Summary
- Open-world games like Elden Ring are immediately difficult, with steep learning curves and unforgiving gameplay.
- Battle Brothers and Blood West offer brutal, challenging combat experiences from the start.
- Titles like The Long Dark and Kenshi provide unforgiving survival in open worlds, requiring patience and skill.
Free-form exploration and accessible mechanics are common qualities in open-world titles, but there are also a variety of open-world games that feature difficult gameplay. Some hide their difficulty to ease players into the game. Others, however, are immediately tough.
Exploration-Heavy Games With Great Gameplay
These incredible video games not only showcase vast and complicated environments to explore, but they also deliver great gameplay to match.
These games feature gameplay that rarely holds the player's hand and are often unforgiving experiences. Each of these titles challenges players in unique ways, but all of them are difficult from the very start.
8 Elden Ring
An Expansive World With Dangerous Enemies
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Among Soulslikes, Elden Ring is on the easier side, but for newcomers to the Soulslike formula and purely from an open-world game perspective, it will be an immediately difficult experience. Its steep learning curve, abundance of dangerous enemies, and unforgiving gameplay loop reward methodical play and punish mistakes with the utmost brutality. However, there's fun to be had in learning its systems and in overcoming its challenging bosses.
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Elden Ring's combat is fluid and expressive, allowing players to tackle enemies and bosses in myriad ways. Furthermore, the RPG character progression allows for plenty of customization that allows players to approach the game from several angles, making for a rewarding experience.
7 Battle Brothers
An Open-World Sandbox RPG With Challenging Combat
Battle Brothers
- Released
- April 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Overhype Studios
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Tactical, RPG, Strategy, Adventure
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
From the very start, Battle Brothers provides brutal, violent turn-based combat on unforgiving battlefields. There's little mercy in the game's world, and even those who receive it are often left with permanent injuries. This can be disheartening, but players who take the time to learn the intricacies of its combat will find it a rewarding experience in the long term.
The deep character progression present in Battle Brothers' RPG systems can be particularly rewarding, offering up myriad perks that each offer their own unique boons. Combining these perks can be particularly fun, especially as most have an immediate and obvious impact on combat encounters.
6 Blood West
Wild West Meets Eldritch Horror
Blood West
- Released
- February 10, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Blood West is an open-world FPS that combines a Wild West setting with eldritch horror. The horror elements blend nicely with the game's unforgiving difficulty, offering up combat encounters that reward stealth and caution over reckless aggression.
What makes Blood West particularly unforgiving is its unique punishments for death; whenever players bite the dust in Blood West, they're often punished further with "soul flaws", stacking debuffs that offer a negative gameplay loop. These can be avoided, but learning how to deal with them does make the game more inaccessible at first.
5 The Long Dark
Challenging Survival In Relaxing Environments
The Long Dark
- Released
- August 1, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Hinterland Studio
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
An emphasis on hardcore survival mechanics makes The Long Dark a particularly punishing experience. The Long Dark's open-world exploration gives players a great deal of freedom in how they approach survival, but at first, it can be dangerous to trek across its landscapes.
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The Long Dark's environments are hand-crafted, so players need to learn their ins and outs in order to scavenge effectively. Furthermore, The Long Dark does little to hold the player's hand, tasking them with finding their own way in its freezing landscape.
4 Project Zomboid
Hardcore Survival In A Zombie Apocalypse
Project Zomboid
- Released
- November 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- The Indie Stone
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC
Offering hardcore simulation in a zombie apocalypse setting, Project Zomboid is a dark and unforgiving experience that spares no expense in making the player's life difficult. From starvation and dehydration to temperature and disease, Project Zomboid is heavily simulated and, as a result, immediately difficult.
The abundance of undead shambling through the streets and countryside of its open-world environments only makes Project Zomboid more difficult. While the most immediate concern will be food and supplies, players will soon find themselves having to contend with hordes of undead. Just one bite from these monsters results in death, which makes Project Zomboid particularly unforgiving.
3 Rain World
An Interconnected World With A Brutal Ecosystem
Rain World
- Released
- March 28, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Tobacco Reference
- Developer(s)
- Videocult
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Rain World's series of interconnected rooms may seem minimalist, but exploring is an experience that's both difficult and rewarding thanks to a simulated ecosystem. This ecosystem cares little for the player's survival, and it can be difficult to learn how to overcome the overwhelming odds it presents.
In the game, players must scavenge for food as they prepare for hibernation in order to avoid deadly rainfall. The abundance of predators that stalk its environments makes this particularly difficult, especially at first. As a result, Rain World can take a little patience to enjoy at first.
2 Kenshi
An Entirely Open & Utterly Hostile World
Kenshi
- Released
- December 6, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- nr
- Developer(s)
- Lo-Fi Games
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Open-World, Survival
- Platform(s)
- PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Slow-burning RPG progression, a busy user interface, and a dangerous world make Kenshi an experience that's immediately difficult. There's little in the way of forgiveness in and around Kenshi's various environments, with plenty of ways to die and very few ways to get ahead.
Even the simple act of traveling from point A to B can be deadly in Kenshi; wandering mobs, aggressive creatures, and even starvation. Eyes must be peeled, care must be taken; the reckless are rarely, if ever, rewarded in Kenshi.
1 Caves Of Qud
A Traditional Roguelike With A Unique Open World
Caves Of Qud
- Released
- July 15, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Fans of traditional roguelikes may have a better chance of survival in Caves of Qud. However, its hardcore gameplay and dangerous science-fantasy world will more than likely provide a meaningful challenge for most players.
This challenge is immediate. In fact, Caves of Qud gets less difficult as players gain a deeper understanding of its world and systems. Though challenges are often present, knowing how to react in any given situation dramatically increases a player's chances of survival. Furthermore, although Qud can be inaccessible, permanent death is optional, allowing newcomers to more easily enjoy the experience.
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