Summary
- Some open-world games offer post-credits content like new gameplay mechanics and deeper story layers.
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring, & Horizon Forbidden West are examples of games with engaging post-credits content.
- These games allow players to freely explore the open world, unlock new areas, and continue mastering gameplay elements post-credits.
Some open-world games drop players into a living, breathing world; others make players become a part of it, refusing to let them leave. Many players reach the credits and walk away, but some games practically begin once the credits roll; whether it’s through new gameplay mechanics, revealing deeper layers of the story, or simply inviting players to stay and explore at their own pace.
Some games even hide entire endings behind repeat playthroughs or offer rewards for mastering every element they have on offer after the main quest is done. Here’s a list celebrating open-world games that not only let players keep playing post-credits, but make the experience genuinely worth it as well.
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Defeated Ganondorf? You’re Just Getting Warmed Up
The sequel to 2017’s smash-hit, Breath of the Wild, adds sky islands and underground Depths to explore in addition to the massive surface world, making for an enormous, interconnected open world. Upon defeating Ganondorf, Tears of the Kingdom truly opens up its world, resetting to a pre-final-battle state, allowing freeform exploration. All the shrines, Korok seeds, side quests, and building systems remain available with zero restrictions.
The genius addition of the Ultrahand system allows players to continuously invent and refine wild contraptions indefinitely. Whether they’re using post-credits time to pursue 100% completion, or mastering traversal through Zonai tech, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom foregoes a New Game+ system, instead giving players the entire world to explore right from the get-go, and not forcing them to retread their steps even if they topple the “final boss” too soon.
Elden Ring
The Real Lands Between Are The Friends You Made Along The Way
With six distinct endings and a massive open world with hundreds of bosses and secret areas, Elden Ring is a game that practically begs players not to put the controller down. After finishing the main story once, New Game Plus becomes available, letting players keep all their gear and stats. Difficulty is increased, and bosses hit harder and have more HP.
Yet even without starting NG+, the game seamlessly continues after defeating the final boss, allowing players to freely explore the world, discover any bosses they might have missed, and test out new builds and weapons with their freshly acquired 500,000 runes. PvP and co-op multiplayer also remain active, encouraging continued experimentation after the main story.
Horizon Forbidden West
Saving The World Just Means You Get Of See More of It
Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy’s journey across a richly detailed open world of sentient machine-dinosaurs and ancient tech. Upon completing the final mission, the game reverts to an open free-roam state with nearly every activity still available. Side quests, cauldrons, hunting grounds, and exploration zones all remain open.
Players can chase 100% completion for the trophy, upgrade their legendary gear, or unlock all machine overrides. If all that isn’t enough, there’s the Burning Shores DLC, which adds another layer, expanding the post-credits content even further with new regions to explore, machines to battle, and threats to overcome.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur’s Story Ends, But The West Rides On
The cinematic, character-driven open world of Red Dead Redemption 2, with its deeply emotional story spread across five chapters and an epilogue, makes the bold decision of killing off its main character in its ending (not unlike the first game). After the credits, players take control of John Marston and can continue exploring the entire map,.
The world subtly shifts in tone post-credits, reflecting consequences from the main story. Side quests, stranger missions, legendary animals, and camp upgrades remain fully accessible, but take on a slightly different tone as John takes the reins of Arthur’s quest. A brand new region—which was seen in the first game—also opens up to be explored. There’s a strange sort of melancholic satisfaction in tying up Arthur’s unfinished business as John. Players get to continue Arthur’s legacy of gunslinging, committing robberies, and chasing bounties, all while remaining fashionable as outfit and weapon customization also remain intact.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
The World Ends, Then It Opens
Although the base game of Dragon’s Dogma was released in 2012 to middling reviews, its 2013 expansion, Dark Arisen is what truly cemented it as a cult classic. Upon finishing the story, players unlock the option to continue in a post-game world state where the Everfall, a vertical dungeon hub filled with bosses, loot, and secrets opens up.
Post-credits players can fight the Ur-Dragon, one of the toughest enemies in the game. There’s also Bitterblack Isle, exclusive to the Dark Arisen expansion, an additional endgame dungeon with extremely powerful enemies and gear. Beyond all that, players also have access to a New Game Plus mode, allowing players to endlessly optimize their builds, pawns, and vocations.
Dead Rising
72 Hours Was Just the Tutorial
This open-world zombie survival game with a strict 72-hour timer features multiple endings that unlock based on player actions, with the “true ending” requiring them to meet certain goals. After finishing their first playthrough of Dead Rising, players unlock Infinity Mode and can start new runs with all their stats intact.
Leveling up with those stats unlocks new moves, health boosts and inventory slots which carry over across playthroughs. Once the story objectives are all cleared up, that’s when the freestyle sandbox gameplay truly opens up, allowing players to experiment with different survivors and weapons.
Sunless Sea
The Sea’s Hunger Is Never Sated
A narrative-heavy roguelike set in a dark, surreal version of London that sank beneath the earth, Sunless Sea has players control a ship captain exploring the Unterzee; managing fuel, supplies, crew, and terror. Death is permanent, but knowledge and certain legacies can be passed on to new captains.
The game features dozens of storylines that unfold differently depending on player choices, stats, map layouts, and events. Post-death progress advances the game’s meta-narrative and unlocks new ship types or officers. Sunless Sea is a game that’s repetitive by design, but no two voyages ever feel the same.
NieR: Automata
You Finished The Game… Or Did You?
A genre-bender that can’t be replicated, NieR: Automata makes players sit through the credits not just once, but five separate times, and makes each experience different. The final iteration of the credits even has a playable segment where the falling names of the developers are the enemy. The first time the credits roll, the game resets but tells the story through a different perspective, expanding the narrative context and secrets. The second time the credits roll, the game resets again, only this time, players now have access to the second half of the story.
Post-credits, players can return with full freedom to mop up side quests and explore any secrets they may have missed. Subsequent playthroughs as different characters even unlock new side-quests to take on, new areas to explore, and new weapons to experiment with. And, upon reaching the final ending, players are faced with the tough decision of deleting their save data to help another player finish the game, as someone else may have done for them.
