When Skyrim first dropped on the scene earlier this decade, it pushed the envelope. For a good part of the early 2010s, Skyrim was the pinnacle of gaming. The open-world, the story, and the character design were all applauded by the community. Not many games during that time were doing what Skyrim was doing because of the hardware limitations of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

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So Skyrim was the gold standard for gaming, and the standard was hard to match for a time. Since then, Skyrim has opened up the flood gates, forcing other developers to push the boundaries as Bethesda did. Since then, there have been games that have jumped beyond what Skyrim and any other Elder Scrolls game has done. So let's look at the games that have done better than Skyrim in recent years.

10 Far Cry 5

Ubisoft is no stranger to the open-world genre, in fact, they've tried to make an open-world RPG with every genre under the sun. Far Cry 5 is a really good example of years a trial and error for the developer. Offering a cohesive story and world.

In contrast to the dark tones of Skyrim, Hope County is a bright world that makes it a better setting. Each region in Hope county has its own distinct feature that makes it stand out. Even the cast and the players will be helping compliment the world around it, and traversing through the world itself is a sight to see. It's no wonder why it's one of the best selling games of 2018.

9 Breath Of The Wild

This is Nintendo's hard push into the open-world market. They've done it before, but Breath of the Wild is more competitive. The art style of Hyrule alone makes it better than Skyrim. Starting up the game for the first time and going to the first tower and looking around is a cool experience.

The snowy areas, white covered mountains, and deserts make players want to explore more. Along with flying from a really high place, the entire experience gives the player a sense of how small they compared to this world.

8 Dragon Age: Inquisition

The third installment in Bioware's Dragon Age series is on the list because it has the same themes as Skyrim. Dragon Age Inquisition has built on top of Skyrim, with the world around the character being way more believable.

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Despite the fact that this game is a little old now, it still fares well in comparison. Plus it feels like Skyrim 2.0 in some ways. It's quite unfortunate that it doesn't get the same love as Skyrim does.

7 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

The Greek world has always been an interesting world to visit. When Ubisoft decided to take players there in historical open-world RPG, it was a no brainer. What set's it apart from Skyrim is that it's more realistic and ever-changing.

The world itself is a character itself because it seems to be alive and constantly changing. Going to the highest mountain and seeing areas where the player can go is something Skyrim can't do. Even sailing the Aegean Sea at night and watching the clear sky blanket the water is truly next-gen gaming.

6 Dying Light

Not many games offer the zombie-freerunning-open-world-RPG mix, but Techland does. This open-world game offers a crazy amount of content, that eclipses Skyrim. From going on a rooftop charting out a course to go exploring in this wasteland is unique to Dying Light

At night the world takes a whole new form, and the zombies get even more intense as well. The world will be different, no matter how many times it's being played. It isn't as big as Skyrim, but the world itself does a great job of making it feel like it is.

5 Borderlands 3

Now, this looter shooter is crazy fun, not only in terms of gameplay, but the world as well. Traveling through Pandora's emptiness can be daunting but at the same time, it doesn't have to be. While the world of Skyrim has a ton of empty locations, Borderlands 3 has that but still manages to keep the player engaged.

Some may argue that Borderlands 3 is better than the fan-favorite, so the setting needs to be addressed in that to. It's the scope of the game that really sets it apart from Skyrim, and a lot can be done in Borderlands 3.

4 The Divison 2

Being one of the best looter shooters today, there's a number of reasons why it's on this list. A big one is the world, the post-apocalyptic Washington DC looks very familiar. A lot of the buildings look like carbon copies of the real ones.

Exploring monuments at any time feels like players are on a guided tour. The world around players is constantly changing, mainly because it's an open-world game. It's that changing that gives The Divison 2 an edge over Skyrim and adds more cool things to see.

3 Horizon Zero Dawn

This game is basically Sony's answer to Breath of the Wild. Horizon Zero Dawn offers so much in terms of the world it's in. Players can go from region to region, exploring the weather systems. From snowy mountain tops to rich forests, the variety shows how massive the world is.

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Players would spend most of their time exploring because there's so much going on. At night with a full moon, it lights up the player's path and looks extremely lifelike. The scope of this game is so big that 3 years later people are still finding things.

2 Red Dead Redemption 2

The cowboy classic is so big that players are still finding things that the developers put in. Rockstar knows a thing or two when making big games. People spend so much time looking for new things because the developer loves to put Easter eggs in random spots.

Adding to it there's scenery is one of kind, and it changes on a dime. One second players are in a vast city the next, the next they're in the countryside just doing cowboy things. The world is so big is that even today, players are still finding new areas.

1 The Witcher 3

For a time Skyrim was considered the best open-world RPG, but The Witcher has overtaken it. Comparisons have always gone on between two, but the undeniable truth is that The Witcher 3 is better. The world in the game is diverse and rich.

The forest areas and the sea traveling is amazing on it's own. But being a part of the next-gen gives it the edge that it produce a massive open-world experience. While Skyrim lacks color and and and fleshed out world, The Witcher 3 is the opposite of that. Going from city to city, players can see how much can change.

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