Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition

Americana culture supreme. The world in this game is by far the most intriguing and neat of any game I’ve played. Seriously. It’s like a strange blend of Route 66 America, lush fantastical fields, otherworldly geological formations, and high fantasy kingdoms. There’s even a whole modern city towards the end. I happily played through this game twice because of how much I love playing in its world. The little mechanical details like fishing, cooking, driving (and filling up gas), sleeping, and more just create such a connection to the world that feels surreal. I notch this below a 10/10 because the delivery of the plot is jagged due to pacing, content cuts, and weird outside media releases. I also don’t like open world rpgs where there’s a really big portion of the game that occurs after the “point of no return” moment.