Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Open World Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. This category specifically focuses on the games with the best open worlds, from how they're implemented to what there is to see within their zones.
Bronze Trophy: Tchia
In Tchia, you can play as a young girl, or a fish, a pig, a dolphin, deer, cat, cow, or even a crow to get about the tropical island inspired by New Caledonia. The concept of Soul Jumping allows for this, and it opens up gameplay possibilities as well as new traversal options as you explore the world's many biomes and secrets. It's a more laidback experience where the objective markers are more about highlighting an area than pinpointing exactly where you need to go next. More about the journey than the destination, Tchia is so full of heart that it had to get its props somewhere.
Silver Trophy: Hogwarts Legacy
Harry Potter fans have always dreamt of donning house robes and learning magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and that finally became a reality in Hogwarts Legacy. The open world experience allows you to fully explore the school and its grounds, as well as Hogsmeade and some areas brand new to the IP. It's a truly magical experience that really grounds you in the universe, letting you be the witch or wizard you've always wanted. The open world loses some of its charm in the wider regions custom-built for Hogwarts Legacy, but the school's recreation is so strong that it has to go down as one of the year's best.
Gold Trophy: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
A very late entry but no less worthy, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora makes its open world recreation of new region The Western Frontier shine with impressive PS5 visuals and an immersive map. While some of the old Ubisoft open world elements are still present, developer Ubisoft Massive incentives you to clear how optional objectives and camps by tying its wildlife and crafting systems to them. Not only are you taking territory back, but also restoring life to the plant life surrounding the base. Since you need those resources to improve your character, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora forms an engaging loop where its open world is the star of the show.
Platinum Trophy: Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Insomniac Games brought back the original New York map from PS4's Marvel's Spider-Man and bolted on a series of new districts representing Brooklyn and Queens to form a huge environment for web-slinging and crime fighting. While that may mean it feels a little too familiar in some ways, traversal and activities you encounter have been given an overhaul in order to feel fresh again. Peter and Miles now get about the city so much faster, with speedier web-slinging creating a constant rush of excitement, while side quests are much more thoughtful and engaging.
In a small nod to the more open-ended exploration mechanics of Elden Ring, you need to actually find these activities before some of them are marked on your map. Their icons will then be beamed up into the sky, meaning you don't always have to check the map for where to go next. And with near-instant fast travel just a button hold away, the Sony developer has worked its magic under the hood to make getting about the open world a complete breeze.
Honourable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Mirage and Forspoken.
What was your favourite PS5, PS4 open world game of 2023? Place a vote in our poll and then explain your personal pick in the comments below. For further Game of the Year coverage, click the link.
What was your favourite PS5, PS4 open world game of 2023? (676 votes)
- Assassin's Creed Mirage
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
- Forspoken
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Tchia
- Other
Comments 23
PS5 wise i pick Avatar. SM2's world is fun to explore and is very pretty but its a very bog standard and shallow open world especially next to say TotK.
Out of those options, Harry Potter all the way. The world and lore is just so much more interesting than in Spider-Man or avatar.
Can anyone remember the name of an open world game that was similar looking to Tchia but it had a Japanese style Pokemon vibe to it. It looked visually appealing and I’ve been wondering what happened to the game
I voted for Forspoken. It was a lot of fun to traverse the landscape, empty as it was sometimes. I loved the game. I know every year end list is trashing it, but I thought it was great. Now, that said, I enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy perhaps a bit more, but I think Hogwarts had different strengths. Hogwarts itself was great to explore, but man that wilderness outside it wasn’t nearly as fun to dive into.
Spider-Man is solid, but sort of feels like “this is an open world game,” know what I mean? Same as Mirage, though in a smaller scale. I haven’t played the Avatar game and probably won’t. I’m curious, but I just… don’t like the film series. If there was a trial, I’d jump on it, based on what I’ve read about it. I’m sorry to say I didn’t enjoy Tchia at all, despite it being one of my most anticipated games this year. I love the art style, but, man, was it a boring game… I just did not enjoy my time with it at all, and that was because of the open world! I ended up getting bored to the point that I’d skip gameplay to watch the cutscenes. How strange to have a game where you can skip the game part.
I’m sort of surprised to see Season not represented in this list. I feel like that was a genuinely refreshing open world in comparison to other games this year. There’s not much else like the game.
Now, all that said, the best open world game this year though is TotK, no contest. It’s not even close.
@BusyOlf Are you thinking of DokeV?
Dogtown for me. It was tiny but it was chock full of interesting places.
Hogwarts Legacy was great. Even after 100+ hours, I was still getting lost in Hogwarts castle.
Hogwarts was probably a better game than Avatar although the world in Avatar is more dense and interesting. Haven't played the other games yet.
Never occured to me how few open world games there were this year. Actually kind of a refreshing revelation to me. Spiderman and Hogwarts were great. Avatar doesn't look like it would appeal to me. Tchia I do still wanna try sometime.
Forspoken does not deserve an honorable mention lol
@BusyOlf assuming you're talking about the Korean game DokeV. They announced early on this year there would be no further news until 2024. Pearl Abyss have Black Desert online they continue to maintain and I believe Crimson Desert is slated to release next for them
Definitely disappointing. As that initial trailer for DokeV seemed to show a lot of gameplay I figured it was further along. Was excited for my nieces to play that game, but they'll probably be moody teenagers when it finally releases
@Nepp67
Now Now. The open world from Forspoken was good and that is what we are talking about in this category. We aren't talking about the narrative, the characters, or even the combat. Forspoken had a great world that had an issue with its game.
There is always one game that gets all the flack each year and it was Forspoken this year. To bad though as it did have a fantastic amount of potential.
It was a close one between Hogwarts and Forspoken, but I've gone with Hogwarts Legacy. Such a great game and beautiful world to explore which wasn't too big and never felt like a chore exploring everything. I've got Avatar as a Christmas pressie so I'm quite looking forward to playing that especially if you guys feel it's open world is deserving of a top 2 spot.
@ApostateMage You‘re right! For being „only“ a DLC, Phantom Liberty is very meaty, could also be a stand-alone spinoff. Shame that it’s not included in the list here.
Tchia is my overall game of the year, thought it was beautifully made with a real heart to it
@Jayslow @RBMango thanks guys, that’s the one!
@pushsquare are you going to do a best OST list because Tchia surely has to win that one
Tchia! Yay! Loved my time with it. I hope they make a sequel or something just as wonderful
Harry Potter, and it’s not even close
@MikeOrator The thing is is that the open world wasnt that good either because it was empty and had nothing that interesting to it.
Obviously this must be my favourite genre. There’s heaps of big 2023 titles I haven’t played, but I’ve played all of these, even have the plat for 4 of them. SM 2 is the winner for me
Enjoyed all of these games.
Playing Avatar at the minute and it’s one of the most beautiful open world games I’ve ever played. The attention to detail is immense. It feels like a living, breathing world with a fully realised ecosystem. It’s one of the things I always loved about the Avatar movies.
Forspoken is the only open world game Ive completed this year so I guess Forspoken.
SM2 for me, I wasn't fan of the Avatar film but man I am being drawn into giving the game a go, love Far Cry so it sounds right up my street!
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