It’s rare for a new open-world game to feel genuinely fresh. Because this type of game is so common, and players have come to expect certain features, it’s hard to be innovative. The games listed aren’t necessarily revolutionary, but they’re the most original open-world titles ever made, successfully combining new concepts with familiar elements to deliver truly standout experiences.
If you’re looking for a gift for a gamer who loves classic video games – whether they collect old cartridges or you just want to get them a small present – there are lots of great options. Here are some of the best gifts for the retro gaming enthusiast in your life, perfect for 2025, ranging from interesting books to fun novelty items.
Where Winds Meet offers a lot to do – you’ll explore, improve your skills, battle bosses, and even solve cute puzzles with cats! As you earn achievements, you’ll collect special coins you can spend on optional in-game rewards, like items from merchants or a chance to try your luck with the game’s gacha system.
Kohei Horikoshi, the author of My Hero Academia, is heavily involved in the upcoming live-action movie adaptation on Netflix. Because of his close guidance, fans are optimistic that this version will be a good one, easing concerns about how the story will be adapted. While many are looking forward to the movie, a release date hasn’t been announced yet.
Zaahen builds up stacks of Determination whenever he attacks an enemy champion with either a basic attack or one of his abilities. Each stack increases his attack damage.
Many games include carefully selected soundtracks featuring real songs, often played through in-game radio stations or music players. These soundtracks enhance the experience whether you’re leisurely exploring a large world or fighting an intense battle. While you could always listen to your own music, discovering and enjoying the game’s curated music is often much more engaging.
Need more space in your backpack? You can buy extra slots from Sliver in the main hub area using the gold you’ve collected. The first slot costs 4,000 gold, and each additional slot gets more expensive.
Although the Edge of Fate expansion initially offered hope for the future of Destiny 2, Bungie is now facing significant challenges. While the Final Shape expansion successfully concluded the decade-long Light and Darkness saga and was well-received, the game’s player base has dropped dramatically. Players are leaving due to bugs and unpopular changes to gameplay. Bungie is actively working to address these issues with updates and by reverting disliked features. A recent survey suggests they may be considering new content to revitalize the game.
The upcoming World of Warcraft: Midnight expansion is significantly improving the transmog system. Instead of changing the look of each piece of armor separately, players will be able to create complete Outfits that automatically adjust their character’s appearance, no matter what gear they’re wearing. A new feature called Situations will allow these Outfits to change automatically based on what the player is doing – whether they’re in dungeons, resting in towns, loading into the game, traveling, switching specializations, or even changing forms as a Dracthyr or Worgen.
There’s been plenty of discussion about the Steam Machine, but less about the new Steam Controller, which appears to be a major step up from the original. The 2015 Steam Controller was a bold attempt, but it felt cheap, was uncomfortable to use, and had some strange design choices. For example, it only had one joystick and two trackpads, which was an unusual and unnecessary departure from the standard two-joystick layout. Like other Valve hardware from that era, the original Steam Controller didn’t become very popular and faded away after a short time. The new controller seems like a huge improvement, taking design cues from the comfortable Steam Deck while still keeping a familiar button and joystick arrangement. However, it’s missing one key feature that’s quite frustrating.