Let’s face it. Earth kinda sucks. We’ve got bills.
— I strongly advise you to pay what you owe. —
Traffic, rent, mortgages, school, the DMV. World hunger, war, et cetera. And meanwhile, video game worlds are out here letting you ride giant birds, ignore gravity, and fast travel rather than get stuck behind that Kia going 45 in a 70 mile per hour highway. So, we thought we’d talk about that.
Hi, folks. It’s Zaid. And today on “Aura Riot”, 10 game worlds that are better than Earth.
10. Ghost of Yotei
Throwing the most recent thing out there at the top ’cause have you seen this game? It’s fricking incredible. “Ghost of Tsushima” was and still is a great looking game. Was an incredible art direction. But the sequel is pretty much better looking in every possible way. That first moment where you enter the open, it’s just, it’s fricking jaw dropping. It’s like, this is the game. It’s kinda unbelievable at first how stunning it actually is. It takes the art design and ideas of the original and just makes it insane. Everything looks like an idealized version of that thing and pushes that idea as far as it can possibly go.
It’s the real world, but much better. Where the first game sometimes occasionally looked like a last gen game, getting by on immaculate art direction, this one is definitely next gen. It’s pitch perfect with the art direction on top of that. This is a world you want to be in. It’s a place that’s fun to explore. It feels huge, even though it’s actually pretty small compared to a lot of other open world games.
Unlike the first game, it’s also a little less chaotic. There are bandits and guys who will try to stab you to death with a sword all over the place, but it’s not a war zone. You’re not constantly avoiding enemy patrols and riding past villages that just got slaughtered. It’s a little more chill at first, and that gives you a little more casual, fun stuff to do here. It’s just a really good looking world that is a joy to hang out in. Yes, there’s random violent stab fests from time to time, but unlike the boring real world, you’re kept busy.
9. Xenoblade Chronicles X
The planet of Mira is actually kinda terrible. It’s an alien world full of hostile life. You’ve only got the one colony ship that managed to survive. So, basically the entire human race is dead. And also, there’s an entire Covenant style alien army hell bent on destroying the rest of humanity. The scenario’s a bit grim.
So, why is this world so much fun to explore? Ignore all the doom and gloom implied by the plot, which is weirdly thin and doesn’t really come up that often. You’ve got one of the most awe-inspiring worlds ever created for a video game. It’s only got like five biomes. It’s closer to being a slightly large island rather than this massive planet it’s supposed to be. But that doesn’t really matter.
All that really matters is that the world is so weird and interesting to explore. And unlike every other entry in the, I believe “Xenoblade” series, if I remember right, I think it’s the only seamless one. A full open world where everything’s just so vast and imposing with naturalistic planes bumping up against these massive earth-driven pillars and bizarre alien ecologies, strange ruins, impossibly shaped mountains that dominate the sky.
And while most games of this type, all this stuff will just be vaguely cool background details, in this game, you could fully explore all of it. Usually there’s nothing all that interesting here, but the fact that you can actually get on a mech and fly wherever at a certain point is a huge point in this game’s favor. It is flawed as an RPG anyways, but the design of it is second to none.
They even managed to make the LA-inspired colony feel like cozy and spark the imagination despite the questionable choice of background music. Most of the open world music in the game is fantastic, but the choice of song for the Hub City is interesting. I’ll give it that.
8. The Crew 2
It’s the continental United States, but tiny and turned into an amusement park. Just for comparison’s sake, “Crew 2’s” map is around 1,900 square miles, which is really big for an open world game. Takes over an hour to drive from one coast to the other. But compared to the United States, it’s actually really small. It takes multiple days to drive from one coast to the other in the real world.
Like, the amount of square miles is absolutely insane. There’s over 3 million square miles in the main 48 states. The continent is huge. And if you’ve ever been stuck in a long car ride anywhere, you know how miserable it can be. Like, does Texas really need to be that big? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if the United States was like half the size? And also we had ramps everywhere, so we could do six stunt jumps with our cars? You know, like everyone obviously wants to.
I guess I, it would kinda suck to be the average person in this world with all its nonstop winding hatchback roads and insane city layouts that are designed for racing more than ease of access. But come on, you’re living in the world of “The Crew 2.” It’s somehow transformed the entire United States into a race festival that, I mean, you have no speed limits to worry about and property damage doesn’t exist. The world of “The Crew” is one where you can pretty much do anything you want as long as you never get out of your car. Now, for a lot of Americans, that is living the dream.
7. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Well, later AC games definitely surpassed it in graphical power. Like, the more recent “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” is a real visual powerhouse. “Odyssey” is an open world game where it feels like you’re perpetually on a Greek vacation. There’s beaches everywhere. Half the game is fricking beaches. And each island feels distinct and interesting. There’s so much variety in each region. Each major Greek city feels like it has its own culture and it’s great.
Sure there’s a war going on, but this game has a generally upbeat tone to it. The whole thing is just one big adventure and you’re just here to have fun. Compared to more grim plots of most games in this series, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to play a game where you’re not just encouraged to screw around, the game basically expects it the way it’s structured.
Like usual with these games, you’re still killing a whole hell of a lot of people. Wouldn’t be “Assassin’s Creed” without the near constant stabbing. But you’re always free and sometimes even encouraged to stop and just take in the awesomely designed world. The vacation vibes in this game are just off the charts. It’s one of the most consistently beautiful games of the entire series from an art design perspective, and it’s just a fun game to spend time in.
6. Gravity Rush 2
It’s a proven fact that floating islands are, they make everything better, right? If a game has a floating island, then it’s gonna be at least 10% better than a game without one. And “Gravity Rush 2” is a game where the entire world is a big floating island. Okay, so the main cities actually attach to a giant, infinitely tall pillar, so it’s not technically floating, but semantics.
The main takeaway here is that the world of this game is bizarre, but it’s also incredible. It sparks some crazy imaginative thoughts. Like, imagine living in a place like this. There’s real coziness to a lot of locations in the game too. It’s full of cafes and little outdoor parks areas and interesting looking buildings. The music gives the whole thing a sort of Ghibli-inspired whimsy to it.
It’s a game where it’s just fun to wander around on foot and see the sites even when you could essentially fly everywhere you want. As much as it would be a cool place to visit, you have to imagine it would also be insane to live in a place like this. The whole place is just a big OSHA violation. For a city, floating in a bottomless void, you’d think there’d be more safety railings around. Yeah, the whole thing is just based on the rule of cool. It’s not really meant to make sense. It does look cool as hell. And that’s kind of what matters here, so yeah.
5. Erenshor
In the real world, old school MMOs are either dead, dying, or to play them, you have to jump through hoops to join some kind of private server or something. In the real world, all of our childhood MMOs or adulthood MMOs if you’re me, I’ve been an adult for well over two decades at this point. The forces of entropy take them. Just the nature of any game that requires a large community to stay sustainable. Eventually people get bored and move on.
“Erenshor” is a fascinating little game that imagines a world where your nostalgic faves never died. In fact, they can’t die. Because this MMO-like game is actually just a single player thing. It’s not gonna blow you away with cutting edge visuals, but that’s not the point. The game is intentionally trying to evoke the look and feel of MMOs like “RuneScape” and “EverQuest” and “Asheron’s Call.” These were games, were primitive looking, but they had this certain mystery to them. Their worlds were vast and dangerous and exploring them felt really rewarding.
“Erenshor” is a game about capturing that old sense of wonder these games used to elicit while emulating the part that eventually leads to their demise.
You see, the players in this game, other than you anyway, are simulated. They’re AI players with routines. They run around the world, sell stuff and chat. They will join up with you when you’re looking for a group. It’s a fascinating idea that works surprisingly well. You can just group up like a real MMO, but without an internet connection. It’s bizarre and ambitious in certain ways, and it actually works.
4. Skyrim
The thing that makes “Skyrim” stand the test of time is Bethesda’s commitment to making a game world just feel alive. Not realistic, like in a “Grand Theft Auto” sense. I’m not sure it feels like a living, breathing place at all times, but it does feel quite authentic. The way Bethesda tackles the open world formula is completely different from pretty much everybody else. Instead of building a world that looks real, but is lacking all the details, “Skyrim”, it’s all about the details.
What games other than Bethesda and Bethesda-inspired games lets you just literally go everywhere? And “Skyrim”, every door can be opened, every person has their own day and night cycle, and a bed to sleep in. Everyone, even the most minor NPCs have a place to go and a job to do. And you get as much of this information through dialogue and quest objectives as you do through context clues and good old fashioned exploration.
— You know what’s wrong with “Skyrim” these days? Everyone is obsessed with death. May your sword stay sharp.
— What are you looking? I’m not afraid of you.
— And your tongue sharper.
— What do you need, my friend?
There’s a reason why there really aren’t many that carry names around in “Skyrim”, you know, compared to open world games in general. It would be too much to keep track of. Sure, if every town had five times as many people, it might feel more realistic, but then they would all be NPCs with no names or purpose. Just bodies that fill up the roads. And so much about “Skyrim” that makes it great, it wouldn’t be there without that.
The world is just so massive and it’s not the most welcoming. It’s mostly a lot of forests and rocky mountains and snow. But it’s a place that’s satisfying to explore even now. It’s also just a cozy game in general. It’s full of places that just seem to be nice places to hang out in. I’m talking about the warm taverns and the sleepy villages with a babbling brook running through ’em. It’s a game that just feels good to be in, and its a world that’s still fascinating and fun. Visually, it’s showing its age at this point, but “Skyrim” is practically timeless.
3. Death Stranding 2
So, this is a world that is actually way worse than Earth in pretty much every possible way. Being outside is a death trap. There’s ghosts and rain that makes you turn old by touching it. It’s a hellish existence. The first game made the world look like an empty and desolate place. There were flashes of beauty every once in a while, but it was mostly bleak.
The sequel, while just as dangerous, has a much more exciting and varied world to explore. There isn’t much in the way of human habitation still, but the natural world they created for this game is one of the all time best. It’s a game that makes you want to go on a nature hike until you remember just how much of a pain it is to actually go outside and touch grass, especially if it’s raining, even though the rain in the real world doesn’t turn you into an old person. It’s easier to do it in the game.
The game’s version of Australia doesn’t have as many creatures trying to kill you as the real one. But its many biomes and unique hazards give each region a very distinct identity. It’s one of those games where you just have to stop and take in the sites every once in a while, especially after you’ve gotten a lot of the infrastructure built up and there’s monorails and highways zigzagging through the world.
The game is just incredible when it’s empty, and somehow looks better when the world starts to become inhabited again. The game manages to be this balancing act between starkly realistic natural beauty, but also strange and a little alien. Everything’s just slightly exaggerated. And of course, the actual size of Australia is much smaller, which makes it a lot easier to get around, of course, even when you’re mostly stuck walking around. Also, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a giant mountain in the middle of Australia, but I also don’t know. I’ve never been there.
2. Just Cause 2
Unlike most of the other games on this list, where the impossible density of biomes is explained away by death magic or weird space stuff. There’s just no reason why “Just Cause 2” has the world’s most diverse island chain that somehow manages to be smaller than the island of O’ahu, but have a desert, a jungle, and a freezing mountain peak, in spitting distance of one another.
“Why is it like this?” you might ask. And I would tell you, “Shut up. The answer does not matter.” It’s like that because it’s cool. And “Just Cause 2” remains one of the best open world games of all time. In the real world, physics is your enemy. You can’t do impossible things like breaking your fall by using a grappling hook on the ground. That’s not a thing that you can do.
The real world is disappointing and “Just Cause 2” just makes sense.
— [Villain] Here he comes.
— [Lackey] Oh man.
Everything that is red explodes and the aforementioned grappling hook thing, it’s great. The world of “Just Cause 2” is one big playground. It’s still one of the most fun worlds out there.
1. Final Fantasy XV
Another game with a lot of problems, but holy shit. Look at this place.
The world design is astoundingly good in this game. It’s got that mid-century roadside feel, evoking the nostalgia of road trip, but also this over the top crazy fantasy shit. But it still somehow manages to feel like a place where people might live. It is one of the most visually distinct “Final Fantasy” games ever. And the design language they employed still stands out as some of the best in the series.
— Got a promotion.
— Congrats.
— [NPC 1] Yeah, I know I should be happy, but the better she does, the smaller I feel.
— [Friend] Hey, Noc, check it out.
— [Noc] What is it?
— [Customer] I look at the menu, but I always get the butter one as long…
The road trip vibes are off the charts too. In the real world, going a long distance trip with your buddies is fraught with peril. But in this game, it’s just good times. You got a master cook whipping out mouthwatering meals every time you stop to camp.
— [Character] Lookout, stomach.
You never even really have to drive. You just get one of your bros to man the wheel while you kick back and listen to some “Final Fantasy” tunes, which I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you. It’s something I do in real life. When it starts raining, I kick out “Blue Fields” and hit the road. I might do a little “DoorDash”, which is not something that they did in “Final Fantasy 15”, but that’s between you and me. I’m also not trying to save the world.
But the parts where you’re just kicking back and cruising around in this weird and also oddly familiar fantasy world, it’s where “Final Fantasy 15” is at its best. When the road trip ends about halfway through the game, that’s also where a lot of the appeal of the game falls apart. But even though it kinda is a bit of a mess, the end, the good times stand out so much, the game is still fondly remembered to this day. And even the bad elements of the game, the weirdness of the latter half, it’s all got a charm to it in the same way the end of the original “Evangelion” series does. That kind of a charm. The charm where they had to do a bunch of things very quickly. You know what I mean.
That’s all for today. Leave us a comment. Let us know what you think. And as always, we thank you very much for reading this blog.