First of all I’d like to say love these types of videos. Seeing how you felt about a game in comparison to others is very interesting. It sucks that everyone always has to say it’s my opinion like with how you handled Death Stranding. I thought the game had interesting elements but making me hold the triggers and walk for how long it expected just took me personally out of it. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad game though it was as you said okay. Games you ranked that surprised me the first big one was MGS5 it seems like it split a lot of people I really loved it I thought the way the open world was implemented was really good. Being able to tackle these stealth operations in so many different ways really did it for me. The Evil Within 2 was a big shock as well. I thought I was the only person who absolutely adored that game XD I remember it’s release hardly anyone purchased it and reviews were very harsh. I thought it was a 9.5/10. Whether a game has flaws in some aspects what it ultimately comes down to for me is when I boot it up will it be fun from start to finish of that session. Will it capture my attention or will I get bored and switch to something else. I can say without a shadow of a doubt it held me hostage until I finished it what an amazing game. Please please please can a third one get made :D So I know that was a huge list but I wanted to shed some love to ones that didn’t make the list either because you haven’t played them or maybe you forgot them ;) It is a huge list after all. First for me my GOTY Elden Ring what a worrying wait for it. Hearing that it was going basically full open world had me skeptical but just wow what an amazing world they built. So full of intrigue and oozes atmosphere. I didn’t get tired of exploring each little dungeon or corner of the map either as it would always reward you with an item that helps expand the cryptic lore. The original Dying Light is worthy of a mention a huge step up for Techland from Dead Island. Maybe a surprise mention but the Forza Horizon games are solid racing open world sandbox’s. Just pure casual fun what more needs to be said. The Borderlands series are worthy of the spot above okay I believe they usually deliver on most fronts. As much as I’d love to slap Divinity Original Sin 2 in here it cuts off the ability to go back to previous areas so instead DOS 1 will take its spot. Overall a weaker game but still an 8/10 compared to DOS 2. State of Decay 1 & 2 are both good-solid games that get greatly overlooked. Kingdom Come Deliverance is second to none in allowing you to explore a grounded realistic medieval game. Unpolished yes but makes up for it in so many other aspects. A real gem that got a lot of well deserved love. Nier Automata is one hell of an experience nothing quite like it really. Outward as an open world survival game is outstanding in many aspects. One of the very few survival games that is able to not forget that games require story to help elevate the world. L.A. Noire because come on detectives in the 1940s it’s amazing enough said XD The Fable series are really goofy and fun as well. As you said it’s our own opinions so Risen, Elex and Gothic deserve love. Yeah they’re janky but they just give me a world to explore and it feels like a game. An experience and story to explore and not a store front to swipe money for skins away from me. ( looking at you Valhalla) Almost forgot Dragons Dogma almost a masterpiece of an RPG here’s hoping the sequel build on its many unique and interesting systems. Two Worlds can have a mention it’s buggy and ran awful on consoles but if you have a spare few minutes have a look at a video showcasing its spell system it’s outrageous the things you can craft in that game. Right I should probably stop there as I can infinitely list off so many XD Let me just say finally how dare you keep Dragon Age Inquisition off the list ;D XD Nah but in all seriousness I do love it much more than most. It had a very weak quest structure and other weak plots but I just cannot say it’s a bad game I love it :D Anyway I should wrap this up before I have to start adding chapters as if it were a book XD Great video as always mate hope everyone has an amazing day :D
You’re already building up my part two for this video haha. Definitely will include Dying Light 1&2, FH5, LA Noire, Fable, Elex 2, & Dragon Age Inquisition. & you’ve also reminded me that I need to freaking play State of Decay & Dragons Dogma. I respect MGS5 for adapting, and doing something new, but it was just not really what I enjoy about Metal Gear. I love the 10 hour cutscenes & 29 mins of gameplay lmao Btw, just bought a copy of Elden Ring 🙏 I’m too scared to make game awards & GOTY predictions at the end of the year before playing Elden Ring lol. & also, yes. The Evil Within 2=🐐🤣
Yes! Infamous 2 getting some props!! one of my favorite ps3 games for sure, blew my mind at the time. the combat, traversal, choices, characters, story, all pretty high quality and also those user created missions were a fun little ideia that i havent seen in many games since.
Love this kind of videos man. I personally would put GTA 4 in the goats tier because i loved that serious story the game told. I don’t know if you have tried the game GUN. But that is also a really fun game. Not as good as red dead but if you are into the wild west i should give that game a go.
I rented GUN a few times back in the day at Blockbuster, but that’s another one I would like to go back to. I believe it’s back compat on the series x. I’ll forsure hop into that at some point, I know I have a copy laying around the house somewhere lol
Man did I ever share how much I enjoy these ranking videos haha. Awesome takes there. There’s a bunch on there I haven’t played yet like the Saints Row franchise, the last 3 Far Cry games, the Assassin’s Creed games, MGS V, Cyberpunk, Watchdogs, Evil Within 2, anything on the PS5 side exclusively, any of the superhero games etc. PS5/superhero stuff aside, all of those are on my backlog so I know I’ll get to them eventually, just a matter of finding the time. All this to say I’m sure my list will be very different once I get to those. This is a very cool thought experiment. I’m leaving hub worlds out, because I wouldn’t personally consider them ‘open world’ and feel they deserve their own category, besides there’s a bunch of those - the Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Tomb Raider series, TW2, Automata, Fallen Order, Outer Worlds, the Middle Earth Shadow games, Destroy All Humans, the Yakuza franchise, Greedfall etc etc. TW3 gets a pass because most of the world can be accessed on foot without loading screens, and areas that can’t (like Skellige) are massive anyway. Regardless I think it’s interesting food for thought to figure out when a game is considered true open world vs hub. So while ranking them I took into account 3 things: impact on release, level of enjoyment when I played it and especially quality of the world itself since we’re talking about that specifically. Meaning This would probably be my take out of all the open world games I’ve played (there aren’t many tbh): GOATS RDR2 TW3 Skyrim (still think the sense of exploration this game evokes is somewhat unparalleled even today) RDR Oblivion (like Skyrim, but a bit more generic) Far Cry 1 (it's easy to scoff at now, but there was literally nothing as beautiful and expansive as this game back in 2004. GTA was fantastic but nowhere near as big a looker IMO) Sleeping Dogs GTA Vice City GREATS State of Decay 2 (can be considered both open world and hub IMO) Fallout NV (not sure many went through this, but I arrived at the outskirts of NV at night, and seeing all those incredible lights amidst all that darkness was quite impactful) Fallout 3 GTA San Andreas GTA IV GTA V Sunset Overdrive Far Cry 3 DAMN GOOD GTA III SOLID The Forgotten City State of Decay KONA OKAY Bully South Park: The Stick of Truth (great game but the open world is very basic which makes sense if you wanna keep true to SP design) Lake Maybe I’m forgetting a few but these are the ones I remember playing. LOVE this tier videos bud, keep them coming!
Hell yeah brother! Love it. Wish I would’ve sunk a bit more time into the Elder Scrolls games, I’m sure they would rank high on mine as well. Glad to see RDR2, & TW3 sitting pretty atop that list tho… & of course, seeing sleeping dogs rank in the GOATS brings some warmth to my soul haha Quick aside, I just dove into State of Decay 2 last night! Really digging it. Very surprised by just how fun the actual gameplay is. The shooting, and driving mechanics are WAY better than I would’ve expected. I’m very excited to see a game like this running on UE5. Because honestly, I think all of my complaints so far, could be fixed with just simply making that leap to a new engine… & maybe some slightly better writing, and voice acting lol. But I LOVE how in depth the management systems are, without being totally off putting. I’m having a damn good time with it so far.
@@UnnecessaryRambling Awesome man, so glad you're enjoying SoD2! There really is something to be said about how addictive that gameplay loop is. That supply run that you never know how it's going to turn out, if you're going to make it out of it unscathed or with the stuff you need, etc. And the systems are much deeper than in 1 which is great. Yeah I have a few complaints about it too, but overall I'm really impressed with what they did. Still keep going back to it, which is something I rarely do these days. I can't wait to see what they do with UE5.
Of the games I've finished it's impressive how much I agree with this list. Fallout 4 I would personally have a tier higher. I liked the opening of the game, building settlements, the first time you encounter the Deathstalker in the town and grab the combat armour to take it on was brilliant and if you played 3 then everything around Liberty Prime near the end was epic. 4 felt like it was missing something compared to 3 and NV, I think the lore in the world wasn't very good. 3 really did feel like a post apocalyptic Boston with some fascinating locations from Megaton to Little Lamplight and the whole story arc beginning from the vault and going back had me a little emotional which most games cannot. NV you spend half the game trying to get into The Strip which really opens up the game while trying to uncover a mystery of some sort. I'd put Arkham City and RDR in the highest tier without question, take Marvel's SpiderMan down a tier and I'd also swap Cyberpunk and MGS5. I wasn't keen on the Cyberpunk devil references throughout the game and MGS5 was a step down after starting with 4, they joined the open world bandwagon and the game suffered. Surprised to see Death Stranding so low. I've watched/played the first 2 hours and have been fascinated, almost blown away with it. I'm loving the cutscenes especially and the unique gameplay that has made me strategise already.
Ghost of Tsushima is in the Goat tier for me because the insane quality of their side quest. The character development of the people helping you to save the island was just so well written
Hope everyone has a blessed year 😊 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
After watching this video I’m very aware of how many open world games I haven’t played 😂 Totally agree on Days Gone though. I know you mentioned a few more I had actually played too but I had paint fingers and couldn’t reply as I listened/watched.
Hey I feel you, its impossible to be a hardcore fan of every genre. Turn based rpgs are my big gaming blind spot. Have almost zero knowledge about that entire genre lol
So A little shocked you did not mention the Dishonored series. You know I had to watch this video, but I am going to publicly beg now. Please play Cyberpunk again on the PS5, and feel free to reach out to me and talk about builds. I have a little experience in Cyberpunk. I plan on playing the Witcher 3 this year and Control. Damn I got to play Days gone!
Control is such an outstanding game. Good shout on Dishonored as well very solid games. Same with Prey 2016. Also I second about giving Cyberpunk another try. It had sweeping changes and QOL improvements :D
Still need to finish Dishonored 2, but I’ll definitely include #1 for a part 2, if this video ends up doing well. I really want to replay Cyberpunk, but I want a damn PS5 native version lol
@@UnnecessaryRambling To Be honest, when you install the PS5 version with a Disc, that is the native PS5 Version, Just digital with a Physical Disc lock much like KTOR on the Xbox One.
Hey Brandon, have you had a chance to play Hogwarts Legacy? That game has an open world and I’m curious to see which tier you would place that game in. Anyways, solid video as I know it takes a lot of time to play all these games.
I really enjoyed it! & I’ve never watched or read Harry Potter. It’s a phenomenal open world game, even for people who don’t have knowledge of the source material. Thank you for tuning in!
I replayed it this year (after recording this) & I totally agree with you. Best story in the series, easily. The agency that you have in the narrative blows all the other games away.
i respect your opinion but i cant ever imo say that the latest saints row is even 50% as good as ac valhalla because imo its just so shit that even valhalla is good compared
First of all I’d like to say love these types of videos. Seeing how you felt about a game in comparison to others is very interesting. It sucks that everyone always has to say it’s my opinion like with how you handled Death Stranding. I thought the game had interesting elements but making me hold the triggers and walk for how long it expected just took me personally out of it. Doesn’t mean it’s a bad game though it was as you said okay. Games you ranked that surprised me the first big one was MGS5 it seems like it split a lot of people I really loved it I thought the way the open world was implemented was really good. Being able to tackle these stealth operations in so many different ways really did it for me. The Evil Within 2 was a big shock as well. I thought I was the only person who absolutely adored that game XD I remember it’s release hardly anyone purchased it and reviews were very harsh. I thought it was a 9.5/10. Whether a game has flaws in some aspects what it ultimately comes down to for me is when I boot it up will it be fun from start to finish of that session. Will it capture my attention or will I get bored and switch to something else. I can say without a shadow of a doubt it held me hostage until I finished it what an amazing game. Please please please can a third one get made :D
So I know that was a huge list but I wanted to shed some love to ones that didn’t make the list either because you haven’t played them or maybe you forgot them ;) It is a huge list after all. First for me my GOTY Elden Ring what a worrying wait for it. Hearing that it was going basically full open world had me skeptical but just wow what an amazing world they built. So full of intrigue and oozes atmosphere. I didn’t get tired of exploring each little dungeon or corner of the map either as it would always reward you with an item that helps expand the cryptic lore. The original Dying Light is worthy of a mention a huge step up for Techland from Dead Island. Maybe a surprise mention but the Forza Horizon games are solid racing open world sandbox’s. Just pure casual fun what more needs to be said. The Borderlands series are worthy of the spot above okay I believe they usually deliver on most fronts. As much as I’d love to slap Divinity Original Sin 2 in here it cuts off the ability to go back to previous areas so instead DOS 1 will take its spot. Overall a weaker game but still an 8/10 compared to DOS 2. State of Decay 1 & 2 are both good-solid games that get greatly overlooked. Kingdom Come Deliverance is second to none in allowing you to explore a grounded realistic medieval game. Unpolished yes but makes up for it in so many other aspects. A real gem that got a lot of well deserved love. Nier Automata is one hell of an experience nothing quite like it really. Outward as an open world survival game is outstanding in many aspects. One of the very few survival games that is able to not forget that games require story to help elevate the world. L.A. Noire because come on detectives in the 1940s it’s amazing enough said XD The Fable series are really goofy and fun as well. As you said it’s our own opinions so Risen, Elex and Gothic deserve love. Yeah they’re janky but they just give me a world to explore and it feels like a game. An experience and story to explore and not a store front to swipe money for skins away from me. ( looking at you Valhalla) Almost forgot Dragons Dogma almost a masterpiece of an RPG here’s hoping the sequel build on its many unique and interesting systems. Two Worlds can have a mention it’s buggy and ran awful on consoles but if you have a spare few minutes have a look at a video showcasing its spell system it’s outrageous the things you can craft in that game. Right I should probably stop there as I can infinitely list off so many XD
Let me just say finally how dare you keep Dragon Age Inquisition off the list ;D XD Nah but in all seriousness I do love it much more than most. It had a very weak quest structure and other weak plots but I just cannot say it’s a bad game I love it :D Anyway I should wrap this up before I have to start adding chapters as if it were a book XD Great video as always mate hope everyone has an amazing day :D
You’re already building up my part two for this video haha. Definitely will include Dying Light 1&2, FH5, LA Noire, Fable, Elex 2, & Dragon Age Inquisition. & you’ve also reminded me that I need to freaking play State of Decay & Dragons Dogma.
I respect MGS5 for adapting, and doing something new, but it was just not really what I enjoy about Metal Gear. I love the 10 hour cutscenes & 29 mins of gameplay lmao
Btw, just bought a copy of Elden Ring 🙏 I’m too scared to make game awards & GOTY predictions at the end of the year before playing Elden Ring lol.
& also, yes. The Evil Within 2=🐐🤣
Yes! Infamous 2 getting some props!! one of my favorite ps3 games for sure, blew my mind at the time. the combat, traversal, choices, characters, story, all pretty high quality and also those user created missions were a fun little ideia that i havent seen in many games since.
Ridiculously underrated game. One of my top 10 from that generation, easily.
Love this kind of videos man. I personally would put GTA 4 in the goats tier because i loved that serious story the game told. I don’t know if you have tried the game GUN. But that is also a really fun game. Not as good as red dead but if you are into the wild west i should give that game a go.
I rented GUN a few times back in the day at Blockbuster, but that’s another one I would like to go back to. I believe it’s back compat on the series x. I’ll forsure hop into that at some point, I know I have a copy laying around the house somewhere lol
Man did I ever share how much I enjoy these ranking videos haha.
Awesome takes there. There’s a bunch on there I haven’t played yet like the Saints Row franchise, the last 3 Far Cry games, the Assassin’s Creed games, MGS V, Cyberpunk, Watchdogs, Evil Within 2, anything on the PS5 side exclusively, any of the superhero games etc. PS5/superhero stuff aside, all of those are on my backlog so I know I’ll get to them eventually, just a matter of finding the time. All this to say I’m sure my list will be very different once I get to those.
This is a very cool thought experiment. I’m leaving hub worlds out, because I wouldn’t personally consider them ‘open world’ and feel they deserve their own category, besides there’s a bunch of those - the Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Tomb Raider series, TW2, Automata, Fallen Order, Outer Worlds, the Middle Earth Shadow games, Destroy All Humans, the Yakuza franchise, Greedfall etc etc. TW3 gets a pass because most of the world can be accessed on foot without loading screens, and areas that can’t (like Skellige) are massive anyway. Regardless I think it’s interesting food for thought to figure out when a game is considered true open world vs hub.
So while ranking them I took into account 3 things: impact on release, level of enjoyment when I played it and especially quality of the world itself since we’re talking about that specifically. Meaning This would probably be my take out of all the open world games I’ve played (there aren’t many tbh):
GOATS
RDR2
TW3
Skyrim (still think the sense of exploration this game evokes is somewhat unparalleled even today)
RDR
Oblivion (like Skyrim, but a bit more generic)
Far Cry 1 (it's easy to scoff at now, but there was literally nothing as beautiful and expansive as this game back in 2004. GTA was fantastic but nowhere near as big a looker IMO)
Sleeping Dogs
GTA Vice City
GREATS
State of Decay 2 (can be considered both open world and hub IMO)
Fallout NV (not sure many went through this, but I arrived at the outskirts of NV at night, and seeing all those incredible lights amidst all that darkness was quite impactful)
Fallout 3
GTA San Andreas
GTA IV
GTA V
Sunset Overdrive
Far Cry 3
DAMN GOOD
GTA III
SOLID
The Forgotten City
State of Decay
KONA
OKAY
Bully
South Park: The Stick of Truth (great game but the open world is very basic which makes sense if you wanna keep true to SP design)
Lake
Maybe I’m forgetting a few but these are the ones I remember playing. LOVE this tier videos bud, keep them coming!
Hell yeah brother! Love it. Wish I would’ve sunk a bit more time into the Elder Scrolls games, I’m sure they would rank high on mine as well. Glad to see RDR2, & TW3 sitting pretty atop that list tho… & of course, seeing sleeping dogs rank in the GOATS brings some warmth to my soul haha
Quick aside, I just dove into State of Decay 2 last night! Really digging it. Very surprised by just how fun the actual gameplay is. The shooting, and driving mechanics are WAY better than I would’ve expected. I’m very excited to see a game like this running on UE5. Because honestly, I think all of my complaints so far, could be fixed with just simply making that leap to a new engine… & maybe some slightly better writing, and voice acting lol. But I LOVE how in depth the management systems are, without being totally off putting. I’m having a damn good time with it so far.
@@UnnecessaryRambling Awesome man, so glad you're enjoying SoD2! There really is something to be said about how addictive that gameplay loop is. That supply run that you never know how it's going to turn out, if you're going to make it out of it unscathed or with the stuff you need, etc. And the systems are much deeper than in 1 which is great. Yeah I have a few complaints about it too, but overall I'm really impressed with what they did. Still keep going back to it, which is something I rarely do these days. I can't wait to see what they do with UE5.
Of the games I've finished it's impressive how much I agree with this list.
Fallout 4 I would personally have a tier higher. I liked the opening of the game, building settlements, the first time you encounter the Deathstalker in the town and grab the combat armour to take it on was brilliant and if you played 3 then everything around Liberty Prime near the end was epic. 4 felt like it was missing something compared to 3 and NV, I think the lore in the world wasn't very good. 3 really did feel like a post apocalyptic Boston with some fascinating locations from Megaton to Little Lamplight and the whole story arc beginning from the vault and going back had me a little emotional which most games cannot. NV you spend half the game trying to get into The Strip which really opens up the game while trying to uncover a mystery of some sort.
I'd put Arkham City and RDR in the highest tier without question, take Marvel's SpiderMan down a tier and I'd also swap Cyberpunk and MGS5. I wasn't keen on the Cyberpunk devil references throughout the game and MGS5 was a step down after starting with 4, they joined the open world bandwagon and the game suffered.
Surprised to see Death Stranding so low. I've watched/played the first 2 hours and have been fascinated, almost blown away with it. I'm loving the cutscenes especially and the unique gameplay that has made me strategise already.
You made my day with your praise for Mafia III. I actually loved Fallout 4 though. The power armor was so freakin cool.
The Mafia series is GOLD 💪
Ghost of Tsushima is in the Goat tier for me because the insane quality of their side quest. The character development of the people helping you to save the island was just so well written
Absolutely loved that game, I need to replay it sometime soon, before 2 comes out!
WHERE ARE THE SOULS GAMES 😭😭😭
Hope everyone has a blessed year 😊 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
After watching this video I’m very aware of how many open world games I haven’t played 😂
Totally agree on Days Gone though. I know you mentioned a few more I had actually played too but I had paint fingers and couldn’t reply as I listened/watched.
Hey I feel you, its impossible to be a hardcore fan of every genre. Turn based rpgs are my big gaming blind spot. Have almost zero knowledge about that entire genre lol
So A little shocked you did not mention the Dishonored series.
You know I had to watch this video, but I am going to publicly beg now. Please play Cyberpunk again on the PS5, and feel free to reach out to me and talk about builds. I have a little experience in Cyberpunk.
I plan on playing the Witcher 3 this year and Control. Damn I got to play Days gone!
Control is such an outstanding game. Good shout on Dishonored as well very solid games. Same with Prey 2016. Also I second about giving Cyberpunk another try. It had sweeping changes and QOL improvements :D
Still need to finish Dishonored 2, but I’ll definitely include #1 for a part 2, if this video ends up doing well. I really want to replay Cyberpunk, but I want a damn PS5 native version lol
@@UnnecessaryRambling To Be honest, when you install the PS5 version with a Disc, that is the native PS5 Version, Just digital with a Physical Disc lock much like KTOR on the Xbox One.
Nice list, don’t know if you said it but where would you rank watch dogs 2?
I haven’t played it yet, I need to get around to it tho!
Honestly, as a game world specifically, Watch Dogs 2 is certainly a GOAT and has a very reasonable case for the number 1 spot@@UnnecessaryRambling
Great video hope u do more stuff~ Def sub
Thank you bud🙏
great video man
I missed Just Cause Franchise (specially 2), Sunset Overdrive and Watch Dogs 2 (IMO one of the best of the genre). Great list though.
I played a bit of Just Cause & Sunset Overdrive, but not enough to rank them. Would like to go back to them at some point.
Hey Brandon, have you had a chance to play Hogwarts Legacy? That game has an open world and I’m curious to see which tier you would place that game in. Anyways, solid video as I know it takes a lot of time to play all these games.
I really enjoyed it! & I’ve never watched or read Harry Potter. It’s a phenomenal open world game, even for people who don’t have knowledge of the source material. Thank you for tuning in!
Gta 4 is the best grand theft auto story writing and characters out of all the gta's
I replayed it this year (after recording this) & I totally agree with you. Best story in the series, easily. The agency that you have in the narrative blows all the other games away.
GTA V is GOAT level
Incredible game, no doubt. I’m dying for a GTA 6 announcement lol
The shooting in saints row the third was bad imo
At the time, i felt like it was so far ahead of its competition. It might not hold up as well today tho.
No elden ring?
I’m not a souls guy unfortunately
No Skyrim?
I’ve only played maybe like 5-10 hours of it, never could click with it
Zelda
What happened to minecraft
Not my thing
BOTW HELLO???
Never played it
i respect your opinion but i cant ever imo say that the latest saints row is even 50% as good as ac valhalla because imo its just so shit that even valhalla is good compared
Haha I respect it! Thank you for tuning in
Cyberpunk is a broken mess forever. They never fixed the Bugs. Cyberpunk was made by inexperienced amateurs
Cyberpunk was rushed as fuck.