Best open world games for PS5 — top 12 ranked (December 2023)

The best open-world games for PS5 and PS4 include Red Dead Redemption 2 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but also other remarkable games available on PS Plus.

Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Published 18 Nov 2023

The best open-world games for PS5 and PS4 also happen to be some of the best titles on PlayStation consoles. So, we've narrowed them down to 12 open-world games playable on PS5 — from Red Dead Redemption 2 to Hogwarts Legacy — and have made a particular focus on those with the most interesting game worlds and spaces.

12 best open-world games to play on PS5 right now

This list has been curated by the TrueTrophies team of Editor Kes and Staff Writers Lee and Sean. We have experience in every game listed below and have combined that knowledge with community ratings and review scores to give it a place on the list. Games playable on PS5 qualify, so that sounds like native PS5 games, backward-compatible PS4 games, and anything available through your PS Plus subscription.

Open-world isn't a genre per se, but a descriptor of the game format. In short, we're looking for the most interesting game worlds that a free to explore. That means we are putting a big emphasis on how unique the places and spaces you journey through are and how that weaves with narrative, gameplay, and environmental design.

Here are the best open-world games on PS5.

12. Hogwarts Legacy

Release Date: February 10, 2023 (PS5), May 5, 2023 (PS4)
Developer: Avalanche Games
Is it on PS Plus? No

It was a bit of a surprise that in 2023 a game could dominate like Hogwarts Legacy did. But, dominate it did, and for good reason! The recreation of Hogwarts is one of my favorite parts of an open-world map I've ever seen and bursts at the seams with the innovative magic systems presented by Harry Potter.

With tight, twisting castle corridors and an open courtyard dominated by twisting towers, there is something so special about the place. That feeling is heightened with brilliant music and the mumblings of students, teachers, and moving paintings as you wander the corridors. There is much more than that, of course.

On your voyage through the Hogwarts Legacy trophies you'll discover interesting characters like the morally compromised Sebastian Sallow. You'll also get to explore the rich Scottish Highlands with their odd villages and damp caves filled with magical creatures. I think the game gets a little lost during the main story, but everything else is here to round out a great package — strong gameplay, creative ideas, and fun side missions. Hogwarts Legacy is a great open-world game for PS5 players!

11. Death Stranding

Release Date: November 8, 2019 (PS4), Sepember 24, 2021 (PS5)
Developer: Kojima Productions
Is it on PS Plus? Yes, PS Plus Extra

Death Stranding isn't everyone's cup of tea. You play Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus) as he delivers parcels to help reconnect America after it is broken by a cataclysmic event. The line between life and death is now blurred and the results are horrifying — something legendary game designer Hideo Kojima explores with his typical complexity, silliness, and absurdity.

A character named Die Hardman? Sure, mate... sure. But some of the characters like Fragile (Lea Seydoux), Clifford Unger (Mads Mikkelson), and Mama/Lockne (Margaret Qualley) are impeccably written. Ultimately, you are delivering parcels from one place to the next. The game part of all of this comes from the voyages you make to and fro, over mountains and chasm, through snow and river, or through crowds of strange creatures as acidic rain falls overhead.

With bikes, trucks, grapples, and cannons to help you negotiate the empty American landscape with your deliveries, you'll find an open-world game that is gorgeous and unique, and certainly something I've never seen anything like before. The environment is the game and that is truly innovative to me. You might think it pretentious and rubbish or you might end up loving it like me, but isn't it worth finding out?

10. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag

Release Date: November 15, 2013 (PS4)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Is it on PS Plus? Yes, PS Plus Extra

We picked this as the best Assassin's Creed game for a reason — the 18th century Golden Age of Piracy in the translucent seas of the Caribbean is a setting so glorious it stole the show. However, you could easily slot in Assassin's Creed Unity's masterful Paris cityscape or Assassin's Creed Origins' spectacular rendition of Egypt, too. But AC Black Flag just has this irreplaceable space in our hearts and that is in large part because of its perfect open world.

The seas are littered with explorable islands, enemies, and merchants for protagonist Edward Kenway to raid in his customizable ship the Jackdaw, earning Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag trophies on the way. The cities are dense and full of debauchery for your traditional Assassin's Creed missions. Crammed into all of this is a truly wonderful tale of the downfall of Edward Kenway the pirate and the rise of Edward Kenway the Assassin as he grapples with the world of buccaneering he helped build. It's an open world for the ages, so give it a go on PS5 with backward compatibility.

9. The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

Release Date: November 11, 2011 (PS3), October 28, 2016 (PS4), November 11, 2021 (PS5)
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Is it on PS Plus? Yes, PS Plus Extra

When you think of massive and immersive open worlds, we would be shocked if Skyrim wasn't one of the first games to pop into your mind. The game is impressive even on PS5. There is so much content to uncover that you can get lost in the world for hours on end as you stumble across side-quests, secrets, and caves filled with enemies to slay. It's an absolute marvel to play and a game that still holds up all this time later.

I had so much fun earning all those The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim trophies (three times thanks to the PS5 version) and spent two months playing nothing but Skyrim. I was enthralled with its world and all of the different lives I could play out in the same game. I remember running around the world finishing odd jobs and didn't even progress the main storyline for dozens of hours. There aren't many games that allow you to focus on anything but the main story and reward you for it. It's Skyrim for goodness sake, just give it a go.

8. Kingdom Come Deliverance

Release Date: February 13, 2018 (PS4)
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Is it on PS Plus? No

Bohemia, 1403. King Wenceslaus IV rules as he is under siege from his half-brother and Hungarian King Sigismund. Open on the historically accurate town of Skalitz where we find our mighty hero, Henry. There he is, doing such heroic things as... dodging work, getting drunk, and running around with his mates while his village gets burned to the ground? Wait, now he's trying to learn to read... and how to hold a sword without accidentally slicing his toes off. My word, Henry is a silly boy!

This realistic RPG is, for our money, the most underrated game of the PS4 generation. You'll take silly peasant Henry from life as a Blacksmith's son to life under the arm of true knight Sir Radzig. Teaching Henry everything is one of the most rewarding gameplay loops I've ever experienced. The world is a glorious recreation of the medieval Czech Republic and the narrative is one of the most captivatingly earnest in all of video gaming — it's funny because Henry doesn't quip (he bumbles), it is emotional because love was put into every character, and it's exceptional because it is modest.

Sure, you'll put loads of time into the Kingdom Come Deliverance trophies and have to replay it a few times, but you won't mind. Add in DLC that has finished the game's story and a fair amount of bugginess, this isn't the most AAA experience on this list. But, if I am being honest dear reader, it's the open-world game I love the most. If it wasn't for reason and objectivity, it'd be even higher!

7. Horizon Forbidden West

Release Date: 18 February, 2022 (PS5, PS4)
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Is it on PS Plus? Yes, PS Plus Extra

I wrote in my Horizon Forbidden West review that this game is the most technically beautiful I've ever experienced when played on PS5. I still believe that. From decrepit cities being swallowed by sand with cavernous waterholes resting underneath, to snowy hill villages fortified by steep cliffs and big stone walls, Horizon Forbidden West is a satisfying game to explore.

It helps that the lighting is stunning, the small environment tells like ferns moving from beneath you giving it liveliness, and that Aloy physically reacts to the environment. The game also has a really strong story even if the central protagonist doesn't quite engage you in the way she should.

The RPG-lite does run into issues with the HUD and isn't trying to reinvent the Ubisoft-style open world — but it does refine everything to a tee. Throw in an unbelievably good combat model featuring giant robot dinosaurs, and there is no reason you shouldn't try and platinum the Horizon Forbidden West trophies.

6. Ghost of Tsushima

Release Date: July 17, 2020 (PS4), August 20, 2021 (PS5)
Developer: Sucker Punch
Is it on PS Plus? Yes, PS Plus Extra

Sucker Punch has the traditional open-world formula down to a tee. Explore, collect, do a bit of story, and then explore some more. That's how the inFamous games did it, and that is how the wonderful Ghost of Tsushima does it, too. Unlike Horizon Forbidden West — its open-world PlayStation exclusive counterpart — the game set in Feudal Japan offers a few small twists on the formula.

Firstly, the island of Tsushima (and Iki Island if you play the DLC) is a landscape that definitely feels different for a Western audience. With long rushes swaying in the wind and small Japanese farmsteads providing real architectural contrast to the usual fair. As we covered in our Ghost of Tsushima review, though, it also uses the environment to its advantage. You'll be guided by the wind towards objectives which reduces the clutter from the menus.

In doing so, the world seems larger and more immersive because you aren't living your digital life guided by a glowing point on the screen. It's subtle and perfect. If you do go for all those Ghost of Tsushima trophies, then you'll find fantastic combat and a really strong narrative to boot, rounding out the game into the perfect package.

5. Cyberpunk 2077

Release Date: December 10, 2020 (PS4), February 15, 2022 (PS5)
Developer: CD Projekt Red
Is it on PS Plus? No

While Cyberpunk 2077 may have had a rocky start, things have changed dramatically since launch and CDPR has worked hard to make Cyberpunk the best version of itself possible. Now, the dystopian metropolis of Night City is filled with content and reasons to explore it. The world is deliriously vibrant and perilously full of life, constantly tearing on the edge of insanity. This odd allure kept me engaged from start to finish. Practically, it's a fantastic world to explore and it is made even more fun with the ability to parkour everywhere with your cyber enhancements.

I was skeptical going into Cyberpunk 2077 but within the first five minutes the game reassured me that all of the issues of the past were just that, distant memories of a buggy mess. Nothing beats taking down the various Cyberpsychos, using your enhanced abilities to annihilate foes, and finishing up engaging side-quests. There is a lot to enjoy in Cyberpunk 2077 and don't even get us started on how awesome the recent expansion is.

Earning every one of the Cyberpunk 2077 trophies along the way (which I did) is one of the best gaming experiences in recent memory, so if you're still sleeping on this epic open world title — what are you waiting for? Jump into it now!

4. Grand Theft Auto V

Release Date: September 17, 2013 (PS3), November 18, 2014 (PS4), March 15, 2022 (PS5)
Developer: Rockstar North
Is it on PS Plus? No

Picking Grand Theft Auto V is categorically boring. Sorry! Do you know why it's here, though? Even 10 years after its release Los Santos remains one of the most vibrant contemporary open worlds put together. As it satirically skewers every aspect of the American world — from its hyper-capitalism to its surface-deep entertainment industry — GTA V also gives you everything else. Satisfying driving? Check. Good gunplay? Sure. A brilliant story? Of course.

I mean, no doubt the Grand Theft Auto V trophies will make you want to put your head through a wall. But when the wall is this well-made, why not? The GTA Online mode is genuinely decent so long as you hide your wallet away and we can't stress enough how much enjoyment you can have just mucking about. So, go on! Have some fun by picking up our most 'boring' pick if you somehow haven't yet!

3. Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Release Date: October 20, 2023 (PS5)
Developer: Insomniac Games
Is it on PS Plus? No

Spider-Man 2's open-world recreation of New York City does things differently from other games. It doesn't exist simply to enhance the player's sense of freedom — rather, it offers players a chance to express the unique movement of Spider-Man creatively through improvised routes and awkwardly shaped roadblocks. In essence, the world gives the player a giant obstacle course to navigate, and it turns the mere act of getting from A to B into a delightful gameplay skill of its own.

Where Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trumps its predecessors is in upping the video game elements of its open world with the addition of wind tunnels, vents, and Super Slingshots. These elements glow green in the game's HUD because the developers want you to see this open world more like a freeform race track than just another wide space that separates you and your objective. Zipping around always felt good in these games, but it's hard to imagine going back to the older games without Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Web Wings. So, head out and grab the Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trophies — you know you want to!

3. Elden Ring

Release Date: February 25, 2022 (PS5, PS4)
Developer: FromSoftware
Is it on PS Plus? No

While I enjoyed my time beating Dark Souls, I did not feel remotely inclined to play another game like it afterward. That was, at least, until I saw Elden Ring — an open-world game with a horse that could double jump. The game promised organic boss fights that would feel naturally integrated into a huge, diverse open world, and after playing the game to collect the Elden Ring trophies, I can say it delivered on that promise.

The constant risk and reward balance of exploring the world in Dark Souls is amplified magnificently in Elden Ring, letting the player tackle the game in whichever direction they want so long as they've got the skills. It's the ideal water cooler open-world game, as everyone who plays it comes away with their individual story to tell. Plus, despite being massive, The Lands Between doesn't feel boring to traverse due to all the variety out there. That, and the double-jumping horse, of course.

2. The Witcher 3

Release Date: May 19, 2015 (PS4), December 14, 2022 (PS5)
Developer: CD Projekt Red
Is it on PS Plus? No

Sometimes, I sit back and just reflect on my times adventuring with Geralt through the fantasy world of The Continent. The Witcher 3 has a magical chemistry of superb writing, innovative high-fantasy, and well-paced gameplay that creates an unbeatable potion of all-time gaming glory.

However, what I think separates CD Projekt Red's incredible fantasy RPGs from others like Dragon Age, Skyrim, and even Final Fantasy is that its open world is grounded. It uses landscapes that feel rooted in a world you know. That means it feels as though you could reach out and touch the sodden cliffs of the Skellige Islands, smell the rancid bogs of Crookback, or hear the bustle of university students in Oxenfurt.

With this tangible world operating in the background you get sucked in because, despite the magic, mutagens, and Gwent cards, it's all something relatable. So, when you also plug in characters that have these perfectly curated emotional arcs, wonderfully complex creatures with perfectly woven narrative context surrounding them, and deliciously underrated hardy Eastern European humor — the result embarrasses every other RPG I've played in the last 10 years. Those The Witcher 3 The Wild Hunt trophies are calling!

1. Red Dead Redemption 2

Release Date: October 26, 2018 (PS4)
Developer: Rockstar North
Is it on PS Plus? No

If you want to talk about a game that was released and just truly embarrassed everything else on the market by being an outrageously good and innovative game, look no further than grabbing the Red Dead Redemption 2 trophies and then we'll really be talking. As the Old West of America is falling to the slow industrialization of the frontiers, cowboy Arthur Morgan grapples with his role as part of the magnetic leader Butch's gang.

It's so well written that it might be my favorite story in video gaming, but it almost certainly wouldn't be if the open world didn't push it up a notch. The story isn't just great because of the writing — it's how it interplays with the truly revolutionary environment design. You can interact with everyone and feel like part of this world. You'll come across random events in the forests and end up on a forty-minute journey that'll make you laugh and cry as you try and help a widow in need.

You'll see gorgeous views that will have you settling down for five minutes just to drink it in while you eat some meat you carved down the muddy way. Nothing you do feels arbitrary here — none of the missions feel grindy or frustrating. It all just feels like one true moment. The result is the best game I've played for a long, long time and one that I don't think I've recovered from yet. Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best open-world game you can play on PS5.

That is our list of the best open-world games! Many of these also appear on the best PS5 games list, so check them out for more game recommendations. Is there anything missing from the open-world games list you want to point out? Well, get in the comments below and let us know and I'm sure one of us will see you there!

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about PS5 exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favorite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.