17 Best Nintendo Switch Open World RPGs To Take On The Go

The Nintendo Switch has been documented plenty as being an “RPG machine”. Because between past titles and new games, you’re going to have a lot to enjoy. But for those who want a truly “expansive” experience, these Open-World RPGs are definitely worth your attention.

#17 Hogwarts Legacy

Platform: PC PS5 XSX|S – February 10, 2023 | PS4 Xbox One – May 05, 2023
Release Date: Switch November 14, 2023

Steam | PlayStation | Xbox | Nintendo

When you read the books or watched the movies featuring Harry Potter and his friends, your greatest desire was likely wanting to be in that world and see all it has to offer.

The good news is that Hogwarts Legacy gives you that desire in spades. You’ll transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and be able to explore the grounds therein. You can wander the castle and seek out its many hidden rooms.

Then you can head to the grounds, fly on hippogriffs, or delve into the Forbidden Forest! You can even go to Hogsmeade and have unique adventures there! So jump in and wander to your hearts’ content!

#16 Dying Light Platinum Edition

The best version of the hit zombie title, Dying Light Platinum Edition puts you in a city where you are trying to survive at all costs from a virus that is slowly turning everyone into a zombie. You’ll need to fight, run, and parkour your way through the hordes of zombies, as well as the other threats that this city has to offer.

And that’s just one challenge you face, as you’re there on a mission from your higher ups, but as you learn about the survivors, you’re going to wonder whether to side with them, or continue to follow your orders to the letter…

Your choices matter, and your actions have consequences. So make sure you’re good with them as you do them…or else.

#15 Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen

Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen is an RPG where things go a bit differently than you’re expecting. How so? Well in this title, you’re actually going to be able to control certain AI beings known as Pawns. You’ll guide them to be the kind of fighters that you want by your side as you go through a deep and dark world.

A world that is full of monsters that you’ll need to not just fight, but exploit the weaknesses of. Including ones like Hydra, Griffins, and more. Your character alone can go through nine different variations of fighter, and when you add that to your minions, that’s a lot of different ways to play.

Add that to DLC? And Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen has much to offer the open-world market.

#14 Dragon Quest XI Echoes of an Elusive Age

• Publisher: Square Enix
• Developer: Square Enix
• Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Released: 2017

The granddaddy of JRPGs reaffirmed its iron grip on the crown with its 11th entry, feeling like a celebration of all that came before it. After a youth discovers his heritage, yet is accused of harboring disaster, he is hurled on an adventure with life-long friends, and battles against monsters from the wacky to the horrifying. Chose your weapons and skills you wish to build your heroes with, explore every nook and cranny for loot and gear, and use some defeated foes to navigate climbable walls or high cliffs. Once you unlock the full world, revisit older locations with new abilities, or stick your neck out in uncharted territory.

This Definitive Edition lives up to the name, adding more content, additional story scenes, Japanese voice acting, and even a 2D mode last seen in the Japanese only 3DS version- in case the retro appeal wasn’t blatant enough. You can even take on “Draconic Quests-” modifiers that make your game more challenging. How about cutting off EXP if foes are too weak? Stronger foes? Forbidden from shopping or wearing armor? Maybe even lying NPCs or your characters being overcome with embarrassment into non-action during fights?! Without a doubt, Dragon Quest XI is the Nintendo Switch open world RPG to take on the go.

#13 Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

While the original game has a…very curious history, it’s Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning that we’re talking about here. This remastered version of the title brings forth the best elements of gameplay and choice to give you a fun RPG time.

You’ll get to create a character that is truly yours, then set them out in a world that is being ravaged by war, where only you can turn the tides. And to be clear here, this singleplayer title is meant to truly engage you on all levels. As it has TONS of quests and sidequests for you to do, and thus, you won’t get bored very easily…if ever.

Enjoy the world and its intense combat and wonder…why didn’t I get this game earlier?

#12 Divinity Original Sin 2

There’s a LOT to say about Divinity Original Sin 2, not the least of which is that it’s one of the best and most well-received RPGs of recent years, and that’s saying something.

In this game, you’ll be able to play as an assortment of characters and take on challenges by yourself or in a squad of four in order to better engage with what’s coming. And what’s coming…is a lot.

And that’s the beauty of it. The world is seamless, has a lot to do and interact with, and you can go about it at your own pace as you try and build yourself up into the warrior/sorcerer or whatever else you want to become. Drop in and out with other players and see all this game has to offer, because again, it’s a lot.

#11 Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

There are two different Monster Hunter games on this list, but this first one is…a bit different. Because it is a Monster Hunter game, but it also plays a bit like Pokemon.

The original Monster Hunter Stories game was on 3DS and featured you getting monsters and literally riding them into intense turn-based RPG style battles. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin takes that and ramps it up quite a bit. You play as the descendant of the original games’ MC, and soon get an egg for a Rathalos that is deemed to be the “wings of ruin”. You’re swept up in a tale of mystery, conspiracy, conquest, and more as you try and prove that Rathalos isn’t the danger it presents, and try to save the world itself from the darkness to come.

With a TON of monsters to claim as your own, and many areas to find new eggs, you’ll find yourself drawn to this offbeat version of the Monster Hunter series.

#10 Fire Emblem Three Houses

Ok, we’re cheating here a little bit, but this IS an RPG, and it DOES have open-world elements at times…so we’re keeping it!

Fire Emblem Three Houses puts you in the grandest stage that the franchise has ever done. Because in this game set in the realm of Fodlan, you’ll become a professor at the Garreg Mach Monaestery and choose one of three main classes (with another you can have fun with in DLC) to help decide the fate of the entire land.

Wars will erupt, gods will be reborn, and what happens next might just depend on how good you are in battle. Now, the “open world” aspect has to do with Garreg Mach itself. You’ll get to travel the vast monastery and interact with students, teachers and more to gain insight, grow relationships and train for what’s to come.

Don’t miss out on this great RPG.

#9 The Outer Worlds

Anyone who knows the developer Obsidian knows that they don’t make anything but quality titles. New Vegas, KOTOR 2, and now, The Outer Worlds. And yes, you can play this insanely deep RPG title on the Nintendo Switch now, you’re welcome.

You play as a long-sleeping survivor of a ship that is now determined to protect a colony from corporations and other threats. But what you do next…? That’s up to you. The game absolutely adapts to the choices you make and how people treat you, fight you, and so on.

Plus, the game notices your “flaws” and actually tries to help you with them in meaningful ways. So, will you be a true hero of the colony, or a wrecking ball that tries to take everyone down in a blaze of glory? Enter The Outer Worlds and find out!

#8 Dragon Quest XI Echoes of an Elusive Age

The granddaddy of JRPGs reaffirmed its iron grip on the crown with its 11th entry, feeling like a celebration of all that came before it. After a youth discovers his heritage, yet is accused of harboring disaster, he is hurled on an adventure with life-long friends, and battles against monsters from the wacky to the horrifying. Chose your weapons and skills you wish to build your heroes with, explore every nook and cranny for loot and gear, and use some defeated foes to navigate climbable walls or high cliffs. Once you unlock the full world, revisit older locations with new abilities, or stick your neck out in uncharted territory. The Definitive Edition lives up to the name, adding more content, additional story scenes, Japanese voice acting, and even a 2D mode last seen in the Japanese only 3DS version- in case the retro appeal wasn’t blatant enough. You can even take on “Draconic Quests-” modifiers that make your game more challenging. How about cutting off EXP if foes are too weak? Stronger foes? Forbidden from shopping or wearing armor? Maybe even lying NPCs or your characters being overcome with embarrassment into non-action during fights?! Without a doubt, Dragon Quest XI is the Nintendo Switch open world RPG to take on the go.

#7 Monster Hunter Rise

As we’ve shown you before, Monster Hunter has a very interesting history with Nintendo, but it was through Monster Hunter Rise that gamers well and truly got an original title to call their own that FEELS like a MH title.

In the game you are part of a village who has to routinely fight off monsters, using weapons and traps to get things done. But soon enough, you’ll get to journey into the vast world beyond your village and use special techniques for the first time in Monster Hunter history to traverse the world and beat all the many, MANY monsters that await you.

Plus, when you’re done with the main game, you’ll have the Sunbreak DLC to enjoy soon after. So see if you can survive this version of the Monster Hunter universe.

#6 Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is very much a game that is about “finally getting its do”. Because if you recall, the game first came out on the Wii in Japan and a fan-movement led to it getting localized. But even back then, people knew it needed more. A 3DS version came out…but had the same problems. But now with HD graphics, the first Xenoblade game can finally get its due.

You play as Chrom, a young boy who is destined to wield the legendary Monado in order to save the Bionis and Mechanis people who are trapped in a bitter war. You’ll use a variety of techniques alongside a set of characters you meet in intense battles that’ll only grow more dangerous as you learn the truth about your world.

See the beginnings of this franchise, and then you can go into what comes next with it…

#5 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was SUPPOSED to be the end of the mainline Witcher saga…but we all know how that went…

Regardless, the game is an all-time classic, and proof of just how detailed, grand, and fun an open-world RPG can be when handled by the right people (and isn’t Cyberpunk 2077…). Your journey as Geralt of Rivia is going to continue here, and between the mainline story, the sidequests, and the major DLC packs, you’ll have a ton to do.

And don’t worry, the game plays well enough on Switch for you to enjoy it all. And that’s what you’re supposed to do with games like these, right? Have a lot to enjoy? So jump in and see where your Witcher adventures lead you.

#4 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

To be clear, the final three titles are all 1st party games, but there are some REALLY GOOD 3rd party ones that need to be on this upper part of the list so we do beg your pardon.

And we also have to note that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the first Bethesda game to be on a Nintendo platform. Starting a chain of releases that are only going to stop because of a certain Microsoft buyout…but we’re not bitter!

Skyrim is so grand and memorable that describing it would be folly. It’s a game you an dive in on the Switch and not come out of for quite some time. So if you’ve never played it…try it, you won’t regret it.

#3 Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Given that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is coming out in July, it’s only appropriate that we talk about both of the previous titles (sorry X! You’re not on Switch!) to get you warmed up.

In this version of the franchise, you play as Rex, a salvager who gets wrapped up in a plot of universal consequences after he makes a connection with the Aegis known as Pyrrha. The two of you have to get to the World Tree to save the remaining people before their homes, the Titans, all die out.

The combat system is complex, and the worlds of the Titans are vast and dangerous. You’ll need to work together with your team and their Blades in order to truly survive and learn the truth that will wrap all three main games together.

#2 Pokemon Legends Arceus

At first, making Pokemon an open-world game seems obvious, but given all the details an nuances of the franchise, doing so took a long time. And while the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are doing it as well, it was Pokemon Legends Arceus that set the tone and proved how it can work.

In this title, you are in the Hisui region, the precursor to Sinnoh, and you are part of an expedition team that is trying to learn more about the world of Pokemon, and it’s up to you to literal catch’em all so you can complete the first Pokedex!

The regions you’ll get to be in are vast, filled with Pokemon and secrets, and are so wondrous you’ll never want to leave! So go be the first Pokemon Master of this region…Arceus awaits…

#1 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It’s only natural that Breath of the Wild is the final game on this list, even though ironically, it was the “first” game on the Nintendo Switch.

This game was the one that truly took Zelda to the “next level” in terms of its evolution. Because for the first time truly, you have carte blanche on what you want to do in this game, when you want to do it, and so on. Want to just do sidequests and fight monsters all day? Ok. Want to tackle the four main dungeons in any order you want? By all means.

Want to do all the mini-dungeons so that you have maxed out health? Sure, why not?

Add to that a very colorful world, full voice acting in the cutscenes and a hard-to-master combat system, and you’ll learn very soon why Breath of the Wild is the best-selling Zelda game ever.