If you are asking “What should I play after Cyberpunk 2077?” the best overall answer is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It keeps the authored quests, consequential choices and richly realized world that define CD PROJEKT RED’s games. If you would rather trade cinematic direction for discovery, mastery or simulation, Elden Ring, Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Starfield each preserve a different part of the Cyberpunk 2077 experience.
Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) is an open-world, narrative-driven role-playing game set in the Cyberpunk 2020 universe. The recommendations below therefore prioritize a large explorable space, authored storytelling, character progression and a strong sense of place—the traits readers usually mean when they ask, “What games are like Cyberpunk 2077?”
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Best open-world RPGs after Cyberpunk 2077 at a glance
Use this table to identify which Cyberpunk 2077 quality you want to keep. Difficulty and pacing are editorial comparisons, not standardized ratings. Platform availability can vary by region, storefront and edition, so check the current listing before buying.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) | Dark fantasy kingdoms and wilderness | Very high; authored quests with moral choices | Moderate; higher on harder settings | High, with region-based progression | High; signs, alchemy, gear and skills | Story-led, with optional exploration | PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch editions; Complete Edition includes both expansions |
| Elden Ring (2022) | Mythic fantasy open world | Low-to-moderate direction; lore is discovered | Very high; timing and build knowledge matter | Very high, on foot or horseback | Very high; weapons, spells, attributes and respec options | Player-directed, with difficulty spikes | PC, PlayStation and Xbox; edition and expansion bundles vary |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) | Open fantasy province with factions and ruins | High volume, from faction arcs to emergent stories | Low-to-moderate, depending on difficulty and build | Very high; roam, join factions or ignore the main quest | Very high; skills support almost any play style | Open-ended and self-paced | PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch editions; Special Edition/Anniversary content differs |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) | Detailed American frontier | Very high; strongly character-led | Moderate; deliberate gunplay and survival systems | High, but story chapters guide your route | Moderate; progression emphasizes equipment and camp upgrades | Slow-burn and highly deliberate | PC, PlayStation and Xbox; edition availability varies |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (2025) | Historically grounded medieval Bohemia | High; social consequences shape situations | High; realistic combat systems demand practice | High, constrained by believable world rules | High; skills develop through use and choices | Measured, with investigation and travel | PC, PlayStation and Xbox; edition availability varies |
| Starfield (2023) | Science-fiction systems, planets and starships | Moderate-to-high; faction and exploration threads | Moderate; shooter fundamentals plus ship combat | Very high in destination choice, with structured locations | High; skills, weapons, crafting, outposts and ships | Variable; travel and quest hubs create a stop-start rhythm | PC and Xbox editions; edition and access terms vary |
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — the closest overall follow-up
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the strongest first choice when what you miss is authored role-playing rather than the cyberpunk setting. Its 2015 open world is built around written quests, recurring characters and decisions that can produce uncomfortable outcomes instead of simple good-versus-evil rewards. You investigate contracts, political conflicts and personal tragedies as Geralt, whose profession and established relationships give the story a strong point of view.
#1 Best Overall
![NAMCO - CD Projekt Red - The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt - Complete Edition, Playstation 5 [English Edition]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dWUfwFl5L._SL160_.jpg)
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Why it matches Cyberpunk 2077
Both games place a directed narrative inside a large world that rewards leaving the main route. Side quests are not disposable errands: they introduce characters, reveal local history and can alter later scenes. The tone changes from Night City’s corporate dystopia to dark fantasy, but the combination of spectacle and intimate character drama is unusually close. Players who valued Cyberpunk’s conversations, romances and moral ambiguity will find the same emphasis on consequences here.
What to expect from combat and progression
Combat is more deliberate than Cyberpunk’s shooting. Geralt combines swords, signs, bombs, oils and temporary abilities, and preparation matters more on higher difficulties. The build system lets you specialize in fast attacks, heavy attacks, signs, alchemy or hybrids, while armor and weapon upgrades provide a steady reason to explore. You will not be swapping firearms and cyberware, so the experimentation is narrower in feel but still substantial.
Which edition to choose
The product anchor is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition. It includes the main game and the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. The official remastered release adds visual, performance and gameplay upgrades to supported versions. Check whether a store listing is the Complete Edition and whether your platform receives the same upgrade features before purchasing.
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Best for
- Players who want the most similar balance of authored quests and open-world wandering.
- Readers who enjoy moral choices with consequences rather than purely heroic outcomes.
- Anyone interested in another CD PROJEKT RED setting with a substantial expansion path.
Elden Ring — the choice for discovery and combat mastery
Elden Ring is the right answer if Cyberpunk 2077’s city-scale exploration made you want a world that keeps surprising you, but you are willing to give up explicit directions and conversational density. You create a character and travel across a breathtaking open world on foot or horseback, finding landmarks, dungeons, bosses and mysteries without a quest log explaining every step.
How its structure differs
The game rarely tells you the “correct” order for discovery. A blocked path may be a signal to explore elsewhere, change your equipment or return with a different build. Important stories are communicated through environmental details, item descriptions, brief conversations and encounters that can be easy to miss. This produces a stronger feeling of personal discovery than Cyberpunk’s carefully staged missions, but it can also feel opaque if you prefer explicit objectives.
Combat, builds and difficulty
Expect the most demanding combat on this list. Enemy patterns, stamina management, spacing and attack timing matter, and major encounters can expose weaknesses in an otherwise effective build. The depth comes from combining attributes with weapon types, Ashes of War, sorceries, incantations, shields and status effects. You can respecialize later, but experimentation still requires collecting equipment and understanding how your choices interact.
Best for
- Players who want exploration to reveal the story rather than follow a cinematic sequence.
- Those who enjoy learning difficult fights and refining a character through repeated attempts.
- Anyone comfortable with a less directed narrative and occasional uncertainty about where to go next.
Choose Elden Ring when “like Cyberpunk 2077” means a huge world full of secrets and build experimentation. Do not choose it expecting the same volume of dialogue, romance scenes or mission staging.
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the best follow-up for players who want freedom above all else. Its 2011 fantasy province supports a main quest, faction storylines, dungeon delves, crafting, alchemy and spontaneous encounters, but none of these needs to define your character. You can postpone the central plot indefinitely while developing a completely different identity.
Freedom to build and role-play
Skyrim’s skill system advances through use, so a stealth archer, heavy-armored warrior, destruction mage, thief, alchemist or hybrid can emerge naturally. Perks let you deepen a specialty, while equipment, enchantments and potions support unusual combinations. The system is less tightly balanced than Cyberpunk’s perk trees, yet that looseness is the point: the game accepts improvised role-playing rather than demanding an optimized route.
Quests, factions and exploration
Major faction arcs provide recognizable goals, while caves, ruins and wandering encounters fill the space between them. The world’s secrets are often discovered by following a distant landmark or helping an NPC whose request seemed minor. Faction membership can change which abilities, homes and storylines become available, giving the sandbox a social structure that Cyberpunk’s district-based progression only partly replicates.
Rank #2
- If you buy this game, you will receive a free next-gen update on December 14th!
- Play as a highly trained monster slayer for hire.
- Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth and complexity.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition brings together the base game and all the additional content released to date.
Edition and mod considerations
On PC, the long-established mod ecosystem can change visuals, survival rules, combat and quest content. Console editions have more limited mod support, and Special Edition or Anniversary content can differ from the original release. Confirm which edition you own before following a mod guide or assuming that a particular creation is included.
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Best for
- Players who want to set their own pace and ignore the main quest for dozens of hours.
- Role-players who value factions, flexible builds and emergent stories.
- Anyone comfortable with an older game whose systems and presentation are less modern than Cyberpunk 2077.
Red Dead Redemption 2 — the slow-burn immersion pick
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a strong choice when you want to inhabit a believable place rather than optimize a character rapidly. Its 2018 frontier setting is densely simulated: travel, camp routines, wildlife, weather, conversations and small-world reactions support the sense that the environment exists outside the main mission.
Why the pacing matters
The opening deliberately takes its time, and later chapters continue to use long rides, camp interactions and investigation before major confrontations. That pacing is the opposite of Cyberpunk’s rapid succession of gigs and urban encounters. The payoff is a character-led story in which relationships and the consequences of the gang’s choices accumulate gradually.
Progression and combat
Arthur’s progression focuses on equipment, camp improvements, weapons, horse development and core attributes rather than a sprawling skill tree. Gunfights are readable and weighty, with cover, weapon handling and Dead Eye abilities shaping encounters. Exploration is broad, but story chapters and mission staging keep the experience more directed than Skyrim or Elden Ring.
Best for
- Players who prioritize atmosphere, animation detail and believable daily routines.
- Those who prefer a carefully paced character drama over constant build changes.
- Readers willing to let a long-form story develop instead of seeking immediate action.
Select this when the part of Cyberpunk 2077 you valued most was its sense of place and relationships, not its futuristic technology or dense urban mission count.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II — grounded historical role-playing
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the most suitable option for players who want role-playing systems rooted in a believable historical world. Set in medieval Bohemia, it replaces cyberware, firearms and neon spectacle with social status, travel, equipment, knowledge and consequences that follow from how you behave around other people.
A world governed by social rules
Your clothing, reputation, speech and previous actions can affect how characters respond. Problems may be solved through persuasion, stealth, combat, investigation or preparation, and a choice that appears efficient can create a later complication. The result is less power-fantasy than Cyberpunk 2077: you are a person with limits navigating institutions, rival groups and practical constraints.
Combat and character development
Fighting demands practice with positioning, timing and weapon handling. Skills improve through use and training, so the character you become reflects the activities you choose. Progression is deep without relying on a futuristic ability grid; equipment quality, knowledge and reputation can matter as much as raw statistics.
Best for
- Players who want realistic systems and social consequences instead of supernatural spectacle.
- Those who enjoy investigation, travel and problem-solving at a measured pace.
- Anyone prepared for a less forgiving opening while they learn the setting’s rules.
This is the most distinct recommendation on the list, but it preserves Cyberpunk 2077’s interest in choices, identity and the consequences of operating inside a complicated society.
Starfield — the science-fiction exploration alternative
Starfield is the obvious choice if the science-fiction side of Cyberpunk 2077 matters more to you than its dense single-city structure. Released in 2023, it combines planet visits, space travel, ship management, faction storylines, shooting, crafting and outpost construction into a broader exploration framework.
Rank #3
- PLAY AS A HIGHLY TRAINED MONSTER SLAYER FOR HIRE: Trained from early childhood and mutated to gain superhuman skills, strength, and reflexes, witchers are a counterbalance to the monster-infested world in which they live.
- Gruesomely destroy foes as a professional monster hunter armed with a range of upgradeable weapons, mutating potions, and combat magic.
- Hunt down a wide variety of exotic monsters, from savage beasts prowling mountain passes to cunning supernatural predators lurking in the shadowy back alleys of densely populated cities. Invest your rewards to upgrade your weaponry and buy custom armor, or spend them on horse races, card games, fist fighting, and other pleasures life brings.
- EXPLORE A MORALLY AMBIGUOUS FANTASY OPEN WORLD: Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth, and complexity. Traverse a fantastical open world: explore forgotten ruins, caves, and shipwrecks, trade with merchants and dwarven smiths in cities, and hunt across the open plains, mountains, and seas. Deal with treasonous generals, devious witches, and corrupt royalty to provide dark and dangerous services. Make choices that go beyond good & evil, and face their far-reaching consequences.
- TRACK DOWN THE CHILD OF PROPHECY: Take on the most important contract of your life: to track down the child of prophecy, the key to saving or destroying this world. In times of war, chase down the child of prophecy, a living weapon foretold by ancient elven legends. Struggle against ferocious rulers, spirits of the wilds, and even a threat from beyond the veil – all hell-bent on controlling this world. Define your destiny in a world that may not be worth saving.
What carries over from Cyberpunk 2077
You still create a character, select skills and make decisions across faction and personal quests. Weapons, spacesuits, ship systems and crafting materials provide several progression tracks, while companions add relationship and story layers. The science-fiction setting supports curiosity about places beyond the central plot, even when individual locations are more structured than Night City’s continuous streets.
Where expectations need adjusting
Starfield’s rhythm is more segmented. Travel, menus, quest hubs and loading transitions separate activities that Cyberpunk 2077 presents as one connected urban flow. Planetary scale creates variety, but not every destination offers the same authored density. Ship-focused progression and resource management also occupy more attention than Cyberpunk’s vehicle and weapon systems.
Best for
- Players who want planets, ships and science-fiction travel as the main attraction.
- Those who enjoy managing several progression systems at once.
- Readers comfortable with a stop-start structure rather than a single tightly authored metropolis.
Choose Starfield for breadth and spacefaring systems, not as a direct replacement for Cyberpunk 2077’s concentrated city storytelling.
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How to choose the right game for the part of Cyberpunk 2077 you miss
If you want authored quests and difficult moral choices
Start with The Witcher 3. Its quest writing, recurring characters and expansion structure most closely preserve the feeling of being guided through a large world without losing meaningful agency.
If you want discovery and a harder combat ceiling
Pick Elden Ring. You will spend more time interpreting the world and learning encounters, and less time following explicit objective markers.
If you want unrestricted role-playing
Choose Skyrim. Its factions, skills and mod ecosystem let you define the purpose and pace of a playthrough more freely than the other recommendations.
If atmosphere matters more than build complexity
Play Red Dead Redemption 2. Its deliberate routines and character focus reward patience, even though its progression is less mechanically varied.
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Choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Its medieval setting and social systems make ordinary decisions carry practical weight.
If you want science-fiction breadth
Play Starfield. It expands the question from “Which city should I explore?” to “Which world, ship or faction should I pursue next?”
Practical buying checklist
- Confirm your platform. Check the current PC, PlayStation, Xbox or Switch store listing for the exact game and edition; availability differs among the six titles.
- Check the edition name. For The Witcher 3, look for the Complete Edition if you want Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine included. For Skyrim, verify whether the listing is Special Edition or Anniversary content.
- Match the difficulty to your preference. Elden Ring and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II demand more mechanical learning than Skyrim or Starfield. Red Dead Redemption 2 is less punishing but asks for more patience.
- Decide whether you want a directed story. The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 lead with authored campaigns. Skyrim and Elden Ring expect you to create much of your own route.
- Allow for different pacing. Cyberpunk 2077’s dense urban flow is not replicated exactly: Red Dead Redemption 2 is slower, Elden Ring is more cryptic, and Starfield is more segmented.
The strongest single recommendation remains The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition. The other five are better understood as targeted alternatives: choose the one that preserves the specific Cyberpunk 2077 quality you want next.
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