When The Witcher 3 was released, it brought along one of the largest open-worlds ever created and, as a result, what felt like one of the largest video game empires ever: Nilfgaard. The Nilfgaardian reach is extensive, and The Continent in the Witcher world is far from small. How much more real estate the Nilfgaardians possess beyond the boundaries of the game is unknown, but even if it were to stop where the game stops, it’s an impressively large tract.
Still, the size of the world, no matter how large it may feel, doesn’t necessarily mean an equally-large empire; and if it does, that world still may not be as big as it seems. This is the case with The Witcher‘s Continent, making the Nilfgaard Empire’s reach seem much more boundless than it actually is. After all, the Nilfgaardians are ruling over a world that, despite having complex magic, is still in what could be equated to the Middle Ages. So, to put the Nilfgaardians into some perspective, here are some in-game empires whose reach exceeds even theirs.
9 Third Empire Of Tamriel (Skyrim)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim‘s Third Empire of Tamriel is perhaps the closest empire on this list to being comparable to Nilfgaard. At the height of its power, it owns a sizeable chunk of the entire continent, having ruled for many, many years; however, by the time of the events of Skyrim, the province of Skyrim is on the brink of a civil war between the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Legion.
The civil war threatens to cast Skryim into chaos, but it’s worth being reminded that Skyrim is merely a province of the vastly-larger continent of Tamriel, over all of which the Third Empire rules. Perhaps if the Third Empire were to go to war against Nilfgaard, the promise of a difficult war would overshadow the issues causing the divisive friction in Skryim.
8 Orlesian Empire (Dragon Age)
It was close, but Dragon Age‘s Orlesian Empire just barely managed to nudge past the Third Empire. The Orlesians rule over Thedas as the largest empire in its history, and it’s one that’s particularly infamous for its decadence and obsession with luxuries. If anyone had the coffers that the Orlesian Empire does, they would feel the draw towards the lavishness, too. Don’t mistake the Orlesian penchant for opulence for a lack of ferocity–the Orlesians did, after all, have to forge their empire and consolidate their riches somehow.
Plus, judging simply by land holdings, conquering the bulk of Thedas is a pipe-dream of an objective to take on, and yet they sit atop the throne. In Inquisition, the War of Lions threatens the stability and unity of the Orlesians, but crisis is averted in favor of peace talks, and Thedas stays united.
7 The British Empire (Assassin’s Creed III)
The second of the real-life empires is the British Empire, one of the villainous factions of Assassin’s Creed III. Anyone who sat through history class knows the saying: “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” and if that’s not a testament to their strength and influence, then nothing is. An empire that stretched completely around the globe, the British Empire boasted massive amounts of territory, overflowing coffers, and a gargantuan fighting force.
If they were to hunker down and fight with all they have, there are few opponents that would be left standing in their wake, including Nilfgaard. However, the British Empire’s capacity for apathy, as well as its vulnerability to thinly-stretched forces and a humiliating loss in 1781, stops them short of topping the grounded empires.
6 Skynet (Terminator 3: The Redemption)
A name that still stirs up feelings of fear and paranoia, Skynet is the only empire on the list to feature an entirely robotic population. Launched by robots, run by robots, and fought for by robots, Skynet is featured in all of its hi-tech merciless glory in Terminator 3: The Redemption, a surprisingly good game released in 2004. What’s not mediocre, however, is the threat that Skynet poses, and the frightening suggestion it has for the real world.
Unlike the other empires listed here, Skynet is capable of manufacturing its own soldiers and weaponry at a scale and speed unmatched by anyone else. Dominating the skies and roaming the ground, there is no escape from these robotic overlords–there’s only postponing the inevitable. Even if Nilfgaard were to enlist Schwarzenegger in the fight against Skynet, their chances of winning are dismally low.
5 Locust Horde (Gears Of War)
Another empire that’s pushed humanity to the brink of extinction, the Locust Horde that dominates the brutal world of Gears Of War is a frightening force to face. A race of mutated humans, the Locust Horde seems perfectly-bred to hunt down and exterminate the non-mutated human race. Their methods are simple: strength in numbers, and their strength is miraculous. No matter how deep underground the surviving elements of the human race are, the Locust Horde will find them.
Perhaps most intimidating of all is the lack of quit in the Locust Horde. They’re of a singular mind and goal: utter domination and extinction. Against that, the Nilfgaardians wouldn’t get very far.
4 The Forces Of Hell (Dante’s Inferno)
Perhaps not as much an empire as another dimension, the world of Hell as depicted in Dante’s Inferno is of astounding size; and since it’s Hell, one can only assume that its boundaries extend far, far beyond the game’s accessible areas. For an empire to be truly threatening, it must have a brutal and merciless leader, and there’s none more so than Satan, himself, villain of all villains. In game, Satan is colossal and the perilous path to his personal circle is long and full of terrors.
What makes this empire of Satan and his demon army particularly dangerous and hard to beat is that, should they be invaded, no one would ever have a better home-court advantage. Not to mention, it’s Satan–in the sky, on the ground, or beneath the covers, there is no being safe from him.
3 The Covenant (Halo)
It is here that the empires take to a stage much larger than any single planet, beginning with the Halo universe’s Covenant, composed of different alien races “united” in their aims to wage war against the human race that has spread across the galaxy. The Covenant’s advantages are three-fold: they possess a large collection of planets, they can pull from multiple species’ pools for soldiers, and they have access to wildly-advanced technology, including at one point the power of the Forerunners’ Halo Rings.
The Covenant, without the Rings, is still a force to be reckoned with, keeping the humans on their toes and fighting an uphill battle the whole way; but the Covenant with the Halo Rings is a destructive power at an unimaginable scale. Pitted against Nilfgaard, the Covenant would hardly need to lift a finger.
2 The Empire (Star Wars: Battlefront II)
One of the most infamous (and beloved) empires to ever come out of any fiction, Star Wars‘ Galactic Empire is the enemy of the ages. Dominating the massive galaxy through oppression, the Empire is ruled by the Sith, which are playable in Battlefront II. As Star Wars fans know, there are only 2 Sith at a time (excluding Knights of the Old Republic), and these two members of an ancient nefarious order rule over the sprawling Empire with iron fists.
Forged out of the ashes of an overthrown Galactic Senate, the Empire rose to even greater prominence, armed and equipped with weapons of unparalleled destruction, and instituted a galaxy-wide reign of terror. Despite Nilfgaard perhaps boasting a larger force than the Rebellion, the Nilfgaardians lack the familial connection to the Sith lords to be anywhere near as effective.
1 The Grox Empire (Spore)
The last and largest of the in-game empires is the space-faring Grox Empire from the evolution game Spore. It takes a fair amount of time to reach the Space Age in a species’ development in Spore, but once the scale is zoomed out and the whole galaxy opens up, players discover that there’s a center of the galaxy and it’s already occupied. One need only move a little closer to the center to see that most of the galaxy is occupied. It’s all owned, operated, and oppressed by the Grox, and they are no friends to strangers or newly-starfaring species. In fact, war appears to be the only language the Grox truly understand.
If there were any chance of the Nilfgaardian Empire being able to negotiate with any of the empires on this list, the Grox would be out of the picture. Nilfgaard would send an emissary; the Grox would respond with a crater-carving bomb straight to the capital city. It’s how the Grox roll, and on they roll to the top of the list.
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