Summary
RPGs can be one of the most inviting genres for any type of player out there. Turn-based and tactical varieties allow players to plan their moves, while action RPGs force players to be on their guard. Whatever sub-genre players engage with, they know they can become stronger throughleveling up with EXP, or at least in most transitional varieties.
With patience and a little grinding, even the hardest RPGs can become accessible. However, these examples are beyond brutal from the start, which may have players second-guess their purchases. Let’s go through these examples and see how unfair they are in open-world settings.
Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis the latest entry in the series, which focuses on two heroes in feudal Japan:Naoe and Yasuke. After a long tutorial, the world will open up to Naoe, who is a ninja, and unless players turn automatic stealth kills on in the options, they’re going to have a tough time with Naoe.
She can be killed easily unless players master counters and stealth. After a few story kills, about ten hours in, players can gain control of the samurai Yasuke, who is a lot more powerful than Naoe, which will help even the odds.
After Hideo Kojimaleft Konami, players were eagerly anticipating aMetal Gearlevel of quality with his first new game,Death Stranding. While the graphics and story certainly matched previous Kojima ventures, some players were at a loss with the gameplay loop. The hero, Sam, is a delivery man who seemingly trips over every rock he encounters.
It’s a hard road to deliver packages as he constantly gets thrown off balance, not to mention sections that are heavy with otherworldly entities who want to kill him. After some persistence, players will gain new ways to traverse the landscape, from highways to zip lines, but it can take ten hours or more to really feel something close to power.
It should come as no surprise that a Soulslike gamedeveloped by FromSoftwarewould be hard.Elden Ringwas their first attempt at a true open-world setting, and even though it gave players more opportunities to explore and level up at their leisure, it still wasn’t easy.
From the starting gate, players could encounter a mini-boss, Tree Sentinel, that could decimate them in an instant and even chase them down. It is admittedly a more accessible game than other Soulslikes, but it’s still not a simple one to get strong in fast.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis light in its RPG elements, but players can track down key items to level up their health and stamina gauge. They can explore the giantworld of Hyruleafter a quick tutorial island, which isn’t too hard to get through.
Once the real open-world adventure begins, though, things get heated quickly if players don’t know where to go and where to avoid. Simple Moblins can kill Link in one hit, and it will take a while to track down good armor and recipes to beef up Link’s power beyond the stamina and health gauge. It just might be the hardestZeldagame of all time.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylis one of the hardest open-world games in recent memory. Players start with practically nothing, and even after a lengthy opening section, it doesn’t get much easier. Ammo is scarce, human and mutant enemies are strong, and that’s not all that can kill them.
Players will have to worry about all kinds of environmental hazards like rifts and radiation. It’s more of a sim game than an open-world experience, as players will constantly feel theweight of this post-apocalypsecrushing them with tedious nitpicks. Getting through is a miracle, but it can be rewarding once players unlock more ways to survive. This can take an apocalyptically long time.
Star Wars Outlawswas not about Jedis or the Sith, and it was the first game to feature more open-world areas to explore among several planets. This meant that players, as Kay, were limited in how they could approach situations, withstealth being their best ally.
There was equipment to boost Kay’s defensive and offensive abilities a bit, but overall, she was constantly outnumbered by other outlaws or Stormtroopers. There are so many bases players will have to infiltrate in the game, and if they’re caught, that’s basically it. Even by the end, players aren’t going to feel invulnerable.
Xenoblade Chronicles Xwas the second game in the series, and it changed things up a bit, offering players a chance to customize their character and go online. Unlike the previous game, which was also open-world, the sequel was a lot tougher as over-leveled enemies were everywhere.
While players could run past them sometimes, the agro levels would often have monsters chase players down with double, triple, or even quadruple their character’s level. On the plus side, players will not lose progress upon death, but it can still be frustrating to grind under these conditions, even in thenew Switch version,Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definite Edition.
ZombiUwas a Wii U launch title that was an open-world adventure set ina zombie outbreakwithin London. The unique twist to this gameplay loop was that players could continue even after they died, technically.
They would just come back as a new random survivor, who would then have to find the previous character to get their loot. It was an easy game to die in, too, as players start with weak melee weapons, and even if they do find guns, ammo is scarce. This death cycle can make the experience all the more daunting.
