The concept of a free-flowing, expansive open world was once little more than a pipe dream. Nowadays, games strive to boast the largest, most content-packed open world ever devised. This form of design is a particularly useful tool in story-rich RPG game development.

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There’s hardly a better way of investing a player in the lore of a world than allowing them to explore it themselves. Of course, there are a handful of games that take this principle to the extreme, and some of the largest maps in RPGs can quite literally take dozens of hours to cross.

Updated on March 7, 2023, by David W. Duffy - RPGs are a staple when it comes to massive worlds, and stories to match. From warring nations to finding your way in post-apocalytpic wastelands, these worlds tend to be among the largest in all of video games. We've updated this article to reflect the timeless nature of some of these titles, as well as adding a couple more worlds for you to explore.

24 Fallout 4 - 3.8 sq mi

Fallout 4 Screenshot Of Quincy Ruins

Despite generating an incredible amount of hype and daring to take on the task of succeeding what was perhaps the best game in the series, Fallout 4 was, by and large, a bit of a disappointment. Part of that sentiment was due to the game’s relatively small map, which was a downgrade in terms of size from preceding Fallout games.

Though it would be expanded in later DLCs, the small slice of New England made playable in Bethesda’s late-2015 launch just didn’t cut it for many. That said, the title still stands head-and-shoulders above others in the genre — there was just a little more expected from such a prolific series.

23 Fallout: New Vegas - 4.1 sq mi

Fallout New Vegas Cover Art

Surprisingly enough, everyone’s favorite post-apocalyptic romp through the Mojave desert is actually slightly larger in terms of available gameplay space than its successor, albeit not by much. Though apparently relatively small at the outset, Obsidian Entertainment made sure that the barren wastes surrounding New Vegas were carved up and difficult to trudge through, which padded out the experience and made the world feel just a bit larger than it actually was. Most New Vegas players will, for instance, be hard pressed to forget the first time they plotted a course for New Vegas only to be met by an angry swarm of cazadors.

22 Dragon Quest 8 - 6 sq mi

Dragon Quest 8 key art showing main characters

Dragon Quest 8 was the first in the series to actually be known as a Dragon’s Quest game in the West; all previous titles in the series were known under the 'Dragon Warrior' name. It also stands as one of the best JRPGs available on the PlayStation 2. Many remember it fondly, though it didn’t sell overly well due to the fact that JRPGs still weren’t a best-selling genre in the region when it was first launched.

In 2014, however, it was ported to the Nintendo 3DS, where it received the attention it originally deserved. The most impressive thing about this title may be that, at a whopping six square miles, one of the largest open worlds in RPGs managed to fit on a portable system.

21 Kingdom Come: Deliverance - 6.1 sq mi

Approaching a fort town in Kingdom Come Deliverance

2018’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance is notable not for its incredible gameplay innovations or fantastical take on the genre, but the grim, sober reality of true-to-life medieval existence. It’s still an RPG through-and-through, but the tough, unforgiving survival-centric nature of the gameplay, to some, bests the outlandish, over-the-top sorcery and swordsmanship showcased in other titles.

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The map isn’t overly large, yet the six-odd square miles explorable in Kingdom Come are well utilized. Fields and dirt roads feel believably lengthy without overextending themselves, and some of the game’s towns are shockingly expansive.

20 The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind - 10 sq mi

Morrowind Real Signposts In A Forest

The third entry in Bethesda’s sprawling and intricate series was truly larger-than-life when it first launched. While the first two mainline Elder Scrolls experiences were restricted to a false 3D perspective littered with 2D, forward-facing sprites, Morrowind was an all-new experience available to play in all three dimensions.

What’s more is that, for a brief period of time, this romp through the world of Tamriel was the most expansive 3D game available. A hardware pusher like few others, 2002’s epic fantasy RPG is a cornerstone of modern gaming.

19 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (Special Edition) - 14.8 sq mi

Dragon Flies In Skies Above Ruins In Skyrim

One of the most recognizable names to be featured on this list, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was the title which propelled the Elder Scrolls series into the public consciousness. An epic fantasy experience full of dungeon crawling and dragon slaying, it's is so well-known that your grandmother hasn’t just heard of it — she’s the headmaster of the Guild of Mages.

Skyrim may actually have a slightly smaller map than some imagined, as it was, for 2011, overwhelmingly large. Though it only allows for a relatively meager 15 square miles of explorable space, it’s hard to feel like time spent exploring the land of Skyrim was ever wasted.

18 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion - 15 sq mi

Sheogorath's shrine with worshipers around it in Oblivion

It just so happens that many of the mainline Elder Scrolls titles are relatively similar in size, save for one major exception with which longtime fans of the series will be familiar. So, it makes sense that Skyrim’s predecessor would just slightly superseded it’s sequel in terms of map size.

Though neither Skyrim nor Oblivion stack up to some of the more sizable RPG maps, they both still manage to feel epic in both scale and scope. Games in this series tend to focus more on story and atmosphere than sheer world size, and, in doing so, manage to feel much larger than some games several times their size.

17 Kingdoms Of Amalur: Re-Reckoning - 16 sq mi

Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

2012’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was an interesting gem which was somewhat overshadowed by all of the other terrific high fantasy role-playing games we had been treated to during that time. We were only a year removed from Skyrim, of course, and some of us weren’t quite ready to move on.

That said, Kingdoms of Amalur is definitely worth a replay, and you can do just that with the gorgeous Re-Reckoning remaster. With a total of 16 square miles of explorable play space, this title is totally stuffed with content.

16 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 20.8 sq mi

Geralt riding Roach and exploring the open world in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt

Equating digital terrain to real-world metrics isn’t an exact science, and some disagree on the total size of the world present in The Witcher 3. Most speculate that, including the game’s two sizable expansions, Wild Hunt offers slightly over 20 square miles to explore.

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The Witcher 3 can easily take upwards of 100 hours on a stop-and-smell-the-roses first playthrough, and that is due in no small part to the expansive play space.

15 Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - 20.8 sq mi

Sacred 2 Screenshot showing town and residents

Launched back in 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is, though still a pretty solid game, definitely starting to show its age. That shouldn’t inhibit anyone’s enjoyment of the game — particularly if low-res 720p textures are your preferred aesthetic — and any RPG aficionado familiar with the later Ultima games may well feel at home with this title.

Completely loaded with content and explorable environments, it takes ages to reach the credit crawl, and that’s only if you refuse to bog yourself down with side quests. With 22 square miles of high fantasy thrills to uncover, you can hardly go wrong with Sacred 2.

14 Guild Wars 2 - 36 sq mi

Guild Wars 2 - Drizzlewood Coast loading screen

Guild Wars 2 is an MMORPG triumph made particularly memorable for its humor and its use of a live event system, by which players could tackle giant bosses as a patchwork community.

While many lesser MMOs are subject to declining player bases, Guild Wars 2 has stayed relatively strong, and a constant stream of new updates and innovations keep enough people coming back to ensure a modestly-sized community will remain for the foreseeable future. It offers a massive set of areas and a ton of content for players both new and old to explore.

13 Dragon Age: Inquisition - 45 sq mi

Dragon Age Inquisition GeForce Now horses

BioWare’s long-heralded Dragon Age series has mostly afforded near-uncountable hours of enjoyment to those of you fascinated by high fantasy RPGs. Dragon Age: Inquisition is seriously large — most players report viewing the credits after lengthy 90 hour campaigns, and a more laid-back playthrough could easily take some of you well past the hundred hour mark.

Needless to say, the world on offer in Inquisition is nothing short of jaw-droppingly large. With multiple biomes and seemingly-endless torrents of content to work through, BioWare has made their already massive map feel even larger.

12 Final Fantasy 11 - 70 sq mi

Final Fantasy 11

Debuting in the United States all the way back in May 2002, Final Fantasy 11 was about as massive as MMORPGs could possibly have been at the time. Nearly ridiculous in terms of scope and digital scale, FF11 was also ambitious for congealing the entire world into one single set of international servers while relying on a ubiquitous, rudimentary translation system to help foreign players to communicate with one another.

With a whopping 70 square miles of playable space, this turn-of-the-century Final Fantasy experience was, at the time, totally unparalleled. Even though Square have long moved on to Final Fantasy 14, dedicated fan servers have helped to keep this odd duck alive well past its expiration date.

11 World Of Warcraft - 80 sq mi

Eighty square miles might not sound like much in association with one of the most recognizable names in all of video games, but Blizzard’s mega-popular MMORPG World of Warcraft packs an incredible amount of content in a comparatively small space.

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With constant developer support, a slew of updates, and an ever expanding parade of peripheral content and expansion packs, the land of Azeroth seems to be just as populated as the day it first went online. Warcraft is notorious for sucking players in, and even veteran players often won’t claim to have seen everything there is to see in the game.

10 Assassin's Creed Odyssey - 98 sq mi

Following on from its predecessor, Origins, the second Assassin's Creed title to veer into RPG territory, put a swathe of Ancient Greece to our fingertips — almost a hundred square miles, to be precise. Assassin's Creed Odyssey was beautifully realised, too, from lush forests to sparkling blue seas.

The journey of Kassandra (or Alexios) wasn't just one that looked pretty, either. It ramped up the tension, putting you in the midst of the Peloponnesian War — as the descendants of Leonidas I of Sparta — and facing a long road back from exile. There's a whole bunch of mythological creatures to fight, too.

9 Xenoblade Chronicles X - 154 sq mi

Characters running toward monster in xenoblade chronicles x

154 square miles is relatively beefy for any JRPG, but the expansive world of Xenoblade Chronicles X is made all the more impressive by the fact that it was originally developed to fit on the extremely-underpowered Nintendo Wii U.

While massive landscapes and surreal expanses may have been totally possible on more graphically capable hardware, cramming such a large area onto the Wii U's comparative restrictive parameters must have taken a great amount of talent and is still a relatively impressive feat today.

8 Black Desert Online - 154 sq mi

black desert online players standing and looking out over castle

A huge MMORPG coming out of Korea, Black Desert Online promised so much when it was first shown off. Character models looked astounding, and there was a lot of buzz around its extensive character creation.

Despite failing to really capture Western audiences, it found a dedicated following. Its complex action-oriented combat required a little more than button mashing, and its huge open world is a joy to simply get lost in.

7 Star Wars Galaxies - 200 sq mi

A Real-Time Battle Going On In Star Wars Galaxies

An ambitious title for 2003, Galaxies was an MMORPG which allowed players to define their own roles and choose their own paths in the world of Star Wars.

It was — and, to some extent, still is — rare to be given such an uninhibited look into the world George Lucas helped to create, and it was an amazing experience. With 200 square miles to explore across a handful of planets, it’s a real shame that support for this title was axed all the way back in 2011.

6 EverQuest - 294 sq mi

EverQuest, an ambitious MMORPG launched in ye olden times of 1999, was almost larger than life itself when it first launched. The fact that a dedicated community still exists surrounding these games should stand as a test to their quality.

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Though a pretty generic fantasy experience padded with repetitive actions and boxy, dated visuals, EverQuest was once a cutting-edge title. Those who do delve into this aging one-time great will be treated to a nearly-overwhelming 294 square miles of playable space.

5 Asheron’s Call - 500 sq mi

Asheron's Call, Looking At The Road Ahead

Another MMORPG initially launched in 1999, Asheron’s Call is perhaps most famous today for a 2017 YouTube video showcasing someone’s grandfather playing the game with characters he created when the game first went live.

If someone is willing to maintain an in-game character’s existence for that long, it ought to be indicative of the quality of Asheron’s Call’s online experience. Though the servers finally shut down in early 2017 after nearly 17 years of service, hardcore fans aren’t likely to forget the time they spent scouring the game’s incredible 500 square mile map.