History Main / TheOverworld

A type of FantasyWorldMap. In terms of size and activity it is on the 3-part scale of PlayableMenu (small, interactive list of places to go), HubLevel (mid size, warps you to other locations), and finally TheOverworld (large, environment physically/geographically connected to other places)

* ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' has the {{Eagleland}} overworld, which actually has roads, just like in RealLife. You sometimes get to ride in the tour bus with a local band down them, but otherwise you walk like in other [=RPGs=].

** ''VideoGame/OcarinaOfTime'': Hyrule, in both periods (past and future). Several locations from previous games are present here (now in 3D), alongside new ones like Kokiri Forest and Lon Lon Ranch. However, while most of them remain unchanged between both eras, some like Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia and Market suffer drastic changes in the future due to Ganondorf's meddling.
** ''VideoGame/TheWindWaker'': The Great Sea serves this role, an interesting take on the concept being that you have to traverse by boat. There are small islands that have nuances you can explore but, its mostly just open seas.
** ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess'': The game features the a large, detailed overworld; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** ''VideoGame/SkywardSword'': The Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds. The Surface, on the other hand, blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, by incorporating puzzles and more dangerous enemies than expected of traditional overworlds, though they still serve as areas that connect to dungeons.
** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'': The overworld is more emphasized than ever before, with it not only being at least 12 times larger than ''Twilight Princess'', but by also having various weapons, enemies, and treasures scattered about it. The dungeons largely take a backseat to the overworld, as most of the puzzle solving is divided into brief Shrines, while the main dungeons themselves are significantly smaller than dungeons in previous games.

* The Mushroom Kingdom stages for the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series. Usually called Ground stages or Grasslands.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Hyrule, in both periods (past and future). Several locations from previous games are present here (now in 3D), alongside new ones like Kokiri Forest and Lon Lon Ranch. However, while most of them remain unchanged between both eras, some like Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia and Market suffer drastic changes in the future due to Ganondorf's meddling.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': The Great Sea serves this role, an interesting take on the concept being that you have to traverse by boat. There are small islands that have nuances you can explore but, its mostly just open seas.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': The game features the a large, detailed overworld; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': The Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds. The Surface, on the other hand, blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, by incorporating puzzles and more dangerous enemies than expected of traditional overworlds, though they still serve as areas that connect to dungeons.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': The overworld is more emphasized than ever before, with it not only being at least 12 times larger than ''Twilight Princess'', but by also having various weapons, enemies, and treasures scattered about it. The dungeons largely take a backseat to the overworld, as most of the puzzle solving is divided into brief Shrines, while the main dungeons themselves are significantly smaller than dungeons in previous games.

** ''VideoGame/OcarinaOfTime'': Hyrule, in both periods (past and future). Several locations from previous games are present here (now in 3D), alongside new ones like Kokiri Forest and Lon Lon Ranch. However, while most of them remain unchanged between both eras, some like Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia and Market suffer drastic changes in the future due to Ganondorf's meddling.
** ''VideoGame/TheWindWaker'': The Great Sea serves this role, an interesting take on the concept being that you have to traverse by boat. There are small islands that have nuances you can explore but, its mostly just open seas.
** ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess'': The game features the a large, detailed overworld; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** ''VideoGame/SkywardSword'': The Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds. The Surface, on the other hand, blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, by incorporating puzzles and more dangerous enemies than expected of traditional overworlds, though they still serve as areas that connect to dungeons.
** ''VideoGame/BreathOfTheWild'': The overworld is more emphasized than ever before, with it not only being at least 12 times larger than ''Twilight Princess'', but by also having various weapons, enemies, and treasures scattered about it. The dungeons largely take a backseat to the overworld, as most of the puzzle solving is divided into brief Shrines, while the main dungeons themselves are significantly smaller than dungeons in previous games.

** ''VideoGame/{{Metroid 1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'': Brinstar, the area where you start out and which can access all the other areas except for Ridley's Hideout.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' has one shrine in the center of the map and then an expansive overworld with 16 bosses in it. That's it. [[DoingItForTheArt And it's beautiful.]]

* Hyrule Field for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'', possibly the TropeMaker for the Adventure-style overworld.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': Hyrule and the DarkWorld serve as this [[DualWorldGameplay collectively]]. In contrast, this is more directly in Hyrule's ballpark in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'', where [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Lorule]] is made up in large part of {{Disconnected Side Area}}s.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Hyrule, in both periods (past and future). Several locations from previous games are present here (now in 3D), alongside new ones like Kokiri Forest and Lon Lon Ranch. However, while most of them remain unchanged between both eras, some like Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia and Market suffer drastic changes in the future due to Ganondorf's meddling.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': The Great Sea serves this role, an interesting take on the concept being that you have to traverse by boat. There are small islands that have nuances you can explore but, its mostly just open seas.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': The game features the a large, detailed overworld; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': The Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds. The Surface, on the other hand, blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, by incorporating puzzles and more dangerous enemies than expected of traditional overworlds, though they still serve as areas that connect to dungeons.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': The overworld is more emphasized than ever before, with it not only being at least 12 times larger than ''Twilight Princess'', but by also having various weapons, enemies, and treasures scattered about it. The dungeons largely take a backseat to the overworld, as most of the puzzle solving is divided into brief Shrines, while the main dungeons themselves are significantly smaller than dungeons in previous games.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the world of Hydaelyn (and in the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion, [[TheMultiverse The First]]), which is made up of various locales and regions. At launch, the game's overworld focused chiefly on the three major regions of the realm of Hydaelyn: the desertous Thanalan, the forested Black Shroud, and the coastal La Noscea, along with a region of Coerthas bordering the city-state of Ishgard and the politically neutral Mor Dhona. ''Heavensward'' expands on Coerthas while introducing the FloatingContinent[=s=] of the Sea of Clouds and the home of the dragons, Dravania. ''Stormblood'', meanwhile, brings players into the war-torn region of Gyr Abania and the [[{{Wutai}} Far Eastern]] realm of Othard. ''Shadowbringers'', as above, has its own in The First, a reflection of the Source the rest of the game takes place in, with the Lakeland region being as close to a proper overworld as possible since it directly connects to every other major region in the expansion save for Kholusia, the First's equivalent of the island of La Noscea.

** Hyrule and the DarkWorld in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' serve as this [[DualWorldGameplay collectively]]. In contrast, this is more directly in Hyrule's ballpark in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'', where [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Lorule]] is made up in large part of {{Disconnected Side Area}}s.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', the Great Sea serves this role, an interesting take on the concept being that you have to traverse by boat. There are small islands that have nuances you can explore but, its mostly just open seas.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' features the a large, detailed overworld; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' it's the Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds. The Surface, on the other hand, blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, by incorporating puzzles and more dangerous enemies than expected of traditional overworlds, though they still serve as areas that connect to dungeons.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', the overworld is more emphasized than ever before, with it not only being at least 12 times larger than ''Twilight Princess'', but by also having various weapons, enemies, and treasures scattered about it. The dungeons largely take a backseat to the overworld, as most of the puzzle solving is divided into brief Shrines, while the main dungeons themselves are significantly smaller than dungeons in previous games.

** Brinstar from ''VideoGame/{{Metroid 1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission'', the area where you start out and which can access all the other areas except for Ridley's Hideout.
** The areas in ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' don't really have names, but there is a clear overworld section that has the most melodic theme (the other areas generally use more ambient tracks to set the mood).

** Tallon Overworld in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' has elevators to all but one of the other zones. True to form, it also plays the Brinstar theme from ''Metroid''.
** The Main Deck in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' is where you can find the main entrances to all the other Sectors.
** Temple Grounds in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' doubles as the HubLevel.
** Bryyo Cliffside in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'', but only for that particular planet.
** The Main Sector in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', which is very similar to the Main Deck from ''Fusion''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'''s overworld is utterly massive. It has 20 maps, each of them absolutely sprawling landscapes teeming with wildlife, landmarks, {{sidequest}}s, and hidden areas. It's a telling sign when the game enables a [[WarpWhistle "quick travel"]] function from the start and even [[NonCombatEXP awards EXP simply for exploring the world map!]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the world of Hydaelyn (and in the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion, [[TheMultiverse The First]]), which is made up of various locales and regions. At launch, the game's overworld focused chiefly on the three major regions of the realm of Hydaelyn: the desertous Thanalan, the forested Black Shroud, and the coastal La Noscea, along with a region of Coerthas bordering the city-state of Ishgard and the politically neutral Mor Dhona. ''Heavensward'' expands on Coerthas while introducing the FloatingContinent[=s=] of the Sea of Clouds and the home of the dragons, Dravania. ''Stormblood'', meanwhile, brings players into the war-torn region of Gyr Abania and the [[{{Wutai}} Far Eastern]] realm of Othard.

* The various homeworlds found in the ''[[Franchise/SpyroTheDragon Spyro the Dragon original franchise]]''.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series boast some of the largest Overworlds in gaming.
** The Iliac Bay area in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall'' is so enormous that travelling from one town to another without fast travel can take several hours or even days ''in real-time''. Though the fact that most of it is randomly generated and reuses assets means that there's no real benefit in ''not'' using fast travel, and is probably why even the massive overworlds of the later games use SpaceCompression.
** In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', the Vvardenfell island is a single continuous explorable location, dotted with countless entrances to smaller dungeon and indoors levels.
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' is similar to ''Morrowind'' with its portrayal of Cyrodiil, except that entire cities are also rendered as smaller sub-levels accessible from the overworld, in large part so the unique designs for the cities can be rendered without crashing the game.
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' makes Skyrim around twice as big as Cyrodiil ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation it's actually the other way around in the lore, but they couldn't really avoid this contradiction without being at the expense of the gameplay]]) and also features the same "cities as sub-levels" approach as its predecessor. There is also the smaller underground overworld of Blackreach, which provides numerous back-entrances to dozens of Dwemer dungeons across northern Skyrim.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and their predecessor Akalabeth is among the first games ever to use an overworld. The overworld in ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' series was influenced by the Ultima series.

* Victoria Island from ''MapleStory'' is where all players go to decide on which class they want to play as for the rest of the game and links to all major areas.

* ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' and their predecessor Akalabeth is among the first games ever to use an overworld. The overworld in ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' series was influenced by the Ultima series.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' features the largest, most detailed overworld of any ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game to date; featuring varied terrain, scores of enemies, and secret grottos. In fact, it's so massive that the game gives you Epona early on; otherwise, getting around can take a while.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' it's the Sky, which you have to traverse by giant bird. As in ''The Wind Waker'' there are small ''floating'' islands strewn out among the clouds.

* ''RedDeadRedemption'' has a positively massive overworld, comprised of three sub-areas: New Austin (the largest and most centralized), Nuevo Paraiso, and West Elizabeth (the smallest).

** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' is the only one in the series that doesn't really have an overworld--it's instead divided into the cities and towns of Florence, Forli, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and Venice, with a very small area set in Rome at the very end.

** A "true" overworld separate from the cities finally returns in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' in the form of the Frontier, set in New England. This region links to real-world cities Boston and New York and to the fictional Davenport Homestead. Through harbormasters, Connor can also travel to smaller areas throughout North America, as far south as Jamaica and all the way up to the Northwest Passage.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' is almost entirely set in the West Indies with its major sub-areas being Great Inagua, Havana, Kingston (plus Port Royal), and Nassau, with others including the island of Principe (off of Africa) and the fictional Long Bay. There are also underwater sub-areas that Edward can access via diving bell. Most of the overworld is open water that you sail between on your pirate ship with islands littered across it that make up both smaller towns and wild locations.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' uniquely has ''three'' different sections to the overworld: the North Atlantic (actually the Gulf of St. Lawrence) in the Canadian Maritimes, basically a cold version of the West Indies), New York (bigger than it was in ''Assassin's Creed III''), and the River Valley (an island area that you can sail around in your ship that includes parts of New York state, Virginia, Canada, and regions). There are far fewer sub-areas than in other games, mostly limited to individual sequences, probably the most notable being Lisbon, Portugal.

[[AC:Other Game Types]]
* Every ''AssassinsCreed'' game game has an overworld, and they get progressively bigger with each game. They're also all based on real-world locations and very roughly match their geography:
** The Kingdom in [[AssassinsCreedI the first game]] is set in the Levant, linking to the real-world cities of Acre, Damascus, Jerusalem, Masyaf, and the battlefield of Arsuf. Most of these places are in what is now Syria and one in Israel, with Lebanon presumably making up part of the Kingdom.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' is the only one in the series that doesn't really have an overworld--it's instead divided into the cities and towns of Florence, Forli, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and Venice, with a very small area set in Rome at the very end.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' is almost entirely overworld--the only parts of the game that ''aren't'' set in Rome are an early sequence at Monteriggioni, the very last sequence set at Viana (in Spain), and the Da Vinci war machine levels, which are set in different parts of Italy and essentially act as dungeons.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' continues the trend by blending "town" with "overworld" and setting almost the entire game in Constantinople. There's a sub-area in Cappadocia which could qualify as an ''under''world (it's a Byzantine-controlled city in a massive cave) and Masyaf returns from the first game as a special sub-area only accessed by Ezio at the very beginning and the very end, but the player revisits it as Altaïr several times.
** A "true" overworld separate from the cities finally returns in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' in the form of the Frontier, set in New England. This region links to real-world cities Boston and New York and to the fictional Davenport Homestead. Through harbormasters, Connor can also travel to smaller areas throughout North America, as far south as Jamaica and all the way up to the Northwest Passage.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' is almost entirely set in the West Indies with its major sub-areas being Great Inagua, Havana, Kingston (plus Port Royal), and Nassau, with others including the island of Principe (off of Africa) and the fictional Long Bay. There are also underwater sub-areas that Edward can access via diving bell. Similar to ''Wind Waker'' mentioned above, most of the overworld is open water that you sail between on your pirate ship with islands littered across it that make up both smaller towns and wild locations.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' uniquely has ''three'' different sections to the overworld: the North Atlantic (actually the Gulf of St. Lawrence) in the Canadian Maritimes, basically a cold version of the West Indies), New York (bigger than it was in ''Assassin's Creed III''), and the River Valley (an island area that you can sail around in your ship that includes parts of New York state, Virginia, Canada, and regions). There are far fewer sub-areas than in other games, mostly limited to individual sequences, probably the most notable being Lisbon, Portugal.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'' goes back to what the Ezio Trilogy had by the overworld being blended with a city and has two major urban center for its overworld: smaller Versailles, and gigantic Paris. There are no dedicated sub-areas to either city.
** And finally, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' has its main overworld as entirely being London. There ''are'' sub-areas in this one, specifically the Tower of London for a sequence with Evie and a few single-sequence areas from the very beginning before the story shifts to London, but there's also a larger sub-overworld set during World War I that follows Jacob's descendant Lydia Frye, set in a separate area of London apart from the Victorian-era overworld.

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Ponyville]] in ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless''. It's not exactly "neutral", though, as that's where the changeling battle in chapter 13 occurred.

* One of the three dimensions in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''

* ''Franchise/{{Ultima}} and their predecessor Akalabeth is among the first games ever to use an overworld. The overworld ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' was influenced by the Ultima series.