5 Amazing Turn-Based RPGs With Huge Open Worlds

Published Aug 3, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more. Turn-based RPGs are commonly associated with more linear experiences than traditionally open-world maps, which are often connected to action-based RPGs and adventure games. For example, the huge worlds of games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are locked behind action-based combat, as moving around, seamlessly facing enemies, and then continuing is a staple. There are some remarkably great open-world RPGs, which include titles like Elden Ring and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, too. However, despite the fact that the open-world structure is more common in real-time action-based games, it is not in any way absent from turn-based games. A lot of turn-based RPGs offer hundreds of hours of gameplay due to how long their campaigns are, as well as how long battles last. This, summed up with extensive side content, can prolong these games, but some of them are made even bigger due to how large their open-world maps are. If you enjoy exploring big worlds full of secrets while sticking to turn-based combat, know that there are some great options out there. Octopath Traveler 2 One of the biggest and best turn-based RPGs with an open-world map is Octopath Traveler 2. The HD-2D title developed by Square Enix sets players in the world of Solistia, which has two major continents to explore. Much like the first entry in the series, you pick the character you want to start with out of a roster of eight heroes and start playing with them, where they are from. As you explore the world and start gathering more allies, you learn more about Solistia. The gameplay is enthralling, and the stories are some you won’t forget. This is because you’ll be experiencing the individual stories of each playable character in Octopath Traveler 2, but also how their stories mix and match to form a unique campaign for the party to follow. The map is nearly fully explorable from the get-go, though higher-level areas will put a damper on your exploration. Nevertheless, it’s tons of fun to return to areas you had avoided in the beginning and see what they have to offer once you have the appropriate level to safely progress. There’s a lot to see and do in Octopath Traveler 2, and while much of that comes from the game’s campaign, the open-world map and its many rich details contribute to that greatly. Honkai: Star Rail Screenshot: Bruno Yonezawa Honkai: Star Rail’s map isn’t fully open-world in a traditional sense, but once you unlock the destinations by progressing through the story, you’ll have a ton of interconnected semi-open-world areas that you can explore at your leisure. HoYoverse’s hit turn-based RPG lets you travel to different planets, and within them, explore different zones. Alone, they aren’t massive, but if you compile everything available, there’s a lot to explore. Each world and sub-area has a unique take and design, making it a rich map structure to explore as you play. Within each of these areas are enemies to face in turn-based combat, as well as mysteries to uncover and secrets to behold. For example, you can find tons of hidden treasure chests in Penacony if you know where to look and how to resolve puzzles, and the same is true for Belobog and the Xianzhou Luofu before it. This space adventure is a live service, too, meaning that the size of its map is expanding with new patches that introduce new areas. The game was released with three major locations: Herta Space Station, Jarilo-VI, and the Xianzhou Luofu. Since then, it has received Penacony, Amphoreus, and Planarcadia. As the Version 4.X patches are being released, Planarcadia is growing more, and next year the Astral Express should be headed to yet another big world to explore. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth One of the most iconic open-world maps for a turn-based RPG is that of the fantastic Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Considered the best entry in the series, this game doesn’t have a fully open-world map, much like Honkai: Star Rail, as it is set in three major locations, and you’ll have to jump between them to explore the areas. Furthermore, these areas aren’t huge in the traditional sense. You won’t be exploring these areas for hours on end due to the sheer size of the maps themselves, but instead, you’ll be spending tons of time with them because of the number of activities you can participate in. The three open-world segments in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth are Honolulu, Yokohama, and Tokyo. Within each self-contained portion of these cities is a huge load of content to play through, which can easily get your playtime into the hundreds. Infinite Wealth does a great job of populating its open-world sections with a lot to see and do, contrary to many games where the vast open-world structure feels empty. It follows the lessons drawn by its predecessors from the Yakuza series, and with its turn-based combat, inherited from Like a Dragon, it excels at everything it does. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet The first fully open-world core game in the series in nearly 30 years, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has a large area to explore. While Pokémon Legends: Arceus introduced the concept of semi-open-world zones, which you could fast-travel to, and the previous entries were linear-locked open-world maps, the Gen 9 titles allow you to go anywhere as soon as you start, even if some regions are locked behind progression. In the region of Paldea, you can explore every inch of what is, essentially, a huge island. In Scarlet and Violet, you are no longer contained by routes, which were the standard for most of the games until Gen 8 – Sword and Shield had the Wild Area, which nowadays feels like an experiment for what Legends: Arceus would expand upon so that Scarlet and Violet could become a reality. There are a few areas in Paldea that feel a bit empty, and the game is far from perfect on the technical side. However, Scarlet and Violet did introduce an exciting new interpretation of the open-world concept for the franchise while sticking to turn-based combat. Hopefully, the release of Pokémon Winds and Waves in 2027 comes with a fully-fledged and rich open-world map to explore, and so far, the leaks have shown that the Gen 10 titles will have turn-based combat. Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a masterpiece of a turn-based RPG – technically a CRPG – and it is divided into different open-world map segments. The title created by Larian Studios, which also later developed Baldur’s Gate 3, is divided into different acts, each of which offers players access to a huge open-world zone to explore. After getting off the Merryweather ship at the start of the game, you’re given free rein to explore Reaper’s Eye, a big open-world zone full of missions to complete, loot to find, and secrets to unravel. After escaping the region and progressing into the next act, you are thrown into Reaper’s Coast, which is an even larger open-world area. The game does not allow you to return to previously explored map locations, so it is not fully open-world in the traditional sense. However, each of these open-world sections is a colossus of its own, and you can easily put in dozens of hours into each of them. On top of how great the open-world maps feel to play through, the game’s turn-based combat is superb. There’s melee combat, there’s magic, and there are a lot of differences from the D&D-inspired system seen in BG3 to make it feel fresh, even if you play it after the more advanced and most recent release from Larian. This is arguably my personal favorite turn-based RPG with open-world maps, and I highly recommend it. RPG