7 Open-World Games Better Than Skyrim

Released in 2011, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim remains incredibly popular today, with players enjoying the original, the updated version, and even the virtual reality edition. It continues to attract new fans who appreciate the same qualities that made it great over a decade ago. However, other open-world action RPGs have since surpassed it in certain areas.

Games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are often considered among the best action RPGs, and even rival Skyrim in terms of quality. Let’s explore what makes these games stand out, while still recognizing The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim as a fantastic game in its own right.

The Skyrim Alternative	Why Is It Better In 2026?	Platforms
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth	Nostalgia factor, stunningly dense world, excellent combat	PC, PS5
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	Beautiful world, visceral combat, amazing quest designs	PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	The ability to climb anything, the paraglider, very little hand-holding	Switch, Switch 2

Find all 10 pairs Results

—

More Games

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Gilding The Lily

While The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is a hugely popular game in The Elder Scrolls series, many longtime fans prefer elements of its predecessors. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, a classic on PC and original Xbox, is a prime example. Its faction questlines are still considered among the best in the entire series, and the quests themselves are incredibly immersive. The Thieves Guild storyline is particularly exciting, but the game offers much more depth beyond just that one questline.

Both Morrowind and Oblivion enhance the feeling of being truly in the game world. While Morrowind shows its age a bit, it still draws you in. Oblivion featured a fantastic class system that grew with your character as you battled and discovered new areas. The Oblivion Gates, though somewhat repetitive in design, offered exciting challenges, valuable rewards, and a satisfying sense of achievement when completed.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

In Geralt We Trust

It’s amazing to consider that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came out just four years after The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, considering how much more visually impressive it is. Even with the remastered version, Skyrim doesn’t compare. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a truly captivating world, filled with stunning details like glowing oceans, vibrant landscapes, and beautifully designed cities and villages.

Battles are incredibly intense and rewarding, offering visceral moments like slicing through enemies or incinerating them with magic. The game’s quests are still considered top-tier for the RPG genre – every task, no matter how small, like finding a lost pan or battling a werewolf, feels meaningful and is well-developed. While you can’t create your own character, you play as Geralt, a compelling and nuanced protagonist for an action RPG, and Ciri is also a strong character during the sections where you control her.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

Reinventing Open-World Games

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild didn’t just exceed the popularity of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim; it completely redefined what open-world games could be. While it does have a tutorial area, it’s much more subtle and doesn’t interrupt gameplay as much as Skyrim’s. The starting area, the Great Plateau, is expansive, and the world of Hyrule only gets larger from there. Players aren’t limited by a single path; they can spot something far away and reach it in a variety of ways.

Players can now reach new heights by climbing buildings and mountains using stamina, then glide down. This makes exploring the world more enjoyable, and hidden Shrines offer puzzle breaks from the main adventure. While not overly difficult like some games, combat in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild feels dangerous and exciting, though it can be frustrating when enemies defeat you quickly.

Elden Ring

Danger Is Its Middle Name

While Elden Ring‘s world isn’t as large as Skyrim‘s, it’s actually more packed with things to discover, which is a good thing. The game doesn’t hold your hand either – you’re thrown into a challenging world and left to figure things out on your own, facing enemies that will likely defeat you many times. As a difficult, open-world game inspired by the ‘Souls’ series, Elden Ring lets you truly customize your character and playstyle. You can even switch from magic to melee combat whenever you want.

The world is full of secrets, whether it’s powerful enemies, valuable items, or memorable characters. This game focuses less on traditional quests and storylines and more on letting you explore a richly detailed world. Plus, the combat and how you move feel smoother and more responsive than in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, though some character builds can make things slower.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

A Fully Open Hybrid

Unlike games like Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 features a combat system similar to those found in online multiplayer games. You explore a large open world with your team, and battles begin as you encounter enemies. Your characters automatically attack, but you can also use special abilities with cooldowns. Coordinating with your party allows you to link attacks into powerful combos, inflicting various effects on enemies, such as temporarily reducing their defenses.

Most open-world games focus on action, which makes sense for their design. However, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 stands out as a truly captivating exception. Adding to its uniqueness, characters can transform into powerful mech-like forms during battles. And while its story is heavily inspired by anime – a stark contrast to the fantasy setting of games like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – it’s considered one of the best narratives ever seen in an open-world RPG.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

A Classic Reborn

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is an action role-playing game and the second installment in the Final Fantasy 7 remake series. It covers the story from the Kalm section of the original game up to the events at the Temple of the Ancients. Like Elden Ring, Rebirth features a large world, but it’s broken up into distinct, fully explorable areas. You’ll need to progress through the story to unlock new regions, a familiar structure for Final Fantasy players. Later in the game, travel between these areas becomes easier, allowing you to tackle more side quests.

Although some Skyrim fans might not appreciate this design direction, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth excels in several areas. It successfully evokes nostalgia by reimagining events from the original 1997 game, and the side content, like the Queen’s Blood card game, is genuinely enjoyable. The combat system is particularly impressive, with fluid character movement, diverse playstyles for each character, a robust magic system, and satisfying combos – it could be the best combat in any modern open-world game.

Red Dead Redemption 2

The Mystery Of The Old West

Okay, so if you like open-world games and being a bit of a troublemaker, Red Dead Redemption 2 is seriously amazing. It really lets you lean into the outlaw lifestyle, but it doesn’t make you be a bad guy. You play as Arthur Morgan, and honestly, you can choose to try and be a better person, even if things are pretty rough. Even if you do try to go down a more honorable path, you’ll still be doing some shady stuff – robbing trains, hitting up plantations, that kind of thing – but the way you approach it all feels different.

While Skyrim lets you make some choices that lead to darker paths and affect the story a bit, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a much more reactive and well-crafted narrative. Players will likely connect with the game’s emotional depth and meaningful journey. Plus, few open-world games capture the feeling of the Wild West as well as this one, and the thrill of winning a gunfight is incredibly satisfying.

2026-03-22 20:47