For a lot of video games, it is not fairly sufficient to have a satisfying primary story as it’s to have significant post-game content material to match it. That is definitely one thing necessary to open-world video games because the likes of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 revolutionized the format, however this may apply to a number of genres.
Unsurprisingly, many nice RPGs – just like the dynamic world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt– earn their status by having such qualities, however action-adventure titles like Purple Useless Redemption IIand shooters like Future 2obtain related feats. A few of these video games additionally boast DLC expansions that bolster this, however there are a selection of ways in which they hold gamers engaged with post-game content material.
10 Purple Useless Redemption II
Rockstar Video games’ Purple Useless Redemption II is one other fashionable open-world marvel that deserves all of its plaudits from gameplay to storytelling. There aren’t many Wild West-themed video games on the market in comparison with fantasy and sci-fi, however that does not cease this epic from going above and past.
Content material-wise, Purple Useless Redemption II is an impressively meaty primary story for not being an RPG, and given the sprawling open world, it closely encourages gamers to immerse themselves within the scope of the western frontier. Occasions and encounters can occur dynamically whereas exploring, promising that Arthur Morgan will typically have one thing fascinating to do or uncover. That features the sport’s many aspect missions that adjust colorfully in tone.
9 Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham trilogy includes a number of the greatest fashionable superhero video games, reinventing the enduring DC character for the medium within the course of. And along with being some of the participating true-to-character renditions of Batman by paying homage to the revered The Animated Sequence universe, Arkham Knight has loads of content material exterior of the climactic trilogy-closing story.
There are extra Riddler Trophies than ever earlier than, however even exterior the myriad of what are basically collectibles, there is a host of aspect missions that convey out a number of the most colourful members of the Darkish Knight’s esteemed rogues’ gallery. And whereas the likes of the Deathstroke and Firefly missions are underwhelmed, there are much more – just like the Man-Bat and Professor Pyg missions – that exceptionally immerse and flesh out this neon-gothic world. Plus, the Season of Infamy DLC added extra memorable ones like Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc.
8 Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s most up-to-date Souls-like effort rapidly proved to be one of many fashionable period’s most immersive open-world fantasy RPGs. Elden Ring masterfully painted the Souls-like formulation of Darkish Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice onto an open-world canvas, and it did not endure from content material bloat within the course of.
The sport options all of the fascinating and cryptic dark-fantasy storytelling and nail-biting fight longtime followers would come to anticipate, in addition to a plethora of significant issues to do. Even after Elden Ring‘s in depth story, gamers can nonetheless arguably discover one thing thrilling to find in any path. Odds are, particularly for a first-time participant, that beforehand undiscovered aspect quests might be began, along with the hidden zones and the bosses that include them.
7 Monster Hunter: World
Capcom’s action-RPG Monster Hunter sequence has developed into a world mainstream juggernaut, partly, because of the acclaim of World. The sport was the primary mainline title to make its grand return to mainline consoles exterior of Nintendo in a number of years, and it featured all of the streamlined options to make it successful with out watering the expertise down. Monster Hunter: World‘s gameplay loop is straightforward on paper; taking up quests, searching monsters, crafting higher gear, repeat.
Nevertheless, due to how exhilarating the fight is, the range of monster species, and accessible gear, it proves to be deeply engrossing each out and in of the principle questline. After the story, gamers can proceed tackling more and more powerful endgame boss monsters alone or with buddies, which is amplified additional by the equally-lauded Iceborne DLC.
6 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Virtually eight years later, CD Projekt Purple’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt stays a shining instance of content-rich sport design in open worlds. It is one factor to stuff an open world with busywork to easily say there are a whole lot of hours value of issues to do, however on prime of an emotionally compelling primary story bringing Geralt of Rivia’s story to an in depth, it has much more noteworthy role-playing aspect quests.
For those who get pleasure from collectibles, there are definitely loads of treasure-hunting excursions to go on, however there are numerous aspect quests that do properly to inform equally intriguing tales that flesh out the worldbuilding and personalities of the Continent. The Witcher 3 is a sport that genuinely accommodates a whole lot of hours of story content material, and it is made all the higher with the standalone-sized Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine DLC expansions.
5 Future 2
Famed for the staff’s work on the Halo sequence, Bungie has since made its mark with the continued Future sequence, with the second and present mainline entry actively being expanded upon. Being a game-as-a-service mannequin title, Future 2 is a sport that basically lives and dies on its post- or end-game content material.
The sport was well-received partly because of its marked enchancment within the story marketing campaign division over its predecessor, however the plethora of PvE content material (participant vs. atmosphere), PvP modes (participant vs. participant), and several other post-launch DLC expansions are what give it longevity. For PvE, Future 2 options many team-based Strike missions and 6-man Raids with various levels of problem. And, as followers of first-person shooters would hope, gamers can enter the Crucible for quite a lot of aggressive match sorts.
4 Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver
Gold and Silver on the Sport Boy Coloration had been launched to nice acclaim, being praised for being distinctive sequels and a number of the biggest video games within the mainline Pokémon sequence. The remakes HeartGold and SoulSilver claimed that standing by retaining the enhancements they made on their predecessors whereas giving it the then-modern sensibilities of the fourth era.
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver reimagined the Johto area within the charming 16-bit artwork model of the Nintendo DS, however much more so by remaking the Kanto area as post-game content material. The GBC video games are nonetheless well-known to today for this, because the idea of including a whole earlier area to discover opens up new prospects. HeartGold and SoulSilver recapture this whereas including Pokémon by way of the Sinnoh area to find, and the brand new Battle Frontier for some post-game competitors.
3 God Of Warfare: Ragnarök
Santa Monica Studio’s God of Warfare: Ragnarök was the long-awaited sequel to the 2018 mushy reboot that gave Kratos a compelling and cinematic new storytelling strategy. That does not imply it overlooked the satisfying motion, although, as its new fight system was tightly targeted and arguably much more cathartic combining for an expertise that is prone to turn out to be one in all PlayStation’s greatest exclusives.
And regardless of not being an RPG, God of Warfare: Ragnarök has an impressively prolonged primary narrative and aspect story content material, filling its Norse-inspired world with out even needing an open-world format. After the principle story, gamers can take Kratos on aspect adventures littered throughout the 9 realms that add to the worldbuilding, and gripping fight challenges just like the Muspelheim Trials.
2 NieR:Automata
Sport designer Yoko Taro’s NieR franchise rose to nice prominence because of the success of his and PlatinumGames’ NieR:Automata. Paired with the latter studio’s knack for thrilling and high-octane fight programs, the sport was praised for being an engrossingly somber and existential sci-fi expertise.
And by way of sport content material, NieR:Automata is a singular instance in the way it presents its “post-game” content material as essential to the general story. There’s an expectedly large amount of depth in the case of aspect quests, however the sport particularly takes off after the credit initially roll. As soon as gamers end the “first” primary story, gamers can expertise new parts of the story by way of completely different characters and creatively applied gameplay kinds.
1 Borderlands 3
The “looter-shooter” subgenre was enormously popularized by Gearbox Software program’s Borderlands sequence, meshing motion RPG and first-person shooter gameplay mechanics with a raunchy Mad Max-like dystopian world. Borderlands 3 retains and polishes the tried-and-true method that is confirmed to be so addicting.
The video games safely have enjoyable and bombastic primary tales that may be loved solo or with buddies, however the coronary heart of Borderlands 3‘s substantive content material lies within the endgame in raids and high-end aspect quests. Due to this third entry’s even additional refined capturing gameplay and emphasis on a Diablo-like loot system for upgrading gear, taking up the sport’s hardest challenges that come on the story’s finish is constantly entertaining for dozens of hours on finish.
