RPGs Designed for Players Who Love Getting Lost

RPGs are often synonymous with vast and deeply explorable worlds, primarily because they allow the fantasy of living an alternate life to materialize.

As a result, the density of activities to do, places to discover, characters to meet, and skills to develop is usually higher than that of the average video game, since they require these elements to solidify a true role-playing experience.

However, some go beyond simply fulfilling the genre's basic precepts, striving to give you ample reasons to immerse yourself in their worlds and let yourself be carried away to unexpected places.

Therefore, the idea of ​​wandering through fantastical contexts aimlessly but enjoying the process is one of my favorites, which is why I invite you to read this list of ten RPGs designed for players who love getting lost.

10 Mass Effect 2

Human Complexity is as Vast as the Galaxy

I've never been a science fiction person, but if there was ever a point in my life where I reconsidered whether that statement was true, it was when I played Mass Effect 2.

Despite its simple structure and rather limited freedom, BioWare actually captivates you with its narrative, especially thanks to one of the best supporting casts in video games' history.

Connecting with them, exploring their backstories, forging bonds, and making decisions, all while trying to save the galaxy, makes it incredibly easy to identify with Commander Shepard, who is practically a perfect vessel for our will.

You won't get lost by over-exploring a planet, but rather by delving into the universe and its inhabitants, because I sincerely believe that's where the real reason Mass Effect 2 is so beloved lies.

9 Dying Light: The Beast

When Survival is Enjoyable

First-person parkour is among my all-time favorite mechanics, especially because its characteristics allow you to truly feel like you're in the character's shoes without actually having to run across rooftops.

Based on this premise alone, experiencing Dying Light: The Beast was sensational, as it boasts the best atmosphere in the entire series, both aesthetically, given the art direction is superb, and mechanically, as it's designed to cater to the player's creativity.

Whether your goal is to chain together as many jumps, slides, runs, and flips as possible, or to rip zombies apart with every imaginable weapon, Castor Woods is the perfect place to seamlessly transition between these activities.

You'll spend three consecutive hours running around doing everything, then you will remember there's a zombie virus to destroy, and that's when you'll continue the main mission, at least until you stumble across 13 different and intriguing things to do for the cycle to repeat itself, creating a great loop.

8 NieR: Automata

The Post-Apocalypse Can Be Bewildering

Yoko Taro's creations are defined by their bizarre nature, but also by their genuinely intriguing premises, and this includes NieR: Automata, which ranks among the most special games the video game industry has ever seen.

The way it blends its hack-and-slash foundation with RPG elements, open world, visual novel, and bullet hell gameplay works far better than theory would suggest, but only because the world it creates harmonizes them all.

Between its heartfelt stories and profound philosophical reflections, NieR: Automata strikes a perfect balance that draws you in no matter how many endings you have to see or how little you understand of what's happening.

Yes, you'll have to revisit the same locations repeatedly, and yes, most of the time you won't even know if you're actually progressing, but the climax makes everything fall into place, and in retrospect, you'll feel relieved to have endured the burden of not knowing.

7 Salt and Sanctuary

Hell Has No Limits

Nothing captivates a masochist quite like a true Soulslike experience, which is why playing Salt and Sanctuary can be a delight in the right hands.

If you enjoy games that don't tell you anything but instead drop you into a harsh world where every being wants to wipe you off the face of the earth, I can think of few better alternatives.

It's not just because it's an outstanding 2D ARPG with a solid Metroidvania style and amazing bosses, but also because the way it takes you to fantastic locations with numerous secrets, including hidden areas, is completely captivating.

When you realize there are invisible platforms to reach a castle in the air or that there's a fall into the abyss that you can actually survive, Salt and Sanctuary shows you that you have to explore in a way you don't in other video games, so you'll end up in dark caves with no idea how to get out every other minute.

6 Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Traditional Fantasy, Traditional Secrets

While I love it when video games create their own mythologies, I also enjoy the occasional classic interpretation of fantasy, and that's exactly what Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning reminded me of.

From the colors to the enemies, armor styles, and even the architecture and color palette, it's a classic work that feels like stepping into a Tolkien world thanks to its vibrant dichotomies.

It's so captivating to wander through the lush forests or explore dungeons that you sometimes forget you have markers pointing you in the right direction, because it's far more motivating to simply flow with the paths.

That holds true for the vast majority of open-world RPGs, yet Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning deserves praise due to how it maintains a traditional fantasy while making it so fascinating that it feels unique.

5 Fallout 3

Make the World Burn... Or Not

Bethesda games are designed to make you forget you're playing a video game and immerse yourself in a world of fiction where the possibilities are limitless, as the magnificent Fallout 3 demonstrates.

I can say with complete certainty that I don't remember a single second of its main campaign, as all my memories are dedicated to the countless experiences that arose from my curiosity.

More than following any signs, I discovered why everyone considered Fallout 3 a masterpiece when I simply started wandering the Wasteland, fighting to survive, and becoming captivated by every NPC or quest that appeared unexpectedly.

When you stop seeing it as a checklist and begin to respect it as an immersive adventure, even encountering an ant or fleeing from a radroach feels magical, given that the title is literally scripted so that getting lost becomes the path to discovering its true essence.

4 Look Outside

Cosmic Content

Even though it's a game made with RPG Maker, I'm sure anyone who's played Look Outside will agree with me when I say it's one of the best adaptations of Lovecraft's work ever conceived.

That statement alone explains why it's on this list, since much of its charm stems from how it handles the concept of the unknown and the unimaginable, pushing you into truly unique circumstances within the interactive medium.

Seeing Look Outside's ending will take you barely a dozen hours, but truly appreciating the scope and purpose of its content can easily quadruple its lifespan, especially since it's a deliberately ambiguous title that doesn't make its interpretation or secrets easily accessible.

It's audacious, but I greatly value it when a game takes the player's desire to explore its content so seriously that it makes it invisible to the casual observer, which I feel perfectly aligns with the very mythology the game embodies.

3 Dragon’s Dogma

A Middle Ages Full of Fascinations

Capcom is a company with a particularly captivating obsession with video games where the act of adventure itself is the story, giving us franchises like Monster Hunter and, more relevantly for this occasion, Dragon's Dogma.

Yes, there's a plot and various narrative engines to propel the story forward, but the real reason you travel to Gransys is to engage in sword fights with giant beasts that you climb to defeat from their backs.

You might be escorting a caravan and, before you know it, you're fighting a griffin, which leads you to stumble upon a camp of goblins being battered by a cyclops, and ultimately end up in a cave fighting an evil eye that gives you a legendary staff and two anti-petrification potions.

It might sound exaggerated, but this chain of events is Dragon's Dogma's daily bread, which doesn't care at all whether you survive its challenges. It's a relentless yet captivating title, so you'll have no problem revisiting its every corner.

2 Dark Souls

A World That Doesn't Underestimate You

Dark Souls is usually in every list that includes talking about any aspect of the role-playing genre, though it feels practically unavoidable to do so.

To be honest, sticking to the core principles of this list, there's hardly a game that makes you feel more disoriented than this one. Lordran is anything but intuitive, both in its spatial design and the presence of threats that only add to the confusion.

You might think you know where you're going, but then you stumble upon a giant rat or a dead-end forest, and suddenly you're not so sure anymore, forcing you to backtrack.

When you're plagued by doubt about which places you've visited and which you haven't, or what to do with a key item whose description is more cryptic than a hieroglyph, you realize that you either have to start paying attention or you'll need a guide.

I know many of us end up choosing the second option, but few things are as wonderful as getting lost in a world like Dark Souls and finding your way out on your own, because that is its greatest appeal.

Getting Lost as a Leitmotif

Nevertheless, getting lost is both a circumstance and a choice, and depending on your perspective, either Dark Souls or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be the winner, though I lean towards the latter.

Unlike FromSoftware's game, it's impossible to lose your sense of location because the game is awash in indicators and markers that explain everything, but not even the most intrusive interface breaks the immersion of its landscapes.

Even if you know you're in Riften, what to do in the main quest, or how to find every guild and Daedric god, Skyrim's fantasy lies in creating a compelling world where these elements are simply part of your journey as the Dragonborn, not a reminder that you're behind a screen.

With its vast map, hundreds of points of interest, and thousands of sporadic events, the game allows you to get lost because it's unpredictable even within its defined boundaries, especially since the level of interactivity is absurdly high.

You might find it funny to go to each store, placing buckets on the heads of NPCs to steal without being detected, or you might find it entertaining to loot all the dungeons in the world, but the only certainty is that hours and hours will pass while you do it, and you will hardly notice.