Summary
- Survival mechanics in RPGs add stakes to gameplay, emphasizing the importance of preparation for exploration.
- Skyrim's Survival Mode plugin changes the game by making the world colder, hostile, and immersive.
- RPGs like Outward focus on hardcore survival elements, emphasizing struggle in combat, spellcasting, and questing.
One of the biggest draws to RPGs today is the genre's tendency towards immersion. Between graphical enhancements and more fine-tuned mechanics, there are plenty of ways for a good roleplaying title to draw players in to a fantastical, dangerous, wonderful world. Among the many mechanics that can make an RPG more immersive, survival mechanics tend to do a great job adding stakes to a playthrough.
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But how do you properly implement survival mechanics into an RPG? What is too much or too little? For many RPGs, the safety and comfort of settlements are where players see the least of these survival mechanics, and out in the wilds is when they are truly showcased. Players that take advantage of the safety behind walls often find themselves unequipped for the wilds, however, and these RPGs in particular make sure to stress that preparation for exploration is vital to survival.
8 Skyrim: Survival Mode
A Single Creation Greatly Changes How The Game Works
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
- Released
- October 28, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
One of the most popular and game-altering paid mods offered by Bethesda's Creation Club is the Survival Mode plugin. This creation does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to making the land of Skyrim feel colder, more hostile, and more immersive. Players will no longer be able to simply set off to the northernmost regions of the continent in a single sitting, punch a few sabercats along the way, and dive headfirst into a Nordic ruin.
Instead, the cold is as ruthless an enemy as the wildlife or vagrants that dot Skyrim's landscape, and if players set out without food, warm clothing, or camping supplies, they will find that the tolls of adventuring catch up to them very quickly.
7 Battle Brothers
Long Trips Without Supplies Spell Disaster
Battle Brothers
- Released
- April 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Overhype Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Overhype Studios
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Tactical, RPG, Strategy, Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
One of the most brutal open-world roguelikes in a genre that is filled with titles seeking to test players' limits, Battle Brothers is an exceptional game that offers incredibly immersive and satisfying exploration across a procedurally generated continent. Players will need to manage and lead their band of mercenaries across this continent, taking jobs for local town rulers or the nobility that claims each area.
But mercenaries are people too, and people need food to make sure they don't starve, and medicines to cure the wounds given to them by a starving deserter with a rusty pitchfork. Food rations will gradually spoil, so hoarding is not an option, players will need to plan their travel route along the settlements that dot the continent in order to stop by markets during the day and pick up supplies, sell excess gear, and keep up morale at taverns.
6 Dragon’s Dogma 2
Exploring Is Made Fun By Camping Mechanics
Dragon's Dogma 2
- Released
- March 22, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Part of what makes Dragon's Dogma 2 so engaging is how fluid and powerful each vocation feels. While anything from magic-wielding archers to illusionists or good old-fashioned hammer-wielding warriors can carve out a niche in this game, exploring such a vast open world filled with so many dangers will inevitably be taxing on the health and stamina of both the Arisen and their pawns.
Camping and cooking (with some unreasonably delicious live-action cooking scenes) are an integral part of exploration in this game. If players set out without camping gear, or they're not prepared to hunt for their dinner, then they will find the trials of the wilds slowly overwhelming them.
5 Outward
A True Synthesis Of Hardcore Survival And RPG Elements
Outward
- Released
- March 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Publisher(s)
- Deep Silver
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
This is a game that puts its emphasis on survival front and center. Nothing in Outward is complete without struggle, whether that's combat, spellcasting, exploration, or questing. It's an excellent game for those wanting a more immersive RPG experience, and, in the best way possible, feels like a hidden gem from a decade earlier in the games industry.
Players should not be leaving civilization without camping gear and supplies to cook for restoring hunger and fatigue. This is a game where one's backpack is as essential a supply as their weapons and armor, and players who think they can simply take the world by storm without stopping to rest will be sorely disappointed.
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4 Morrowind
Magic And Potions Are Vital To Traveling
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
- Released
- May 1, 2002
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox (Original)
- Genre(s)
- RPG
For some players, Morrowind is the gold standard for what an open-world RPG should be. Immersive, wistful, aberrant and uncanny, it's truly a unique game with plenty of imitators, but no true equals. Preparation in this game doesn't quite come in the form of stocking up on food and drink, but there are definitely things players should do before setting off on a long journey.
Players should have an idea of where they're headed, a rough idea of the route they'll need to take if they're going to an unfamiliar area. A Mark and Recall spell would also be good for dungeon diving, and various potions, especially those that restore health and magicka or cure disease, will usually be equally essential on any long journey.
3 Harvestella
Cooked Meals Can Be Essential In Dungeons
Harvestella
- Released
- November 4, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Live Wire
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Genre(s)
- JRPG, Simulation
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
A cozy farming sim title from Square Enix, though one that often slips through the cracks, Harvestella is an underrated game with plenty of excellent ideas that are well executed. The aesthetic and graphical style of this game are also nothing short of iconic and an incredibly alien spin on typical fantasy tropes.
Setting off into an area without some food made from harvested crops is essentially a death sentence. Rather than healing potions, it's meals that will keep a player and their party afloat in this game, and if players don't have at least some basic food cooked before an adventure, they'll run out of steam incredibly quickly.
2 Avowed
Players Who Explore Empty Handed Will Have A Hard Time
Avowed
- Released
- February 18, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Everything from the upgrade system to the lush, diverse biomes in Avowed does an excellent job of drawing the player in. This is a strange, wonderful world sure to put players in the mind of Morrowind, and in a similar vein, preparation is key to exploration in this title.
If players are not putting their accumulated food to use in this game, cooking meals to help supplement their health and essence regeneration alongside the more expensive potions, they will be overwhelmed in combat quite quickly.
1 Fallout: New Vegas Hardcore Mode
The Wasteland Is More Brutal Than Ever Before
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
This legendary title is already a challenge even in its default state, but Hardcore Mode brings an entirely new dimension of brutality to Fallout: New Vegas. All the vitals have to be watched out for here - food, water, and sleep. Missing out on any of these is a deadly mistake.
Trying to navigate the wasteland when every decision means putting oneself closer or further away from a bed, a meal, a shelter, is an experience like no other. This is an especially good experience for those who have played through New Vegas once before and are itching for an extra challenge.
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