You wake up in a cave with no memory, step outside, and see an enormous fantasy countryside stretching to the horizon with nobody telling you where to go. If you can see a mountain, you can walk over and climb it, and if it rains the rock gets slippery and you have to wait it out. You hunt, cook meals over campfires, and figure out fights your own way, by sneaking, shoving boulders downhill, or just swinging whatever weapon you picked up last.
Gameplay video
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Screenshots & review notes
Why it lands
Few open worlds have earned their reputation the way this one has; nearly a decade later, its influence is everywhere and its magic still hasn't faded.
How it plays
Climbing, gliding and cooking form a loop that never insists on a single solution, and the shrines dole out just enough structure to keep exploration from feeling aimless.
Style and score
The muted, painterly palette and minimalist piano score turn a ruined kingdom into something oddly peaceful, and it holds up remarkably well on the Switch's small screen.
Who it's for
There's a hundred-plus hours here for completionists, but even a casual wander is rewarding, making it an easy recommendation regardless of how much time you have.
Frames captured from the gameplay video above; notes are our own take on the game.
What it's like to play
You start in a cave with no memory and no gear, walk outside, and the game shows you an entire country from a clifftop. There is no arrow telling you where to go. If a mountain catches your eye, you walk to it and physically climb the rock face, holding on until your stamina ring runs low and you have to find a ledge to rest on. Rain makes stone slick so you slide back down, and if a thunderstorm rolls in while you are carrying a metal sword, lightning will actually hit you, so you scramble to swap to a wooden club.
Your day-to-day is scavenging. You chop apples out of trees, hunt boar, and throw ingredients into a cooking pot to make meals that heal you or keep you warm on a snowy peak. Weapons you find break after enough swings, which annoys some people, but it keeps you constantly picking up whatever the last enemy dropped instead of hoarding one favorite. When you spot a goblin camp, nothing forces you to charge in. You can shoot a beehive out of a tree to scatter them, roll a boulder down the hill, or sneak up at midnight while they sleep around a fire and take their weapons.
Scattered everywhere are small underground puzzle rooms, most of which take ten or fifteen minutes and involve pushing metal blocks, freezing water, or aiming a fan, which makes it easy to play in short bursts on a bus or before bed. The story comes to you in pieces as you find places from your character's forgotten past, so you can chase it or ignore it entirely. What people remember is not the plot but their own stories, like sliding down a snowy hill on a shield straight into an enemy camp by accident. Expect fifty hours for the main path and well over a hundred if you get curious.