Open-world gaming is a huge subsection of the industry today and sales charts are being filled with adventure games and RPGs set in enormous game worlds that players can freely explore. Open-world games are popular for how much content they tend to have, how much freedom the player is given, and of course, how replayable they are.

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Replayability is an important factor for many people when buying a single-player game, as the influx of free-to-play games and the introduction of subscription services like Game Pass have made many people think twice before paying full AAA prices. Gamers won't need to worry about getting their money's worth with the games on this list, however, as they all offer plenty of replay value to ensure that players can dive in again and again.

NOTE: This list will just look at non-service games rather than MMOs and live service games, as we consider the latter to be more "endlessly playable" rather than "replayable."

6 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

metal gear solid 5 Phantom Pain, world

When it was revealed that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was going to be an open-world game, many people were initially skeptical. The stealth and open-world genres have inherent differences, and they have struggled to be compatible in the past. However, Kojima Productions did a fantastic job of blending the two opposing genres together seamlessly, creating one of the best stealth games of all time in the process.

Metal Gear Solid 5's replayability comes from many places, though its main source is how players tackle missions. There are many routes and methods that players can take if they want to complete their objective without having to kill or perhaps even without being spotted. Alternatively, the game has a huge arsenal of weapons that players can utilize, making the temptation of using them too hard to resist for many people. It's definitely worth playing through Metal Gear Solid 5 at least twice, once in full stealth mode and once all-guns-blazing.

5 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 3

Much like Metal Gear Solid 5, CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3 was released early on in the eighth generation of home consoles' life cycle but made full use of the technology by offering a visually stunning open world that impressed players with its scope and detail. Although these visuals were undoubtedly spectacular, it was the characters within the world and the stories that would unfold around them that would make the game so special.

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The Witcher 3's numerous quests are predominantly story-driven, with players getting to make numerous choices throughout. Like any game that offers players a series of choices with far-reaching consequences, The Witcher 3 is a game that many people want to replay to see where the other paths lead.

4 Fallout: New Vegas

New Vegas NCR armor with NCR flag.

Fallout: New Vegas was initially dismissed by large portions of the gaming industry, as they saw the game's lackluster visuals and thought that Bethesda were just trying to cash in on the success of Fallout 3. However, the game would soon prove doubters wrong, as although it admittedly didn't look great, it is now considered one of the best RPGs of all time.

Obsidian Entertainment's game is beloved by RPG fans for how it embodied the RPG genre's sense of freedom, as players were amazed at how their decisions would impact the world around them in a way that felt natural.

3 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Link riding a horse and looking out on Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild saw the iconic series return to its roots. Like the original Legend of Zelda game, Breath of the Wild gave players unparalleled freedom in where they wanted to go and what order they wanted to do things, a rarity in the adventure genre.

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Breath of the Wild's sense of adventure and exploration has made it one of the most engrossing games of all time. Many players will complete the game and feel like they're seen everything there is to see, only to be blindsided on a second playthrough by tons of content that they missed their first time around.

2 Elden Ring

Elden Ring Beast

FromSoftware's Soulsborne series has quickly become one of the most esteemed franchises in gaming history. Games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have all been major successes, thanks to their memorable boss fights, engaging combat mechanics, and deep lore.

Another reason for their success has been how ingenious the game worlds are designed. The games often feature interconnected maps that tie together beautifully, most notably in the original Dark Souls. As such, many people were skeptical when it was announced that the latest game in the unofficial series, Elden Ring, would be open-world. However, FromSoftware didn't disappoint, offering an incredible game-world that, despite being utterly enormous, is packed with dungeons, bosses, and memorable side quests.

Along with the plethora of missable content, Elden Ring is a highly replayable game due to how much build variety there is, making players eager to try new weapons and armor in subsequent playthroughs.

1 The Elder Scroll 5: Skyrim

skyrim dragon

Skyrim is an obvious choice for this list, given that the game was released over a decade ago, and many people are still frequently starting new save files. The game is the benchmark for modern RPGs as much like Bethesda's other game on this list, Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim gives players a tremendous amount of freedom in how they want to live in the game's world.

Skyrim is thoroughly enjoyable regardless of whether players are entirely passive and focus purely on crafting, trade, and non-violent NPC quests or if they're an aggressive adventurer clearing out bandit camps and dungeons. Either way, the game has plenty to offer.

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