Ultima VII - with the FOSS Exult engine, it’s old but has AI schedules, and stuff that really reminded me of TES.
Baldur’s Gate 1 - it’s quite old and much more linear in many ways than TES, but the semi-open world was still great. The Pathfinder games are also quite similar for a modern alternative. Avernum is also a little bit similar for the open world aspect.
Thief 1 + 2 - first-person stealth games, this directly influenced Oblivion. The Dark Mod also has some good newer maps.
Deus Ex (especially the original 2) - first person immersive sims.
Kingdom Come Deliverance - the closest to TES overall.
Daggerfall (Daggerfall Unity), Morrowind (OpenMW), Oblivion - if you haven’t played them already.
Arx Fatalis (Arx Libertatis) and Ultima Underworld - share some aspects with TES although are much more dungeon crawlers.
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - quite different but the large open world and focus on exploration is amazing.
Ultima VII - with the FOSS Exult engine, it’s old but has AI schedules, and stuff that really reminded me of TES.
Baldur’s Gate 1 - it’s quite old and much more linear in many ways than TES, but the semi-open world was still great. The Pathfinder games are also quite similar for a modern alternative. Avernum is also a little bit similar for the open world aspect.
Thief 1 + 2 - first-person stealth games, this directly influenced Oblivion. The Dark Mod also has some good newer maps.
Deus Ex (especially the original 2) - first person immersive sims.
Kingdom Come Deliverance - the closest to TES overall.
Daggerfall (Daggerfall Unity), Morrowind (OpenMW), Oblivion - if you haven’t played them already.
Arx Fatalis (Arx Libertatis) and Ultima Underworld - share some aspects with TES although are much more dungeon crawlers.
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - quite different but the large open world and focus on exploration is amazing.
Seconding Morrowind with OpenMW. It does an amazing job updating everything for modern computers.