Looking for the best open-world games for the PS5 can be quite a task. Many open worlds we have traversed over the years in gaming can be the most immersive or barren and uninspiring.
So, we have come up with the best open-world games to explore for this platform.
The 10 best open-world games for the PS5
The following games may have appeared on the PlayStation 4 at some point, but have since received an update to be native to the PS5 hardware. Keep that in mind.
Borderlands 3
Say what you want about Borderlands 3’s story, but everything else around it just slaps. When you have great character customization, gunplay, and a variety of abilities to play around with in huge explorable areas, you’ll easily forget about the game’s biggest weakness. Also, the DLC adds dozens of more hours to look around via side quests and just your own exploration.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Some may argue that the many explorable areas don’t amount to an open world in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but I’d argue otherwise. You can mostly explore everything in a particular instance once you have progressed far enough into the game’s story.
What makes it even neater is that you can play the game in its entirety with minimal exploration and then come back without missing out on anything major. You can do anything in between as long as the game permits, which gives the players a lot of freedom.
Grand Theft Auto V
More than a decade later, Grand Theft Auto V’s Los Santos still holds up. Yeah, you can do the missions and all that and have a blast, but there’s also that huge online component that has remained strong since the game first came out. Not only is GTA V’s version of Los Angeles an iconic world, but it’s also an amazing sandbox to just mess around in.
Hogwarts Legacy
It was always a dream for many gamers who grew up with the Harry Potter franchise to explore the Wizarding World. When Hogwarts Legacy came out, while not set exactly in the same timeline as our favorite Wizard and his lot, it was a damn good experience. The castle itself was already such a treat to explore, with so much lore to uncover and so many activities to get into.
Then, once you go outside and visit the other locales via broom or Hippogriff, that experience gets even better. Some quests and activities do get stale, but the whole package is a gem whether you’re a completionist or a casual.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
The other Marvel’s Spider-Man games were such a treat when it came to open-world traversal. However, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 took what was great about the original and Miles Morales’ standalone games and trimmed the fat.
It’s fun as hell to traverse New York while web-slinging and gliding around from a visual perspective. The game also knows how to give you just enough playtime before things start to get stale.
No Man’s Sky
The procedurally generated planets you explore in No Man’s Sky make it seem like you’re on an endless journey. You’re supposed to reach the center of the universe, but the game is best played to your own rhythm. Go off and explore nonstop. Discover new fauna, flora, and all the many other biomes out there.
Go make bases and create your own missions. This game is a chill type of sandbox that’s pretty to look at and has a purpose with each thing you do.
Fallout 4
In Fallout 4, you’re rewarded for going off the beaten path. It may be a post-nuclear world out there, but there are so many things to do. Pair that with the base-building mode and you can easily sink dozens of hours into the game. If you like that element of exploration at your heart’s content, this is it.
Cyberpunk 2077
Night City and Dogtown (if you have Phantom Liberty) are so visually pleasing in Cyberpunk 2077. On top of that, there’s a lot of depth in these locales, ranging from player choices in dialogue and a strong focus on RPG elements.
This game has come a long way since it was first released and now deserves all the praise it probably should have gotten now that it’s in a very stable, playable state.
Ghost of Tsushima
The open world in Ghost of Tsushima is just downright gorgeous. If you love to mess around in Photo Modes in games, you can easily sink hours to get the perfect shot here. In addition to that, the game has a compelling story with just the right amount of side content to keep you going and admire the technical detail all around.
It evokes a sense of familiarity the more you play this game, like what many players felt during the golden era of Assassin’s Creed games.
Elden Ring
Despite being a multiplatform game, Elden Ring does something that not a lot of open-world games do: it doesn’t hold your hand and lets you explore to your heart’s content. You’re really out there alone in The Lands Between with only a few indicators of where you should go.
Fast-travel points are saved, NPC locations are marked, and the map is opened up permanently once you find the fragments. More than 200 hours later, many players, including myself, are still finding new things despite searching through every nook and cranny in every region.
