Summary
Exploration is an integral part of any RPG. The games that linger in the memories of players are often the ones that continuously take away their breath with epic sights or reward them for checking behind that waterfall.
Gamers tend to flock to first-person RPGs to get their exploration kick, which is only natural with the sense of immersion that camera perspective provides. But zooming out intoa third-person viewcan be just as effective. When players can see their character as they explore virtual worlds, it puts size into perspective, showing just how grand and massive the environments are compared to the character. Plus, players can see how sick their armor looks.
Nine Dots Studio’sOutwardis unique among RPGs as the players do not assume the role ofa prophesied chosen oneor a legendary hero. Rather, players are ordinary travelers trying to get by inOutward’s harsh fantasy world.
While maintaining things like hydration and sleep, players trek across vast, breathtaking landscapes, discovering dungeons and grand cities. Admittedly,Outwardcan feel a bit lacking in NPC encounters, but it more than makes up for that with its unique blend of hardcore survival mechanics and fantasy exploration.
Similar to games likeOutward,Kenshihas players assume the role of ordinary people rather than the mythical protagonists gamers are used to seeing in RPGs. In developer Lo-fi Games' sandbox, players can becomewhoever they want- be that a bloodthirsty warlord or a humble farmer.
WhileKenshi’s main appeal is this freedom, its world is also rewarding to simply explore. Claiming to boast “the largest single-player RPG world since Daggerfall,” onits Steam page, there is no end of interesting sights and locations for players to discover.
InGothic, players embark on their fantasy adventure within the confines of a colony-sized prison. As would be expected with such a setting,Gothic’s world is hostile and not afraid to kick players down over and over again within its opening hours.
It’s this hostility andGothic’s dark backdropthat breeds a rich sense of atmosphere, drenching not only the game’s story and quests but its exploration too. While trekking across the Colony, players are easily transported away toGothic’s dreary world and will find escaping is no simple task.
Some players may have a love-hate relationship withXenoblade Chronicles X. A number of the game’s mechanics can feel quite tedious, especially the 30-hour-ish wait to unlock the games' mechs, and its story - one which sees humanity fleeing to the planet Mira after getting caught in the crossfire of an intergalactic war - is a bit one note.
However, the game excels in its combat and exploration. Mira is filled with secrets and an ecosystem of alien animals, each with their own behaviors, to discover. And, of course, when players finally do acquire their mechs, visible in all their glory thanks to the third-person view, exploring Mira’s desert wastes or bioluminescent forests becomes infinitely more fun.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionsolves some of the original game’s issues with QOL improvements and additional story content.
ExploringDragon’s Dogma 2’s fantasy world is a delight from beginning to end. Upon first stepping into the game’s lush wilderness, players are greeted with a horizon of locations to explore and monsters to fight. Players never know if, after cresting a hill in the distance or travelling through a ravine, it will lead them into the depths of a labyrinthian dungeon or the jaws of some new beastie to fight.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s exploration is made all the more immersive by pawns,AI-controlled party membersthat accompany the player, as they will often comment about their surroundings or offer tidbits of information gained from their travels in other players' worlds.
After the world is nearly destroyed by a robot apocalypse,Horizon Forbidden West’s version of Earth is turned into a post-apocalyptic landscape, filled with overgrown cities and the game’s iconic machine wildlife.
The clash in visual aesthetic between the settings' lush flora and mechanized fauna is what makesHorizonso interesting to explore. Players might be spanning the camera around Aloy, taking in the vibrant scenery of a jungle, only for a Maximal to jump out of the bushes and attack them. The game also directly incorporates the machines into exploration by, for example, allowing players to climb the giraffe-like Tallnecks to reveal more of the map.
A consistent element in theDark Soulsfranchise, orFromSoftware’s entire catalogfor that matter, is the game’s ability to make the player feel small.Dark Souls 3is no different.
Players assume the role of The Ashen One as they travel the land in search of the old Lords of Cinder to return them to their thrones and prevent the Age of Dark. On their journey, players encounter deadly and gargantuan enemies and bosses within the grand ruins of a dying world. The sheer scale of everything inDark Souls 3, apparent in the third-person view, makes every minute a player spends exploring both breathtaking and imposing. Not only that, FromSoftware has an excellent knack for rewarding players' curiosity, often hiding secrets, items, or even traps at the end of divergent paths.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s world is oppressive and miserable, which is exactly what makes it one of the best for players to explore. Set during the third Northern conflict, the lands of Temeria are ravaged by war. Battlefields and grave sites are a dime a dozen, each being infested with allsorts of monsters.
Playing as Geralt, a magical monster hunter called a Witcher, players are free to explore the destitute setting and get lost in its grittiness. The third-person camera angle feels especially beneficial when Geralt is riding his horse, as players can freely spin the camera around to look at the wilderness as it passes them by.
Across the war-torn land, there are not only the expected dungeons and ruins for players to delve into, but also many compelling side quests for players to discover and pursue, the writing of which is comparable - if not better, in some instances - to the main storyline itself.
Elden Ringdials up the sense of scale in FromSoftware’s other titles by dropping players into an open world that reduces encounters with dragons to mere bumps in the road. The Land Between, the game’s main setting, feels endless. Players assume that every discovery of a map fragment, items that expand the game’s map menu, will be the last, only for them to realize that they haven’t even seen half of what the game has to offer. In the third-person view, where players can see how small they are compared to these locations, the game truly feels enormous.
Elden Ring’s world isn’t just big either, it’s mysterious. Multiple, massive areas of the game are hidden behind secret paths that can be easily missed by less keen-eyed players. Exploration is rewarded with more exploration, not just secret items or nuggets of lore - both of which are still very exciting to come across, however.
