Most games naturally land in either modern, historical, fantasy, or science-fiction territory, very rarely crossing into another genre. This makes the rare science-fantasy game feel even more unique, as combining two very different pillars opens the door for some exciting and truly original possibilities. Naturally, there’s a delicate balance to maintain, giving both sides a meaningful place in the setting and worldbuilding without allowing the result to become a directionless mess.
Still, placing advanced technology alongside literal magic or supernatural powers, presenting futuristic civilizations through mythic fantasy structures, or simply creating post-apocalyptic worlds filled with robots, mutants, ancient machinery, and metaphysics alongside fantasy races, prophecies, or mystical forces can result in an unmistakable identity you won’t find anywhere else. These open-world RPGs excel at exactly that, and merely stepping into their vast and unusual worlds can already feel memorable.
8
ELEX
Multiple Eras Of Civilization, All At Once
The ELEX series is perhaps the first to come to mind when thinking of open-world RPGs with the cleanest science-fantasy settings, making it practically a textbook example of the genre. The post-apocalyptic world of Magalan is truly unique, with its factions providing some of the clearest examples of the blended genres: Berserkers use primitive medieval weapons, armor, and magic, while Clerics rely on energy weapons, mechs, and other advanced technology. This design essentially allows factions to embody completely different stages of civilization at once.
With jetpacks, mutants, robots, and supernatural fantasy elements occupying the same world, ELEX somehow remains cohesive throughout, largely because the titular alien substance underpins everything from mutation and magic to advanced technology. This final Gothic-like open-world universe from the now-defunct developer Piranha Bytes stands out within the studio’s portfolio largely through its unusual setting, despite the familiar jankiness.
7
Wuthering Waves
Where Supernatural Frequencies Reshape A Futuristic World
Among the ever-growing selection of free-to-play open-world gacha RPGs, Wuthering Waves is a particularly clear example of post-apocalyptic science fantasy with several intriguing design choices. Like Once Human or Neverness to Everness, it leans heavily into the supernatural to distinguish itself from the crowd, combining that layer with futuristic technology and reality-altering events. The world of Solaris-3 is home to familiar post-apocalyptic sights such as abandoned research facilities filled with robots, artificial intelligence, and remnants of lost technology, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Underneath it all, Resonators manipulate elemental forces through supernatural frequencies, defeated monsters become collectible Echoes, and godlike Sentinels watch over entire regions. The concept could have fallen apart because of a single out-of-place element, yet Wuthering Waves somehow pulls it off convincingly, creating a mysterious and alluring world worth stepping into even for players who aren’t particularly interested in gacha mechanics, and even if the storytelling remains largely uneven.
6
NieR: Automata
There’s Far More Than Machines Beneath The Surface
My personal favorite as a standalone game, NieR: Automata is just a tad less rich in its science-fantasy mix, leaning more heavily toward a post-apocalyptic, desolate world dominated by androids and machines. That doesn’t mean the game lacks fantasy elements, including seemingly godlike beings, weapons with magical properties, supernatural attacks, and metaphysical phenomena that technology alone can’t properly explain. Still, most of its fantasy layer is inherited from the wider NieR universe’s magical catastrophe, with recurring pieces of the puzzle such as Emil and his supernatural powers.
As it stands, NieR: Automata is almost overwhelmingly sci-fi on the surface, driven by android soldiers, alien-made machines, orbital bases, combat pods, hacking, and the ruins of modern civilization. While it can certainly encourage fans to explore more of NieR for a much richer overarching story rooted in proper fantasy, the game’s less apparent science-fantasy combination prevents this acclaimed open-world RPG masterpiece from ranking any higher.
5
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition
Space Colonists Trapped In A World Beyond Science
The mainline Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy is easily among the strongest examples of sci-fi stories disguised as classic fantasy tales. To make that contrast more apparent, though, Xenoblade Chronicles X steps directly into science fantasy, serving as a completely standalone chapter set on the alien world of Mira. The story follows space colonists who escaped Earth and established a new colony while exploring the planet, with the game’s more overt sci-fi identity even reflected by the “X” in its title.
However, despite bringing advanced technology directly into the spotlight through alien warfare, transforming mechs, artificial bodies, and futuristic weaponry, Mira itself is structured like an enormous fantasy adventure, complete with impossibly bizarre ecosystems and colossal creatures. Not only that, the planet’s mysterious forces later become a major focal point, capable of preserving life and memory beyond any scientific explanation, while Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Ether-based abilities truly feel like magic.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
4
Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura
The Industrial Revolution Took A Very Different Turn
Far more than just a mandatory “historically important” entry, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura was among the first ambitious CRPGs to place the conflict between industrial technology and magic at the center of its world. Needless to say, this distinct setting instantly became one of the game’s biggest appeals for players growing tired of conventional fantasy. While Arcanum is largely a steampunk world defined by the Industrial Revolution and intricate engineering, magic and traditional spellcasting shape its society in equally important ways.
Exploring the vast world of Arcanum is an alluring experience, letting you visit fantasy-heavy locations alongside railways and factories, or fight mechanical automatons with firearms and explosives before animating corpses through powerful necromantic sorcery or ancient runes. Best of all, it isn’t merely “magitech” because it looks cool. Magic and technology actively interfere with one another, both mechanically and socially, while classic fantasy races such as elves, orcs, and dwarves drive many of the resulting political tensions.
3
Caves Of Qud
When Ancient Science Becomes Indistinguishable From Magic
One of the most replayable games of its kind thanks to its rich procedural and systemic possibilities, Caves of Qud is also a masterful example of science fantasy at its wildest. Its world is a deeply simulated, lore-rich environment where emergent interactions unfold depending on the character you create, the mutations or cybernetics you acquire, the factions you befriend, the reputation you build, and countless other variables. The lore and its sci-fi-fantasy mixture are easily among the game’s biggest appeals.
It’s a universe where almost anything is possible. This far-future wasteland is brimming with science so ancient and strange that it sometimes becomes indistinguishable from “magic.” From robots, laser weapons, force fields, cloning systems, cybernetic implants, artificial intelligence, and incomprehensibly advanced ruins to psychic mutants, sentient plants and animals, bizarre cults, prophetic visions, and creatures that feel closer to mythology than biology, Caves of Qud really has it all. After all, they don’t hand out the Hugo Award for nothing.
2
Guild Wars 2
No Two Civilizations See Progress The Same Way
Probably the biggest crowd-pleaser here, Guild Wars 2 follows in the footsteps of its legendary predecessor, offering a literal second life in a world unlike anything else. Tyria is an exemplary science-fantasy creation that goes far deeper than its traditional fantasy surface. Sure, magic, gods, spirits, dragons, portals, and conventional fantasy races are all present, but no less important are firearms, airships, submarines, tanks, holograms, golems and other artificial beings, laboratories, teleportation, and increasingly sophisticated jade machinery, bringing an almost cyberpunk-like layer to the world.
Guild Wars 2 isn’t merely a bold and convincing mix of different inspirations with its own spin; its races and civilizations handle this combination in completely different ways. The Charr’s industrial machinery and the Asura’s arcane engineering loosely echo Arcanum’s complex social contrasts, while Tyria’s lore and centuries of fictional history neatly fill in the gaps for almost anything you might want to learn more about. Very few RPG worlds have developed their science-fantasy identity this broadly or convincingly across so many years.
1
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
An Entire Science-Fantasy Franchise That Inspired Countless Others
First things first: the Final Fantasy series as a whole deserves recognition as one of the boldest franchises to deliver original worlds that combine sci-fi and fantasy in equal measure, only to discard each setting and start from scratch with the next entry. Final Fantasy 15 in particular deserves a mention as one of the cleanest science-fantasy universes in the franchise, with modern cars, smartphones, firearms, magitek troops, and mechanical empires coexisting with crystals, magic, gods, summons, monsters, and prophecies.
Still, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth represents the definitive peak of the series’ open-world science-fantasy direction, at least until FF7 Revelation releases in 2027. Its truly spectacular, layered world, known simply as the Planet, moves effortlessly between firearms and materia-based magic, motorcycles and robots, summons, genetic experiments, and spirits, all framed by sprawling industrial cities surrounded by pure fantasy landscapes. Oh, and it also happens to be one of the best and most content-packed RPGs of the past few years.
