There are a huge number of games that have been vastly influential over the course of history in changing the norms and mechanics of what makes up the most popular games. One of the most influential changes that have come to dominate most gaming is the idea ofan open-worldwhere players can roam freely and play in a non-linear fashion.
Related:Best Open-World Games
Many of the best and most beloved games of all timeuse open-world designand the style has become familiar to gamers. However, there are anumber of games that were influential in laying the groundwork for the open-world genre, so it could become what it is today.
6Adventure (1980)
Credited generally with the creation of the open-world concept in gaming,Adventurewas developed by Atari for the Atari 2600. Considered one of the greatest games of all time for a number of influences it has had on the world of gaming,Adventureallowed players to take control of a character whose quest was to find a magical chalice and return it to a golden castle.
This was made harder by enemies who, for the first time in a video game, continued moving when off-screen, and by the open-ended nature of the quest. Players could roam freely in their adventure, encountering items and enemies on their path to finding the chalice. Inspiring many other games and styles,Adventureis considered the first open-world game as well as the first action-adventure game and the first fantasy game to be released on a console. It was hugely inspired initially byvarious tabletop RPGs of the 1980s.
5Ultima III: Exodus
Ultimawas an early role-playing video game series that was fairly confined to the way players could interact with the world in the first two games. This expanded in 1983’sUltima III: Exodus, which introduced a number of new features including a much more interactive world that players could explore. Not to mention the larger party of characters that really helped lay the foundations for games like thePersonafranchise.
Exodus was also the name of the primary villain, who was the spawn of the villains from the first twoUltimagames. The party of characters the player controls are from the world Sosaria, which Exodus threatens.Ultima IIIis credited asgiving a lot to the RPG genre, from the larger parties and various classes that could be controlled to the graphics which helped massively level up the idea of a larger and more interactive world for players to explore.
4The Legend Of Zelda
One of the most legendary and revolutionary video games of all time,The Legend of Zeldahas continued to make grand strides in the open-world genre with more recent entries likeTears of the Kingdom. Several of the games in theZeldafranchise are credited by many as one of the best video games of all time, so it is unsurprising that many elements of modern games gained their inspiration from the originalZeldagame.
Related:Games To Play If You Miss Super Mario 64
Taking control of the hero Link, players get to explore a variety of dungeons in a style unlike almost any previous video game with this kind of scale to it. Since players just had to find the eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to save Princess Zelda, they got to explore the various dungeons in the game in whatever way they saw fit. This was a true game changer and helped turnThe Legend of Zeldainto a legendary game. It also helped popularize other genres besides the idea of an open-world and non-linear gameplay, such as the dungeon crawler genre and the idea of roguelikes.
3Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zeldawas a brand-new title that Nintendo released to a massive level of success immediately due to the ideas established in the game. TheSuper Mariofranchise was already enormous, and so the idea of incorporating a more open-world, non-linear style into this franchise was one thatled to an equally memorable game.
Super Mario 64is another game that many consider one of the greatest of all time. Filled with amazingly fun levels and the opportunity to wander around the world with a lot of freedom, players also got to experience Mario in a 3D world for the first time. It helped popularize 3D platformers as well as bringing one of the first 3D open worlds to the video gaming industry.
2Shenmue (1999)
If gamers haven’t heard ofShenmue, they have a lot to thank it for. While other games are better known today for their impacts on the 3D open-world in gaming,Shenmuewas one of the first to really nail the idea and to create an incredible open-world environment which was hugely praised for the attention to detail. Not to mention thatShenmueis credited as the first open-world game that let players roam around an entire city freely.
Following a teenage martial artist out for vengeance after his father is murdered,Shenmuetakes place in the city of Yokosuka, Japan. Across a number of battles in the streets and quick-time events, players sought out justice in brutal fashion.Shenmuewas the most expensive game ever created when it was released in 1999 and despite some criticisms, it is celebrated for introducing a number of elements into the world of gamingthrough the original Dreamcast release.
1Grand Theft Auto 3
While there are many elements of gaming that were already created by the timeGrand Theft Auto IIIwas released in 2001, a lot of them weren’t popularized until this historic game hit the market. Featuring an open-world environment in which players could drive, run and shoot their way around at will,GTA IIImanaged to improve upon many of the earlier open-world ideas and bring them to fruition as a fully-realized world was built in Liberty City.
With a more widely open worldas the lengthy game continues, players were able to control Claude through a number of missions, side quests, and just random adventuring through the city as they saw fit. The widely interactive environment stunned gamers, and unsurprisingly,Grand Theft Auto IIIis considered today to be one of the best and most influential games of all time.
