Best Semi-Open World RPGs That Perfectly Balance Exploration

The best semi-open world RPGs captivate players by offering a perfect balance between freedom and direction. Instead of focusing on a gigantic map to explore, these games stand out by featuring multiple interconnected scenarios with open and richly detailed environments. This approach combines exploration with consistently fresh content, keeping the player experience always novel.

What makes a semi-open world RPG truly memorable is the ability to transform each section of the map into something unique and intriguing. These games avoid monotony by creating areas filled with challenges, stories, and secrets. When well executed, they offer the freedom of open worlds without sacrificing the pace and quality of the gameplay.

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Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Different Parts Of The Stolen Lands Unlock As The Story Progresses

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Released

September 25, 2018

Developer(s)

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Owlcat Games

OpenCritic Rating

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Fair

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Pathfinder: Kingmaker, inspired by the Adventure Path of the same name, features a dynamic semi-open world RPG for players, bringing the exploration freedom of tabletop RPGs to video games. In this game, the story is tied to the Stolen Lands and their significance to different people, with new regions of this area unlocking as the story progresses.

However, at the same time, Pathfinder: Kingmaker does not have gigantic maps but adopts a more classic isometric RPG approach, where each location is a small scenario to explore. Thus, the mix of free exploration and challenges aligned with a high-stakes story makes the game a unique experience in the genre.

7

The Outer Worlds

RPG With A Semi-Open Map Where Players Literally Explore Small Open Worlds

In addition to Obsidian’s traditional humor, The Outer Worlds stands out by taking players on a small space adventure, exploring different planets in an effort to overthrow the megacorporations destroying the colony where they lived. Although it is not a long game, it is possible to visit several planets throughout the journey, each with its unique settings.

However, despite some locations, like Monarch, being relatively large in terms of size and available content, the other locations in The Outer Worlds are more modest and smaller. Still, exploring these different settings remains a fun and worthwhile experience for fans of semi-open world RPGs.

6

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Game Features Exotic Planets Like Only Star Wars Can Do

Capturing one of the franchise’s greatest traditions, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic offers excellent exploration of exotic planets and space travel for players. Each destination visited by players is a fundamental part of world-building, presenting environments that contribute to the story’s development.

Additionally, it is possible to visit some classic planets from the movies in Knights of the Old Republic, such as the deserts of Tatooine, but the game also goes beyond, featuring a vast variety of planets with unique cultures and settings. These well-crafted scenarios, combined with one of the best stories in an RPG, make the game a milestone for those who enjoy exploration in semi-open worlds.

5

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Players Can Explore Kamurocho, Yokohama, And Even Hawaii

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Released

January 26, 2024

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OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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The Yakuza franchise, now known as Like A Dragon, has always been known for exploring the semi-open world formula in its games, but in Yakuza: Infinite Wealth, the JRPG has achieved perfection in this form of exploration. Here, in addition to traditional regions like Kamurocho and Yokohama, it is also possible to explore Hawaii, the series’ first overseas setting.

Moreover, Yakuza games are known for their highly detailed maps, as each region is considerably small compared to other open-world games, but the JRPG is one of the best for exploration. Each location offers a plethora of available minigames and missions, many of which are focused on the absurd, to be completed.

4

Dragon Age: Origins

Travel Through Different Areas In Search Of Allies Against The Blight

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Franchise

Dragon Age

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Released

November 3, 2009

Publisher(s)

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Electronic Arts

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Dragon Age: Origins is one of the best RPGs ever produced, utilizing the same formula as other classic titles in the genre, such as Baldur’s Gate, by offering maps with a semi-open world design to explore. In this BioWare title, players travel through human, dwarf, elven kingdoms, and even a tower of mages in an epic story.

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Being an older game with smaller maps, the semi-open world formula of the first Dragon Age works very well, providing ample opportunities for players to enjoy side missions and interactions with characters. Additionally, each of these regions has its own visual identity, showcasing more of the cultures of the peoples who live there, further enhancing player immersion.

3

Divinity: Original Sin 2

A Semi-Open World That Redefines The RPG Genre

Divinity: Original Sin 2 stands out as one of the best semi-open world and most complex RPGs ever created. Larian Studios delivers expansive and detailed maps, each with its own identity and purpose. From lush forests to bustling cities, each game location is filled with secrets, challenges, and stories that enrich the journey.

The game offers rich and unrestricted exploration with vast interconnected map sections. Thus, players can freely navigate locations like Fort Joy and the Nameless Isle, each area brimming with creative missions and impactful narrative choices. This approach ensures that Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a benchmark in providing player freedom without sacrificing quality or immersion.

2

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Semi-Open World With Enormous Areas To Explore

The semi-open world formula shows much of its potential in The Witcher 3, one of the best exploration and freedom RPGs for players. Including DLC content, there are over six open regions for Geralt to adventure in, all varying in size but with a high content density, especially side missions.

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There’s a lot for players to do in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, making it necessary to learn all about the hidden side quests not everyone knows about.

Each of the different areas Geralt visits also has unique settings, making the experience of exploring them unique. This approach ensures that the story offers a rewarding journey, with memorable characters and moments introduced in each new chapter, making the semi-open worlds of The Witcher 3 both captivating and expansive.

1

Baldur’s Gate 3

Players Have Ample Freedom To Explore In These 3 Acts

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Franchise

Baldur’s Gate

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Released

August 3, 2023

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OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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Larian Studios is one of the leading modern references when it comes to semi-open world RPGs, delivering incredible games that excellently explore these formulas. Baldur’s Gate 3 is the prime example, presenting, in each of its three acts, amazing settings with plenty of content to be discovered in each.

The exploration of each of these regions also works in a completely open manner, with players able to visit different areas in the order they prefer. In Act 1, for example, it is possible to go to the Goblin Camp before heading to the Emerald Grove, as is usually done, with this freedom remaining in the subsequent chapters.

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