What are the best games like Skyrim? It may be over a decade old, but Bethesda’s open-world RPG still feels peerless. The majesty of Skyrim’s frozen fantasy world stole our hearts when it launched in 2011, and many of us are still playing it to this day. Skyrim has managed to age gracefully over the years and is still one of a select few RPGs that can take you on an unforgettable adventure.
Skyrim’s staying power is helped along with a little help from some of the best Skyrim mods, which offer HD textures and new quests in fan-made expansions. Skyrim has contributed to the rise in popularity of open-world fantasy RPGs and is considered to be one of the best PC games of all time, but there are plenty of other games with reams of lore to learn, expansive character customization, and a dedication to creating an immersive world. If you enjoyed Bethesda’s epic and are looking for something similar then we have the best games like Skyrim to get your fix before the Elder Scrolls 6 release date arrives.
Here are the best games like Skyrim:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
First on our list is easily one of the best PC games ever made; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This is a strong contender for the best open-world fantasy game ever, and similarly to Skyrim, it continues to blossom with age. Our Witcher 3 review heaped praise onto the open world game when it was released, and despite getting on in age, the beauty of its landscapes, embroidered clothing, and every other visual flourish continues to outshine most of its younger rivals.
The Witcher 3 follows Geralt of Rivia, the infamous, silver-tongued-and-equally-silver-haired monster hunter for hire. This third entry in the series is a great entry point into the series as it eases you into its story and combat. It also upholds everything The Witcher is celebrated for, by continuing to champion player choice, giving you the option to pick how to respond to the requests of characters and the exquisitely written questlines you embark upon – from saving children from witches to hunting down a missing frying pan.
The Witcher 3 is a game of great length, with some of our personal experiences taking us anywhere between 30-250+ hours to complete – demonstrating it’s not only Skyrim that can turn your entire weekends into save game files, especially if you add to the experience with the best Witcher 3 mods.
Read our full Witcher 3 review.
Fallout 4
Another of Bethesda’s esteemed RPGs, Fallout 4 takes the iconic Creation Engine (that Skyrim was built in) and uses it to transport you to a nuclear wasteland where you’ll meet ghouls, mutants, robots, and a wide range of other interesting and unusual characters and creatures. This wasn’t the first time the Fallout universe was fully realized in 3D like this (that was Fallout 3), but this is the most recent (outside of the MMO, Fallout 76).
Perhaps the coolest thing about this game is feeling like you’re actually helping to rebuild a world. Naturally, a post-apocalyptic landscape isn’t going to be in such good condition, but once you’ve helped different settlements, you’ll actually get to watch some sense of civilization return. It gives the game a sense of progress quite different to what you get with a lot of other games – and fans have taken that even further by ‘building’ some fantastic Fallout 4 mods that add even more interesting characters and scenarios to the world (read our Fallout London review for some insight into one of our favorites).
Read our full Fallout 4 review.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
While the Dragon Age series isn’t as long-lived as The Elder Scrolls, it does have plenty of swords-and-sorcery action to offer across its back catalog. The latest of which is Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third entry to BioWare’s successful series, which takes place in Thedas – a mystical land host to a variety of kingdoms and dynamic climates. Our Dragon Age Inquisition review was favorable to the game way back in 2014 – a testament to how good it is that it’s still one of the best RPGs today, at least until the Dragon Age 4 release date.
Although strictly played in third-person, as opposed to Skyrim’s typically first-person perspective, Dragon Age: Inquisition is riddled with rich lore and supplies a colorful open world packed with plenty of side missions to keep you occupied. If you love the loot system in Skyrim, you may favor what Inquisition has to offer here; there’s a plethora of weapons and armor, alongside a fulfilling reward system that provides essential crafting materials for your journey.
Inquisition also features a roster of charming and witty characters, and BioWare gives most of them a more engrossing narrative and memorable personality than anything Skyrim manages. If you enjoyed the option to marry in Skyrim then you’re in luck, as Inquisition lets you woo and romance party members. Forewarning, though, some of them may just break your heart. +10 to sadness right there.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Proving that older games shouldn’t always be put on the shelf, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning arrived in 2012 to little fanfare, but it’s one of PC gaming’s best RPGs. In a similar vein to Skyrim, you’re able to customize your character and class with a combination of skills, weapons, and abilities at your disposal, with a central focus on building your character from the ground up. While there are traditional classes like Skyrim you don’t have to dedicate yourself to one; as a ‘Fateless’ character, you’re free to swap and change your skill tree at any time.
It also happens that Kingdoms of Amalur comes from the mind of Ken Rolston, the lead designer behind Skyrim’s predecessors: Morrowind and Oblivion. Rolston managed to incorporate some of the Elder Scrolls’ best elements into Kingdoms of Amalur, including its striking environmental design and characterization that veers away from the typical RPG pitfall of feeling like Tolkien fan fiction.
Like Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning continues to receive positive reviews on Steam despite being a similar age, and comfortably sits in the category as a well-rounded fantasy RPG.
The Elder Scrolls Online
Finally, we have The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda’s online entry in the Elder Scrolls series got off to a rocky start upon launch in 2014 – as we talk about in our Elder Scrolls Online review – but after feedback from its fanbase and gradual refinements to the system, developer ZeniMax Studios continued to refine its MMO to the point that it’s now considered a serious contender to World of Warcraft’s throne.
Scrapping the subscription fee opened the world of Tamriel to thousands more players, and the game’s major expansions – Morrowind and Summerset – have been very well received, helping to further fix some of the game’s long-standing grievances.
Maintaining the perspective, fonts, and UI of Skyrim to provide a true Elder Scrolls feel, this MMORPG is worth picking up for fans wishing to extend their Skyrim experience, while still looking for a fresh adventure. Even better is the fact that it lets you explore Tamriel with friends. Everything you expect from an Elder Scrolls game is here – the races, the up-close combat, the sprawling questlines – but it’s transported to a complex, stat-focused MMO. Plus, the Morrowind expansion is pretty much designed for those crying out for a Morrowind remaster.
Starfield
The Bethesda formula is so defined that any of the studio’s RPGs fit right in on a list of the best games like Skyrim. However, if the thought of Skyrim in space appeals, then Starfield is your best bet. While Starfield trades off fantasy for sci-fi, Bethesda’s modus operandi persists across genres: an expansive open-world game brimming with characters to meet and quests to complete.
The Starfield missions comprise a hero’s journey to untangle the secrets of the universe, but they’re likely to take up a small fraction of your playtime. Instead, you can expect to spend hours traversing Starfield planets with your Starfield companions taking in the flora and fauna of alien wilds, or getting caught in the political machinations of Starfield cities. Naturally, you can expect to trade in your sword and bow for Starfield guns, though Starfield powers certainly make for a good alternative to Skyrim’s magic system. If you’re looking for a version of Skyrim to take you to far-flung worlds, Starfield is only a grav jump away.
Read our full Starfield review.
Baldur’s Gate 3
In some respects, Baldur’s Gate 3 is quite a different beast to Skyrim. Its turn-based combat is very different from Skyrim’s first-person swordplay, and it lacks the total freedom that’s so venerated in Bethesda’s open worlds. However, that freedom is instead redirected into the staggering amount of player choice available when progressing through Baldur’s Gate 3 quests.
There’s also a huge amount of character customization on offer, from Baldur’s Gate 3 races and Baldur’s Gate 3 classes to the more granular customization afforded by Baldur’s Gate 3 weapons and armor. In terms of games like Skyrim, Baldur’s Gate 3 might not be an exact replica, but it certainly captures the magic of immersing yourself in a high-fantasy world full of, well, dungeons and dragons. Baldur’s Gate 3 companions are the cherry on top of this genre-defining cake, and the likes of Astarion and Karlach are sure to steal your heart in a Baldur’s Gate 3 romance.
Read our full Baldur’s Gate 3 review.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
Developed by Capcom, Dragon’s Dogma is imbued with the spirit of JRPG game conventions applied to a Western high-fantasy aesthetic, resulting in a tone not too dissimilar to Dark Souls. If you’re looking for games like Skyrim that can offer a little bit of challenge – and a touch more bleakness – then Dragon’s Dogma is a great choice. For a start, both Skyrim and Dragon’s Dogma are dragon games, and the inciting incident in both is a close encounter with these scaly foes – though the Dragonborn gets off lightly by escaping with their heart intact.
There’s no denying that Dragon’s Dogma is a certifiably weird experience at times and that weirdness amounts to an open world full of engaging quests featuring eccentric characters. There’s also a wealth of emergent set pieces out patrolling the wilderness, including griffins, hydra, and even drakes. All that aside, Dragon’s Dogma is a game like Skyrim that lets you slay a dragon at the end of it. What more could you ask for? Just check out our thoughts on the Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen PC port review, and take it for a spin before the Dragon’s Dogma 2 release date rolls around.
That rounds off our selection of the best games like Skyrim. While there are some older titles on this list, their overall quality outshines any aging visuals. These aren’t just games to tide you over until Elder Scrolls 6, they’re some of the best RPG games ever made – so get stuck in, Dragonborn.