Open-world games where you're unimportant

Games are a great way to put power imaginations directly into our hands. Become a cool witch with special powers and powerful swords. Be the last dragonborn, lucky enough to save all of Skyrim and Tamriel, or become the Doom Boy, drowning in hordes of demons. Video games let you live out your dreams of becoming a famous hero, but there are also games that take a different approach, and you start as a complete nobody, and either have to prove yourself through trial and error, or never become great – just survive.

The fascination with a game like this is the satisfaction of proving the game's expectations wrong. Most of us gamers love a good challenge and the odds are stacked high against us. If you think about some of the most iconic, epic stories like The Lord of the RingsYou see this humble nobody rose to become nothing. It's clear that it works, although it's not everyone's cup of tea in gaming. If you, too, want to experience your hero's journey from nothing to nothing, these games are for you.

STALKER Games

Just another STALKER in the zone

The harsh world of STALKER The game is not an epic tale of glory and valor. It's about survival in a world that has been torn apart after a nuclear mishap, leaving a hostile territory in its wake, overrun by stalkers and ruled by mutants, anomalies and warring factions. In every game, the premise is always pretty much the same: you're just another guy trying to learn that you're not going to get dumped right away by the big fish.

Sure, you become a little tougher and a little more prepared when you learn how the world works and how to traverse the wilderness, as well as what to look for when managing your limited inventory and scarce resources, but you'll always be a simple stalker. No one fears or respects you from the gates, either, and the ending of each game is bleak to say the least.

Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord

Start as nothing, rise as a winner

While of STALKER The world wants to imprint despair and hopelessness on you, making you nobody BannerlordIt feels like a blank slate full of potential. Whether you play this game in sandbox or campaign mode, you don't start from scratch. You have no land to your name, no political power to speak of and few people to fight for you, let alone resources.

Both the story and the sandbox make you work hard for something meaningful, although in the sandbox, you get to define what that means. You can rise as the conqueror of an entire continent, uniting it under one rule, or you can be perfectly content living the life of a nomadic warrior, lending your help to anyone in need. Either way, all heroes, big or small, start the same in this medieval simulation.

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No one in a harsh fantasy world

If you like games Skyrim and The Witcher 3 Made you feel so important and so powerful way too fast, boy, do I have a game to suggest. external It's the perfect counterweight, because it spits you out at the world and shows how normal you are in your face. One of the main ways it humbles you is its survival mechanics. You need to treat yourself like a normal everyday Joe-Schmoe, drinking and eating and sleeping, managing your bags and fighting off any illness or infection if you get sick or injured.

To get good at anything or dream of fighting monsters that roam the wilderness, you need to get your hands on some trainers. This is not a game where you shoot enemies until you get better. Since there is no fast travel available, you must carefully consider where you are going next and which route to take, and whether you are prepared for such a long journey. The last dragonborn will never happen!

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Nereverin? you? Bullshit!

If you're familiar with Bethesda RPGs, you're well aware that the most recent ones tend to frame you as some kind of chosen hero who's instantly respected and coveted from the get-go. oblivion The Emperor trusts you, an ordinary prisoner, with an important task, and before you know it, you've helped seal the Oblivion Gate, and you're the hero of Kvatch. Meanwhile, Ma SkyrimYou just happen to be the last dragonborn, the continent's only hope to keep the dragon menace at bay.

Morroind You don't have that luxury. Along the way, you're treated as a pawn, a tool for something important in local politics, not an important person. Few even believe that you can really be the chosen one. From there begins an unforgettable story during which you must prove to everyone that despite being an outsider, you are, in fact, important. Outside of the main quest, factions are also difficult to enter and progress through, as they require you to build your own. Nothing is handed to you, and for a Bethesda RPG, this is almost a novelty.

Gothic games

You are worthless, until you prove otherwise

The Gothic Games are notorious for making players feel small from the get-go. You are a very insignificant little speck in the beginning, and the world loves to remind you. One of the ways to do this is through factions and how they treat you. No one is jumping to recruit you or find you, but instead demands that you prove yourself actually useful by earning the faction's trust and respect through hard work and quests.

Until you do, you will literally be brushed off by several NPCs. Some will be very mean to you. Add to that how difficult the fight is at first, and you're far from thinking highly of yourself. A single wolf can spell death for you so quickly that you begin to question your sanity. It's a humbling experience indeed, but makes coming out of the ashes all the more satisfying.

Kenshi

Whether you live or die is irrelevant

Something to be understood Kensi's The world is that it is almost like a simulation. This sets it apart from many other games here, because the world works in a dynamic, free-flowing way that makes you feel irrelevant. Factions will fight each other as you die in the desert. There is no grand quest or plot to propel you forward. You are left in this world, and you can set out to do whatever you want.

Well, with a caveat. You are quite miserable at first. You're practically vulnerable, and if the wrong people catch you, they'll cut you down faster than you can think of to escape. It's not unlikely that you'll spend some time as a slave or bleeding out in the wilderness as your second character races to save you. Even later in the game, when you have a walled base, you can still face threats that can derail your progress if you're not careful and strategic.

Kingdom Come: Redemption 2

Even after the first game, you're still nobody

Without spoiling too many details from the first and second games, while Henry is technically an important character, the reset between the two games is masterfully done. The first game sees Henry grow from a simple farmer to a war hero, but within Kingdom Come: Redemption 2He returned to the life of a simple blacksmith.

This is a good reflection of the political hierarchy of the two games in medieval times, where your blood determined your status more than your actions. On top of a system that's drilled into your head pretty quickly, the game's realistic combat reminds you that you're only as good as your skill with your blade. You must learn about it and be patient, or perish.

Alden Ring

A less stigmatized road ahead

Alden Ring One of my favorite games is when it comes to creating the zero-to-hero story trope. According to the story, you are entering between the lands at a time when all hell has already broken loose, and the shattering effects of the Elden Ring can be seen everywhere. The only person who can bring back hope? Certainly not virginal tainted. Well, at least Melina gets to be our “maiden”, so that's covered. But as a Tarnished and FromSoftware hero, the world quickly lets you know that it thinks little more than a speck of dust to erase you.

One of the first examples is your fight with Margit the Fail Omen, who calls us “foul tarnished,” foolish, and naive for being fueled by the flames of our ambition. When we fight him and engage his second phase, he grumbles: “Well, you pass the skill.” This suspense lingers throughout the game, still, and oppressive enemies, often stronger and bigger than us, let us know that we are alone against a hostile army.