Open-world gamesbuild engaging landscapes with colorful characters and scenic locales. Players can jump in and out of these worlds, whether to continue the main story or just to mess around and get into whatever trouble comes their way. That’s the beauty of open-world games, they offer amazing environments for players to experience while still allowing freedom.
While every open-world brings something unique to the gaming adventure, some of them can be marred by a slow start, oftentimes to build up the story and characters. A rough start to a game can be a major deterrent for any player, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the game isn’t a fantastic journey.
Updated July 25, 2025, by Mark Sammut:Open-world games can be notoriously slow. After all, these packages usually come with so much to see and do, that it can feel like hours pass before anything of significance happens. Titles like Elden Ring and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild fall within this category, but the freedom they provide means that the experience rarely feels dull, at least if they sink their hooks into a player. However, the same cannot be said for everygreat open-world gameout there. Some just require time to get good.
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The firstMafiagame has a lot going for it, even after all these years. Main character Tommyisn’t a mafia don at the beginning; rather, he is just a simple broke taxi driver trying to make ends meet.
While it would be outrageous for him to start the game with guns blazing, the first handful of missions are pretty routine for most open-world games. The recent Definitive Edition of the game at least patches up some of these slower parts.
As a prequel to otherYakuzagames,0is forced into the early storytelling corner that most prequel games are. Backgrounds, motives, and settings need to be established, even at the expense of gameplay sometimes.
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With that said,Yakuza 0doesn’t linger too long in the rough slog of early game grinding. The cut scenes are just rather lengthy, and take up a decent portion of the game’s first couple of hours. Once players have some free range, they can find endless activities to get into around Kamurocho.
Days Gonegot a middling reception upon its release; while hardly considered terrible, it garnered criticism for feeling like just another open-world zombie game. Basically, the game did not seem special, and the fact it launched with quite a few technical issues certainly didn’t help.
Another aspect that might have hinderedDays Gone’s appeal is its incredibly slow start. Not only does the story take a while to pick up momentum, but the gameplay feels too restrictive in the opening 5-10 hours. Things do improve considerably as the campaign goes along, becoming genuinely great once Deacon and company move to Lost Lake. The gunplay also becomes more satisfying as weapon upgrades are unlocked.
A game that players seem to either love or hate,Deadly Premonitionis one of the more unusual open-world games to come from the past decade. Theeccentric supernatural survival horroropen-world hybrid formula is bizarre, but fans are still drawn to its weirdo story and dialogue.
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The game takes a bit of time to get into, thanks to clunky controls and some odd pacing. However, once players can put its faults behind them,Deadly Premonitionis actually a pretty fun game.
The opening sequence ofSkyrimhas become something of a meme in recent years, but to many fans of the series, it is a nuisance as well. The opening mission is a laborious ordeal for players who are well acquainted with sword combat and basic maneuvers, but the game still makes it a point to hammer these things in.
The subsequent missions aren’t all that wild either: go here and find this item and bring it back, maybe kill a few monsters along the way. The game really starts to pick up once the first dragon is defeated andplayers can start leveling up fast.
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While not as well-known or highly received as its sequels,The Witcherstill makes full use of the open-world quest system and intricate combat mechanics thefranchise is so beloved for. The story of Geralt begins here, with all the crazy side plots and romances that come with it.
As amazing asThe Witcherseries is, it did have a rough initial landing due to strange fighting controls and the confusing open-world layout of the game, but that’s not to say the amazing story more than makes up for it.
The game that brought theFalloutfranchise into a new era.Fallout 3is still as powerful an open-world game as it was when it came out in 2008. The amazingly detailed map is a breathtaking spectacle to behold from the moment players first step out of their vault.
To get to that point requires some pretty mindless tutorial pandering that is as rough as it is mind-numbing, but once players get past the first few hours,Fallout 3starts to look and feel alive.
One of the more unique open-world games to be developed in recent years,Death Strandingis an exploration into the intense journey an open-world gamer experiences. Fraught with dangers and lonely roads,Death Strandingis not a game for everyone, and that’s okay. Players who can get over the hump of the rough first few hours will likely find themselves further entranced by Hideo Kojima’s strange open-world.
Arguably one of the most realistic open-world games to ever be developed,L.A. Noireis a knockout game filled with wild car chases and shootouts around 1940s L.A. The open-world map takes some getting used to as fans of similarRockstar Gamestitles may get confused by the intricate layout of the city and its streets.
There are no choppers for flying across the city, and driving through crowds is very frowned upon. The tutorial is a bit rough around the edges and feels skippable, but after the first few hours the game is addicting and its story gripping.
One of the most gorgeous looking games to ever grace the screens of gamers,Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painchanged the series forever with its bombastic release. The arid desert where Snake sets up shop is a thrilling open-world location to explore and a great change of pace for theMetal Gear Solidfranchise.
As with manyMetal Gear Solidgames, the opening hours are rough and filled with exposition, but the game more than makes up for a slow start with the later missions.
