Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2024 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 open world game of 2024.
Bronze Trophy: Rise of the Ronin
Rise of the Ronin subscribes to the dated Ubisoft open world formula to the individual letter, but what does give it some amount of appeal is the setting. Feudal Japan is still an underutilized period of time, and Team Ninja replicates it to the best of its abilities as it documents the clash between Eastern and Western cultures across its many cities. The actual game and most of its side quests and activities disappoint, but there is some fun and intrigue to be found in just riding your horse into the wilderness to have a good rummage through the countryside.
Read our Rise of the Ronin PS5 review through the link.
Silver Trophy: Star Wars Outlaws
Despite false claims it's the first open world Star Wars game ever made, one of the few properly good things about Star Wars Outlaws is the freedom it gives you. The map uses a fog of war to cover up its landmarks and secrets, meaning you have to actually explore and earn your side quests and item discoveries. It's all seamlessly delivered too, with no load screens breaking up the transition from planet surface to space — with even the latter explorable to a degree. It's a great basis that the actual campaign doesn't really take advantage of, but that does bring its own advantage: Star Wars Outlaws is one of the best games to switch your brain off while playing and listen to a podcast.
Read our Star Wars Outlaws PS5 review through the link.
Gold Trophy: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
We might be cheating a tiny bit here because it is not completely seamless, but the massive, explorable zones of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth deserve recognition for their sheer variety and breadth of content. Even without the side stories that litter its multiple maps, the sort of activities you can get up to in Honolulu, Kamurohco, and Ijincho are pure fun. If you need a distraction from the main plot, the open world will happily play host for double-digit hours. The franchise has always been this way, but Infinite Wealth is its magnum opus (so far). If you want enjoyment just as much as a joke, you need not look any further than the open world antics of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Plus, you can ride a cool segway.
Read our Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth PS5 review through the link.
Platinum Trophy: Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the few open world games released in 2024 that manages to make your adventures feel like a proper adventure. While you may have an idea of where you want to reach as you place your marker on the map, it's the space in between it and your current position that represents the true Dragon's Dogma 2 experience. The game from Capcom is all about discovery and being as dynamic as possible, with random events making the trips along otherwise menial roads the height of the experience. From goblin ambushes to trolls fighting each other, you shall regularly catch glimpses of gripping sights and locations practically begging you to investigate more. From the flesh of monsters to the bricks of castles, Dragon's Dogma 2 represents the best of what open world design can offer.
Read our Dragon's Dogma 2 PS5 review through the link.
Do you agree with our picks for the best PS5 open world game of 2024? Put your thoughts in the comments below and check out more of our Game of the Year coverage through the link.
Comments 28
Infinity Nikki should have made the list
Ummmm, FFVII Rebirth, surely? Or is that only partially open world?
Outlaws over Ronin? Hard disagree. (can't dispute the top spot though!)
The only one I've played is dragons dogma 2 which seems to be getting a lot of love in these awards. Maybe I'll give one of the others a go, but it seems to have been a slow year for open world adventures.
Totally agree with Dragons Dogma 2, I haven't had that much fun exploring a map since Breath of the Wild.
Star Wars Outlaws seems like a good pickup now it's on sale and patched
Infinite Wealth without a doubt. To me DD2 was incredibly overrated.
I’m so happy to see praise being thrown onto Dragon’s Dogma 2, and it is well deserved in my opinion. And the open world for that game is fantastic, with unique encounters, fun cave exploration, and just discoveries around every corner.
I personally find the distinction between "open world" and "open zone" to be pretty trivial. Open zones can even offer a feeling of greater scope, since you can have drastically different ecologies without sudden or unnatural transitions, making the game's universe feel even grander.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth deserves the win here. How is it not a voting option?
I will say that Dragon’s Dogma does exceed in the concept of an open world game though.
DD2, SWOutlaws, RofR, all games with bad technical issues - I know RofR was more or less patched up a while after launch, and DD2 is considerably better, but not perfect on Pro.
Pretty slim /poor offerings in this category this year - though, given what was included, I have no clue why FF7Rebirth wasnt.
@somnambulance @wildcat_kickz @Dimey
Rise of the Ronin was also split across 3 maps so wasn't a single open world (and also had linear area missions).
Edit: added "also" to make clear I was agreeing.
What about expeditions: a mudrunner game? Can we get some love for the pit of death?
Rise Of The Ronin here over FF7 Rebirth is laughable given they’re both zoned off open worlds.
Even the PushSquare editorial team don't sound satisfied with the selections this year. A weak year for videogames and an especially weak one for open world games.
@ThomasHL It‘s not a weak year. Today’s mediocre games are on the level of good games 20, 30 years ago. That said, real great games are as rare as the were back then.
@Kraven I haven’t played DD2 yet, but I heard praise from a journalist I really trust. Maybe I will even become an RPG guy in my old days.
Because Rebirth isn't here I guess I would also give it to DD2. My problem with DD2 though is while it had great exploration, it just wasn't very rewarding... the loot was awful and the enemy variety was pretty bad too.
@Max_the_German As a systems-based game, DD2 is wonderful. Exploration, combat, graphics, and the open world are all great, but the story and characters are laughably bad. If story is what carries you through a game, I'd honestly give it a pass. And this is coming from someone who put over 100 hours into it.
I'd have probably voted FFVIIR, but it hasn't been a banner year for open worlds.
I haven't actually played any of these, which then led me to realise that I haven't played an open world game this year. Would've been unthinkable a few years back, not to mention near-impossible with the sheer amount of them about
DD2 again?
Over rebirth?
Shame on you PS.
Yes DD2 is good but it was also a mess.
@wildcat_kickz Thanks, this helps me. Actually, all I see and hear about this game somehow reminds me of Tears of the Kingdom, with the AI companions, the often huge enemies, the rewarding open world exploration, the not-handholding. And I finished TotK DESPITE the stoey and characters. It was less fun than I hoped for, though…
No Infinity Nikki, no deal!
FF7 Rebirth for the win!
Agree with these picks 100%
Dragon's Dogma 2 for me. One of those rare games I could play for 6+ hours and felt like I only played for one. Time really flew by...Loved the game.
I think Final Fantasy VII should be classed as open world. Once you reach the end game you can traverse the entire map without a load screen. Like others have said Infinity Nikki should be on this list. I found the world a joy to explore.
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