From Software
Sandbox RPGs, or open world RPGs, allow the player a great amount of freedom and usually feature a more open free-roaming world (meaning the player is not confined to a single path restricted by rocks or fences etc.). Sandbox RPGs possess similarities to other sandbox games, such as the "Grand Theft Auto" series, with a large number of interactable NPCs, large amount of content and typically some of the largest worlds to explore and longest play-times of all RPGs due to an impressive amount of secondary content not critical to the game's main storyline. Sandbox RPGs often attempt to emulate an entire region of their setting. Popular examples of this subgenre include the "Dragon Slayer" series by Nihon Falcom, the early "Dragon Quest" games by Chunsoft, "The Legend of Zelda" by Nintendo, "Wasteland" by Interplay Entertainment, the "SaGa" and "Mana" series by Squaresoft, "System Shock " and "System Shock 2" by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games, "Deus Ex" by Ion Storm, "The Elder Scrolls" and "Fallout" series by Bethesda Softworks and Interplay Entertainment, "Fable" by Lionhead Studios, the "Gothic" series by Piranha Bytes, the "Xenoblade Chronicles" series by Monolith Soft, and the "Souls" series by From Software.