After spending hours exploring the world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, players often find themselves wondering what to play next. It’s a unique game, and it can be hard to find something similar – though Tears of the Kingdom is an obvious choice!
Although few open-world games are as popular as Breath of the Wild, many others offer huge worlds, exciting creatures, and plenty of hidden areas to discover. Let’s explore some of these expansive games that feature large maps, sword fighting, adventurous exploration, or a combination of all three. While these titles aren’t Breath of the Wild, they’ll definitely satisfy a similar sense of adventure.
No Zelda games.
1. Crimson Desert
A 2026 Open-World Game That Matches Breath of the Wild’s Ambition and Scale
Although it might not be the best open-world game of 2026, Crimson Desert is shaping up to be the most ambitious. Despite a somewhat shaky start, Pearl Abyss has created a massive and endlessly explorable world. Even after many hours of play, the game continues to surprise players with new combat skills and gameplay features, keeping things fresh and engaging.
Unlike Breath of the Wild, Crimson Desert appears to focus more on its story, featuring many more cutscenes, conversations, and characters. Despite this, it still offers a great deal of freedom. The game guides you with quests, but also encourages you to explore at your own pace and focus on what you find most interesting. Like Breath of the Wild, Crimson Desert doesn’t require you to experience everything – you’re free to choose your own path and enjoy the game your way.
2. Kena: Bridge Of Spirits
One Of The Prettiest Games On The Switch 2
Ember Lab’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a beautiful and uncommon modern game that blends ideas from many different titles. While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s a very fun experience. The game takes place in a stunning fantasy world and tells the story of Kena, a spirit guide who helps spirits move on to the afterlife. When a mysterious corruption called the Rot begins to spread, Kena sets out to investigate and restore balance. Though distinct from the world of Hyrule, Kena‘s environment is full of natural beauty that is slowly being overtaken by this spreading corruption.
Although Kena isn’t a completely open-world game, exploring each area is still rewarding, as hidden secrets are plentiful. The story itself follows a set path, and it’s much more focused than games like Breath of the Wild. The combat in Kena is more challenging than recent Zelda titles, drawing inspiration from tougher action games. You play as Kena, wielding a magical staff for both close-up and long-range fighting. It features standard light and strong attacks, plus a few extra moves. She can also use a shield and a bow – the bow is arguably the most enjoyable part of the gameplay. Kena also has special abilities that enhance her basic attacks.
On March 26, Kena released on the Switch 2.
3. Donkey Kong Bananza
Once Again, Nintendo Takes A Classic Franchise Into Open-World Territory
I wasn’t sure whether to recommend Donkey Kong Bananza because it’s very different from Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While both games are open-world, they feel quite different. Breath of the Wild offers a huge, sprawling world to explore, but Bananza focuses on going down. Donkey Kong and Pauline break through layers of ground to discover new, self-contained areas. It’s mostly a beat ’em up – you can smash almost everything, and even the platforming relies on this mechanic. There’s a little bit of fighting, but destruction is the core of the gameplay.
If you’re hoping for a game just like Breath of the Wild, DK Bananza might not be what you’re looking for. But if you want another fun, open-ended Nintendo game that lets you explore and experiment, this is a great choice. It’s simple in a charming and addictive way, similar to how the best parts of Breath of the Wild often come from just wandering around and discovering things.
4. Elden Ring
Similar Open-World Design Mentality
While both Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild are open-world adventures, they offer very different experiences. Breath of the Wild has some darker elements, but Elden Ring is far more disturbing and nightmarish, drawing inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The game takes place in a harsh and dangerous world called the Lands Between, filled with frightening and powerful creatures. Elden Ring builds upon the combat system of the Dark Souls series, giving players a lot of freedom to customize their playstyle. You can fight with swords and shields, use ranged weapons, cast spells, or even sneak past enemies – there are many ways to tackle each challenge.
Despite their differences, Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild both offer a similar open-world experience. Both games place you in a huge world and let you explore freely. While Elden Ring gives you a bit more guidance, you’re still free to wander and uncover the many secrets of its vast landscape.
Shadow of the Erdtree is also great, and the expansion is very substantial.
5. Immortals Fenyx Rising
BOTW Combined With The Ubisoft Formula
The huge success of Breath of the Wild clearly influenced other game developers, inspiring them to create similar open-world experiences. Ubisoft’s Immortals Fenyx Rising was the most obvious example of this, especially considering its large scale release. While Ubisoft doesn’t often create entirely new game worlds, Immortals Fenyx Rising still felt refreshing, despite sharing many similarities with the 2017 Breath of the Wild. Even if players aren’t fans of Ubisoft’s typical style, Immortals Fenyx Rising offers enough enjoyable features to recommend it to both Breath of the Wild fans and anyone looking for a good open-world adventure.
Drawing inspiration from Greek myths, the game tells a heroic tale as narrated by Prometheus to Zeus. Players control Fenyx, a Greek soldier tasked with saving the gods after they’ve been corrupted by Typhon. The story unfolds on the Golden Isle, which is broken up into distinct areas connected to different gods. The combat is quick and visually appealing, fitting the hack-and-slash genre, and becomes even more engaging as Fenyx gains new powers from the gods.
6. Genshin Impact
Far More Than Just A BOTW Copy
Initially, some people thought Genshin Impact was simply copying Breath of the Wild, but that assessment hasn’t held up. Since launching in 2020, MiHoYo’s game has become hugely popular and remains so today. The developers consistently add new content and updates, keeping players invested, and a passionate community has formed around the world of Teyvat. While Genshin Impact does borrow some elements from Breath of the Wild – particularly its art style and how you move around – these similarities are mostly surface level. The two games ultimately offer very different experiences.
Even though it’s free to play, Genshin Impact is a single-player role-playing game centered around fast-paced team battles, not a traditional massively multiplayer online game. It’s a “gacha” game, meaning players spend time trying to unlock new characters and equipment to build the perfect team. During combat, you can quickly switch between four characters, and the game offers a wide variety of characters, encouraging players to try out different team combinations. The game world, called Teyvat, is continually growing with new areas to explore, and the map is now very large.
miHoYo, the creators of this game, also make other free-to-play titles like Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, which are both excellent. However, they don’t play like Breath of the Wild. If you’re looking for a turn-based RPG, Honkai: Star Rail is a great choice, and Zenless Zone Zero offers a fun, mission-driven action RPG experience.
7. Palworld
Crafting, Survival, & Pokemon?
Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Palworld is an open-world game that draws from many sources but still feels fresh and original. Before its release, many people were skeptical that Pocket Pair could deliver on their ambitious promises. The game combines survival mechanics, monster collecting, shooting, base building, and exploration, which seemed like it might be too much for one game. However, those worries haven’t come true. Even now, in its early access form, Palworld is already excellent, with its various elements working together surprisingly well.
I’ve been playing both Palworld and Breath of the Wild, and what really strikes me is how much freedom they both give you. It’s not about rushing to finish anything; you can explore and progress at your own pace, and the game doesn’t push you in any particular direction. That makes the experience so much more about enjoying the adventure itself! Plus, in Palworld, crafting is super important, especially when you’re first starting out – you’re constantly making things to help you survive and thrive.
8. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Liberating Exploration
The freedom to explore in Breath of the Wild creates genuinely special gaming experiences. When it was released in 2017, this sense of discovery was something many players hadn’t felt since Skyrim.
Even now, Skyrim remains one of the greatest open-world role-playing games ever made. Bethesda created a huge success with this game, and it continues to be popular. While Skyrim has a stronger focus on storytelling than Breath of the Wild, it truly excels when players are free to explore and create their own experiences.
9. Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
Stunning Fantasy World
When Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora launched, reviews were somewhat mixed, which has become typical for Ubisoft’s large open-world games in recent years. Ubisoft tends to stick to a familiar formula, and players are starting to show signs of getting tired of it. Interestingly, when Ubisoft has tried to innovate, like with Far Cry 6, the results have been polarizing. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is, at its core, a classic Ubisoft open-world game. Some have even described it as being similar to Far Cry, but set on another planet – a simplification, perhaps, but not necessarily a bad one.
As expected, the world of Pandora is the biggest draw in this game, and the developers at Massive Entertainment have done an amazing job bringing James Cameron’s vision to life. The environment feels incredibly realistic, responding to the Na’vi characters just like in the films. While the first-person combat is enjoyable, and improves as you gain skills, it’s different from the action in Breath of the Wild. Still, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora offers a truly immersive and fun world to explore.
10. Sonic Frontiers
A Semi-Successful Open-World Evolution
Sonic the Hedgehog has ventured into open-world gameplay for the first time, and like many 3D Sonic games, Sonic Frontiers is receiving mixed reactions. While the game has some technical issues, like objects appearing suddenly, and the combat can become repetitive, many players are enjoying exploring its world and appreciate its story, which is better than most games in the series.
While the shift to an open-world style hasn’t been as smooth for Sonic the Hedgehog as it was for The Legend of Zelda, Sonic Frontiers isn’t a bad game. At the very least, longtime fans will enjoy playing with their favorite characters from the Sega universe.
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2026-04-09 05:37