Best RPG World Maps

Given I've never had the opportunity to travel outside my country, video games have become the closest thing I've had to connecting with cultures and stories from around the world.

Whether the contexts are real or fictional, this interactive medium has been a powerful tool for broadening my perspective on life, especially through those titles that have best captured the idea of ​​teleporting you to an imaginary space.

Medieval times, science fiction, modern representations… The mastery of these works I'm referring to lies in a plethora of elements, with the setting itself being the most crucial.

Therefore, I can't think of a better way to thank video games for their ability to transport me to other realities than with a list dedicated to the ten best RPG world maps.

10 Black Myth: Wukong

The Greatness of Chinese Mythology

Ignoring the extremely frustrating invisible walls that prevent you from exploring freely, Black Myth: Wukong strikes me as a marvel in terms of its world design, one I struggle to describe with the right words.

While gameplay-wise it's a grandiose corridor, artistically it's a string of wonders with dozens of different biomes, glorious symbolic representations, and a respect for Chinese culture that makes you want to stand up in awe.

If I were to judge solely on the artistic aspects, it would be extremely difficult to criticize Black Myth: Wukong, because even its in-game map, designed to help you orient yourself, is a visual delight few other works can match.

However, it loses points because, mechanically speaking, it doesn't offer much, although being awestruck by every one of its environments is more than enough to guarantee Black Myth: Wukong a place in this article.

9 The Outer Worlds

Obsidian Doing Obsidian Things

Obsidian Entertainment has become one of my all-time favorite developers for many reasons, but among the main ones is their ability to create universes that are both imaginative and convincing.

While I understand and agree it's not their best work, The Outer Worlds faithfully represents my appreciation for the team, where its fantastical universe, flora, fauna, and even the stories of its civilization are simply fascinating.

It's not your typical space odyssey, despite sharing many traits. Instead, it strives to offer a distinct environment that resonates not only narratively but also in terms of gameplay, with every space filled with subtle yet compelling details that add depth to your experience every step you take.

Besides, considering the game's constant critiques of corporations, colonialism, and power structures, The Outer Worlds is interesting not only for what it reveals about itself but also for what it reflects about our own reality, and that's something I value highly.

8 Diablo 4

A Heaven Full of Demons

Although it took me quite a few hours to realize it, there came a point in Diablo 4 where I understood how much it had improved upon its predecessor in terms of map design, captivating me beyond mere aesthetics.

Blizzard took the criticism of the map's horizontality in the series' previous installment very seriously, so they went the extra mile to imbue it with a great deal of verticality and dynamism that truly makes exploration much more satisfying.

If there's an area without enemies, it's because it's the entrance to a cave or a dungeon, and if there are no entrances to any place, it's because there's a world event; in other words, there's never an empty pixel in this iteration of Sanctuary, which also looks better graphically than ever.

I understand this entry has deepened the disillusionment many fans of the franchise felt after what Diablo 3 did, but in all my years of connection with the IP, I had never felt such a genuine desire to explore for the sake of exploring and not simply to say I completed everything.

7 Avowed

More Fantasy Than You Can Conceive

Whatever anyone says about Avowed, I think absolutely no one can deny it boasts one of the genre's finest settings in the last decade.

It's not the most brilliant work in terms of role-playing due to the player's inability to alter the world, though what it lacks in agency it makes up for in experiences of all kinds that make it impossible not to want to explore every last cave on the map.

Although it doesn't have the same amount of content as its contemporaries, the density of magnificent tasks is overwhelming, as is the endless array of monoliths you see on the horizon that compel you to abandon what you were doing to investigate and learn more from its world and circumstances.

It greatly benefits from belonging to a universe with such rich lore as Pillars of Eternity, which it uses to establish a fascinating mythology with equally intriguing places, beings, factions, and problems that truly hold your attention until the credits roll.

If it weren't for the little influence we have on what happens, I think no one would doubt Avowed is among the best RPGs of this generation so far, but that's what I'm here for.

6 Dragon Age: Inquisition

Exploring Thedas Like Never Before

You can't make a list of the best RPGs in any category without including a BioWare title, so there's no way I could make this list without Dragon Age: Inquisition.

While it suffers from a similar phenomenon to Avowed, where it sacrificed the player's transformative power to prioritize aesthetic and mechanical spectacle, it's the kind of game that completely absorbs you.

I remember it being the first experience that actually felt like it belonged to a new generation, with its countless main areas brimming with dozens of objectives, collectibles, characters, cities, dragons, dungeons, and other elements that bring an open-world game to life.

I know that, for many, the fact that it's a separate world map and not completely integrated was a disappointment, yet for me, it was a way of emphasizing the tactical nature of being part of an organization like the Inquisition, where even deciding where to go feels like a military maneuver.

Your first step in The Hinterlands, the contrasts with Val Royeaux, the vastness of Hissing Wastes, the revelations in Emprise du Lion… Dragon Age: Inquisition gives us the best and most detailed version of Thedas, which is a colossal marvel.

5 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

A Gorgeous Fragmented Canvas

Given Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's universe is (spoiler alert for those who haven't finished it) a canvas in itself, words are superfluous to justify its inclusion in this piece.

However, being the kind of guy who likes to prattle, I'll still explain my reasons for including the glorious Lumière, the most obvious of which is its prodigious art design, whose uniqueness, beauty, and multidimensionality surpass virtually everything we've seen before.

While, like Black Myth: Wukong, its exploration is limited by its corridors' constraints, it circumvents this problem by adopting a classic overworld that breaks with modern standards, taking us back to a time when everything was simpler.

That familiar structure not only allows for disconnected yet incredibly striking maps in terms of art and sound, but it also contributes to the sense of scale and progression, always letting us know there's more to strive for and how far we've come to get to this point.

So far this decade, few experiences compare to climbing aboard Esquie and soaring over Expedition 33's fragmented version of Paris, which is a change of pace I greatly appreciate.

4 Mass Effect 2

The Peak of Science Fiction

I always applaud games that break the mold of established genre conventions, though I also appreciate those that take each pillar and elevate it to its highest level, which is what I believe Mass Effect 2 does with science fiction.

Sincerely, I thought my affection for its galaxy-based map was simply a product of nostalgia, but I recently confirmed how BioWare was light-years ahead of its peers in terms of world design, because the connection between the mechanics and the narrative is simply phenomenal.

Mass Effect 2 perfectly understands how to make you feel like a fleet commander exploring entire worlds, offering a HUB that makes sense as you enjoy its immense variety of biomes and environments that put you in the shoes of an intergalactic explorer.

Then you add to the equation the presence of one of the best casts of secondary characters in history, whose existences lead you to delve deeper into each map in the most natural and voluntary way possible, and you come across a flawless campaign from beginning to end that, even today, finds few equals, precisely thanks to how it handles the distribution of the players' physical spaces.

3 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Eponym of Medieval Fantasy

Speaking of must-play games, no studio achieves the worldbuilding that CD Projekt RED does, so the only question was whether to go for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Cyberpunk 2077.

Ultimately, I opted for Geralt of Rivia's journey because, unlike V's odyssey within Night City, not everything happens in a single, central location. Rather, it unfolds across a vast territory whose interactive depth has been seen only a handful of times in the history of video games.

To be honest, few games can rival The Witcher 3 when it comes to creating a believable environment, especially considering that what you do in a small town who knows how many kilometers from the capital can end up influencing the outcome of a side quest hours later.

Nevertheless, it's just one example of the larger reality: the game strives to offer a vast array of possibilities in one of the most wonderful and mythologically intriguing medieval fantasy settings in the industry.

And I say all this without even considering its expansions, which only serve to elevate The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to the status of a true king when it comes to breathtaking maps.

Your Second Life's Home

Looking at the first three selections on this list, you'll see I'm an enormous fan of medieval worlds, and any lover of this genre is obligated to be a devotee of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

It's relatively easy to recognize when a map is stunning for its aesthetics or its density of content, but Bethesda's masterpiece offers more than just the usual reasons to justify its excellence in world design.

When you've played for over 300 hours and you're still exploring its mountains and towns in search of secrets, when you decide to disable the HUD because the game's immersion practically begs you for it, or when more than 10 years have passed and you're still thinking about creating another character to play it again, that's when you truly grasp its greatness.

It hasn't aged particularly well, either mechanically or graphically, but its icy landscapes, dark dungeons, eccentric palaces, numerous caves, vast waters, and endless secrets remain as captivating to discover today as they were in 2011, and that's worth more than all the polygons in the world.

1 Elden Ring

An Incomparable World

During this list, I've talked a lot about massive worlds or games with so many mysteries that you'll spend a good part of your life playing them without uncovering them all, but both of these approaches find a common leader in Elden Ring.

I'm no longer the impressionable young man I was 15 years ago, but the ultimate expression of the Soulsborne formula made me feel things I thought were impossible after all I'd experienced in the world of video games, mainly because of The Lands Between itself.

Despite sounding like a broken record by mentioning it so often, reaching the Siofra River for the first time, discovering Liurnia after spending 30 hours in Limgrave, or finding entire secret areas behind empty coffins or wedding rings is too impressive not to praise.

It goes without saying that, alongside the sheer thrill of discovering more content to expand your experience, there's a magic inherent in the art itself. The game guides you through its landscapes in such an exceptional and seamless way that it seems achievable only by the greatest geniuses of our generation.

Castles, rivers of red poison, subterranean citadels, trees connected by bridges, frigid mountains, corrupted sewers… The fantasy and coherence with which Elden Ring handles its map are unparalleled, and I remain skeptical that anyone will ever be able to match it.