Most RPGs are stressful enough with all the decisions resting on players’ shoulders, whether those choices be during gameplay or the narrative. Some take it a step further by including permadeath, a mechanic where party members permanently remain eliminated after their health reaches zero.
A variety of games offer varying degrees of permadeath, from no-nonsense deaths after losing all the party members’ health to more forgiving systems allowing the player to revive comrades within a small window. A couple of these are roguelikes, where the main character’s death sends them all the way back to beginning of the game.
10 XCOM
This turn-based strategy game is notorious for its extreme difficulty. One wrong move can mean the complete obliteration of the party. Fortunately, players can save every turn to prevent the permadeath from becoming too frustrating. Even then, some situations are only salvageable with the death of a party member. Additionally, one can activate Ironman mode, which saves every turn and prevents one from going back several steps to save a downed squad member.
9 Final Fantasy Tactics
Many gamers’ first experience with tactical RPGs was Final Fantasy Tactics, thanks to the brand association with the legendary franchise. It is a brutally tough adventure for first timers, but more forgiving than the other games on the list. After one is knocked out, players have three turns to revive the character before they turn into a crystal. It still is detrimental to waste a turn reviving someone instead of attacking.
8 Fire Emblem
This series was one of Nintendo’s more niche franchises before really hitting the mainstream with its most recent release, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Casual players less accustomed to tactical RPGs can turn off the permadeath for a friendlier experience, but those who love the genre and series will want the higher stakes associated with the mechanic. The Nintendo Switch is quickly becoming home to all the best JRPGs, and Fire Emblem stands tall among them.
7 FTL
The premise of this roguelike is simple: reach the federation headquarters with vital information without being destroyed by rebel ships and other hazards.
Accomplishing that goal is brutally difficult. The vast cosmos are unforgiving, and any number of factors from poor decision-making to bad luck can cause a run to go wildly wrong. This extreme concept is exactly what fans love about the game. Every humiliating defeat makes each victory all the sweeter.
6 Suikoden
Many RPGs on the PlayStation One toyed with new, more ambitious mechanics to shake up the formula established in prior years with series like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
Suikoden has one of the biggest parties of any RPG, with the potential to recruit over one hundred people to the protagonist’s cause. But some of these characters can permanently die if the player is not careful. Obtaining certain party members is hard enough, so losing them is particularly devastating.
5 Rogue
By far the oldest game on the list, Rogue is the reason why the genre is called “roguelike.” Released in 1980, players explore a dungeon, finding equipment to make themselves more powerful. Losing once resets all progress, causing players to return to the beginning of the game. The dungeon is also procedurally generated, always giving the player surprises upon a new run. Later versions of the game also included more detailed graphics instead of a largely text-based interface.
4 Hades
Supergiant Games came out of the gate swinging with the wildly imaginative action-RPG, Bastion. Their most recent project, Hades, is also an action-RPG but turned into a roguelike. Players only get one shot to make it to the end before they are sent back to the beginning. After a run, the player is able to unlock more permanent upgrades, which makes the sting of permadeath a little less painful.
3 Wasteland 2
Post-apocalyptic games have been all the rage for the last decade or so, but Wasteland was doing it in 1988, way before it was cool. Wasteland 2 features a permadeath mechanic in which party members can permanently bite it after their HP reaches zero and the player does not have the proper equipment to revive them. The series’ most recent release, Wasteland 3, eschews this, though the developer promises permadeath in a future update for the most hardcore players.
2 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
The spiritual predecessor to Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together separates itself from other JRPGs by featuring a more grounded story not relying on ancient forces, magic, or other supernatural elements.
Like Final Fantasy Tactics, party members can also permanently die if they are not revived in a timely manner. Some of the last battles also take place on floating arenas, and players knocked off the edge immediately die with no chance of revival.
1 Valkyria Chronicles
This cult classic charmed gamers with its unique art style, battle system, and setting. Battles are generally lengthy, big, and sometimes difficult if one does not employ the right strategy. If a character is knocked out and an enemy approaches their body, they are captured and left permanently unavailable for use. If this happens to characters vital to the story, it is a complete game over, but it can happen to other party members with the game still continuing. Every squad member has a unique personality and story, making their loss heartbreaking.
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