1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

There are plenty of side activities to enjoy in Zelda’s open world, such as cooking.

Although expectations were sky-high for this game, few expected Nintendo would deliver the best open-world game to date, and the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time. And Nintendo sure crafted an open-world masterpiece here, as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild offers a huge world to explore and countless activities to partake in, from raiding dungeons for treasure to solving puzzles in the game’s mysterious shrines.

There’s cause and effect at play here too, and attempting to climb towers in rainy weather could result in frustration as Link will slip on wet surfaces, while new abilities such as Cryonis enable you to freeze water into pillars and reach previously inaccessible areas. Of course, there’s also an interesting story to enjoy in which the fantasy world of Hyrule faces another existential threat, but simply wandering about Zelda’s world and soaking in the atmosphere is a wonderful experience in itself here. Plus, the fact you can enjoy all this on the go on Nintendo’s new Switch console is icing on the cake in what arguably is the best open world game made to date.

Came out on: Nintendo Switch, Wii U.