Open-world RPGs almost always need good loot and gear. What’s the point of exploring a huge world if you don’t find anything helpful to make your character stronger? Finding new armor, weapons, or materials for crafting can be just as motivating as the desire to simply explore the game’s world.
Open-world RPGs offer many different ways to handle loot and item collection. Many use a common system of randomized drops, similar to action RPGs, with a few special, fixed-location items, like in The Witcher 3. However, some games are trying something different, moving away from constant random drops to make each item more valuable. Instead of endlessly sorting through similar items, these games make loot truly meaningful – finding a new item can significantly change how you play, making you want to collect everything. Here are some open-world RPGs that stand out with their unique and rewarding loot systems.
Elden Ring
Every New Find Can Be Game-Changing
Elden Ring continues FromSoftware’s tradition of detailed loot and item systems, but expands it to a massive open world. The game features an incredible variety of armor, weapons, spells, and other items, all of which can help you in battle. Exploring the huge world is rewarding because you know that every hidden area might contain powerful items that can significantly change how you play, encouraging you to keep going and discover everything it has to offer.
Like many games from the studio, this one features powerful enemy ‘boss souls’ that players can use to craft special equipment. Regular enemies also drop rare items, encouraging players to replay areas to collect them. The game’s item descriptions are filled with backstory and lore, which many fans enjoy studying to learn more about the world. For experienced players who’ve explored everything, mods called ‘Randomizers’ can shake things up by changing the location of items and even bosses, creating a fresh experience in the Lands Between.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
One of the Most Unique Loot in the Series and the Entire Genre
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla features a truly unique loot system, standing out not only within the Assassin’s Creed series but also among other open-world action-RPGs. While previous games like Origins, Odyssey, and Shadows used randomized loot with varying quality, Valhalla has moved away from random drops altogether. Instead, the game focuses entirely on unique, pre-determined armor and weapons hidden throughout the world, typically found in treasure chests. Interestingly, each chest also presents a small puzzle or challenge to open, adding an extra layer of interaction – though this can sometimes feel like a bit of extra work.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla offers players a wide variety of armor and weapons, each with special abilities, giving you plenty of options in combat. What really makes the game stand out is its upgrade system. You can improve your gear by collecting materials, making it more powerful and changing how it looks with each upgrade. This encourages players to search for every collectible and upgrade as much as possible, making each new item feel rewarding.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Admirable Loot Variety Coupled With Flexible Upgrading Mechanics
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s loot system is similar to the first game, but also takes inspiration from Elden Ring. This means each weapon has set characteristics and can be upgraded. The game features a great variety of unique armor and equipment, with 12 different weapon types – including uncommon ones like Duospears and Archistaves. Because the game focuses on character classes, not all classes can use all weapons, so players may want to change classes to experiment with different combinations.
The game doesn’t rely much on random loot drops. Instead, players find powerful gear primarily by discovering hidden treasure chests, encouraging exploration. Useful items can also be earned through quests, purchased from shops, or crafted. The game’s upgrade system is quite flexible, letting players customize their weapons and armor with different enchantments, but it requires a lot of materials. Unlike Elden Ring, even fully upgraded starting gear in Dragon’s Dogma 2 can be surpassed by powerful weapons found later in the game. This means players will eventually need to switch to new weapons for a significant power boost, which some players dislike.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Lets You Truly Bond With a Weapon of Choice
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is praised for its incredibly detailed and realistic depiction of medieval Bohemia. The game immerses players in this world, requiring them to manage basic needs like hunger, thirst, and sleep, as well as maintain their equipment. Choosing the right armor, shield, and weapon is crucial for success in battle. The game features a vast selection of gear, with many unique weapons available to find, purchase, or even create.
Weapons and armor in the game feel authentic, meaning they’re strong in certain situations but can fail you in others—there’s no single, overwhelmingly powerful item. Getting good gear in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is challenging; you’ll need to be skilled in crafting, learn special abilities, and find rare materials to upgrade your equipment. Because of this effort, players truly appreciate and become attached to their well-earned gear more than in other games.
Fallout 4
Even Meaningless Junk Matters in the Wastelands
Initially, the way Fallout 4 handles loot doesn’t seem particularly unique compared to other open-world RPGs. While you can occasionally find powerful gear from important enemies, bosses, or well-hidden chests, these moments are infrequent. Most of the time, you’ll find a lot of junk and broken items – the kind of stuff you’d usually ignore, especially since your character can only carry so much. But this is where Fallout 4’s excellent crafting system changes everything, because it makes almost every item you find useful eventually.
In Fallout 4, you can break down almost anything into components or raw materials to create new items, improve existing ones, and build structures. Players can design and grow entire settlements, construct and decorate buildings, and even craft special, one-of-a-kind weapons and armor not found anywhere else. If you like collecting and carrying everything you can get your hands on, Fallout 4 gives you a great reason to do just that!
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2026-01-29 08:35