“Explore the World, Forget the Past: 6 Incredible Games With Amnesiac Heroes”2025
In the world of video games, few tropes are as enduring—and strangely compelling—as amnesia. Whether it’s a plot device to inject mystery or a clever way to immerse players into a story without requiring prior knowledge, the “forgotten past” theme has powered some of the most memorable adventures in gaming. And when that trope is paired amnesia with vast, open-world exploration? You’ve got a recipe for immersive storytelling, personal discovery, and amnesia freedom like no other.
Below, we’ve ranked six of the best open-world games where the protagonist wakes up not amnesia knowing who they are or what they’ve done—but soon finds out that rediscovering their past is just as thrilling as shaping their future.
Ultimate Slammer
1. Outward (2019)
Outward takes a different approach to the open-world RPG. Rather than amnesia casting you as a chosen one, you’re just a regular person struggling to survive. While the protagonist isn’t classically amnesiac, the game’s survival-driven amnesia mechanics and the absence of predefined backstory let you feel like someone figuring things out from scratch. You don’t remember your skills, your strengths, or the world—but you learn. Slowly. Painfully. And that journey of learning gives the game its unique identity.
It’s about forging your path in an unforgiving world. In many ways, it’s the spiritual embodiment of waking up without answers—just instinct and will.
2.Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012)
You begin Kingdoms of Amalur literally rising from a pile of corpses with no memory of who you are. And from that point forward, you’re told one thing: you shouldn’t exist. You’re the “Fateless One” in a world governed by destiny, which opens the door to massive, branching storylines and fluid combat that adapts to how you choose to grow.
The freedom in Amalur is deeply satisfying. With no memory or fate to bind you, you’re given the chance to truly shape your identity and legacy. While the world is traditional fantasy fare, its size, variety, and the combat-first approach make it a standout for those craving action with their identity crises.
3. Torment: Tides of Numenera (2017)
What if your body once belonged to a god—and now you’re just one of many castoffs trying to make sense of it?
In Torment: Tides of Numenera, you wake up falling from the sky, your memories shattered, your identity unknown. This spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment trades traditional combat for deep, branching narratives and a bizarre, futuristic world where your choices—and your forgotten choices—shape every interaction.
While not a sprawling 3D open-world in the Skyrim sense, it offers vast narrative freedom and player agency. If you’re into introspective journeys, philosophical dilemmas, and learning who you are through the people you meet and the decisions you regret, this one’s unforgettable.
4.Sable (2021)
Sable stands out for its quiet, meditative approach to exploration. You play as Sable, a young girl on her coming-of-age journey called “The Gliding.” While she technically isn’t suffering from amnesia, the game fully embodies the amnesiac experience—a blank slate in a vast world, where your purpose and identity are discovered rather than given.
There are no enemies, no combat, and no pressure. Just you, a hover bike, and a beautifully stylized desert filled with ancient ruins and characters with stories to tell. The focus on self-discovery through exploration makes Sable a unique entry on this list. It’s not about remembering the past—it’s about finding out who you want to be.
5. Horizon Zero Dawn (2017)
Aloy doesn’t start completely amnesiac, but her journey is driven by a deep lack of knowledge about her origins. As an outcast in a tribal society that shuns her, she’s forced to uncover not only her own history but the truth behind a world ruled by robotic beasts and lost technology.
The game’s post-apocalyptic setting is breathtaking, and the open-world design encourages you to explore every corner for clues about the forgotten past. Aloy’s personal journey mirrors the player’s perfectly: you know nothing, but every step reveals a greater truth. And those truths? Worth every arrow you fire.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
No list like this would be complete without Link.
Waking up in a mysterious chamber with no memory of who you are or why the world has fallen to ruin, Breath of the Wild embodies the amnesia trope in the most iconic way. You’re given almost no direction. No backstory. Just a vast, beautifully realized world and the freedom to climb, glide, and fight your way to the answers.
What makes BotW truly exceptional is how its gameplay echoes its theme: you’re not told who you are. You discover it. You earn it. Through shrines, lost memories, and encounters with a hauntingly quiet world, you gradually piece together a history of love, loss, and legend. It’s not just one of the best open-world games—it’s one of the best games, period.
Final Thoughts
Amnesiac protagonists allow us to enter a game world without baggage—without the pressure of past decisions or inherited roles. Whether through literal memory loss or metaphorical self-discovery, these games give us the rare gift of becoming someone new, in a world that’s begging to be explored.
So if you’re in the mood to lose yourself—figuratively and literally—these six games will deliver stories and experiences that prove sometimes, forgetting is just the beginning.
