I recently got into a debate with a friend about which game was better, Skyrim or Morrowind. My closing argument went something like "Morrowind's story, combat, direction, everything is secondary to the game world. The combat may be better in Skyrim, or in a game like Far Cry 3, but those game lack a world that's truly unique and worth exploring over and over again"

That got me thinking, what other games are like that? Where the game world is so central to the game that it ecplises everything else? That got me thinking, what other games do I need to play like that?

So I pose the question here. I'm looking for a Morrowind-esque game. Doesn't need to be an RPG, or in first person, but it needs that game world. I've considered something like Grand Theft Auto 4 but for all the game world there's not much to do. No overarching story, no interaction with NPCs, nothing to do beyond run people over. My friend mentioned Divine Divinity, never heard of it myself but did a quick check, found it on gog.com and a reviewer labelled it as an isometric morrowind where you can explore the world, ignore the story on a whim, etc. I'll research a bit more but that sounds like what I'm looking for.

Did any of this make sense? I hope so. So can someone point me in the direction of a like-game? Please skip the [censored] Oblivion, Skyrim, recent Fallout games

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was pretty big and fun to explore. The woods gave me the creeps at times, even at night...

I would play that if you are ever planning on getting GTA V, since that will be taking place in the same state (but not the entire state like GTA: SA was.) From what I hear, it is a massive game world.

Witcher comes in mind too. Never played it, but I hear the third one coming up is open world.

new vegas is the only game of recent times that I could even consider comparing to morrowind.

You should check out the Gothic series, especially the first two. They both feature vast open worlds, though the first one takes place in a prison colony, that is surrounded by a magical shield. The game is very unforgiving for low level characters. Here's a hint: When npc's tell you too stay away from an area, stay away. Most creatures will one shot kill you. You can get them cheap on GOG. Though I would wait for a sale, cause then you can purchase all three for dirt cheap.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/gothic

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/gothic_2_gold_edition

The only other game I have ever played where the game world itself overpowered almost everything else was an online game called https://www.vanguardthegame.com/. V:SoH's game world consists of three continents, each with its own culture and distinctive architecural, armor, weapons, ect, styles. And each continent is many, many times larger than a province in the recent Elder Scrolls or Fallout games. The game is absolutely huge, detailed, imaginative, a fantastic game for players who love to explore, sightsee and immerse themselves in a landscape or culture.