Some RPGs are too big to fit into one world. These adventures span the realms to let players explore two unique settings. Sometimes this is a literal world, sometimes it is something a bit more intangible, like a cyber-world or alternate dimension. This is often used in games to mix things up and help prevent the game world from getting too repetitive.
What exactly constitutes "another world" or "two worlds" can be harder to define than one might initially think. For the purposes of this article, the "two worlds" concept must adhere to the following parameters. The first is that both worlds must play a part in the overall story arc - in some small way at least. The second is that the player must go back and forth between worlds throughout the game, or be able to transverse the two worlds at will.
8 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
It's kind of the hallmark of the Assassin's Creed games to have players switch between two worlds. Players are periodically transported from the past to modern times. These segments seem like an afterthought in a lot of the games in the series. In fact, if these parts were left out of most Assassin's Creed games nobody would have complained.
In Valhalla, the player moves between the Viking Age and the present day. These modern-day segments have been expanded upon in Valhalla to the point where it feels less like a side mission, and more like an integral part of the story than it does in some of the earlier Assassin's Creed games.
7 Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
This is many gamers' favorite Legend of Zelda game, and one of the first games to make adventuring through parallel worlds popular. This adventure goes through two worlds: the Light World and the Dark World. Traveling between the two is done via portals found in the game world.
The Dark World, as the name suggests, is a more dangerous place. Link must first quest for an item that allows him to stay in his true form when entering the Dark World, as without this Link takes the form of a pink bunny. The player will need to travel back and forth between the two worlds to reach the game's villain, Gannon.
6 Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Solstheim, the large island added by the Dragonborn DLC, comes close to qualifying as a second world. The only problem is that the quests in Solstheim and Skyrim are separate. That is to say that the quests on Solstheim don't really play a part in the main story in Skyrim.
However, the same cannot be said of the Blackreach area, Skyrim's underdark region. Skyrim players were probably surprised the first time they entered this underground world of titanic glowing mushrooms. Sure, Blackreach's map isn't as big as Skyrim's, but it is still a vast biome that seems more like an alien world than a simple underground area.
5 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Getting to the top of the castle and defeating Richter Belmont is where a lot of players of Symphony of the Night stopped. Those players missed close to half the game though. There is a way to finish this fight so that it opens up another world to explore: the Inverted Castle.
This second world is a copy of the original castle turned upside down. However, this new castle presents new enemies and bosses to fight, as well as challenges not found in the original castle. There are new items to be found in the upside-down as well. The player can freely travel back and forth between the two castles.
4 Mega Man Battle Network
This series of games is basically a cute anime version of Tron with Mega Man characters. Players control Lan Hikari in the real world, but could "jack in" to computers and explore using their NetNavi, which for Lan is Mega Man. In the computer world, programs have a physical form and are often hostile.
The game itself is played as a collectible card game, with the cards being represented as Battle Chips. Each chip has a letter designation, damage, and ability. Players can create decks (called folders) to use in combat, which is played out on an isometric 3x6 grid. Sometime in 2023, Capcom will release the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection for PS4, Switch, and Windows. This will include all versions of the six games in the series.
3 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
In this reimagining of the first Silent Hill game, the player switches between a therapy session with a psychologist and exploring the town of Silent Hill for their missing daughter. The town of Silent Hill will periodically enter another dimension called the Nightmare. This Nightmare is an alternate version of the town with deadly creatures.
How the player responds during the session with the psychologist will affect Silent Hill when the player returns. The fact that the player has no means of defense against the creatures in Nightmare only adds a level of anxiety that players will feel while playing.
2 Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross, for the PlayStation, is the sequel to Chrono Trigger for the SNES. In the latter, the player would travel between points in time to complete quests and find new party members. In Chrono Cross, the player instead travels between two parallel dimensions.
Traveling between the two dimensions is required to advance the main story. Battles are turn-based, and there is an elemental system the player can exploit to increase damage against certain enemies. In early 2022, Square Enix released Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and Windows. This is a remaster of the original PlayStation game and also includes the text-based adventure, Radical Dreamers.
1 Persona 5
This instant classic puts the player in control of a high school student who is part of a group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. The group leaves the normal world to enter the Metaverse, which is an alternate dimension filled with creatures called Shadows that seek to steal humanity's desires. The game features a day-night cycle with season-appropriate weather.
Persona 5 has so much content that one playthrough is not enough. The player can make friends through the Social Link system, and also work odd jobs around town to improve their stats and earn a little money. There is even a crafting component in Persona 5.