There are a variety of games that inspired the idea of open worlds in video gaming, ranging from forgotten classics to some of the most beloved games.
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 of an open-world where players can roam freely and play in a non-linear fashion.
Many of the best and most beloved games of all time use open-world design and the style has become familiar to gamers. However, there are a number of games that were influential in laying the groundwork for the open-world genre, so it could become what it is today. 6 Adventure (1980)
Credited generally with the creation of the open-world concept in gaming, Adventure was 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, Adventure allowed 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, Adventure is 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 by various tabletop RPGs of the 1980s. 5 Ultima III: Exodus
Ultima was 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’s Ultima 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 the Persona franchise.
