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GocdkeysLV 10Staff
14 open-world games for Switch, from Zelda and Xenoblade X to Subnautica. Sonic Frontiers costs €9.47 (€10.21 with fees) as an EU eShop code this morning.
Key facts
- Cheapest right now
- € Standard · Account · Global · Key4Games
- Live offers
- 25 offers · 16 stores
- Our pick
- Standard · eShop Code · US · Eneba — €
The two biggest open worlds on the Switch were made by Nintendo, and neither is on Steam. That shapes this list. Half of it is games you can only play on a Nintendo console, Zelda, Xenoblade and Pokémon, and the other half is games that started on PC and other consoles and were squeezed onto the Switch, some more gracefully than others.
We started from every Switch game in our catalogue with offers in stock this morning, kept the ones Steam players tag as open world, and threw out what the tag gets wrong: sports games, puzzle games, sandboxes without much of a world, and a couple of DLCs. Then we added Nintendo's own. Fourteen games made it. Where there's a Steam score, it's from the PC version: the share of positive reviews and how many there are. Nintendo's games have no Steam reviews, and we haven't filled the gap with any other score.
Prices come first without fees, with the coupon if there is one, and in brackets what you pay once the store adds its payment fee. You'll see two formats, eShop codes and accounts, and they aren't the same thing; the difference is explained near the end, next to a table with every game.
Nintendo's own: Zelda, Xenoblade X and Pokémon
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild and adds a sky full of floating islands above it and a huge dark underground below. The new trick is Ultrahand, which lets you glue together planks, fans and wheels to build rafts, cars or whatever you can think of. If you only buy one game from this list, it's probably this one. The cheapest code this morning is a US code at Kinguin for €48.59 (€52.81 with fees) with the coupon NOVGOC10. Key4Games sells an account for €7.12 (€7.69 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15, a huge gap that tells you how different the two formats are. The code is not cheap for what it usually costs: in our history it has been cheaper on 207 of the 229 days we have data for. If you can wait, set a price alert for Tears of the Kingdom and we'll email you when it drops.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the game that changed the series: after a short tutorial you can head anywhere, climb almost anything and go straight for the final boss if you dare. It still holds up next to its sequel and costs less: a US code at Eneba for €32.92 (€36.30 with fees) with Gocdkeys10, or a Key4Games account at €8.45 (€9.08 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is Monolith Soft's science-fiction RPG, rescued from the Wii U. Humanity crash-lands on Mira, a planet of five continents, and halfway through you get a Skell, a mech that eventually flies. It's the most open of the Xenoblade games and the one with the biggest map. The cheapest code is a US one at Eneba, €39.47 (€43.42 with fees) with Gocdkeys10; the cheapest account, €20.71 (€21.90 with fees) at Key4Games with GOCDKEYS15. The other Xenoblade games are in our JRPGs for Switch.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is set in Hisui, the region that will later become Sinnoh, and swaps the usual routes for large open areas where wild Pokémon run around and you throw balls at them directly. It isn't one continuous world, but it was the first Pokémon to play like this. US code at Kinguin for €44.07 (€47.93 with fees) with NOVGOC10, or a Key4Games account at €16.41 (€17.40 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
Pokémon Scarlet and its twin Pokémon Violet are the first main Pokémon games with a fully open world: Paldea, with three storylines you can tackle in any order. On Switch they don't run smoothly, and that's the main complaint about them. For Scarlet, the cheapest code is a European one at Driffle, €50.87 (€53.11 with fees) with GOCDKEYS10; G2A has an account for €10.71 (€11.00 with fees). Violet has its own page with its own offers.
Open worlds from other publishers, all under €20 with a code
Immortals Fenyx Rising is Ubisoft's answer to Breath of the Wild, set in Greek mythology: you glide, climb, solve puzzle vaults and listen to Zeus and Prometheus argue as narrators. It's the closest thing to Zelda you'll find outside Nintendo. On PC, 73% of 4,742 Steam reviews are positive. The cheapest code is European, at Gamivo for €10.22 (€11.57 with fees) with the coupon GCDKGamivo, and Key4Games has an account at €8.91 (€9.56 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
Sonic Frontiers drops Sonic onto the Starfall Islands, big open areas full of rails, ramps and puzzles, between the usual short levels. Sonic Team calls it an open zone. On Steam, 89% of 22,893 reviews are positive. It's also the cheapest game here with a code that stays yours: a European code at Driffle for €9.47 (€10.21 with fees) with GOCDKEYS10. The Key4Games account costs €7.49 (€8.08 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15, and for about two euros more we'd take the code. Every offer is on the page to buy Sonic Frontiers key.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, from CyberConnect2 and Bandai Namco, retells the Z saga from the Saiyans to Buu, with open areas you fly across between fights, fishing and side quests included. 93% of 43,824 Steam reviews are positive. A European code at Driffle costs €18.90 (€19.98 with fees) with GOCDKEYS10, or there's a Key4Games account at €8.19 (€8.81 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
The Witcher 3, Skyrim, Red Dead and Hogwarts, in brief
We've already covered these four elsewhere on the blog, so here's just the essentials.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition fits the whole game and both expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, on the Switch. On PC it has 96% positive reviews out of 842,348. The only code in stock is at Gaming Dragons for €52.98 (€57.79 with fees), and we haven't been able to confirm its region; the account at Key4Games costs €9.62 (€10.31 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Switch includes the three expansions, Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn. Our Skyrim page doesn't have Steam data, so no score here. US code at Eneba, €47.64 (€52.29 with fees) with Gocdkeys10; account at Key4Games, €13.91 (€14.79 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15. It also appears in our medieval games for Switch.
Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar's western with John Marston, and the Switch version comes with Undead Nightmare. 92% of 21,140 Steam reviews are positive. European code at Driffle, €15.84 (€16.81 with fees) with GOCDKEYS10; Key4Games account, €11.41 (€12.18 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
Hogwarts Legacy lets you explore the castle, Hogsmeade and the Highlands around them, on foot or on a broom. 89% of 278,235 Steam reviews are positive. Instant Gaming sells a code for €17.49 (no fees), region not confirmed, so check it before paying; Key4Games has an account at €11.98 (€12.77 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
Survival at sea and in space: Subnautica and No Man's Sky
Subnautica, by Unknown Worlds, strands you on an ocean planet after your ship crashes. You build bases and submarines and go deeper each time, and there's hardly any combat. It has the best Steam score on the list, 97% of 343,911. There are no codes this morning, only a Key4Games account for €17.48 (€18.52 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15.
No Man's Sky, from Hello Games, is a universe of procedurally generated planets you can land on, mine and build on. 84% of 319,485 Steam reviews are positive. Also accounts only: Key4Games, €10.69 (€11.42 with fees) with GOCDKEYS15. We cover it in more detail in our space games for Switch.
eShop code or account, and which region
eShop code. You redeem it on your own Nintendo account and the game stays there. Codes are tied to a region, though. Several of the cheapest ones this morning are US codes (Tears of the Kingdom, Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade X, Arceus and Skyrim), and those only redeem on a Nintendo account set to the United States. If your account is set to a European country, look for an EU code, which is usually more expensive for Nintendo's games.
Account. Key4Games, G2A and other stores sell the login for a Nintendo account that someone else owns and that already has the game. You add it to your Switch and play, but the game is never yours, and if the seller takes the account back, you lose it. That's why accounts are so much cheaper. For Subnautica and No Man's Sky it's the only digital option in our stores today. We explain how they're set up in how to activate a Nintendo account with a game.
| Game | Steam reviews (PC) | Cheapest eShop code | Cheapest account |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Not on Steam | €48.59 with NOVGOC10 (€52.81 with fees), Kinguin (US) | €7.12 with GOCDKEYS15 (€7.69 with fees), Key4Games |
| The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Not on Steam | €32.92 with Gocdkeys10 (€36.30 with fees), Eneba (US) | €8.45 with GOCDKEYS15 (€9.08 with fees), Key4Games |
| Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition | Not on Steam | €39.47 with Gocdkeys10 (€43.42 with fees), Eneba (US) | €20.71 with GOCDKEYS15 (€21.90 with fees), Key4Games |
| Pokémon Legends: Arceus | Not on Steam | €44.07 with NOVGOC10 (€47.93 with fees), Kinguin (US) | €16.41 with GOCDKEYS15 (€17.40 with fees), Key4Games |
| Pokémon Scarlet | Not on Steam | €50.87 with GOCDKEYS10 (€53.11 with fees), Driffle (EU) | €10.71 (€11.00 with fees), G2A |
| Immortals Fenyx Rising | 73% (4,742) | €10.22 with GCDKGamivo (€11.57 with fees), Gamivo (EU) | €8.91 with GOCDKEYS15 (€9.56 with fees), Key4Games |
| Sonic Frontiers | 89% (22,893) | €9.47 with GOCDKEYS10 (€10.21 with fees), Driffle (EU) | €7.49 with GOCDKEYS15 (€8.08 with fees), Key4Games |
| Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | 93% (43,824) | €18.90 with GOCDKEYS10 (€19.98 with fees), Driffle (EU) | €8.19 with GOCDKEYS15 (€8.81 with fees), Key4Games |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition | 96% (842,348) | €52.98 (€57.79 with fees), Gaming Dragons (region not confirmed) | €9.62 with GOCDKEYS15 (€10.31 with fees), Key4Games |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | No data on our Skyrim page | €47.64 with Gocdkeys10 (€52.29 with fees), Eneba (US) | €13.91 with GOCDKEYS15 (€14.79 with fees), Key4Games |
| Red Dead Redemption | 92% (21,140) | €15.84 with GOCDKEYS10 (€16.81 with fees), Driffle (EU) | €11.41 with GOCDKEYS15 (€12.18 with fees), Key4Games |
| Hogwarts Legacy | 89% (278,235) | €17.49 (no fees), Instant Gaming (region not confirmed) | €11.98 with GOCDKEYS15 (€12.77 with fees), Key4Games |
| Subnautica | 97% (343,911) | None in stock | €17.48 with GOCDKEYS15 (€18.52 with fees), Key4Games |
| No Man's Sky | 84% (319,485) | None in stock | €10.69 with GOCDKEYS15 (€11.42 with fees), Key4Games |
If you're after one game: Tears of the Kingdom if you don't own it yet, Breath of the Wild if you want to spend less, and Sonic Frontiers or Immortals Fenyx Rising for around ten euros with a European code.
Prices checked on the morning of 5 November.
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