Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is on sale on Steam right now. I've only played through the prologue, but it seems pretty good so far.

Ok you want something as rich and interesting as skyrim, so I'm assuming open world games are your jam.

There are three games you should play.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - it's a Western, the world is very believable, and it makes you feel like you're really part of it. You can follow the main story line, or you could spend your days hunting and fishing. You could travel from town to town playing every poker game you can find. You can conduct train robberies, breed horses, really, there's just a whole lot to do.

2. Cyberpunk 2077 - this is RDR2 but in a scifi dystopian future where the corpos own everything, sex is for sale on every billboard and every ad break, and the only justice is what you can achieve on your own. You've got a ticking time bomb in your brain and no time to fuck around. In this world where you can't trust anyone, somehow what really matters are the friends you make along the way. (seriously)

3. The Witcher 3 - from the same studio that made cyberpunk, the Witcher 3 is truly a masterpiece of storytelling. The one caveat I have for this game is that it starts hard, almost "souls-like". But get past that first rough hour and there is an extremely rich world with a seemingly unending collection of stories to become a part of. This may be the most skyrim-like of the games listed here, but you're in for a treat, because this is a much better game than Skyrim.

All three of these games are gonna make you feel real feelings, they're all actually better at telling stories than Skyrim is. The Witcher 3 in particular loves to live in the grey zone, it'll make you make ethical choices that matter, and you probably won't like any of the possible outcomes. But this is a good thing!

Have you tried Skyrim: Anniversary Edition, Skyrim: Special Edition or Skyrim: Legendary edition? /j

Witcher 3. That castle ruin over there? Might have some loot. Or a Cockatrice. Or a psychological horror story of 10 parts. Or nothing at all, who knows. And you might stumble over Excalibur by that lake.

Also get the "Blood and Wine" DLC, absolutely worth it, even if you're not into the story. And the HD Reworked mod if you like it more realistic and dark, one of the best reworks ever.

Edit: there's now Next Gen too, huh.

Telling people what in particular you like about Skyrim is going to get you much better feedback as there are many, many games that are similar in some ways but not others.

This might just be too obvious, but nobody's mentioned it... Have you played the other Elder Scrolls, like the Oblivion remaster?

I can give you older and with worse tech - Morrowind is better than Skyrim

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

Tainted grail: fall of Avalon.

Its janky, but pretty cool in its own way.

Have you played the Fallout games by the same dev? 3, New Vegas, and 4 play very similarly to Skyrim just in a different genre.

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.

Baldurs gate 3 is not quite the same thing, but has similar themes. You are an adventurer saving the world (most of the time) who collects an inordinate amount of items. It's one of the only other games I have over 800 hours in.

Skyrim is actually the last skyrim-type game to be manufactured until Bethesda announces Skyrim 2 hopefully sometime this year.

The witcher does a pretty good job IMO.

Have you looked at the gothic remake? It's probably not as big but it should scratch a similar itch. But it's not as free form, you're playing as a set (male) nameless hero.

Otherwise... no not really. I could recommend wildly different games and genres that also feature exploration, but skyrim is just very good.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Witcher 3

Kingdom Come Deliverance

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Not the same kind of "magic" but if you want immersion and a super rewarding story I highly recommend it

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.

There are a lot of good recommendations in here, but if you like Skyrim that much have you considered playing a total conversion of it? Enderal: The Shards of Order Is so different that is basically a completely new game, but within the concept of Skyrim, it’s engine, and a lot of its assets. Think the change from ocarina of time to majora’s mask, but even more extreme

Heavily depends on what makes Skyrim special for you.

The most obvious similar games are other Bethesda titles, especially Oblivion and Morrowind. Install some QoL and graphical mods, and you should now have 3 Skyrims.

Have you played Enderal?

Some call it a mod, but it's a whole ass game, made in Skyrim Engine.

Totally biased, since I lived in half of my life in Skalitz. Have you considered KDC?

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

An indie game which has a lot of Skyrim vibes.

Oblivion Remastered - basically Skyrim, start here IMO.

Kingdom Come Deliverance, 1 and 2 - exacly the same as Skyrim except super realistic and historically accurate.

Dragon's Dogma, 1 and 2 - faster paced dynamic combat with a big, vibrant world to explore, but without the finer details.

Dragon Age, Origins, 2 and 3 - More strategic combat and dialogue, less world detail.

Mount and Blade, Warband and Bannerlord - ok not that much like Skyrim but similar appeal. You go into battles with dozens of soldiers, command and fight alongside them, plenty of RPG elements and questing but is mainly a sandbox for you to figure out your own goals on your own.

I'll be the third person to mention Cyberpunk 2077. They genuinely perfected the Bethesda formula. I've put in hundreds of hours over half a dozen full playthroughs; it's absolutely exceptional.

Skyblivion Coming out this year. I personally think morrowind was the high point in elder scrolls series scenario-wise but is aged very poorly. Patching and modding the hell out of it might be worthwhile. Nehrim is cool. Fallout new Vegas works well. Cyberpunk has already been mentioned several times.

Oblivion.

When I played Witcher 3 I remember immediately thinking Skyrim felt extremely dated. I would play any quest in W3 again before any quest in Skyrim.

But yeah, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is recent and supposed to be for Skyrim fans. Haven't played it yet.

Have you played Enderal: Forgotten Stories?

Avowed. The combat feels like an upgraded Skyrim, and the world exploring feels very similar. My only complaint was that the game was too short.

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.

Rdr2 my friend, rdr2

Echoing what others said about the Witcher 3. I have over 1500 hours into both games. Skyrim is great if you like open world games with minimal storyline and just want to explore. Witcher 3 is very story heavy, but you can also just spend hours and hours ignoring the story and exploring the world. There's quests and random little treasures and easter eggs hidden everywhere. In the Witcher you can climb up a mountain in the middle of nowhere and come across a treasure chest or a skeleton with a book of poetry, or wander through the wilderness far away from any map markers and stumble into a side quest or an interesting place to explore. It's also just heartbreakingly beautiful.

The story does follow the events of the books and the first two games and is more enjoyable if you have experienced them, but the first time I played I hadn't yet read the books or played the other games and it still stole my heart and became my favorite game. You might not fully understand the politics or the characters or the choices you're asked to make for certain supporting side quests, but there's a good journal where you can read everyone's backstories and all the information you need for choices regarding the main quest is in the game.

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.