We’ve seen everything Tamriel has to offer so we’re diving into 10 games like Skyrim that every budding adventurer should play.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is considered a perfect RPG by many. Full of quests and opportunities for adventure, no two playthroughs are ever alike.
Player choice is central to the Skyrim experience and the ability to craft and grow one’s character is a major selling point of the fifth Elder Scrolls game.
Those choices don’t mean much though if the narrative is as flat as a Dragonborn after a run-in with a club-wielding giant. The games on our list below typically have deep and complex plots for players to uncover with their choices having a tangible impact on how the story plays out.
With the pre-amble out of the way, let’s ‘Fus-Ro-Dah-ly’ about no longer and take a closer look at some of the games like Skyrim that will keep you entertained for hundreds of hours.
Table of Contents
1. Fallout 4 (2015)
It won’t surprise anyone to see Fallout appear on our list of games like Skyrim. Fallout New Vegas may be the critical darling of the 3D Fallout games but Fallout 4 is the most accessible in 2024 as it’s easily playable on modern consoles and PC.
Just like Skyrim, Fallout 4 introduces players to its world slowly. After a brief yet explosive prelude set in the 1950s, players take control of their adventurer inside an underground vault in the year 2287 after the Earth was scorched from nuclear war.
A tragic crime leads your intrepid wanderer to leave the vault and head out into the wasteland of Boston, a place full of dangerous bandits, mutated creatures, and hardened survivors.
Swapping Skyrim’s swords, bows, and magic for guns and explosives, combat in the Fallout games makes players feel like a deadly assassin, thanks to the V.A.T.S system.
V.A.T.S (Valt-Tec Assisted Targeting System) allows players to slow down time during firefights, selecting parts of their enemies to attack based on the probability of a critical hit. It’s intuitive and gory and sets Fallout 4 apart from the other sprawling games on this list.
With the upcoming Fallout TV show arriving in a couple of months and a planned next-gen update on the way, 2024 is the best time to exit the vault and explore the wasteland.
2. Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017)
From one post-apocalyptic adventure to another now with Horizon: Zero Dawn becoming our second pick on our list for titles to tackle after Skyrim.
Horizon presents players with a vast open world to explore as the skilled Nora Warrior, Aloy. Sentient AI machines have roamed the lands following the collapse of society in the year 2066. Now, almost one thousand years later, Aloy sets out on a quest to discover what drives the machines and looks for a path toward a better future.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s deep lore is hidden throughout its beautiful world, a land scattered in relics of our present-day society reclaimed by nature.
On your adventure you’ll pick up numerous side quests from memorable characters and become enveloped in the experience, expertly crafted by developers Guerilla.
The animalistic machines range from the gigantic and majestic Tallnecks to the deadly Sawtooth and the monstrous, T-Rex-inspired Thunderjaw. Aloy can battle these robotic beasts with the aid of her trust bow, quick wits, and agility.
3. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (2017)
One of the best games for the Nintendo Switch is also the perfect game for players who’ve suffered too many arrows to the knees.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild catapults players into the open-world of Hyrule, in the most expansive and seamless version of Link’s homeland to appear on a home console.
As much a survival game as it is an action-adventure or an RPG, Breath Of The Wild’s diverse biomes force players to think about their environment and be proactive in their journey. Breath Of The Wild’s greatest strength is that if you think it would work in real life, it’ll work in the game.
Trying to climb a snowy mountain but keep freezing to death? Strap a fiery sword to your back and feel nice and toasty as you ascend.
Attempting to cross a desert but it’s too hot? Take off your clothes and run through at night when it’s cooler. Sure you might get some funny looks, but you’ll do whatever it takes to save Hyrule from the evil Calamity Ganon.
4. Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)
CD Projekt Red hit it out of the park with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a game that could easily occupy a slot on our list of games like Skyrim.
We’ve elected to include CDPR’s follow up to Geralt’s latest medieval romp as Cyberpunk 2077 offers a distinctively different aesthetic for choice-based RPG fans.
Rolling hills and snowy mountaintops are replaced by arid wastelands and concrete jungles in this futuristic dystopia where body modification is a normal as sticking the kettle on.
Players take on the role of ‘V’ a mercenary for hire in Night City, a neon-soaked hive of grotty individuals all looking to take the top spot in a place smothered in crime and soaked in excess.
Cyberpunk 2077 is chock full of quests for players to find and choices to make. V is customisable to an overwhelming extent with their looks, stats, and abilities, able to be tailored to suit any playstyle.
Players looking for games like Skyrim can do much worse than giving Cyberpunk 2077 a try.
5. Elden Ring (2022)
If exploring Tamriel seemed like a daunting prospect when you break free at the beginning of Skyrim then Elden Ring’s The Lands Between could cause you to totally prolapse.
Not only are The Lands Between massive but they’re filled with enemies all vying to make you see the infamous ‘YOU DIED’ screen.
Players emerge from the depths of Limgrave as a lowly Tarnished. A being tasked with reaching the Great Erdtree and assuming your place as the Elden Lord.
Diabolical creatures, monsters, horrific abominations, and even disgraced Gods will oppose you in an adventure that teases you forward with every encounter.
The richly detailed world holds secrets within every nook and cranny, and players can build their characters to specialise in an array of different classes and builds.
This epic adventure is darker in tone than Skyrim but players brave enough to explore its depths will be rewarded by a game unlike any other.
6. God Of War (2018)
Do you like epic adventures? How about fantastical lands? And do you enjoy felling enormous beasts?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you’re probably in love Skyrim and will absolutely adore 2018’s God Of War.
The rebirth of protagonist Kratos as a man and a God weary of life and battle, forced to engage in conflict once more to protect his son and honour his wife is a tale told imaginatively by the team at Sony Santa Monica.
Skyrim fans will relish the detailed and rich world full of creatures and characters from Norse mythology. Mighty Gods collide and steel is bloodied as Kratos and his son Atreus embark upon their solemn odyssey.
Beautifully crafted with deep story and brutal action, God of War is a tour de force and an instant classic in the pantheon of gaming.
7. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (2013)
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is the enhanced version of the sublime action RPG from Capcom.
Skyrim fans will get a kick out of the main plot that sees players venturing across the land of Gransys on a quest to defeat Grigori, a dragon prophesised to destroy the world.
Decking dragons and other nasties is great fun in Dragon’s Dogma thanks to the ability to grab onto enemies and clamber over them, Shadow of the Colossus style, enabling you to hack them to bits while they fight to repel your attacks.
Dragon’s Dogma’s unique Pawn system makes it stand out from other fantastical RPGs. Your band of adventures will consist of several NPCs that are AI-controlled characters from other Dragon’s Dogma players.
The inclusion of Pawns adds a neat little twist to the stellar hack and slack action when you realise your comrades are the creations of every player.
Capcom are currently preparing a long-awaited sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2 for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Steam for the 22nd of March 2024.
8. The Forgotten City (2021)
The Forgotten City started life as a mod for Skyrim before becoming a bonafide critical darling as a full release.
Modern Storyteller’s debut game eschews its open-world heritage in favour of a first-person detective game with a strong narrative about morality and an intriguing premise.
Players will discover a magically restored Roman Ruin in the heart of Italy, where its inhabitants are forbidden from committing sins lest they be turned into solid gold statues.
Naturally, sins will occur and people will turn to gold but a portal enables the player to loop backward through time with any knowledge they’ve acquired intact. What follows is a time-bending whodunnit with fantastic storytelling and multiple unlockable endings.
As a game that was born of the Skyrim mod scene, it’s still possible to see some of Bethesda’s architecture beneath the surface and that includes some of the jank and technical foibles that the Maryland developer and known and, occasionally, loved for.
While the gameplay might not invoke the same feelings as Skyrim, the fact that The Forgotten City exists at all as a standalone title makes it a worthwhile tangent for Elder Scrolls fans to explore.
9. The Outer Worlds (2019)
From Obsidian Entertainment, the developers of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Fallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Outer Worlds manages to combine world-class RPG game mechanics with great dollops of dark humour on the side.
This sci-fi RPG takes the proven formula of Skyrim and launches into the stratosphere, offering plenty of missions and side quests for players to discover and objectives to achieve.
Objectives manage to illicit the same sense of player autonomy as the best Bethesda games do and present dynamic choices for players to carve their own pathway through their galactic exploits.
There are multiple pathways through every encounter and set piece. You can employ stealth to sneak past enemies or you could talk to them, find a common ground, and reach an agreement that suits both of you.
Of course, you could also just start blasting the moment your trigger finger feels a bit itchy, and thankfully, The Outer Worlds combat feels suitably solid with plenty of heft behind every bullet.
The Outer Worlds offers something fresh and full of personality while simultaneously paying homage to the many other great RPGs that have come before it.
10. Starfield (2023)
From one spacefaring adventure to another now and a return to Bethesda Game Studios’ brand of sprawling RPGs.
Prior to its release, Starfield was widely anticipated as ‘Skyrim in space’. That sounds like a tantalising proposition for players looking for a new adventure after hundreds of hours exploring the world of Tamriel.
Starfield offers players a whole universe to discover, with over one thousand planets to venture to thanks to Bethesda’s procedurally generative tech.
Every planet you land on presents a fresh opportunity for adventure. The variety of biomes on offer is truly impressive with each new world operating with its own ecosystem, gravitational fields, weather systems and more.
Exploration in Starfield isn’t as seamless as in other games from Bethesda, with loadings screens and menus separating each blast across the cosmos.
It’s not all about planet-hopping escapades though, as Starfield’s main quest sees players researching hidden artifacts and unraveling the the mysteries of the universe alongside a cast of quirky characters.
There are huge levels of customisation on offer too, with players able to create their own protagonists and even design their spaceships to their exact specifications.
