The blend of narrative and game design is important for titles to elevate their quality and become must-play experiences. This is the major reason why so many PlayStation exclusives are beloved by many — these open-world games are pretty much the complete package and extremely entertaining to play from start to end.
Unfortunately, these achievements aren't mirrored by a ton of open-world games in the industry. However, that's not to say that these games are outright terrible — in fact, some of these games have excellent narratives that are definitely worth checking out. It's just a shame that the open-world design of these titles is sorely lackluster in comparison.
10 Mafia 2
The Mafia games are notorious for featuring excellent main stories in an open world... and nothing else. So, it's no surprise to see one of the games on this list.
It's a shame since the open worlds of the Mafia games definitely sport a ton of promise. However, a lack of variety and content ultimately leads to their downfall in the open-world design department.
9 Batman: Arkham Origins
A Batman Arkham game that wasn't made by the original developers was bound to attract its fair share of detractors. The people who advocate against Arkham Origins generally point toward the lackluster open world as one of its biggest faults.
However, these people fail to realize the qualities of the game's story and combat. Both these elements of Arkham Origins are truly excellent and well worth the price of entry themselves.
8 L.A. Noire
The idea of playing an open-world detective game with Rockstar's name plastered over it was bound to generate a ton of hype. However, people forgot that Rockstar was merely producing the game and didn't play any part in developing the open world, which is why the world of L.A. Noire feels quite empty.
However, its nail-biting story more than makes up for it. Cole Phelps is a great protagonist and serves as the beating heart of this riveting tale that sports twists and swerves at every turn.
7 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
There's no denying the fact that Metal Gear Solid 5 is one of the greatest games of all time. However, it achieved this success in spite of its open-world design as opposed to because of it.
The Phantom Pain is a great game that rests most of its laurels on its enjoyable gameplay and lovable characters. The drab open-world design of this title does it no favors whatsoever.
6 Death Stranding
After Kojima's high-profile departure from Konami, gamers couldn't wait to see the next project he had under his belt. The reveals of Death Stranding were extremely compelling but did nothing to convey what the game was all about.
When the title was finally released, gamers realized that the game was a weird mix of several genres with a focus on delivering packages all over the open world. While the story was definitely peak Kojima, the lackluster gameplay and boring open-world took away from the overall experience.
5 Mafia 3
Mafia 3 was a game that was widely anticipated by many but ultimately ended up falling flat on its face upon release. Most critics were full of praises when it came to the excellent story of the game, delivered in a compelling documentary-style format.
However, there were simply too many issues with both the gameplay and open world of this title that made the overall experience of playing this game quite frustrating. It's a shame since Mafia 3's strengths are completely bogged down as a result of this horrid open-world design and gameplay loops that force the player to accomplish mundane tasks over and over again.
4 Days Gone
Unlike most of the other PlayStation exclusives, Days Gone didn't receive nearly as much love. It's a shame, since it's clear that Bend Studio certainly put a ton of effort into developing this title, and it shows in the game's mature story and interesting characters.
Unfortunately, the open world of the game is as generic as can be. The zombies and hordes might add a bit of variety to the gameplay, but even this gets boring further down the line.
3 Cyberpunk 2077
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most hyped video games of all time. Just like Icarus, the game flew too close to the sun... and burned itself in the most public fashion possible.
The story of Cyberpunk 2077 was certainly great... but that doesn't justify just how broken the game was. Even with all the bugs fixed, players realized that the open world of Cyberpunk 2077 was completely lackluster and not worth exploring at all.
2 Dragon Age: Inquisition
After experimenting around with the concept of an open-world, BioWare went all out and jumped into this design with Dragon Age: Inquisition. The end results were pretty mixed, to say the least.
There's no denying the fact that Inquisition sported a great narrative and enjoyable gameplay. However, this came at the cost of an unfocused semi-open world that the game could've genuinely done without.
1 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is easily one of the most underrated games of all time. Its characters, story, and voice work is a cut above most games released at the time and would even put most modern games to shame!
Unfortunately, the various hubs present in Bloodlines were anything but interesting. While this design was quite engaging early on, the hub worlds of Bloodlines ended up getting more and more limited in scope — a clear sign of the title's rushed development near the final stages of the game.