15 Best Open World Medieval Games of All Time

The medieval time period is arguably one of the best places for video games as a whole. You have a lot of freedom of what you can do, you can make it about the realistic or fantastical versions of the time, and, there’s always combat to be had. Here are games that do the medieval setting best.

#15 Kingdom Come: Deliverance

• Release date: February 13, 2018
• Developer: Warhorse Studios
• Publisher: Warhorse Studios
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows

Let’s start out with a game that is honestly a bit more realistic than many of the other titles on this list.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance will put you in the role of a young man in Bohemia. Your life is just as basic as it can be until out of nowhere, your family is killed. What’s more, you learn that the village they were in was burned down on the orders of the king.

You’re now recruited into a rebellion that seeks to bring him down. But how you go about it will change both your fate, and the fate of the land. Make your choices carefully, and see where your journey takes you.

#14 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

• Release date: 2002
• Developer: Bethesda
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Platforms: Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming

Just so you know, there will be two Elder Scrolls games on this list. The first of which will be The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. In many people’s minds, this was the game that helped separate the Elder Scrolls into a major franchise. Not just because of the graphical improvements it was making via the new technology. But the freedom of what you could do and be.

You could literally be any race or kind of character you wanted to be, and that level of freedom was still really new at the time. Plus, the lands you’d explore were full of content and ensured that you always had something to do no matter what path you wanted to take.

#13 Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

• Release date: March 30, 2020
• Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
• Publisher: TaleWorlds Entertainment
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Here’s another franchise you’ll see a few of in this list. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord was the highly-anticipated sequel to the game that would let you go nuts with medieval armies as you waged a campaign for your country.

In a twist though, this game is set 200 years before the previous title. Giving you a new perspective on the land of Calradia, and the forces that you’ll be using to defend it or take it as your own.

The game is expansive in every way. You’ll get to make your own alliances, and of course, enemies. Your character will grow with each new experience, and you’ll have to lead troops into massive battles to ensure you come out on top.

#12 Graveyard Keeper

• Release date: August 15, 2018
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems
• Developers: Lazy Bear Games, Magic Cat
• Publishers: tinyBuild, MP Digital, LLC, Magic Cat

Graveyard Keeper is very much a spoof of medieval games and RPGs as a whole. Because here, you’ll be playing as a person who owns a graveyard. There’s a lot of money to be made in such a field if you do things correctly, so why not do all you can to make the most of your graveyard? After all, who cares about the dead, or the living for that matter?

You’ll have to face “ethical choices” to further yourself and your graveyard. Oh, and you will get to do quests and explore dungeons. It just might not go the way you think at times.

#11 Black Desert Online

• Release date: December 2014
• Developer: Pearl Abyss
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, MORE
• Publisher: Pearl Abyss

If you’re looking for more of an MMORPG flair, you need to check out Black Desert Online.

Black Desert Online tries to be one of the most expansive and rewarding MMOs out there by trying to give players literally as many options as possible. For example, while you naturally have the option to go and battle your way through the game and its many quests, you don’t have to!

You can do all sorts of other activities and leave the fighting to others. Or, you can just go and explore the massive world which the team put a lot of time and effort into in order to make it look beautiful.

Enter the world and see it for yourself!

#10 Medieval Dynasty

• Release date: September 17, 2020
• Developer: Render Cube
• Publisher: Toplitz Productions
• Platform: Microsoft Windows

Most medieval titles focus on knights or lords, but in Medieval Dynasty, it focuses on the common man. Or in this case, A common man in you. You are someone who has fled from the wars of the medieval world you live in and just want to try and build up your own home and community to try and live and live a peaceful life.

You’ll start out with nothing, and learn skills over time as you grow, build, and expand what is yours. Grow a family, build a community, and expand to the lands all around you. Go on quests, explore the world itself, and survive to make your own dynasty.

#9 Mordhau

• Release date: April 29, 2019
• Developer: Triternion
• Publisher: Triternion
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5

Ok, so you want a medieval game that is pretty much only about combat? Sure, we can do that for you. Mordhau is a title that’ll put you against scores of enemy players in a variety of battle modes that really focuses on the melee combat.

For example, you can go into massive skirmishes, or join up with friends to take on its version of the Horde Mode. Or, you can play with up to 63 other players for massive war-like battles that are just begging for you to participate in.

Plus, it’ll be realistic medieval combat. You’ll feel like you’re really on the battlefield here, and thus have a blast as you fight.

#8 Mount & Blade: Warband

• Release date: March 30, 2010
• Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
• Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Android, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Macintosh operating systems, Classic Mac OS
• Publishers: TaleWorlds Entertainment, Paradox Interactive

While it may be really old, Mount & Blade: Warband still stands as one of the best of the Mount & Blade series. Not the least of which is that it’s an expansion and not something you need to have played the original game in order to have fun with.

In this game, you’ll get to recruit a group of warriors and send them out to try and stop a massive war that has gone on for too long. As you battle you’ll get more and more territory, and you’ll lead your troops all the way into the throne room where you can claim the land for yourself!

#7 Baldur’s Gate 3

• Release date: October 6, 2020
• Developer: Larian Studios
• Publisher: Larian Studios
• Platforms: Google Stadia, Macintosh operating systems, Microsoft Windows

The Baldur’s Gate franchise is one of the most-respected RPG lines out there, and for good reason. The games constantly bring their best with their RPG stories and combat and fans know the quality will be there.

This time around, with Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s the team behind Divinity 2 Original Sin who are bringing this game to life. So you can expect another very deep RPG experience from it.

You are a character of whom a parasite has been placed in your brain, and as such, new powers are emerging within you. But what will you do with them?

Will you use them to do good in the world? Or, will you embrace the darkness within and become the evil that everyone fears? Play the game and find out!

#6 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

• Release date: November 10, 2020
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Luna
• Developers: Ubisoft

With news of the next Assassin’s Creed games upcoming, it’s time to go back in time and get, or finish, the previous title! Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will put you in the role of a Viking who has made landfall in what will be known as the UK. But in this time and place, it’s settled upon by many different nations, all of whom you must topple in order to try and make this the new homeland of your people!

Travel the massive land and take part in all sorts of battles. Including mighty sieges where you’ll either defend your own castle, or try and capture another.

Will you make this the new home of your Viking brethren?

#5 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Release date: March 3, 2017
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Platforms: Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch
• Developers: Nintendo

While you may not think of The Legend of Zelda as a medieval game, when you really look at it it’s hard to ignore. You are a hero who wields a sword and shield. You’re constantly helping/saving a princess and her kingdom. There’s an evil wizard usually at the end waiting to fight you, and so on.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is easily one of the best versions of this franchise, and definitely the most expansive. You’ll travel the land collecting items, taking on mini-dungeons, fighting ancient beasts, and unlocking Link’s memories to learn more about the “Calamity” that happened 100 years before.

Play the game now so you can be ready for the sequel when it arrives.

#4 Elden Ring

• Release date: February 25, 2022
• Publisher: Bandai Namco
• Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Developers: FromSoftware

Heading now to the most recent game on this list, Elden Ring is the arguable Game of the Year, and for some, it really isn’t an argument. The title puts you in a medieval realm that comes partially from the mind of George R.R. Martin. Who knows a thing or two about such realms.

Your mission is simple, to scour the land and defeat various foes so you can collect and reassemble the Elden Ring. But such a journey will not be easy, and it will not be without pitfalls. You’ll need to make your character as strong as possible to fight the enemies ahead.

But how you fight them is up to you! Because From Software made Elden Ring open-world so you can take on the enemies and lands in any order you wish!

#3 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

• Release date: May 18, 2015
• Developers: CD Projekt Red
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
• Publishers: CD Projekt Red

Points for “poetic placement” aside, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still very much one of the best games of the modern era, if not any era. Because in this medieval world with all sorts of monstrous twists in it, you’ll play the one and only Geralt of Rivia. Who once again will be put on a journey to save the world, while also saving someone very close to him in the process.

Magic and might are the names of the game here, and you’ll need both to defeat cunning and frightful monsters on your journey. As well as needing to use your own cunning to navigate all the relationships and friendships you’ve made and to see where they all go.

#2 Middle-earth: Shadow of War

• Release date: September 27, 2017
• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
• Developers: Monolith Productions, IUGO

The Lord of the Rings is another perfect example of taking the concept of medieval times and adding a fantastical element to it in order to make it more grand and sweeping.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans heavily on the “medieval clash” side of things as you’ll once again take the role of a certain Ranger fused with an Elven Lord’s spirit as you try and take down the evils of Sauron.

This time around though, you’ll get to build your own army of creatures from Mordor itself in order to stave off Sauron’s might. Partake in mighty sieges, take your territory, then march on Mount Doom itself!

#1 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

• Release date: November 11, 2011
• Developer: Bethesda
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC

A medieval game, a fantastical-version of the medieval times, and a game that will suck up a LOT of your time? Yep, that’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and once again it tops our list because it’s REALLY hard to beat it when you really break it down.

Don’t forget that this game basically starts out with you killing a dragon and revealing who you are and it only grows from there, ok?

Skyrim is the benchmark for open-world games as a whole. It’s filled to the brim with content, you’re going to WANT to do it all, and you can make your character how you want. So enjoy the realm as you go about it, and see why Skyrim is still so very popular.