Roleplaying games attract all sorts of players with their own motives for playing. They naturally draw in more story-oriented gamers who want their choices to impact the plot. At the same time, RPGs also come with immense mechanical depth and the potential for intense difficulty that can draw in a more hardcore crowd.
Both preferences have a wide array of games available, even some that cater to both sides at once. Whether an RPG is particularly challenging, or whether its character creation involves extensive number crunching and decision-making, some titles are ideal for those who enjoy a more in-depth mechanical edge with their roleplaying.
10 Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire Combines Old And New For An Ideal Challenge
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Pillars of Eternity franchise is a throwback to old-school isometric RPGs. Everything from its storytelling to its gameplay hearkens back to a bygone era of gaming. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire combines this design with many quality-of-life improvements to hit the best of both worlds, especially for players who enjoy difficulty.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire continues the franchise’s unique mechanics that don’t directly draw from any existing RPGs. This particularly appeals to roleplayers who enjoy the challenge of learning or even breaking a new system. Some players may be put off by the ease of creating a non-functional character in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but others may appreciate that part of the challenge.
9 Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Dungeons & Dragons Character Creation
PC, PlayStation 5
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a significant mechanical departure from previous Baldur’s Gate titles due to being based on Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. However, it still attempts to recreate the world’s most iconic tabletop RPG in video game form. This comes with D&D 5e‘s character creation, with a wealth of options to cater to any player.
Baldur’s Gate 3 can entertain players for hours in character creation alone. Aside from its wealth of race, class, and subclass choices, its loot system adds another vast layer of number-crunching to the game. Baldur’s Gate 3‘s relative lack of difficulty may put off some more hardcore players, but its character creation can more than satisfy many.
8 Darkest Dungeon Pulls No Punches
PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Darkest Dungeon makes no secret that it aims to challenge the player. It makes stress a central game mechanic, with unforgiving combat and a grim atmosphere. This, coupled with the relative lack of decision-making in its story, highlights its appeal to fans of more hardcore game design over a narrative focus.
Darkest Dungeon‘s character-building is more random and hands-off than in many mechanically-deep RPGs. Nonetheless, there’s still plenty for players to sink their teeth into. Trinket and skill choices can mean the difference between life and death in Darkest Dungeon‘s infamously brutal gameplay.
7 Icewind Dale II Puts Combat First And Foremost
PC
Icewind Dale II was part of the D&D video game boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It sets itself apart from companion titles like the beloved Planescape Torment and Baldur’s Gate by emphasizing action, combat, and dungeoneering above all else. Icewind Dale still has a plot and entertaining writing, but it takes a backseat to RPG gameplay.
RPG fans who want to create a character and send them through difficult dungeons will find Icewind Dale the perfect game for them. Its adaptation of the D&D Third Edition ruleset makes for an approachable but challenging combat style that will leave mechanically-minded RPG players looking for a way to one-up their previous build.
6 Bloodborne Takes Souls Difficulty To A New Level
PlayStation 4
Bloodborne remains many FromSoftware fans’ favorite game in the ‘Soulslike’ genre. It takes the action-RPG gameplay of Dark Souls and takes it even further. Bloodborne is a fast-paced action RPG that forces players to fight aggressively or be forever on the back foot against the game’s monstrous enemies.
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On a surface level, Bloodborne‘s character creation can look more simplistic than many other more hardcore RPGs. However, its overlapping systems of stats, weapons, runes, and blood gems give mechanically-minded players plenty to engage with. Few action RPGs give players more of an overt challenge than Bloodborne.
5 Monster Hunter: World Is All About Character Builds
PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
The Monster Hunter franchise takes a very straightforward approach to RPG gameplay. The games are about fighting bosses to craft stronger equipment, allowing players to take on more dangerous bosses. Monster Hunter: World does have more story and gameplay than that, but its core loop is about building a stronger character through combat.
Fans of challenging fights and fans of character-building will find plenty to enjoy in Monster Hunter: World. The game takes Monster Hunter‘s dense gameplay and makes it far more accessible with quality-of-life improvements. Mechanically-minded gamers can enjoy hundreds of hours fighting difficult bosses and refining their character’s builds.
4 Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows Of Amn Shows The Difficulty Of Older Titles
PC (Original Version), PC, Mobile, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (Enhanced Edition)
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn is one of the most celebrated RPG video games ever made. This encompasses its beloved storytelling but also its in-depth gameplay. It is a fully realized version of AD&D Second Edition, with all the difficulty and in-depth character creation that implies.
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn encourages significant number-crunching with its character creation to build the most effective character possible. Its isometric combat requires the player to have a tight grasp on tactics and their party’s abilities or face death at the hands of Baldur’s Gate II‘s difficult combat encounters.
3 Divinity: Original Sin II Is A Tactical Combat Masterclass
PC, Mobile, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Divinity: Original Sin II follows on from the unexpected smash hit of Divinity: Original Sin. It takes the long-underground Divinity franchise and makes it a crowd-pleaser for almost all audiences. Alongside its well-liked characters and story, Divinity: Original Sin II includes some of the most beloved character creation and tactical combat of any video game RPG.
Divinity: Original Sin II‘s unique system encourages players to experiment with their character builds with its immensely flexible skills system. On top of that, its combat requires players to learn the system inside and out or struggle against lethal encounters at every turn. Particularly on higher difficulties, Divinity: Original Sin II is immensely rewarding for players who master it.
2 Fire Emblem: Three Houses Has Its Series’ Most In-Depth Advancement
Nintendo Switch
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is an abrupt departure from many previous Fire Emblem titles. In particular, its character advancement has been overhauled to abandon several series mainstays. This makes it a far more complex and in-depth process than in previous games, requiring active player participation along the way.
Although Fire Emblem: Three Houses doesn’t have the most difficult combat of any Fire Emblem game, it still tests the player’s tactical prowess throughout. This, coupled with its complex character-building, can appeal even to hardcore RPG players who shy away from turn-based titles.
1 Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous Goes All-In On Character Creation
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
The Pathfinder TTRPG is notorious for just how many options it provides for character-building. Its many races, classes, feats, magic items, and more present almost infinite possibilities for players. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous lives up to this part of the tabletop RPG than its predecessor, Pathfinder: Kingmaker.
Few RPGs give players as much freedom or as many options with character-building as Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It can be overwhelming for less experienced players, but this gives more hardcore RPG players plenty to contend with. It also doesn’t shy away from challenge, embracing the potential of high-level play more than most RPGs.
