try this game and see how much it has to offer.

Fallout 76

One Of The Most Complete Fallout Experiences You’ll Ever Find

Fallout 76 is a weird game: It has everything that a good Fallout game should have, but at the same time, it deviates from the norm in various aspects. For starters, players are not forced to chase after a dangerous enemy or bring back retribution to someone who has left them for dead. Instead, they are looking for the rest of the Vault Dwellers and following the trace of a mysterious plague that ravages Appalachia.

The game starts on the Reclamation Day, when all Vault Dwellers were supposed to go above ground and start rebuilding, though their plans are quickly thwarted by the vicious mutated creatures and inhospitable weather conditions (it’s hard to build a town when radioactive rain and mutated giant bats are turning everyone into plague-ridden zombies). But perhaps, the most wonderful detail about this MMORPG, is that it allows its players a level of freedom to build their characters and explore the map like no other Fallout game has ever done. With a wonderful and caring community and a fully integrated housing system, Fallout 76 continues to get better and better, offering tons of hours of fun exploring post-apocalyptic West Virginia.