8 Open-World Games Have The Most Varied Fauna

Elden Ring

Since the Souls games all have a lot of interesting creatures, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to call the animals that live in them “wildlife.” Nor, really, open-world. Elden Ring fixes both of these problems, giving us a well-known open world with both domesticated and wild animals.

Wildlife isn’t usually thought of as one of the main enemies in a game, but Elden Ring likes to break the rules. If you go for a walk on the beach, a scary Sea Octopus could make you dinner.

If you walk across the fields of the Altus Plateau, a lightning ram will charge you with a little too much force. Then there’s Blaidd, who might not like being called wildlife, but he sort of is.

Metal Gear Solid 5

Now, when you see Metal Gear, your first thought might not be about animals. Stealth games, which are usually set in industrial places with a lot of espionage, don’t have a lot of animals, do they?

But then, many of the main characters are already named Snake, which is one of the most dangerous animals in the world.

If you want to be more specific, you could say that Metal Gear Solid 5 has wildlife. In fact, Snake makes a big deal out of taking animals from dangerous war zones and putting them in safe places on Mother Base.

Finding these animals is a task in and of itself, and bringing them back to base makes you feel good about yourself and the animals. Everyone is happy.

Breath Of The Wild

The name says it all, right? The characters in Zelda games have always been known for being…interesting. The Cucco will always find a way to kill you, and the Octoroks will shoot annoying rocks at you. Then there’s Ooccoo, which is a horrible thing that no one should ever have to see.

Breath of the Wild, as you can tell from the name, has a lot of animals that are a bit more common. Seeing deer, boars, birds, and fish just living in the world around you gives it a sense of life that’s missing when there are no people there. It’s also fun to figure out which ones you can ride, which is most of them.

Final Fantasy 15

One of the most popular characters in the Final Fantasy series is the Chocobo, a bird that can be ridden.

They’re kind of like horses in that they’re mostly tamed and bred, but in a lot of games, you can still find a lot of them in the wild. A lot of Final Fantasy’s monsters are wild animals that aren’t exactly nice and live all over the world.

Even though it has made a lot of mistakes, Final Fantasy 15 is the first game in the series that really lets you see how big these animals are and how they live.

You’ll get a lot of hunts to kill them, but it’s still beautiful to see them traveling in groups or to have to stop your car so animals can cross the road. Gives them a place in the world that they never had in earlier games.

Horizon: Forbidden West

Most post-apocalyptic worlds show the few people who are still alive trying to survive in a world where almost nothing is left standing. The Horizon games, on the other hand, go in a completely different way. They show a lush world full of ruins, animals, and human settlements.

Now, when you think of the Horizon games, you probably don’t remember the little guys who are real people. Rabbits, mice, and other animals. They’re cool and all, but it’s much funnier to think that the Thunderjaw came from an AI that wanted to heal the earth.

Yes, the T-Rex robot with lasers will help fix the Earth in some way.

The Witcher 3

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about animals in games without mentioning The Witcher, a series of games that, once you get past the murderous kings, are all about hunting monsters. Not all of those monsters are animals in the traditional sense. For example, a Doppler is a nice guy who just wants to fit in, but a big bear is a pretty wild animal.

Basket Random is the best example of this way of life. It’s always fun to walk into a town, get a new job, and then take your time tracking what amounts to a magical, wild animal.

But even when you see them in the world in a normal way, like a Griffon flying through the sky, it makes you realize that this isn’t just the home of people; it’s also the home of many other creatures.

Pokemon Scarlet And Violet

With over 1000 Pokemon to choose from, it’s safe to say that the Pokemon games have a lot of animals. With more than 20 years of experience and hundreds of games, many Pokemon have become famous in their own right. They range from bugs to ice cream.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet does something that Pokemon fans have been asking for for a long time: it makes a Pokemon game with a truly open world. Paldea is full of life, and all these Pokemon make sense. They graze in fields, fly through the sky, and do a lot more.

Some of them will run with you, while others will cower in fear, and some will even try to kill you in a cruel way.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar has made a name for itself by making games with a lot of detail. People have always thought that their Grand Theft Auto games are some of the best city models out there. You can expect to see neighborhoods, differences in wealth, and other signs that cities are actually inhabited.

The Red Dead games go in the exact opposite way, making a big world full of wilderness and everything that comes with it.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a game with animals as detailed and varied as Red Dead Redemption 2’s, unless you count hunting simulations. They all live in their own places, are hunted in different ways, and have their own hunting styles.

They seem real. Cougars will stalk, hawks will swoop down on their food, and beavers will swim around dams. It’s an absurd amount of information, and you’re sure to miss a lot of unique interactions because of it.