Open-world games are often meant to bring players hours upon hours of fun. They give their audience a sense of breadth and exploration in ways more linear games tend to lack. Over the years, the Nintendo Switch has become the home of many open-world games worthy of players’ time.
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These titles are often filled with activities, sprawling stories, and oodles of side content. All of this typically leads to a rather considerable amount of playtime when it’s all said and done. The ability to swap between docked and handheld is a strength of the Switch, and the option to take these games everywhere makes them even more appealing. A lengthy game feels much more approachable when you can tackle it wherever you wish. So, if you’re looking for a great open-world game, look no further than these incredible titles for the Nintendo Switch.
10Spiritfarer
A World Of Fun And Farewells
An admittedly quirky pick for this list (and I promise this is the only one),Spiritfarercaptures the feeling of openness and freedom. The ability to sail around the setting and follow any of your interests makes an indie game that should feel small actually feel quite large. Whether you’re sailing through a storm or enjoying some fishing, there’s always something to do and something to chase within the world itself. While you’re always provided with a goal and sense of direction, you’re also free to pursue any of your interests in the order you choose.
Spiritfarer’s story is also one you likely won’t soon forget. Players take control of a boat that becomes an ever-evolving home for anthropomorphic spirits who are waiting to move on.
Spiritfarer is a game about navigating the soul as much as it is about navigating the world.
As the player completes the requests and recounts the memories of the passengers, the spirits find peace within both themselves and the world. When they’re ready, the player guides them to the Evergate where they say their final farewell. The boat is filled with life and activity as you make a home for everyone aboard, but it becomes a bit of an empty nest as the spirits inevitably move on.
Spiritfarer is a game about navigating the soul as much as it is about navigating the world. Exploring the seas, and the memories of your passengers, makes for a cathartic experience of love and loss. While the stories therein range between joy and despair, there’s always a sense of peace in both the game’s atmospheric exploration and the tale of each character.
Spiritfarer
9Xenoblade Chronicles 3
An Unforgettable Journey That Takes Some Time To Get Off The Ground
If you’re looking for flashy combat and fun characters, look no further thanXenoblade Chronicles 3. This is an open-world game with a long playtime, anelaborate RPG story, and a ton of side quests to keep you busy while exploring its enormous world. The world of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a colorful one with a lot of personality, but it’s the characters that really steal the show. You’ll likely come to love these companions during your considerable time with the game.
Xenoblade is known for its weird and wild locations, like running around the branches of an enormous tree or along the inside of an old massive sword. These unique locations keep the world from ever feeling stale or stagnant.
The combat within Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is as thrilling as its open world.
While the world itself is quite large, you’ll never run out of things to do. Whether you’re out for exploration or on a quest, there are plenty of interesting sights and secrets to get distracted by.
The combat within Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is as thrilling as its open world. You’re able to swap out classes with your companions and gain benefits for mastering them all. This helps to break up the potential monotony of combat that could develop over 100+ hours of play. It also allows you to develop a combat style that is perfectly your own, though it may mean a lot of learning on the part of the player. However, your effort should be paid off with hours upon hours of entertainment. While this may be one of the longest entries on this list, it’s also one of the best open-world experiences you can have on the Nintendo Switch.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
8Pokemon Legends: Arceus
A Fresh Adventure In The Pokemon World
As you travel around the world ofPokémon Legends: Arceus, you’ll find Pokémon roaming around out in the open. While this was introduced inPokemon Sword and Shield, Arceus brings much more of an action angle to the experience. They can attackyouinstead of just attacking your Pokémon.
The Pokémon in Arceus have their own personalities and habitats, and they will react to your presence in different ways. While some may attempt to flee, others will attack you on sight, forcing you to dodge out of the way of their attacks.
You’re invited to really live within the world instead in a way the series has yet to do elsewhere.
It’s a fantastic change to the series and one that forces players to reapproach tried and true systems that have become second nature over the years. You may hide in tall grass to get close to a timid Pokémon or lead with a direct attack toward a more aggressive Pokémon.
The ability to traverse an open-world with your own Pokémon while encountering other Pokémon all over the place is a breath of fresh air for the series. It invites you to put yourself in the fun and wild world of Pokémon. You’re invited to really live within the world in a way the series has yet to do elsewhere. Pokémon Legends: Arceus stands as one of the best Pokémon experiences and one of the best open-world experiences you’re able to have on the Switch.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
7Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
A Fantasy Classic With Excellent Combat
WhileDragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisenis one of the older games on this list, it has earned its place with incredible combat and an interesting open-world setting. When you first start exploring, the world will feel quite large. While you are encouraged to explore, you’ll need to pay careful attention to the world around you. If you stumble into an area with high-level enemies, be prepared to run for your life — and plan to come back for revenge later.
This game really shines in the combat department. As a hack-and-slash RPG with many different vocations to choose from, you can build whatever kind of character you like. You’ll also start with a completely customizable companion known as a pawn. You can create this pawn to complement your personal playstyle.
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As you progress, you will be able to recruit two more pawns. You’ll likely be able to choose from other pawns players have created, which adds an interesting feel to the game. While it is a single player experience, the ability to share pawns makes for a unique asynchronous community.
The lighting in the game also shines, as it has one of the scariest instances of darkness both in dungeons and at night. Lanterns and other sources of light are practically a necessity, but you’ll always have limited visibility. Some enemies will intentionally lurk within the shadows, just waiting for you to let your guard down. This aged ARPG may not be the shiniest game on the Switch, but it is still one of the best open-world fantasy games you’re able to play right now.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
6No Man’s Sky
The Most Expansive Game…Ever
When you start off on a hazardous planet and arescrounging for resources to survive, it’s easy to feel like the world is closing in around you. However, inNo Man’s Sky, it won’t be long before you’ve repaired your ship and are heading off into the stars. This is the ultimate space game, and one of the best science fiction titles you could ever hope to experience. If you like open-world games, prepare to have your mind absolutely bent.
No Man’s Sky doesn’t just offer an open-world, it offers hundreds of open-worlds filled with strange creatures, aliens, robots, wildlife, and all manner of secrets to explore and uncover. As you speak with other life forms and interact with their culture, you’ll gradually learn their language.
As you travel from planet to planet and station to station, you’ll find all kinds of ships to add to your growing collection.
As you explore more planets, you’ll discover more materials that allow you to utilize new technology. When you’re not flying around in space, you can build a sprawling base and make it your home. Different planets will present different challenges, but there are rewards for settling on all manner of planets. You can even build bases underwater if you wish.
As you travel from planet to planet and station to station, you’ll find all kinds of ships to add to your growing collection. These ships each boast unique traits to aid in your exploration of the universe. How, when, and why you explore the universe is completely up to you. While this is a solitary experience on the Nintendo Switch (as it lacks the online components of other platforms), it’s still one of the best open-world games around.
No Man’s Sky
5The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
A Genre-Defining Fantasy Setting Still Worth Getting Lost In
When it comes to open-world games, it’s hard to go wrong withThe Elder Scrolls V: Skryim. Its legacy speaks for itself, and it has been released on more platforms than I probably even know of. The fact that you can experience it on your television or in your hands with the Switch is an absolute delight.
This is a game that encourages you to go wandering. It’s easy to lose sight of the main quest when you stalk through the woods or delve into one of the game’s many dungeons. There are plenty of sights (and dragons) to see as you search around. The ability to go anywhere and do anything is part of the game’s charm and one of its greatest assets. Skyrim doesn’t just tell a story; it gives players a story to tell.
How you go about exploring the world and what you encounter will likely be unique to you. These are your adventures, and like a good game of Dungeons & Dragons, random events and chance encounters lend themselves to excited retellings.
In addition to exploring the wide wild world of Skyrim, the game also gives you the opportunity to put down roots with the option to own a home and even romance certain characters within the game. Skyrim doesn’t just want you to play its story (though you can certainly do that) — it asks you to be a part of its world. Quite frankly, it’s one of the best worlds to get lost in.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
A Wild Ride Through The Old West
If you love the idea of riding around the old west as a cowboy, then you’ll adore your time withRed Dead Redemption. John Marston is tasked with hunting down members of his old gang as he explores the open range of the west. This is a world filled with dusty towns and even dustier citizens waiting to ask you for help or give you a hard time.
Red Dead Redemption features an open world that distinguishes itself from so many others because of its Western setting. This is a grounded experience rather than something rooted within science fiction or fantasy. Many times the game comes down to you, your horse, and your guns.
Whether you’re wielding a revolver or a rifle, the gun fights are always thrilling.
The combat within Red Dead Redemption is also an achievement that stands among the best games to this day. Whether you’re wielding a revolver or a rifle, the gun fights are always thrilling. The Dead Eye mechanic (which allows you to slow time and mark your shots) also replicates the feeling of a shootout perfectly. If you tire of the classic Western story, you can also jump into Undead Nightmare, an expansion that takes all those same concepts and lets them playout during a zombie apocalypse. Few games, if any, have fully realized the feeling of being a cowboy in the Old West, and it’s one of the best open-world experiences you can have on the Nintendo Switch.
Red Dead Redemption
3The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Richest Side Stories Across A Wide-Open World
If you love games with top tier storytelling and compelling narratives, look no further thanThe Witcher 3. Players roam the world as Geralt, a Witcher whose sole purpose is to hunt monsters for bounties. However, the world is rarely such a simple place, as the monstrous presents itself in humanity as much as the supernatural. The Witcher 3’s appearance on the Switch was a surprising, but welcome, addition to the Switch’s considerable library of open-world games.
The side quests within The Witcher 3 remain unparalleled to this day. Every story feels just as compelling as the main quest, meaning you’ll almost always feel pulled in several directions at once.
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When you’re not embroiled within quests, you’ll find a wide world to explore filled with unique creatures, exciting activities, and hidden secrets waiting to be discovered. If you’re tired of traveling, settle in and play a few hands of The Witcher’s addicting card game, Gwent.
Aside from stellar writing, The Witcher 3 distinguishes itself by creating a world that truly feels alive. Villages, even small ones, feel as if they’re filled with unique people, stories, and things to do. This is also a game where your choices have narrative consequences, and these choices rarely come down to simple right and wrong. If you’re looking for a fantasy setting that walks on the darker side of magic and morality, then pick up The Witcher 3 and enjoy hours upon hours within this rich world.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
A Revolution For The Genre
It’s pretty rare to find a game that acts as a lightning rod for the gaming industry. However,The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilddid just that. Upon its release, everyone marveled at the incredible experience Nintendo had created for its fans. This new iteration ofZelda gamesbrought exploration to the forefront in a way that few games had achieved before.
The ability to climb anything and glide anywhere feels absolutely freeing. The world design encourages players to follow every little interesting detail and get lost in the world itself. Its open approach to world design also means that players aren’t punished for wandering the world at large.
Breath of the Wild captures the very essence of fun within a classic Zelda tale.
While many games have borrowed elements from Breath of the Wild, none have really recaptured the experience of gliding around Hyrule to the beat of your own drum.
The Shrines that pepper the world beg to be explored and solved. Koroks are hidden all over and offer a fun treat to anyone who seeks them out. Breath of the Wild captures the very essence of fun within a classic Zelda tale. It’s high fantasy at its best, and even today, it stands as one of the best open-world games on the Switch — or any other platform.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
1The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
The Perfect Successor
Coming hot off the heels of Breath of the Wild isTears of the Kingdom. A lot of thought went into whether or not both Zelda games should top this list, but there’s just no denying that they’re the best open-world games on the Switch.
In addition to containing a very different story (and a more present narrative) from Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom distinguishes its own identity through unique crafting, traversal, and the evolution to map itself. This isn’t the same Hyrule we left behind years ago.
The ways in which Tears of the Kingdom expands, innovates, and iterates on Breath of the Wild make it the best open-world game on the Switch.
The addition of Sky Islands and the underground Depths increase the map size significantly, adding so much to the world that it’s almost overwhelming at first glance.
Tears of the Kingdom encourages creativity and exploration above all else. Players are given all of the pieces to put together strange vehicles and contraptions to help them navigate this wide world. Even the Koroks will challenge your ability to think outside the box when they ask you to help them move from place to place. If you delve into the Depths, you’ll be greeted with a map the same size as Hyrule, but you’ll be exploring in the dark. Players have the ability to light their way through a few different means, but rest assured that the challenges of navigating the Depths is extremely different from being topside — and that’s not even touching on the more disparate but equally awe-inspiring Sky Islands far above the surface. The ways in which Tears of the Kingdom expands, innovates, and iterates on Breath of the Wild make it the best open-world game on the Switch.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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