Graphics used to be the only thing that mattered. Back in the PS3/Xbox 360 era, a game that boasted impressive graphics was bound to sell well, even if its gameplay was lacking. That endless search for photorealism in video games was often enough to drum up hype for a new game. The first Watch Dogs didn’t look like much more than a GTA clone with some environmental interactions, but its first trailer was so graphically impressive that it set the world on fire.
That trend has changed in more recent generations. Graphics are still important, to be sure, but the margins are so thin now that even indie games are closing the visual gap with triple-A titles. Every game looks good, and so looking good doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Or does it? These upcoming open-world games may have a thing or two to say about that. They play host to some fascinating gameplay elements, but to go along with that, they come in sporting outstanding graphics.
Crimson Desert
More Particles Than You Can Shake A Stick At
Originally planned as a prequel to Black Desert (an MMO with some pretty slick graphics of its own), Crimson Desert has since shed that narrative connection and become something all its own. It’s a single-player action-RPG with a heavy emphasis on the action, sporting controls that will probably feel very familiar to fans of fighting games.
For how many mechanics have been shown off in trailers, it’s a small miracle that Crimson Desert looks as good as it does with all those systems running in the background. The particle effects are a particular standout, to the point that some players are concerned they may become distracting in the heat of combat. Thankfully, that kind of thing is an easy fix, and when everything else about the game looks so good, it’s a pretty minor concern.
Grand Theft Auto 6
This Is What A $2 Billion Budget Looks Like
Now that Silksong has been released, there is no longer any debate about what the most hyped upcoming video game is: it’s Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockster’s first game in eight years, and first Grand Theft Auto game in 13 years, has (reportedly) the largest budget for a video game in the industry’s history, coming in at over $2 billion.
Naturally, some of that cash will be spent on graphical fidelity, and based on the two trailers that have been released so far, the graphical fidelity is going to be beyond what anyone has seen before. GTA 6 is not just life-like, it’s virtually photorealistic. From the detail on every inch of the environment to the depth and variety of character designs—including an astounding number of different body types—it’s unlikely that any other open-world game will match the visual complexity of Rockstar’s next hit.
The Blood Of Dawkwalker
Vamping Never Looked So Good
It’s no secret that The Witcher 3 is one of the most beloved open-world games of all time. CD Projekt Red has made its name by crafting exceptional open worlds, and when a few of their devs—including one of The Witcher 3’s directors—branched off to form Rebel Wolves, there was going to be a lot of buzz around their debut. No matter what genre or style this new studio gravitated towards, CDPR fans knew they could expect gorgeous visuals, solid RPG mechanics, and gripping storytelling.
That game has since been revealed as The Blood of Dawnwalker, an open-world medieval vampire sim where players control Coen, a Dawnwalker with both human magic and vampiric abilities. The world is described as fully seamless, with no differentiation between main and side quests, and a 30-day timeline to rescue Coen’s family as the only constraint. The world itself looks like a beautiful blend of gothic horror (akin to Bloodborne in some ways) and medieval fantasy, with dense forests, towering castles, and looming mountains. It’s rare for an open-world game to take the training wheels off completely and let players explore and quest however they see fit, even as the doomsday clock continues counting down. That freedom, coupled with a visually stunning world, is sure to enrapture gamers when The Blood of Dawnwalker releases in 2026.
Where Winds Meet
Ancient China In All Its Splendor
Due to hit PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC in November, Where Winds Meet is the latest visual stunner from a Chinese video game developer, this time, from Everstone Studios. It’s an open-world MMORPG that will be free-to-play at launch. While that might give some players pause, it’s hard to watch this game’s trailers (or footage from its recent open beta) and not come away impressed.
Three things immediately jump off the screen: a wildly diverse combat system that makes use of everything from swords to bows to barrels, an impressive character creator and cosmetic system, and an astonishing degree of verticality during traversal. Some gamers may remember the debut trailer for Where Winds Meet, where the protagonist was scaling buildings and shooting a bow from mid-air. Things have gotten way crazier since then. Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but starring Superman. Being able to leap miles into the air and soar over the landscape in Where Winds Meet is a stunning visual experience that is unrivaled in any other video game, MMORPG or otherwise.
Chrono Odyssey
Gorgeous In Any Timeline
Chrono Odyssey is another upcoming MMORPG, this one coming out of Korea. The inclusion of “Chrono” in the title is a clear nod towards another time-traveling RPG, Chrono Trigger, but Chrono Odyssey is taking things in a more open-ended and action-focused direction than that inspiration.
Right from the outset, what stands out visually are the unreal draw distances on display in Chrono Odyssey’s seamless open world. Vast plains and sky-tipped mountains stretch on into the far distance, enticing players with new locales and environments sitting just out of reach. The game emphasizes “time-based combat,” which is what sets it apart from other MMORPGs on the market, and from Where Winds Meet as well.
Light No Fire
No Man’s Fully-Realized Planet
The ambitions of No Man’s Sky were well-documented ahead of its release, and no matter how many times it was shown in action, it still seemed that the lofty goals of Hello Games were unattainable. Well, that may have been the case at launch, but almost a decade later, No Man’s Sky is now exactly the ambitious game it was purported to be, and more so. Compared to an endless, procedurally generated universe, Hello Games’ next title, Light No Fire, seems both relatively modest and entirely attainable.
All that’s being proclaimed here is a fully explorable planet, but a planet that is to-scale and the same size as the Earth. For any other developer, that might seem like a big proposition, but for a studio that just made a game with an entire universe in it, it’s almost a downgrade. From what’s been shown so far, Light No Fire has more of the awe-inspiring vistas that players have been gazing at for years in No Man’s Sky, but with a greater emphasis on seamless environments. Where in No Man’s Sky, each planet really only featured one biome type, in Light No Fire, there will clearly be a variety of fully-realized areas to explore with friends.
The Witcher 4
Next-Gen Monster Hunting
Given the pedigree of The Witcher 3, it’s no surprise that, since its debut trailer, there has been a lot of discussion and excitement surrounding The Witcher 4. While it’s still a long way away, CD Projekt Red showed off a tech demo back in June 2025 that gave some indication of what fans could expect, and unsurprisingly, it was very impressive.
Crowd and environment density are off the charts; that’s the main takeaway so far. The Witcher 3 was all about emergent gameplay, deep side quests, and large explorable areas, and if this demo is anything to go by, CDPR is doubling down on each of those aspects in The Witcher 4. It’s likely we’ll see more from The Witcher 4 in the coming months—maybe at the 2025 Game Awards—and we’ll probably come away even more impressed after that.
Fable
Richard Ayodade In Glorious High Definition
In the mid-2000s, Fable was a premier RPG franchise, offering a phenomenal degree of player freedom and a reactive world that responded to the hero’s (or villain’s) actions in believable and organic ways. It’s been a long time since gamers have seen anything new from this franchise, but in 2026, a brand-new Fable is set to launch.
Right from its announcement trailer, gamers have been wowed by the facial animation tech on display; in particular, the impressive view of a giant Richard Ayodade’s face. Playground Games, the studio typically behind the Forza Horizon series, is working on this latest entry, and the studio’s knack for stunning environmental design is clear in its work on Fable as well. Whether or not it lives up to the franchise’s legacy and revives it for a newer generation, there’s little doubt that Fable is going to be a looker.
