The Best Open-World RPGs You Can Play Right Now (Across Every Platform)
Twelve open-world RPGs that reward the time you put into them — from the obvious blockbuster picks to the smaller releases that quietly became classics.
Open-world RPGs are the most expensive genre in gaming — both in production cost and in the time they demand from you. Picking the wrong one wastes 60 hours. Picking the right one changes how you think about games for a year. This list is the latter.
These are the twelve open-world RPGs currently worth your time, across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, in rough order of how much time they demand.
The 100-hour games
Baldur’s Gate 3
Still the high-water mark. The reactivity of the world — every choice, even the smallest, has consequences — is unmatched. The companion writing is the best in any medium. Three years in, the mod scene has produced 50+ hours of additional content. If you have not played it, it is the single most important game of the decade.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (next-gen update)
The 2022 update brought ray tracing and 4K to what was already the best quest design in any open-world game. The main story is 50 hours; the side quests are 100. Most of them are worth doing. Hearts of Stone is one of the best expansions ever made; Blood and Wine is one of the best sequels to anything.
Elden Ring
The first FromSoftware game that gives you the open-world freedom the studio’s design deserves. 100+ hours, every death a lesson, every victory earned. The DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is the best DLC of the generation.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
The base game launched in 2020 in a state that justified the mockery. Phantom Liberty (2023) is the game it should have been: a tight 30-hour story with Idris Elba, set in Dogtown, a district so dense and well-designed it feels like a real neighbourhood. The base game is now worth playing; Phantom Liberty is essential.
Starfield
The big Bethesda swing and miss of the generation, redeemed by the Shattered Space expansion and 18 months of community patches. The procedural generation is the weakness; the handcrafted content (the major cities, the companion quests, the faction arcs) is classic Bethesda. If you have Game Pass, try it for free. Otherwise, wait for a sale.
The 30-hour games
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (standalone recommendation)
The DLC is dense enough to feel like a standalone game. 30–40 hours, hand-built zones, the best boss design of the last five years. If you played Elden Ring and want more, this is the next 30 hours of your life.
The Outer Worlds
Obsidian’s response to Bethesda. Smaller in scope, sharper in writing, funnier. About 30 hours for the main game and DLC. A great game for the player who wants the Bethesda feel without the 100-hour commitment.
Greedfall
A BioWare-style RPG set in a colonial fantasy world. Rough around the edges, but the writing and the choice-driven story are the equal of Dragon Age II. About 40 hours. Often on sale for €5.
Outer Wilds
Not technically an RPG, but it has RPG elements and the exploration will satisfy anyone who finishes it. About 12 hours. The single most memorable gaming experience of the last decade.
The 15-hour games
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
The best-written game ever made. 20 hours if you read everything; 10 if you don’t. The detective story is the surface; the deeper story is about being a person. The Final Cut adds full voice acting for the entire script, which is worth the upgrade.
Disco Elysium (without the Final Cut)
Same game, no voice acting. Slightly cheaper; the writing is what matters.
Citizen Sleeper
A short narrative RPG with dice-driven mechanics, set on a space station. About 8 hours. The writing is precise, the world is original, and the mechanics become something you actually care about by the end. The kind of game you play in a weekend and remember for years.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
The sequel. Longer, more systems, same great writing. About 25 hours.
Citizen Sleeper 3 (if released)
TBD.
The smaller experiments
Norco
A 6-hour point-and-click adventure set in the Louisiana bayou, with a story about oil, family, and a missing brother. The best writing of any game under 10 hours.
Citizen Sleeper (yes, again — it’s that good)
See above.
Pentiment
A 12-hour narrative game set in 16th-century Bavaria, about a journeyman illuminator caught between three monasteries. Every choice is about history, not combat. Obsidian at their most confident.
What I haven’t included (and why)
The Elder Scrolls VI
Not out yet. If you have not played Skyrim in the last five years, do that instead.
Starfield (without the DLC)
The base game is a 30/40. With Shattered Space, it is a 70/100. Play the expansion.
Avowed
Obsidian’s first-person RPG. About 25 hours. The combat is fun; the writing is uneven. Wait for a sale.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Starting with the biggest one. If you have not played an open-world RPG in a year, do not start with Baldur’s Gate 3. Start with Disco Elysium (20 hours) or Citizen Sleeper (8 hours).
- Trying to 100% everything. Open-world RPGs are full of busywork. Do the main story, do the companion quests, skip the radiant quests.
- Playing on the wrong difficulty. Most of these have a “story” mode that removes combat challenge. Use it.
- Not taking breaks. Open-world RPGs are the genre most likely to leave you burned out. Play something else for a week in between.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best open-world RPG of all time?
For most people, The Witcher 3. For people who want something denser, Baldur’s Gate 3. For people who want something weirder, Disco Elysium.
What’s a good open-world RPG for a parent with 1-hour sessions?
Citizen Sleeper. The dice mechanics make every session feel complete, and the story is built around the idea of limited time.
What’s a good open-world RPG for a kid?
None of these. For a kid, look at a co-op open-world game like It Takes Two or A Way Out, or a single-player adventure like A Short Hike.
The bottom line
There has never been a better time to play an open-world RPG. The list above has something for every kind of player, from 6 hours (Norco) to 200 hours (Baldur’s Gate 3 with mods). Pick the time budget that matches your life and start there.