10 Games With Open-Worlds That Feel Like Real Places You Could Actually Live In

Given the genre’s name, it’s not surprising that open-world games often live or die by their worlds. As technologies become more advanced, devs can deliver increasingly convincing environments, as well as offer more activities within them than ever before. Many fans are specifically attracted to immersive and believable settings, allowing them to experience past historical eras or simply get transported to new realms, not necessarily grounded in or inspired by reality.
As a result, many players never even finish main stories in the open-world genre, simply staying in their worlds to try various activities, go exploring, or even role-play as one of their inhabitants. Let’s take a look at some of the most impressive open-worlds to date that feel like real, lived-in places thanks to their combination of detailed visuals, realistic scale, believable NPCs, reactivity to the player’s actions, and their overall atmosphere.
An indisputable choice for any medieval fan, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is all about authenticity. Set in 1403 Bohemia, a colorful and picturesque historical backdrop that is completely grounded, so players won’t find any fictional elements like fantasy gear, creatures, or mythical abilities, and they can only get stronger through realistic gear and learning about this world and its rules.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 also goes to admirable lengths with its activities. They never happen automatically or by the press of a single button, instead requiring the players to take every small action themselves as part of a complex process. Coupled with a believable routine and NPC behavior, it’s easy to get fully immersed into protagonist Henry’s daily life.
A cornerstone of the most believable and immersive games, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands in a separate league with its world and NPC reactivity. Everything in the game aims to deliver the most convincing portrayal of the Wild West possible, as Rockstar poured unbelievable effort into every minute detail. From the most realistic horses in gaming to simulated wildlife that functions by real-world rules, as well as authentic guns, clothing, body physics, and more, RDR 2’s open-world feels as real as it gets in video games.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement of Red Dead Redemption 2, one that hasn't been replicated since, is its unique NPCs with complete daily schedules that may react to the player’s presence with fully organic and natural dialogue. Every human being in the game feels alive, belonging to this world, so players may never wish to resort to unnecessary violence, almost like they would in the real world.
Even though both games share a medieval-style appeal, in many respects, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the exact opposite of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. However, despite plenty of fantasy elements, magic, and monsters, the world of The Witcher 3 isn’t inferior to KCD 2, achieving comparable levels of believability and the feel of a real place even without historical authenticity.
It’s especially apparent when visiting The Witcher 3’s bustling cities, like Novigrad, which is still regarded as one of the best video game cities of all time. Even with relatively little reactivity within the city proper and its people, whose schedules aren’t as simulated as RDR 2, The Witcher 3 masterfully creates the illusion of a living, breathing world, especially if players aren’t determined to look too closely.
It’s been way too long for the players who keep playing Grand Theft Auto 5 while awaiting GTA 6, which is hopefully coming this year. Despite GTA 5’s age, the game remains wildly popular, mostly through its role-play-focused online servers, where players can become literally anyone. Thanks to constant updates and improvements from the devs, over the years, the world of GTA 5 has become like a second life for millions of people.
Even if GTA 5 lacks the same authentic levels of immersion and attention to detail poured into RDR 2, leaning more towards a less serious, arcade-style portrayal of a modern city, it remains among the most interactive and lived-in virtual cities in gaming, leagues above the competition.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl cleverly balances its sci-fi fictional elements with the realistic backdrop of the Chornobyl Zone, creating a post-apocalyptic world of rare authenticity where almost every location and building is a recreation of real-world places left abandoned after the nuclear disaster. In the game’s world, over time, the Zone has become its own ecosystem, where Stalkers and bandits of all sorts live day by day with the elusive goal of starting a new life and breaking away from its horrors.
STALKER 2 has all but perfected the look and feel of the Zone, portraying it as a vast, seamless world with distinct rules, anomalies, and mutants. It’s a true paradise for the soldiers of fortune, many of whom become so fond of the Zone they never really want to leave — and the same is true for the game’s countless fans.
Cyberpunk 2077 may not fully live up to its lofty promise of delivering the futuristic megapolis that truly feels alive, falling short of expectations set by GTA 5 and RDR 2. Yet after all the updates and fixes released since its launch, Night City rightfully takes its place as a virtual destination unlike any other. It may be the worst place to live in the America of 2077, yet many still come here in search of an elusive greatness.
Neon-soaked, distinctively portrayed in convincing details and intricate architecture, and populated with diverse people of various stages of augmentation, few players will ever forget their first tour across the city streets. It takes courage and plenty of luck to live to see another day in Cyberpunk 2077, but there are just too few open-world games that feature such immense passion and creativity.
For almost 15 years now, Skyrim has remained a beloved open-world destination that captures its distinct Nordic setting perfectly. Many games that followed tried to crack Skyrim’s secret recipe, but few managed to deliver a world that feels as alive as this one, with its grand cities, small settlements, dynamic world events, and wandering NPCs that react to everything players do.
Skyrim has all but perfected Bethesda’s own open-world RPG formula, to such an extent that it’s not even clear where to go next. Thanks to a robust modding community, Skyrim is here to stay, as players keep returning to the game to experience it anew and lose themselves again in the intoxicating freedom of being and doing anything they want.
Days Gone is a rare post-apocalyptic open-world game that feels surprisingly lived-in and authentic, even with its desolate wastelands flooded with walking dead and just a handful of remaining survivors scattered across Oregon’s rare settlements. In many ways, NPCs and their realistic behavior are why this world feels as convincing as it does, making players believe they're a vital part of every community they visit, someone capable of truly making an impact on this world.
However, it doesn’t mean that the protagonist, Deacon, is a hero determined to help everyone in his path. Days Gone is much more personal than epic, and Deacon couldn’t care less about other survivors, which definitely goes both ways. With its harsh atmosphere and unforgiving odds at every step, Days Gone’s world may not be anyone’s choice to actually live in, but it’s undeniably convincing and appealing in its own right.
It can be tough to pick one world among all the Assassin’s Creed games, each with its distinct and authentic setting, blending historical places, people, and events with an overarching fictional plot full of ancient civilizations, artifacts, and centuries-long rivalries. However, few fans of the series would argue that Assassin’s Creed Origins boasts one of the most convincing and charming open worlds in the franchise, bringing Ancient Egypt to life in all its stunning glory.
It’s apparent how much passion and attention to detail went into AC Origins, with its numerous, vast, and detailed cities brimming with people, mysterious Great Pyramids, and blazing hot deserts. While exploring the game’s regions, it’s easy to feel that this is exactly how things once looked, admiring every new location or vista and watching as the sun goes down behind the horizon.
Arguably the best in the hacker-focused series in gaming, Watch Dogs 2’s fictionalized San Francisco Bay Area is truly charming, and one of the most authentic and detail-packed settings among Ubisoft’s open-world titles. Players just have to slow down and keep their hand on the city’s pulse to appreciate its small stories of daily people’s lives unfolding in front of their eyes, as Watch Dogs 2 is as packed and dense with such small episodes as Cyberpunk 2077.
With Watch Dogs 2’s overall lighthearted mood and atmosphere, it’s also a perfect game to take a breather between action- and stealth-focused missions and just stroll the city streets on foot or by car, watching how people casually spend their days around this rendition of San Francisco that genuinely feels lived-in.