For me it was Witcher 3 and the dlc. Love that game so much…

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

An indie game which has a lot of Skyrim vibes.

I don’t know if it’s quite in the same category but I’m playing baldur’s gate 3 at the moment and really enjoying it. I’d definitely recommend that.

A lot of posts here with things that are thematically similar and open world.

I personally bounce between Skyrim and Fallout 4 a lot. I’d give ‘A Storywealth’ collection on nexus a play.

Unfortunately Fallout: New Vegas is the only game I can think of that can top Skyrim. I know you wanted a newer game, but that’s the best I can do.

Have you considered Cities Skylines II? It also scratches the same itch for me, and by that I mean that it has robust mod support and can be played forever without me ever getting bored of it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3849000/The_Lantern_of_the_Laughless_Saint/

Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 was great.

But it’s a Medieval RPG, not fantasy. So you won’t find elves or orcs or magic.

Edit: Actually nevermind, don’t play it, it’s too strict of an RPG, not for everyone, (i.e. fighting more than 2 people can kill you easily unless you master the combat, using a bow won’t give you the center reticle, saving the game needs a specific item or you need to sleep in a bed, wearing a helmet will limit your vision to the shape of the visor, etc)

I suggested this because my Skyrim was modded to be a strict RPG as well.

What platform are you gaming on?

I would suggest The legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.

Even if you hate Shitendo (like I am) there are ways to play it on other platforms

I loved Skyrim, considering going back to that well soon. I’m on my 3rd playthrough of cyberpunk 2077, I’ve embarrassingly got 470 hours on that game. I feel like those 2 games are somewhat similar, 1st person open world, player choices have some effect on the game but not much, character customization is a lot of fun, side quests galore, lots of lore, tons of mods, etc… cyberpunk had serious troubles when it first came out but at this point it’s a solid game. I recommend giving it a try

For some reason I can’t get into Bethesda games. I’ve tried numerous times but they aren’t for me. I guess I find open world rpgs to be really boring for some reason. Even though I like looter shooters/Diablo clones. Which is a similar genre but more focused on getting da loot.

Idk but you better tell me you find one!

I’m tried a lot of the games mentioned in the comment. Many are good, but none of them scratches that Skyrim itch.

I really liked Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Not the same, but a very fun game

I also like Ghost of Tsushima, but if anything it’s even less like Skyrim

Depends on what you actually want. If it’s the first-person RPG experience, there’s a handful such as Tainted Grail and Cyberpunk 2077. If it’s using a slightly different system or closer to traditional RPG, either the Witcher or BG3 or Expedition 33.

But modding… I cannot find any other RPG that gets better if it is modded, as Skyrim – and Morrowind and Oblivion – pretty much designed to be modded.

I miss games like skyrim…