I don't necessarily mean full open cities, it can be a hub or even a level. Exploring cities is one of my favorite parts of gaming, be then real or fiction, medieval or future.

My highlights would be:

GTA4 - Liberty City: It captures the gritty side of New York (more of the 70s than now but wtv) and really put you in the shoes of a straight up criminal, without the hollywood cleanliness of GTA 5 (even though it was not accidental and I love the game). Small details like open Cluckin' Bells or the enhanced physics made the game immersive, and underground gun shops or Little Jacob's gun van added to the gritty criminal feel I mentioned. I'd love to see Rockstar tone down the hollywood feel in 6 (which sort of contradicts the predictions of a Vice City retread), and bring back some of the grittiness in London or something.
AC: Syndicate - London: Which brings me to one of my favorite AC locations (haven't played Origins yet). I love the Victorian era London, and the subtle soundtrack brings me in much better than any other AC (as much as I like AC2's soundtrack, it was too modern for me). Open pubs are a great mood enhancer, and the steam boats going through the Tames brings that polluted vibe. Paris would be a runner up, with the constant revolutionary protests, and the amazing interiors.
Hitman - Sapienza: Finally, Hitman's Sapienza. Especially the bonus mission version. It's not an open world, but the small scope allows for an extremely detailed location, from the classic Italian vibe of the church to the small town concert feel of the bonus mission. Gameplay-wise it's also incredible, as it feels like a complete process of preparation for a hitman, going into increasingly restricted locations (city, mansion, lab).

Overall, I love that developers are putting more of a focus in cities, and hope that the next Elder Scrolls sees some changes from this, avoiding the extremely small towns to let us see something to the scale of Novigrad, for example. A large focus on sound design can add a lot to atmosphere, as seen in GTA 4 and 5 with their amazing background sounds. And I think each game should have a certain amount of interiors. This improved AC Unity and Syndicate immensely, and avoids a feeling of "playground".

I recommend the Walking the Walk videos from ACG if you want to watch some of these details in some games. (this isn't promotion, but if it's a problem I can remove it)

What are some of your favorite locations? What makes them so? What do you think developers should do to improve their designs?

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Call of Duty WWII's Conflict - Raycevick

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Jeff Gerstmann's Top 10 Games of 2017

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CCP is working on ‘a new and highly ambitious MMORPG’

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Japanese CCG Shadowverse launches its 6th expansion - Chronogenesis