This 2026 Open-World Game Has Been Long-Awaited and Is Worth Your Time

2026 has its hands full with what look set to be two of the biggest open-world games ever made: Grand Theft Auto 6 and Crimson Desert. So, you’d be forgiven for feeling as if there aren’t enough hours in the day to commit to any other open world extraveganzas. One, understandably, doesn’t want to fill their backlog with too many 100+ hour-long open-world games when there are so many other great games releasing this year. However, after years in development, a brand-new open-world game is finally ready to hit storefronts and promises to deliver an experience unlike anything you’ve seen before.

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This open-world RPG is defying all expectations, offering something that perfectly encapsulates the sense of adventure found in media like The Lord of the Rings and Dragon’s Dogma while also offering the combat, preparation, co-operative gameplay, and challenge of games like Monster Hunter and Dark Souls. Outward 2, the sequel to 2019’s criminally underrated RPG Outward, promises to be the definitive adventurer simulator and offer an open-world experience where the world itself is just as important as the adventure you embark upon.

Outward 2 Is The Ultimate Open-World Game For Fans Of The Journey

Two players fighting a monster in a field in Outward 2. — Image courtesy of Nine Dots Studio

More often than not, open-world games are so fixated on the destination rather than the journey that the world itself can begin to feel supplemental rather than essential. This is, of course, not always the case, with games like Breath of the Wild, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance having exploration and, especially in the case of the latter, world sim systems inherently baked into their core design. However, I have grown rather fatigued by the disposable yet beautiful nature of a lot of open-world games as of late. This is where Outward 2 comes in.

Much like its predecessor, which I have spent an unhealthy amount of time playing, Outward 2 puts the players in the shoes of a well below average adventurer, the type that typically gets wiped out at the start of any great fantasy battle. You’ve got an enormous backpack full of your loot and essential gear literally weighing you down, dark spaces require torches and lanterns to explore, basic enemies will rip your throat out with ease, you need to set up tents to rest during the dangerous nights, spellcasting isn’t as simple as hitting a particular button, but rather involves an intricate ritual to pull off. Simply put, life isn’t easy in Outward 2.

A silhouette of the Knightling from The Knightling in front of the game's key art.

However, this isn’t akin to Dark Souls, where the challenge comes from merely getting good at combat and understanding enemy attack patterns, although that is a part of it. Outward 2 wants you to struggle as it believes that’s an essential part of enjoying the adventure. Of course, it isn’t sadistic. It gives you all the tools you’ll need to stave off hunger, exhaustion, and rough weather conditions, an arsenal of weapons each with its own unique moveset, traps, potions, and more to prepare for deadly encounters, all of which you’ll need to stash in your backpack that can be dropped at a moment’s notice to make you immediately nimble like you’re Rock Lee fighting Gaara.

However, all of this will only get you so far as you trek across stunning landscapes filled with secrets, deadly weather, and a whole host of things out to get you. Outward 2 takes its world and sense of adventure incredibly seriously, something I and many others have already experienced firsthand in the exceptionally well-received Beta period that gave players access to an incredibly generously-sized first look at a part of the game world. Of course, Outward 2 is an AA game and therefore lacks the budget of some of the best open-world games ever made, like Skyrim or The Witcher 3. However, what it lacks in budget it more than makes up for in its compelling premise and utterly engrossing experience, the likes of which come around once in a blue moon.

Outward 2 Offers An Open-World Experience Like No Other

Two players exploring a city in Outward 2. — Image courtesy of Nine Dots Studio

The only experience comparable to Outward is Death Stranding. It, like Death Stranding, requires you to manage the weight on your back, plot out the best route to your destination, avoid or face the multitude of aggressive foes along the way, and contend with the world itself as you trek across challenging terrain and battle against harsh weather conditions. It is a game full of emergent gameplay, unscripted events that form a story unique to you. This was, of course, the same as the first game, which gave me some of my most memorable gaming experiences, many of which I vividly recall to friends eagerly searching for their next open-world experience.

I remember making a particularly perilous and long journey from the starting town to the nearest city, barely surviving a series of deadly encounters, burning through all my supplies, before managing to somehow drag my practically unconscious character up a steep incline and into the back entrance of said city, welcomed by the sweet sounds of the town’s theme, and the comforts of a warm bed at its inn. These types of stories are further heightened by the game’s inclusion of multiplayer, both online and split-screen. Outward and now its successor are some of the only massive open-world RPGs that are playable with a friend sat right beside you, and that is truly special.