Open-world games are easy to lose yourself in because they let you decide what happens next. You can follow the story or clear side quests. You can also head in the opposite direction because something in the distance caught your attention. On PS5, that can mean anything from exploring the Lands Between in Elden Ring to swinging across New York in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Some games also benefit from faster loading, performance modes, and DualSense features. At the same time, backward compatibility keeps some of the PS4 generation’s best open worlds in the mix. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a perfect example.
For our list of the best open world games on PS5, I looked at world design, exploration, and overall immersion. I also wanted a mix of newer releases and games that have held up over time. The result covers fantasy, sci-fi, historical settings, RPGs, city sandboxes, and a few open worlds that do things very differently.
If you’re still deciding which PlayStation 5 to buy, our PS5 buying guide breaks down the differences between the models. Here, we’re looking at the worlds you’ll want to explore once you start playing.
What makes a great open world game?
A big map doesn’t automatically make a great open world. What matters is whether you want to see what’s over the next hill or down the next street. Maybe it’s a path you almost walked past.
Freedom to explore
The best open worlds let curiosity take over. You might spot ruins in the distance, run into a side story, or leave the road because something nearby looks interesting.
That’s when exploration becomes part of the adventure instead of a list of icons to clear. Hidden areas, optional quests, secrets, and unexpected encounters all play a part.
Immersive worlds
A memorable world also needs its own personality. That can come from the people living there, the weather, architecture, music, wildlife, or simply the way different areas look and sound.
Red Dead Redemption 2 gets there through believable routines and chance encounters. Cyberpunk 2077 goes the other way, filling Night City with lights, crowds, traffic, businesses, and activity almost everywhere you turn.
Meaningful progression
It also feels better to explore when your character changes along the way. New abilities, gear, skill trees, and traversal options can alter how you deal with areas you’ve already seen.
Sometimes that means returning to a place that was too dangerous earlier. Other times, a new ability opens a route you couldn’t reach before.
The 15 best open world games on PS5
#1 Elden Ring
Elden Ring drops you into the Lands Between with very little direction, turning every detour into your own discovery.
- Explore castles, ruins, caves, underground regions, and hidden areas without a map constantly telling you where to go.
- Ride Torrent across the open world, then tackle twisting dungeons, dangerous enemies, and boss fights that can stop you cold.
#2 Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut lets Tsushima guide you, with the Guiding Wind replacing a constant navigation marker.
- Follow foxes, birds, smoke, and shrines to discoveries scattered across forests, fields, villages, coastlines, and mountain paths.
- Travel to Iki Island in the Director’s Cut for another region, new threats, and more of Jin’s story.
#3 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 turns traversal into part of the adventure. Swinging and gliding across New York rarely gets old.
- Cross Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens using web-swinging, Web Wings, and wind tunnels that make long trips fast.
- Switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales as missions and side activities pull you across Marvel’s New York.
#4 Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition opens up once you stop racing between missions and start exploring Night City.
- Build V around cyberware, weapons, hacking, and skills, then take that build into districts with their own dangers.
- Phantom Liberty and Dogtown open another part of Night City to explore in the Ultimate Edition.
#5 Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Forbidden West sends Aloy across deserts, forests, beaches, mountains, ruins, settlements, and underwater areas filled with machines.
- Unlock climbing, swimming, the Shieldwing, and mounts that change where you can go and how quickly you can get there.
- The Complete Edition includes Burning Shores, extending Aloy’s journey into another dangerous region.
#6 Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 turns an ordinary ride into its own story when the world interrupts your plans.
- Travel through towns, wilderness, swamps, mountains, and plains where strangers and unexpected encounters can send you in another direction.
- Follow Arthur Morgan’s story at a slower pace as the world continues around you between missions.
#7 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition can turn a simple monster contract into a much larger story.
- Travel across war-torn countryside, cities, islands, forests, and stranger places where side quests can change depending on your choices.
- The Complete Edition includes Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine, and the additional content released for the game.
#8 Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy lets you roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding countryside at your own pace.
- Search classrooms, moving staircases, hidden passages, and puzzles before taking your broom out across the wider map.
- Combat and character building are easier to get into than Elden Ring if you want a more approachable fantasy RPG.
#9 GTA V
GTA V still has plenty to do across Los Santos and Blaine County, even years after its original release.
- Drive from crowded city streets to beaches, mountains, desert towns, and open highways without leaving the map.
- Switch between Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, or head into GTA Online when you want multiplayer in the same city.
#10 Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon’s Dogma 2 can turn a simple trip between towns into a fight for survival before you reach your destination.
- Explore Vermund and Battahl across roads, caves, settlements, and wilderness where large creatures can interrupt your plans.
- Your Pawns travel with you, point out locations, share information, and join every fight along the way.
#11 Death Stranding Director’s Cut
In Death Stranding Director’s Cut, the journey itself is the challenge. Rivers, steep hills, and heavy cargo can change your route.
- Use equipment and vehicles to cross areas that once took far more effort, then rethink routes as conditions change.
- Structures and resources left through Social Strand features can appear in your world, connecting your trip to other people.
#12 Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes you through feudal Japan as Naoe and Yasuke, who approach the world very differently.
- Explore castle towns, ports, shrines, countryside, and changing seasons that alter parts of the environment.
- Use Naoe for faster stealth or Yasuke for direct combat, then revisit areas with a different approach.
#13 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth trades huge wilderness for busy city streets packed with things to do around Honolulu.
- Find substories, shops, fights, karaoke, arcade games, Crazy Delivery, and other distractions almost everywhere you walk.
- Choose it if you want characters and city life around every corner instead of long stretches between activities.
#14 Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves starts with a ship and an ocean. One plan can turn into something completely different before you reach shore.
- Hunt treasure, explore islands, fight rival crews, or change course because something unexpected appeared on the horizon.
- Sail with friends across platforms in Safer Seas or High Seas. For more games to play together, see our guide to the best multiplayer PlayStation 5 games in 2026.
#15 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor spreads exploration across several large areas instead of one huge map. Koboh offers the most room to wander.
- Search side routes, caves, puzzles, and hidden areas, then return when Cal learns new traversal abilities and Force powers.
- Choose it if you want open-ended exploration without giving up a more directed Star Wars story.
Best PS5 open world games by genre
If you already know what kind of open world you enjoy, this section makes it easier to narrow down the list. Here’s where each game fits best by genre.
Best fantasy open world game
Elden Ring takes this one. The Lands Between constantly makes you wonder what’s around the next corner. Then it lets you find out without pointing at everything first.
Best story-driven open world game
Red Dead Redemption 2 is my choice here because Arthur Morgan’s story doesn’t exist separately from the world around him. Towns, camp conversations, strangers, and long rides all become part of the journey.
Best superhero open world game
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has the advantage of making travel almost as much fun as the missions themselves. Swinging and gliding through Marvel’s New York means you rarely want to use fast travel.
Best sci-fi open world game
Cyberpunk 2077 gets the nod for Night City. Its districts, characters, side jobs, combat options, and Dogtown keep pulling you away from the main story.
Best historical open world game
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut uses Tsushima itself to pull you around the island. The Guiding Wind, wildlife, shrines, and scenery do much of the navigation work without constantly covering the screen in markers.
Best RPG open world game
The Witcher 3 gets the RPG spot because so many quests turn into stories you remember later. Combat and character progression matter, but Geralt’s decisions and the people he meets are what make exploring worthwhile.
Upcoming open world PS5 games to watch
PS5 has several more open-world games coming over the next few months and into 2027. Here are three that are already confirmed and fit naturally with the games in this guide.
Grand Theft Auto VI launches November 19, 2026. Jason and Lucia head to Leonida, including Vice City, as Rockstar returns with its next open-world crime game. Rockstar hasn’t released a new numbered GTA since GTA V, so Leonida has a lot to live up to.
Fable is currently set to launch on February 23, 2027. The return to Albion mixes open-world action RPG combat with relationships, work, and reputation. Your choices can affect how villagers respond to your Hero and even shape the world around you. Exploring Albion isn’t only about what you find along the road.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation arrives April 8, 2027. The final part of the remake trilogy expands exploration across the planet. The Highwind opens more of the world from the air. Chocobos and parachutes add more ways to reach places below. That makes Revelation especially interesting if you want to see how much more of the planet Square Enix opens up.
How to choose the right open world game
Elden Ring sits at number one, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be the game you enjoy most. A lot depends on what you like doing once an open world opens up.
If you love exploration
Elden Ring is the first game I’d look at if discovery itself is the main attraction. It trusts you to get lost and often hides some of its best areas where you aren’t expecting them.
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is less demanding and uses the island itself to guide you. Death Stranding Director’s Cut goes even further in another direction and turns route planning into the challenge.
If you want something easier to jump into, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Hogwarts Legacy offer clearer direction without locking you to one path.
If you love storytelling
Red Dead Redemption 2 is hard to beat when story comes first. Arthur Morgan’s journey unfolds through major missions, camp life, conversations, and encounters that happen simply because you’re out in the world.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition takes a more traditional RPG approach, with choices and side quests feeding back into Geralt’s larger story.
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition belongs in the same conversation if you want something set in a futuristic city. It’s also the closest option here if you enjoy GTA-style urban freedom but want more character-building choices.
If you love combat
Elden Ring and Dragon’s Dogma 2 both make combat a big part of the exploration, but they don’t play alike.
Elden Ring is about learning attacks, timing, and surviving difficult fights. Dragon’s Dogma 2 brings Pawns, vocations, and huge creatures into the mix, so a trip can change quickly when something big appears on the road.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the faster alternative. Its movement and combat make it easy to move from one fight to the next without slowing the adventure down.
If you want hundreds of hours of content
Elden Ring and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition can keep you busy for a long time with side content. The same goes for Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and GTA V.
Sea of Thieves and GTA Online can go much further because neither ends with a traditional single-player campaign.
If you’re trying to keep the main story under about 30 hours, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are the two I’d look at first. Optional content can take either one beyond that.
There isn’t one kind of open world that works for everyone. Some games are at their best when you get completely lost. Others make combat, story, movement, or playing with friends the reason you want to stay.
Once you know which part of that experience matters most to you, the list gets much easier to narrow down. When you’re ready to start looking, you can browse PS5 games at Best Buy Canada and see which of these worlds you want to visit next.
Frequently asked questions
Elden Ring ranks first on this list. Its mix of exploration, combat, hidden areas, and freedom makes the Lands Between one of the most memorable open worlds you can explore on PS5.
Yes, especially if you enjoy difficult combat and finding your own way. It can be demanding, so it may not be the right game if you want a more relaxed adventure.
There isn’t one universal answer because map sizes are measured differently. Elden Ring and Red Dead Redemption 2 both offer huge areas to explore in very different ways.
Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are two of the best-looking games here. Horizon focuses on natural environments and machine detail, with Spider-Man 2 bringing a detailed city together with fast traversal.
Elden Ring, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 are excellent options. Each approaches combat, exploration, character growth, and story differently.
Yes, although many major open-world games are also available on PC or other consoles. This list focuses on the best open-world games you can play on PS5 rather than exclusivity.
