Summary
- Many harsher, unforgiving games force players to adapt and experiment for rewarding gameplay.
- Games like The Long Dark and Caves of Qud offer challenging experiences with unpredictable outcomes.
- From STALKER to Elden Ring, exploration in harsh open-world environments adds depth and immersion.
While there's certainly a place for easier, more forgiving open-world games, the lack of challenge and use of instant gratification can sometimes present a watered-down experience. With this can come a lack of experimentation and exploration on the part of the player.
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Harsher, more unforgiving experiences, however, tend to force players to adapt and experiment, leading to tough but rewarding gameplay. While these titles certainly aren't for everyone, and some can be inaccessible, they can also be tremendously satisfying to play.
Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl
A Hazardous & Unpredictable Landscape
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
- Released
- March 20, 2007
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Survival Horror
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl is a survival FPS set in an interconnected open-world landscape, excelling with its eerie atmosphere and dynamic gameplay. Though a little rough around the edges, an immersive world and variety of emergent systems ensure that Shadows of Chernobyl remains a fun and unpredictable experience.
Exploration is a core part of STALKER's gameplay, and the various hazards and foes that players must contend with ensure that it's full of surprise and challenge. As a result, simply walking from point A to B is rarely an easygoing experience.
Battle Brothers
A Brutal Sandbox RPG
Battle Brothers
- Released
- April 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Tactical, RPG, Strategy, Adventure
Battle Brothers excels with its turn-based combat, offering brutal exchanges across a variety of landscapes that require strategic thinking and attention to detail in order to survive. However, even a simple skirmish can result in permanent injury or, worse, the loss of a character.
Combat in Battle Brothers is fair, but there are elements of RNG at play, and even the smallest strategic mistake can cost lives. In addition, there are a variety of survival mechanics that must be managed in order to keep soldiers ready to fight, and attrition can quickly take hold and spiral out of control.
The Long Dark
A Quiet But Hardcore Survival Game
The Long Dark
- Released
- August 1, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Though a quiet, contemplative, and often relaxing experience, The Long Dark is a survival game with sharp teeth; it's easy to lose a run of The Long Dark after just a few mistakes, with unfortunate events and slip-ups often leading to deadly spirals.
However, the sheer difficulty of surviving in The Long Dark, at least at first, ensures that it remains a rewarding experience. Additionally, there simply isn't a victory condition in The Long Dark's survival mode. All runs are, eventually, likely to come to an end.
Fallout: New Vegas
A Harsh & Hostile Wasteland
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Fallout: New Vegas is an open-world first-person RPG packed with opportunities for player expression. Emergent gameplay is another of its core strengths, offering dynamic systems that reward adaptive players and creative thinking.
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In fact, creative thinking is often required when looking to complete the game's various quests; these quests can often be solved in a variety of ways, and decisions are rarely easy to make. Limited resources and specialized characters ensure that players must approach each obstacle in their own way, and New Vegas rarely, if ever, gives players the keys to the door.
Elden Ring
Challenging Combat In An Open World
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
While some may not find its open-world as riveting as the interconnected lands of Dark Souls, Elden Ring offers more of the same difficult and expressive combat combined with free-form exploration. And, similarly to Dark Souls, Elden Ring is replete with bosses to overcome.
Luck is rarely, if ever, a factor in Elden Ring, and as is the case with FromSoftware's iconic trilogy, players must often exercise patience to succeed. In many cases, players may need to battle the same foe a dozen times before getting it right, and Elden Ring cares little about how long it takes.
Borderlands
Exploration Of A Tough & Hostile Planet
Borderlands
- Released
- October 20, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, FPS
Of all the Borderlands games, the original title is perhaps the harshest; from the outset, Borderlands challenges players with a great number of enemies that, in most cases, are just a tad more powerful. This doesn't necessarily remain the case for the entire game, and it can be strangely balanced, but the opening segments of the game can be brilliantly harsh.
This extra bite that Borderlands offers works in tandem with its desolate environments and beaten-down ambiance, offering gameplay that synergizes with its setting, music, and writing. As a result, the original Borderlands is still worth checking out, especially for fans of the franchise's later installments.
Kenshi
A Satisfying RPG With A Harsh Exterior
Kenshi
- Released
- December 6, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- nr
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Open-World, Survival
While it is a decidedly slow-burning experience, the harsh and hostile open-world environments of Kenshi offer tremendously rewarding gameplay. Players can expect to spend plenty of time exploring the game's many nooks and crannies, but Kenshi is also packed with hazards and dangers, elevated by emergent gameplay and dynamic enemies/NPCs.
Everything takes time in Kenshi, and so it tends to reward only the most patient and resilient players. However, those that stick out its many challenges are more than likely to find a satisfying and long-lasting experience beneath the harsh exterior.
Caves Of Qud
A Deadly But Diverse Science-Fantasy Landscape
Caves Of Qud
- Released
- July 15, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, RPG
Caves of Qud is an open-world RPG with a roguelike structure, set in a truly exotic and utterly strange land. In the game, players explore a dense science-fantasy world while engaging in turn-based combat, managing resources, and interacting with a wild array of NPCs.
The permanent death mechanic and plethora of ways to perish across its diverse landscape, however, ensures that Caves Of Qud never hands players victory. As a result, getting any character to a higher level is a frequently rewarding experience.
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