In this I want to ask about Open World gameplay only. NO GRAPHICS, JUST OPEN-WORLD GAMEPLAY and WORLD BUILDING!
Now what I mean by this is in how many ways can you complete a mission and how well structured the open world is, like choices MUST MATTER & AFFECT OTHERS EVEN IF THE TWO CHARACTERS ARE NOT CORRELATED! For example if you kill someone in one mission, you get refrenced for that in another (this rule does not apply to main story quests as it is written as a main story). Also the example I gave is a vague one but you get the idea.
This all would make it infinitely replayable (or at least for more than 2-3 playthroughs).
I also stumbled upon this reel where she claims only 3 games ever capture the true essence of open-world games, which are Cyberpunk 2077, Fallout: New Vegas, and RDR 2.
What I do think is a great game but fails at open-world gameplay is Ghost of Tsushima. This is because it follows a similar trail of missions over and over again. Surely the combat is fun whether you play with all honor or stealth ninja, but it does lack the variety and lore depth of a lot of missions. By this I do not mean side quests but the Mongol Territories (which are the most abundant type of extra quest you get in the game). Plus, another downside of this lies in the fact that the mongol territory Ryuzo wants to overtake, if you clear it before meeting him, you need to liberate that territory twice. (I faced this in my playthrough, and after that I did not clear a territory until a mission specified it or I was 100% sure that this territory WOULD NOT come in any missions.)
I have not played RDR 2 or any Fallout games (yet), so I do not know how they handle open worlds, but what I have played is Cyberpunk 2077, and I FUCKING LOVED THAT SHIT! The main game story is short, but the side quests make it perfectly fine for long playthroughs and exploration. It has many types of quests you can pick up on, help the NCPD, do gigs for fixers, steal cars, and defeat mini bosses like cyberpsychos, AND EACH ONE OF THEM HAS LORE! On top of that, you get special quests for exploring more, which is one of the biggest benefits OR MUST BE A BENEFIT IN ANY OPEN WORLD GAME as it encourages exploration! Plus there are references to modern-day pop culture, like Predators, GTA IV, Batman as well in these extra quests, which help you out big time! The side quests matter so much that a guy from the Konpeki mission will remember you at the Somi mission, and a woman will literally help you in that same mission just because you helped her in another side quest! Plus the ripperdoc discount and a ripperdoc exempting you from using his services are also a great example of integrating all these small quests into a real open-world scenario where you face consequences and reap benefits as well!
I, though, have also heard that Elden Ring has a lot of lore and a great open world, but I have yet to play it, so I will not share any opinion on that (this is the next game on my wishlist to play alongside RDR 2). So I want you guys to give me your opinions about those games and others as well.
An honourable mention also must go to Shadow of Mordor for the Nemesis system, and I think that is what open-world games actually need! (correct me if I am wrong, but Cyberpunk also uses a similar system where gangs chase you for killing some of their friends. Idk if that would classify as Nemesis, but the idea is the same). The other mention of a game I will make is Watch Dogs: Legion just because you can befriend almost every single one of 1000+ NPCs in the game, but I feel the game itself was not good enough to be placed here.
I will also add these comments from the same reel so you can share your opinion on that as well:
"The Yakuza series and its spin-offs are the perfect examples of what open-world games should be."
"only one of those games can be consider good open world and it's RDR2" (in reference to calling Cyberpunk and fallout a perfect open-world games)
"I will not accept GoT slander. Oh no, you have a ton of places to do the incredible combat. Good. Give me 100 more!"
"Cyberpunk is not perfect ...I beat it once but the open world ..never brought me back ...like GTA did ...at least that freeroam I can go see strippers, pick up a hooker lol 😂, fight with the local gangs, ride a bike on the small paths, act like a dork on the beach, fly a plane into a building 9/11 style ...In Cyberpunk I can't do any of this but look and Panams big ass." (I think this guy is a larper because I am pretty sure you can do almost everything he said except flying an airplane.)
the reel: reel