goat simulators 1 and 3 are like, specially made for this.

we don't talk about 2

Untitled goose game. You can play it or dink around. HONK

The saints row series is pretty good. It was kind of a GTA knockoff but was much sillier and let you actually keep and upgrade/paint cars. It really lets you make the game yours. In... Number 3 or 4 the player gets movement abilities that make using a car actually slower so that really killed the vibe, but the ridiculousness was higher than ever so it kind of balanced. I'd recommend playing them in order or at least watching YouTube videos because the story is sort of linear.

Someone else said morrowind which really is the ultimate "do whatever you want" game. You're basically never locked out of anything by not doing the main quest, and nearly every npc is killable, even essential ones (though the game will tell you if you do this so you can reload a save). There's no vehicles really so I don't know if that's the vibe you're going for, but it really is a blast if you can accept the painfully outdated graphics and mediocre combat system.

Valheim is a survival crafter exploration game that can be surprisingly cozy, and sailing around is fun. Also not the vibe I think you're looking for but I love it so I shill it when I can.

Cyberpunk is actually a damn decent game now, and the world has SO MUCH crammed into it you can just wander and do whatever activity you run into for ages without getting bored. Even the smallest side story has lore that illustrates a tiny piece of night city and I find that really cool.

I think saints row probably best matches what you're looking for without being a sequel to a game you already mentioned. Cyberpunk too, probably.

I just recently got Spider-Man on sale and I've not once used fast travel except in the tutorial because it's too much fun swinging around the city. And there's like 50 types of collectibles/ side missions to do while you're fucking around.

Also you should definitely try Grand theft Auto v if you had that much fun in San Andreas

Anything Elder Scrolls kept me busy much longer than the main story, most notably Morrowind. Also, I replayed GTA IV (+ stories) last week, was heaps of fun, especially compared to GTA V which I played a few months back. Read Dead Redemption 2 is a good one for this list as well, I enjoyed that one immensely, but I mainly focused on the main quest during that run-through, so this is a good reminder to myself to pick this up again soon (sadly I fell back into the pull of Satisfactory so it might be some weeks/months/... before I get to it)

Saints Row 2-3-4 are great for this. 2 is the GOAT, but 3 and 4 are arguably better at providing the "screwing around" experience.

Sleeping Dogs is underrated and regularly goes on sale for like $5. There is not as much sandbox-ey stuff to do compared to GTA/Just Cause/Saints Row, but I loved jacking a nice car and cruising the freeway at night, or going on a murder spree and playing survival against waves of cops.

Elder Scrolls isn't necessarily as wacky of an experience out of the box, but between mods and the sheer amount of freedom you have in the game, there is plenty of dumb random stuff you can get up to.

If you have Elden Ring on PS4/5 and know your way around the game, invasions have a ton of potential for shenanigans. Probably not what you're after, and I imagine multiplayer activity is down since Nightreign came out, but it's worth mentioning as such a unique experience.

Honourable indie mention: Mars First Logistics is a game where you build vehicles and use them to transport objects from point A to point B. The challenges are largely physics-based, with the objects often having unusual shapes or odd properties, and your vehicle needs to be able to self-load them in addition to bearing them across varying distances and terrains. It's not really what you're asking for, but I feel like it scratched the same sort of itch for me in terms of open-ended low-stakes gameplay.

Games I've enjoyed in terms of shenanigans:

-GTA 3-5

-Just Cause 3 (4 too, but it's not as good)

-Untitled Goose Game

-BOTW

-Read Dead Redemption 2

-Saint's Row 2-4

-Cyberpunk 2077 (driving is kinda meh, motorcycles are a little more fun)

-Watchdogs

-Elder Scrolls

-Teardown

Also, I haven't played it, but I heard the new Indiana Jones game is fun with high shenanigan potential.

Red Dead 2 is a masterpiece of this genre

To answer part of your question: Cyberpunk is a pretty good game for just wandering around aimlessly, but because of the balance, from my recollection, you can't really just steal planes and blow everything up. You can make some fun builds to tear through enemies, and the world is gorgeous to drive around in, but there are some limits on your ability to cause total mass destruction.

I quite liked Watchdogs. Dicking about a city causing traffic problems and steaming cash from people's accounts.

• A Short Hike
• Lil Gator Game

These two indie games, both set in a nature park, are more about enjoying their worlds than actually completing quests. With no quest tracker or map, you're free to roam around and talk to characters. Or just pick up sticks and swing them.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is too slow paced imho for what you're looking for.

Both GTA5 and Just Cause 3 (or 4) are genuinely good picks for what you're after.

BotW was a great exploration and movement game. I think the things that help are fun transportation methods and a big open world to use them in. So Tony hawk might be a lot of fun to just ride around but the levels are too small for any real exploration. Or daggerfall is a huge open world, but traveling feels pretty tedious. MMOs are kinda fun for this but the leveled regions means some places are very dangerous to move around in without a group or higher levels. Forza 4/5 were a lot of fun for this if you ignore the loot box casino garbage. The last couple Spider-Mans were really good for this & Burnout paradise was a good one too.

Have you played Subnautica yet?

What I took away from your writing is that you like the freeworld aspect, and Subnautica has plenty to fuck around with. It has a main story line, but the game is so good, you can kinda forget about it and just build your underwater palace. No stealibg cars or planes, but you can craft pretty amazing vehicles and 'fly around' underwater with them.

I think you'd enjoy it.

I dunno how well crafting/building games fit what you’re looking for, but I can jump into Valheim and just screw around for hours collecting and making stuff. The world isn’t populated like a grand theft auto, but it’s fun to just explore and mess around/build stuff in!

Definitely Cyberpunk is a great choice as its built in systems try to pull you into stuff all the time. Don't sleep on Just Cause 3&4 too.