Regardless if you like your games open world, you can bet that open world games are going to own the gaming world too. They’re given a slew of open world experiences that are more immersive and dynamic than ever before, but it’s a big year for games so we likely won’t have seen a lot of them just yet. From the visual goodness all the way through the complexities of their stories, there are these games for everyone. Below are all the most anticipated open world games of 2024, compared.
1. Zelda’s Legend: The Kingdom’s Tears
The Legend of Zelda: This is Tears of the Kingdom, a sequel building on the hugely successful Breath of the Wild tradition that sees players again explore an even bigger, far richer world to discover. The game centers on the player being thrown into the famed land of Hyrule to solve puzzles, battle enemies and see what inferences there are in relation to the life or death of the kingdom. New abilities in the form of even more traversal tools, even more exploration tricks, do unfold in the form of actual gameplay following the path of its predecessor.
The change of adding verticality is astounding in this one. In addition to verticality, the player has more layers available to explore the world as he travels. As usual, the world building is excellent, with game riddled with ancient technology and magical fantasy as you would expect of the series.
Why It Stands Out:
Vertical exploration—reflexive world.
Amazing visuals, amazing mechanics.
Lots of rich detail, rich detail, rich editorialization, lots of rich narrative, rich character development.
2. Starfield
Starfield has an open world spanning across planets and galaxies if you’re a sucker for space exploration. Bethesda is the studio handling Starfield, and promises an Elder Scrolls and Fallout sort of experience – only this time in the stars. This space opera can be picked up and played in any order, planets, space combat, or even pulled into the deep, lore rich storylines, across the Cosmos.
Exploring hundreds of planets with their own landscapes of NPCs and mission seems pretty daunting. The other big chunk of the game’s size then come in the form of the RPG aspects of it, a large chunk of the size of the open world one also, so you can make your own path and playstyle with diplomacy, combat or exploration.
Why It Stands Out:
Massive scale immersive space exploration.
It’s deep RPG mechanics with narrative choice.
Player freedom focused on playstyles, through a menu of playstyles.
3. Hogwarts Legacy (2024 Update)
Hogwarts Legacy is a 19th Century magical student raging about in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. You know what to expect though: More new content, quests, and exploring what’s beyond with the 2024 update. All the classes, all the spells, the Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest exploration, it all comes at you as if it’s the delightfully real wizarding experience you’ve been waiting for.
Hogwarts Legacy isn’t simply one more open world exploration but also magic; it is the combination of the two. All the magical puzzles, as well as all the time they can live out their dream of going to Hogwarts, is there to keep players busy with the main and side quests. Over the game’s wide world, lore that is going to spread out, and create an unforgettable ‘reliving’ of the mystery and wonder of the game’s world.
Why It Stands Out:
A rich world building inspired in the Wizarding World.
Mystical Combat Mechanics, Puzzle solutions.
Conclusion: New Era of Open World Gaming
Although the open world genre still touches on a thriving genre in 2024, the genre is pushing the limits on what it’s even possible to see in a virtual space, let alone an open one. These games will cater to everyone from Hyrule in Tear of the Kingdom, to Stars in Starfield or the speed heist of GTA VI.
Open world games are being pushed further and further with the latest and greatest technology and we’re approaching the next generation of open world games where the mechanics are more sophisticated, there are larger worlds and deeper narrative. But these are the future of open world gaming, and there is so much more coming down the pipeline in the coming years.