For a challenging and brutal open-world RPG experience, games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Elden Ring, and Outward are some of the best options to jump into. These games aren't for the faint of heart, and they don't hold your hand or deliver the best rewards and strongest power fantasies on a silver platter. Not right away, at least. They force you to work hard to make something out of yourself, and death and failure are usually a pretty crucial part of a regular gameplay loop.
If you're one of those gamers who love the sound of that and want nothing but pure brutality when they're dropped into a new game, then the following open-world RPGs are right down your alley. They require a ton of patience, have steep learning curves, but ultimately feel incredibly rewarding to complete despite a rocky start. We'll rank them roughly on how brutal they are when you first start them.
7 Days To Die
Every Blood Moon, Things Get A Little Dicier
7 Days to Die drops you into a brutal setting: you're naked, afraid, with barely any resources to your name. Your first order of business is to scavenge a dangerous world of undead enemies for supplies, and to prepare for the eventual arrival of the Blood Moon, which will have a horde of enemies running your way, whether you want it or not.
The game has a ton of tools it gives you as you find more items and craft more things. At the start, though, these tools are pretty weak, and you'll always be limited when it comes to bullets, food, bandages, and other necessary items for survival. The more efficient you are during your downtime in between Blood Moons at making the perfect safe haven and gathering the necessary resources, the less brutal the game will feel. One thing's for sure: you'll constantly be in a mild state of stress trying to prep for the next time the horde arrives, or to ensure you're safe during the night and from other environmental hazards.
Elden Ring
A FromSoftware Soulslike Special
FromSoftware has delivered countless grueling games, and Elden Ring, though largely considered one, if not the easiest, is still a brutal experience for the uninitiated. If this is your first Soulslike, the first lesson you learn is that death and defeat are inevitable aspects of learning how the game works and how each enemy moves and functions. That's because this isn't told outright. The game's tutorial gives you a basic rundown of controls, but the depth of buildcrafting and the enemy variety ensure that you're always forced to adapt and stay on your toes.
The bosses are one aspect of this, for sure. They are often much bigger than you, able to crush you in just a few swings or combos, but if you learn their movement pattern and know when to dodge and strike perfectly, you can overcome them. Then, you have the enemies scattered around the world, and the lack of clear direction or quest markers. You simply have to observe and pay attention, watch how certain enemies behave, and what weapons work best on them. It's a lot of trial and error, but so very rewarding for those who persist through the stickiest parts.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
The Unapologetically Real And Difficult Journey Of Henry
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is back in the limelight thanks to an amazing sequel in 2025. Both are great candidates for being considered highly brutal open-world RPGs, primarily due to where and how you start off. You're essentially a total nobody as Henry, and you have to manage multiple small systems in the game in order to progress and survive. That includes learning how to read (it is the medieval times, after all), learning how to properly fight with a sword, which is a mix of nailing your timing, managing your stamina properly, and mastering directional attacks.
It's probably one of the most detailed sword combat systems seen in a video game, one that will have players gritting their teeth, especially at the start. On top of that, you have to keep Henry well-fed and rested, so it almost borders on being a medieval life simulation or even a survival game to an extent. If you lack patience and expect rewards to be handed out to you on a silver platter, you'll definitely feel the growing pains in Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Gothic Games
Nothing Is Given For Free, Everything Is Earned Through Hard Work
The Gothic games are definitely showing their age, which is part of why they feel brutal today. Even with a remake on the way, it's likely it will follow in the tradition of delivering a pretty unforgiving experience right out of the gates. Like with all games here, your story begins as a complete nobody that no one respects or cares about. You'll have to build up a reputation with factions to get any recognition.
The enemies are incredibly dangerous at the start, with mere wolves able to kill you in a hit or two. It's not a game where you should run around and challenge just anyone before you're fully ready. Through trainers and continuous fighting, you'll eventually improve your skills and progress, but it's a long, tough road before you can venture out without fear. Also, as mentioned, both games are old, so some jankiness is to be expected. That, and the lack of all the cushy features many modern games have, from quest markers to these hyperinteractive maps. Exploration will force you to pay attention and find your own way, while also being wary of the world around you that isn't scaled to your current level.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
