Best Open-World Games That Let You Play After The Credits

Summary

Some open-world games offer post-credits content like new gameplay mechanics and deeper story layers.
Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring, & Horizon Forbidden West are examples of games with engaging post-credits content.
These games allow players to freely explore the open world, unlock new areas, and continue mastering gameplay elements post-credits.

Open-world games can range from offering immersive worlds to completely trapping players within them. While many games feel complete after the story ends, some truly come alive *after* the credits roll. They might introduce new ways to play, uncover hidden story elements, or simply encourage players to continue exploring and enjoying the world at their own speed.

Many games encourage players to continue after finishing the main story, sometimes by unlocking completely new endings or offering special rewards for fully exploring everything the game has to offer. Here’s a list highlighting open-world games that provide a truly worthwhile experience even after the credits roll.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

Defeated Ganondorf? You’re Just Getting Warmed Up

Following the success of *Breath of the Wild*, *Tears of the Kingdom* expands the world with new areas to discover – floating sky islands and a vast underground realm – all connected to the already huge surface world. Once you defeat Ganondorf, the game doesn’t end; instead, it resets to before the final battle, letting you freely explore everything. You can still complete shrines, find Korok seeds, tackle side quests, and use the building systems with no limitations.

A truly innovative feature, the Ultrahand, lets players build and improve creative devices endlessly. Instead of a New Game+, *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom* gives players immediate access to the entire game world, even after defeating the final boss. This means players can continue exploring, completing challenges, and mastering the unique Zonai technology without having to start over or replay areas they’ve already finished.

Elden Ring

The Real Lands Between Are The Friends You Made Along The Way

Elden Ring is an incredibly engaging game with a huge open world to explore, featuring hundreds of bosses and hidden locations, and offering six different ways to finish the story. Once you complete the main questline, you can start a New Game Plus, allowing you to keep all your equipment and progress while facing a greater challenge – enemies will deal more damage and have more health.

Even after you beat the final boss, the game doesn’t really end. You can keep exploring, find any bosses you skipped, and try out different weapons and character builds using the runes you’ve earned. You can also continue to play with others online through both player-versus-player battles and cooperative play, giving you plenty of reasons to keep playing after finishing the story.

Horizon Forbidden West

Saving The World Just Means You Get Of See More of It

In *Horizon Forbidden West*, players continue to follow Aloy as she explores a beautiful, expansive world filled with robotic creatures and remnants of the past. Even after finishing the main story, you can still freely roam the world and complete almost all activities, including side quests, challenges in cauldrons and hunting grounds, and discovering new locations.

As a huge fan, I’m loving all the stuff you can do after you finish the main story! You can really get lost trying to unlock everything – like getting all the trophies, maxing out your best gear, and unlocking overrides for all the machines. But if you *really* want more, the *Burning Shores* DLC is amazing! It adds a whole new area to explore, with even more machines to fight and challenges to tackle – it seriously expands the game beyond the credits!

Red Dead Redemption 2

Arthur’s Story Ends, But The West Rides On

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a story-focused, open-world game with a moving narrative told over five chapters plus an epilogue. Like the first Red Dead Redemption, the game’s main character dies at the end. After the credits roll, players switch to controlling John Marston and are free to continue exploring the game’s vast world.

After the credits roll, the game world feels… different. It’s like things have changed because of what happened in the main story. You can still do all the side missions, hunt down those legendary animals, upgrade your camp, and basically roam free. But now, I’m playing as John Marston, and it feels like I’m finishing up Arthur’s story, taking on his unfinished business. It’s kinda bittersweet, honestly. I get to keep doing all the things I loved as Arthur – the gunfights, the robberies, the bounty hunting – and I can still customize my outfits and weapons, which is great. Plus, a whole new area that was in the first game opens up for me to explore, so that’s a nice bonus.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

The World Ends, Then It Opens

While the original Dragon’s Dogma received mixed reviews when it came out in 2012, the 2013 expansion, Dark Arisen, is what really made the game a beloved favorite among players. After completing the main story, a new post-game area unlocks called the Everfall – a challenging, vertical dungeon filled with powerful bosses, valuable loot, and hidden secrets.

After finishing the main story, you can challenge the incredibly strong Ur-Dragon. The Dark Arisen expansion adds Bitterblack Isle, a challenging endgame dungeon filled with powerful enemies and great gear. Plus, New Game Plus lets you keep playing and refine your character, companions, and skills as much as you like.

Dead Rising

72 Hours Was Just the Tutorial

In this zombie survival game, you’re challenged to survive in an open world with only 72 hours on the clock. Your choices matter, leading to different endings – a special ‘true ending’ is unlocked by completing specific tasks. Once you finish the game once, you unlock Infinity Mode, letting you start new playthroughs with all your progress and skills still intact.

Improving your character’s stats unlocks new abilities, increases health, and expands your inventory – and these improvements stay with you even when you start a new game. After finishing the main story, you’ll have full access to a free-play mode where you can try out different characters and weapons.

Sunless Sea

The Sea’s Hunger Is Never Sated

I’m completely hooked on *Sunless Sea*! It’s a really story-driven game where you’re a ship captain sailing a dark, strange version of London that’s actually *under* the ground. You’re constantly juggling things like fuel, supplies, and keeping your crew from going completely insane. It’s a roguelike, so when you die, that’s it – but you *do* get to pass on some of what you’ve learned to the next captain you create. It’s so atmospheric and captivating!

In this game, you’ll experience many different stories that change based on your decisions, character skills, the game map, and random events. Even when your character dies, you’ll still make progress in the overall story and unlock new ships and crew members. While the game is designed with repeating elements, each journey feels unique.

NieR: Automata

You Finished The Game… Or Did You?

NieR: Automata is a truly unique game that breaks genre conventions. What sets it apart is its unconventional use of credits – players experience them not once, but five times, each with a different twist. The final credit sequence is even playable, turning the developers’ names into enemies! After the first set of credits, the game restarts, revealing the story from a new angle and adding layers to the lore. The second time the credits finish, players unlock the second half of the game’s narrative.

After the credits roll, you’re free to complete any remaining side quests and discover hidden secrets. Playing through the game again with different characters unlocks even more content, including new quests, areas, and weapons to try out. Once you reach the ending, you’ll have a difficult choice: delete your save file to help another player experience the game, just as someone may have done for you.

2025-09-15 06:06