Summary
Open-world titles are known for theirhuge, sprawling maps, and the ways the player can explore them. Exploration and making exciting discoveries on one’s own is a massive part of most open-world titles, but it always helps to have someone to tag along and share in the journey. For many games, this means offering the player the option to have a companion that follows them on their quests. Some games, however, take a different approach.
Themost immersive open worldsdon’t simply have picturesque environments or detailed areas - they have ways for the player to interact with the setting. These games in particular have players acting in the role of beastmaster, utilizing wild animals or other creatures found across the land to the ends of aiding in combat or exploration.
While many players find themselves at odds withSkyrim’s character-building system and the way it manages to rope people into eventually playing a stealth archer, a beastmaster build is more possible than ever thanks to the host of animalistic companions the player can find to augment their combat.
ThePets of SkyrimCreation Club modcomes packed with the Anniversary Edition of this title and offers five incredibly unique pets the player can utilize in battle, with each having unique attacks or bonuses to aid the protagonist.
Often overlooked amongFar Crygames,Far Cry Primalis a title that holds up surprisingly well in retrospect thanks to its great sense of scale and an interesting story covering a time period not often seen in video games.
There are ahost of beasts to tamein this title, each standing with terrifying presence and power, and all having a niche role to play in aiding the protagonist as they seek their revenge in this novel game.
39th Dawn 3
The Beastmaster Is One Of The Strongest Playstyles
Standing out as one of thebest open-world roguelikes,9th Dawn 3is a fantastic gem of a title that allows players to shape themselves in a variety of ways without classes or restrictions. Want to be a hammer-wielding pyromancer? An armor-clad spearhand? Go for it, nothing is in the way, so long as stats are allocated properly.
By specializing in both monster capturing and taming, players can amass a small army of creatures to follow them into battle, greatly assisting with the game, as dungeons begin difficult and keep increasing in intensity from the get-go.
Acclaimed by fans globally,Horizon: Forbidden Westhas one of the most interesting aesthetics seen in any modern game, in no small part due to the entirely synthetic animals made from harsh chrome and tubing.
Most of these beasts don’t play nice with Aloy, alas, but throughout the story she finds many mounts to tame, and each serves a unique purpose - especially in combat, where these mounts can be summoned and utilized against terrifying foes.
The world ofAvatarhas finally broadened into an expansive andsatisfying open-world title, fit to explore more of the rich world populated by the Na’vi, the various beasts they have connections with, and more than a handful of imperialist humans.
This game has a variety of beasts to summon, tame, and aid the player in battle, very similar to how they function inForbidden West. Utilizing these creatures as any good beastmaster would and fighting off humans and mechs is a very satisfying experience.
Thehuge scale of this mapmarks a great achievement for Nintendo’s first fully open-worldPokemongame. Beyond this, the JRPG earns great praise among fans for how players can explore this open world at their own pace and take breaks with picnics whenever they’d like.
What is a Pokemon trainer if not a beastmaster, and what isPokemon Scarlet and Violetif not an average game with some undercooked ideas? This game really shines in the sheer variety of unique Pokemon players can capture and train.
InShadow of War, Talion gains a host of unlikely allies to aid him on his path to finally rid Mordor of the evil that consumes it. “Unlikely” is the key word here because these allies are only his thanks to Elven brainwashing.
Not all these allies are Uruks, however. Carragors, Graugs, and even mighty Drakes can all be tamed and brought to Talion’s side to aid in bringing down those who support the Dark Lord.
Few games offer the same build diversity asTales of Maj’Eyal. Players can be draconic knights, cunning rogues,powerful and dangerous necromancers, or through the powers of summoning - talented beast masters.
The summoner class is inherently tied to natural forces and calls upon wild creatures to aid and serve the caster in battle through either a ranged, melee, or support capacity. It’s an excellent take on a more magically oriented beast master class.