Highlights
- Realistic RPGs provide a refreshing challenge and a heightened sense of immersion for players who crave a more authentic experience.
- Games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance emphasize the protagonist's lack of combat skills early on, requiring players to seek out training and learn practical techniques to survive.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt incorporates realistic combat movements through motion capture, while Dark Souls adds a stamina system and realistic sword-fighting techniques for a more tactical approach.
Role-playing games have become all the rage in modern times, but have been prevalent in the medium for decades. Players just can't get enough of immersing themselves in rich, vibrant worlds and getting lost as they strive to accomplish their main goal (and several side goals along the way). This can range from saving the world to rescuing someone important and everything in between.
6 Best RPGs For Fans Of Classic Film Noir
Fans of film noir can see this classic genre with new life within these great RPGs.
A lot of RPGs feature combat that fulfills a power fantasy and lets players go all out against waves of enemies without breaking a sweat. While these battles can be fairly engaging in their own right, there are times when players would appreciate some form of realism in these games for an added challenge, or just to enjoy a heightened sense of immersion. While realistic RPGs aren't all that prominent, there are some great examples of such titles that did a great job of making themselves as realistic as possible.
5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Players Control A Blacksmith's Son Who Initially Fights With Zero Combat Experience
The first name that would come to the minds of most people when talking about realistic RPGs is Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Players control a blacksmith's son named Henry who must fulfill his father's last wish and deliver the sword he crafted to Sir Radzig Kobyla, triggering a chain of events that lets him take revenge on the people who eventually lay waste to his home.
4 Best RPG Stealth Games
The art of stealth is a joy to many, and the best RPGs on the market allow players to commit to stealth and advance their skills in the shadows.
The game makes it clear that Henry is uneducated in the art of combat, and this is apparent in the way he fights enemies early on. Taking on multiple foes is out of the question, and Henry needs to seek out some combat training before he can stand toe-to-toe against common soldiers and bandits, let alone well-trained swordsmen who can cut him down in a flash.
4 Gothic
The Nameless Hero Has To Seek Out Trainers And Learn How To Wield A Weapon
Gothic starts off on an interesting note, with players taking control of a protagonist who is dumped unceremoniously into an elaborate prison system where he must either pull his weight or meet a grisly end. This Nameless Hero is incompetent in combat early on, and only the weakest Scavengers can be taken down by his clumsy moves.
Unlike most games where players dump skill points into moves and magically become better in combat, the protagonist must seek out combat specialists who teach them practical techniques. This helps players use their weapons more comfortably in battle, letting them unleash combos and move smoothly instead of comically flailing their weapons in a bid to win against weak monsters.
3 Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord
The Poster Child Of Realism In An RPG
Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- October 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- TaleWorlds Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG , Strategy
Mount and Blade is the first series that comes to mind when players talk about realistic RPGs. The first game amassed a dedicated community who loved this incredible sandbox and how it let players carve their very own stories in the medieval landscape.
Best Philosophical RPGs
Gamers looking for thought-provoking and philosophical gaming experiences are sure to enjoy these heavy-hitting RPGs.
The sequel, Mount and Blade:Bannerlord, made things more engaging than ever before. Every aspect of the game was made more in-depth, immersive, and realistic than the previous entry, including the combat. Many people have described the battles in this game as easy to get into but hard to master, which is precisely what any realistic combat system in an RPG should strive to achieve.
2 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Geralt's Moves Use Motion Capture Data From An Actual Sword Master
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Platform(s)
- PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Switch , PC
- Released
- May 19, 2015
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
Most people would scoff at the idea of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt having realistic combat, and it's easy to see why this is the case. Geralt moves around at lightning-fast speed, whips out magic in battle at a moment's notice, and has seemingly limitless stamina as he cuts down wave after wave of enemies without breaking a sweat.
However, there's one aspect of the combat in all three Witcher games that is quite realistic, and that's Geralt's movements in combat. The Witcher's moves were recorded in motion-capture by Maciej Kwiatkowski who is trained in wielding a blade. He initially interpreted the descriptions of Geralt's moves in the books and combined them with European sword-fighting styles to devise his flowing strikes in combat before incorporating techniques from a wealth of other styles across different regions to make Geralt's moves look practical yet awe-inspiring at the same time.
1 Dark Souls
Moves Taken From Real Life, With A Stamina System Promoting A More Tactical Approach
Dark Souls was a game that took the world by storm, with players loving how this game left most people to their own devices and forced them to learn how the game worked using their intellect. Combat in Dark Souls was unlike most other action titles at the time, with a realistic stamina bar governing how many actions players could take in combat before they had to take a breather.
Along with this, Dark Souls has many realistic sword-fighting techniques that players have to rely on in battle to gain an edge over their enemy. Parries, ripostes, dodges, and backstabs are all viable tactics in real life and something that the Chosen Undead must master to make their trek across Lordran more bearable.
