Open World Games That Are the Worst OCD Video Games to Play

I personally have a love-hate relationship with open world games. I love roaming everywhere and going on side mission after side mission, but oftentimes, these games have overworld maps littered with icons. I simply can’t play these games without clearing all of the icons or at least seeing what all of them are. As a result, I often don’t finish these games because I get too distracted and I take too long. And I’m not the only one. Those with any slight bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) easily fall into this trap. We twitch when looking at the uncleared maps. We make plans with how to complete them, no matter if they’re sidequests or collectibles. These things will be fuggin’ clear by the time we reach the end, come Hell or high water. And so I decided to compile the absolute worst offenders when it comes to OCD and games.

Before I get deeper into this fun top 10, I will take a moment to say that I know what I am talking about here is not true obsessive-compulsive disorder. I’m well aware that we, as a society, use the term far more often than we should. But most of us can agree that while we don’t have full blown OCD, we do have ticks about us with some obsessive and compulsive tendencies.

Now that we have that out of the way, on to the top ten open world games that will wreak havoc on obsessive-compulsive minds!

Do you have any games that trigger the same compulsions that we missed?

Essential Reading:

OCD Havoc Wreaking Games

Top 10 Open World Games That Wreak Havoc on OCD
10. Far Cry Primal

Far Cry Primal may not have the collectibles wreaking havoc on OCD, but they make up for it with hunting animals. The overworld map marks the animals, but are there rare animals at those hunting sites? The best way is to check them all, turn on that hunting sense, and hope you're lucky.
9. Dragon Age Inquisition

The first time you're dropped into the Hinterlands, you realize you're going to be there for awhile. In fact, you start praying that not every region is like this or you will never finish the game. As your party marches through Ferelden toward your first main story quest marker, your minimap suddenly explodes with icons. So many question marks, exclamation points, rifts to close, caves to explore, campsites to settle, etc. I personally had a very hard time leaving a region without clearing everything, even though I knew I had to wait until certain story events or my party got stronger to clear them.
8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is quite possibly overdone with sidequests littered all over the overworld map. As you run between villages to complete this random fetch quest, icons pop up on your minimap showing you MOAR sidequests to take on. I probably played the game for 30 hours before completing one story mission after leaving the initial cave.
7. Just Cause 3

The Just Cause series is well known for having an obscene number of things to do, but that's not what makes the OCD twitch. Sure, there are tons of icons denoting stunts, side missions, races, and shrines. But what drives a player toward clearing it all lies in liberating each region. You can't get to the end of the game without freeing everyone first! What kind of monster are you?
6. Tom Clancy's The Division

I have over 60 hours plugged into The Division, and I still haven't finished it because I spend more time clearing out all the side missions and finding collectibles than anything else. I am so grossly overpowered at this point, the story missions are practically a breeze when I do finally move to the next zone in New York. Once I unlocked the perk that instantly shows all of the collectibles after completing all side missions, I was instantly doomed. Can't move to next region without clearing everything. I have one Echo that has popped up in an early zone that I cannot get to, and I learned that it's part of the final mission. Do you know how much it's bugging me that it's on my map and I can't get it?
5. Mad Max

Like The Division, Mad Max is another game I could not progress in without clearing each region. There is fairly decent motivation for doing so, as Max gets nice upgrades to his Magnum Opus as well as to various settlements. Plus, it's easier to hunt down scrap when you aren't always getting run down by Warboys.
4. Fallout 4

Oh Bethesda. How you taunt us all with your massive overworlds and even more massive number of places to visit and things to do. Fallout 4 plays right into their formula, taunting the player with all those settlements out there that are ripe for rebuilding. I have so many friends who have never finished the game because they were too busy playing house.
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

If you've heard someone say that they couldn't play Skyrim because they were overwhelmed, well, there is a reason for that. Skyrim starts off somewhat simple, and then as you strive to complete the first couple of story missions, you suddenly notice so many locales that open up on the map. If you visit one, then the sidequest markers pop up. Fifty hours later, you realize that you're on the other side of the world and haven't completed a story mission after learning you're a Dragonborn. Oh well, who cares about that when there's more wood to chop and factions to join!
2. Assassin's Creed Unity

Just look at that map. Look at it. The Assassin's Creed games have always had an obscene number of collectibles that would entice players to clear out areas, but AC: Unity takes the cake. It's the only AC game where I didn't clear everything because there was just too much. I kept saying I would come back some day, but each time I did, I'd run around for an hour and barely make a dent in the icons. The only way to stop the twitching was not to play.
1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I've told this story countless times, about how I've started The Witcher 3, played for an hour and a half and only picked herbs. This game is just downright mean to those who feel this need to clear a map. Oh sure, you can pick the herbs, but the little bastards grow back. You can't clear them; it's impossible. But they're right there on your minimap, taunting you. At least in DAI it requires revisiting the region before the herbs return. And that's not even counting all of the question marks and exclamation points that pop up on the map before you reach the first town! It's mean to OCD sufferers. Just flat out mean.