Highlights
- Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon's Dogma offer unique and powerful spells for mage players in open-world settings.
- Elden Ring provides countless spells and play styles for a high-octane combat experience.
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Outward feature intricate magic systems with endless possibilities for player expression.
There is a large variety of open-world games for players to drop into that let them assume special powers, indomitable strength, or a combination of both. Whether it be a medieval fantasy or a science fiction planet, the power provided to the players is essential.
Specifically, when a game involves magic, the player should feel as powerful as the bosses they face off against. Games often mix physical and arcane abilities to keep the combat balanced, but to become true masters of magic, powerful spells, and appropriate abilities to keep magic users safe are needed. Here are some of the best open-world games that let players become an arcane master.
8 Dragon Age: Inquisition
Fresh Takes On Classic Spells
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the most recent installment of the Dragon Age franchise, highly celebrated for its character freedom and engaging story. With Dragon Age: Dreadwolf quickly approaching, it is a great time to dive back into its predecessor and take on the role of a mage with potent magical abilities.
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Dragon Age: Inquisition has solid combat, and thanks to its party system, a well-equipped mage can sling spells safely from a distance. Dragon Age: Inquisition has some of the most unique spells in gaming that break away from the regular fireball and lightning storm spells seen in most games.
7 Dragon's Dogma
Truly Devastating Spells
Dragon's Dogma is an incredible combination of a massive open world and devastating magical abilities the player can use to take on the game's intricate encounters with various beasts. Dragon's Dogma wowed the gaming community with its unique story and innovative combat that has earned it a dedicated following years after its release.
Dragon's Dogma has announced the release date of its sequel, so now is a great time to dive back into the franchise. The game excels in making mage players feel incredibly powerful and making a mage playthrough viable.
6 Elden Ring
Viable Styles Of Play Mixed With Countless Spells
Elden Ring
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
Elden Ring was announced by From Software and quickly became one of the most anticipated games in history, and released to overwhelming praise and worldwide success. As a Soulslike game, Elden Ring is filled with high-octane combat and provides a myriad of options and different play styles for its players.
Baldur's Gate 3: The Unwritten Rules of Playing a Sorcerer Explained
The Sorcerer is one of the trickiest classes to play in Baldur's Gate 3, but also one of the most rewarding with the ability to modify spells.
There are dozens of spells in Elden Ring that are provided from the very beginning and keep growing in power as the player progresses. Players can combine spells, charms, and incantations with long casting times to completely shut down some bosses in the game.
5 Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
Powerful Combinations With Exciting Combat
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an RPG that drops players into a truly chaotic world with plenty of styles of play available to them. The magic system in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning provides a long list of combinations that can turn adventurers into a walking tempest of electricity, fire, earth, or a combination of the three.
Players may call down hail storms and mix them with a meteor shower for maximum damage. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning also has a Definitive Edition available through an upgraded PlayStation Plus subscription.
4 Outward
Intricate System With Endless Possibilities
Outward
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- March 26, 2019
- Developer
- Nine Dots
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Outward slipped under the radar for many gamers, but it has a dedicated player base and provides a large amount of content with both single and multiplayer capabilities. While Outward does not focus on magic entirely, its magic system is incredibly detailed and adds a fresh take that immerses players in true arcane ability.
On top of nearly endless droves of spells, Outward takes magic a step further by allowing as many magic combinations as the player can think of, allowing for almost boundless player expression.
3 Forspoken
Exceptionally Fun and Powerful
Forspoken wowed fans with its beautifully animated and detailed magic as players took control of Frey Holland and became immersed in a beautifully crafted world.
Best Spells In Magicraft
There are a seemingly infinite number of different Spells and combinations in the dungeon crawler that is Magicraft, and here are the best ones.
Forespoken bestowed powerful elemental magic to players, from prisons made of water for restricting enemy movement, to flaming tempests and conjured weapons for cutting threats down in the blink of an eye and turning them to ash.
2 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Endless Amounts Of Potential
The Elder Scrolls franchise is synonymous with magic and is one of the highest-praised game series when it comes to fantasy and open-world games. In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, players take up the role of the Dragonborn and obtain multiple types of magic and special abilities.
Harry Potter: 7 Impossible Actions With Magic
In the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, even magic has its limitations.
Fireballs, summoning weapons, and conjuring beasts are just the tip of the iceberg regarding magic in Skyrim. In addition, there is an extensive modding community behind the game, and new player-generated spells are frequently added.
1 Hogwarts Legacy
Spells From The Wizarding World
Hogwarts Legacy
- Platform(s)
- PC , Switch , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X
- Released
- February 10, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Software
The Harry Potter franchise is home to millions of dedicated fans who have supported the story and its characters since its first film release. Avalanche Games brought the franchise into the gaming community with Hogwarts Legacy, an astoundingly beautiful game that met the high expectations of the fandom.
Hogwarts Legacy allows fans to live out their dream of attending the world's best school for witchcraft and wizardry, and wastes no time in placing powerful magic in the wands of players. Hogwarts Legacy has an extraordinary amount of magic for players to equip, from calling lightning from the sky to throwing enemies around like rag dolls.
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Some of the best PS2 games on the platform were open-world titles. These games are still worth exploring despite their advanced age.
