Two Worlds Epic Edition A grim open world to ride through

You play a mercenary who claims not to believe in the old stories: a relict in the family that supposedly banished Aziraal, the god of the orcs. Then your sister Kyra disappears, and a meeting with a dark Brotherhood makes it clear her kidnappers believe the stories very much. A routine job in the far north doubles as your first real clue, and from there the search pulls you back to your roots and into the conflict tearing Antaloor apart. The hero's own doubts carry the story along: if the family really are chosen ones, why were they always poor as church mice? You play to find out what happens to Kyra, and whether you get there as a knight, a thief, a mage or something less respectable is up to you.

Antaloor is a big sandbox with a dozen biomes, from northern forests to the deserts around the orc city of Gor-Gammar, and the inhabitants go about their own daily routines while the land's fate hangs on your deeds. The game keeps asking you to choose: guilds and secret societies watch your reputation, and taking one side often means another shuts its doors. Factions come with their own merchants, so who you befriend changes what you can buy and what your loot is worth. Enemies don't scale to your level either, so wandering too far south too early is a lesson in humility. Take the odd jobs, learn the roads, and the same wilderness that once killed you becomes your hunting ground.

This is an old-school RPG, before level scaling and careful balance, and it shows in the best ways. Got two of the same longsword? Drag one onto the other and they combine into a stronger one, so a favourite weapon can grow with you for the whole game. Weapons take elemental gems (fire, ice, lightning, poison, spirit), and different enemies hate different elements, so looting and experimenting pays off. Alchemy lets you brew your own potions and power-ups, and it can get gloriously out of hand. Magic comes as collectible cards, combat runs on foot or at full gallop with choreographed swings you can cut short, and Sneak mode turns break-ins into a nervous little minigame of their own.

Multiplayer is built in, not bolted on: the bustling towns of Antaloor double as meeting points for several hundred players, with your own created character walking among them. Settle scores in PvP duels in Arena mode, or team up as allies and work through a quest series together, and the Epic Edition adds eight new multiplayer maps on top. Sessions are straightforward: join up, coordinate, get into the fight. It is a very different story with a friend at your side than alone, and the co-op quests give you something to do together beyond trading loot in the marketplace.