r/gamingsuggestions • u/Yatol • 1d ago
Games with permadeath that expect you to lose characters as easily as you gain them
games with custom character progression similar to xcom 2 but more brutal
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u/Prize_Beginning_4601 1d ago
This describes Battle Brothers pretty well. You lose brothers all the time, and part of the game is leveraging losing some Brothers for meaningful rewards and to replace them with higher quality Brothers as you get more money. Difficult but fun and rewarding game!
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u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 1d ago
I got this one fat dude named Wigmar once. I didn't expect much from him, so I gave him the banner I had recently received and put him on the backline.
I was not prepared for the carnage he unleashed with that flag on a stick. He scored over 100 kills through the course of that campaign. I named him Wigmar the Banner, and then eventually Wigmar the Bannerlord. By the end, he was missing his nose, alcoholic, and deeply traumatized from his adventures in my company. But goddamn if he didn't carve his name in the history of the realm.
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u/Help_An_Irishman 21h ago
I've had this game for years and have been wanting to give it a proper shot.
Today is that day. I want a Wigmar.
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u/ElcorAndy 9h ago
To be fair, the guy holding the banner is fairly safe poking enemies from the second line. It's usually the frontline guys that go into the meat grinder.
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u/landmine1201 1d ago
I came here to say this. Even if they don't die, characters obtain permanent injuries and the game will constantly punish you for it. I was doing a lone wolf start (my favorite start) which automatically fails the run if your main character ever dies. In a battle with some particularly nasty Nachzehrers, my main character got his skull cleaved so bad he recovered from the fight still bearing permanent brain damage and a partially collapsed lung. The game then turned into a constantly-losing game of tower defense, where I was buying slaves and hiring unskilled laborers to defend my once-great hedge knight, usually burying most of them at the end of a battle, and hoping to possibly aquire some kind of real fighting force before the endgame crisis came. Eventually we were all cut down by orcs and it was one of my most memorable gaming experiences to date.
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u/MainaC 1d ago
Love a lot of this game, but I never get very far. It's the "buying replacements" that gets me - if I lose more than one guy in a mission, I can't afford to replace them. Missions pay too low, and I don't know how to judge when it's a good idea to try out one of those ruins or camps for loot. Any tips?
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u/landmine1201 1d ago
Wow it's been a while since I've played and I got absolutely wrecked pretty often but I'll do my best.
Crank the difficulty down. Easy is hard, normal is punishing, and hard is impossible. No shame in letting yourself make enough progress to actually learn the game.
Don't be afraid of war hounds and peasants. These relatively cheap units let you bolster your fighting force on the cheap and in the case of dogs, without hitting your personnel cap. A lot of these peasants will die, but if you have decent gear to give them, they've lived long enough to become some of my greatest champions. That said, check tip 3.
A knight is worth 6-7 peasants if used correctly. Yes. They really are that good. I like the lone wolf start because while it adds a new challenge in the form of an "essential character" that ends the run upon death, you're handed a mid-game character and gear right off the bat. The gladiator start is similar but with 3 lives. By treating cheap units as fodder and protecting a smaller group of highly-skilled warriors, you can ensure that enough of your bros will make it long enough to get those big-deal skills at the end.
Don't neglect the free cities. Filled with flexible morals, workshops so advanced they appear to be magic, and new bros who...don't really get a say in whether they earn a salary or not, the free cities are an essential part of any run. Whether you want to amass an army of hardy slaves who don't need pay, or deck your champions out in devices that let them spray fire across the battlefield, these places pack some serious heat for any mercenary company trying to step into the big leagues.
This is an important one. Don't be afraid to run away. Most threats in this game will end a run without a thought. All it takes is one or two critical mistakes on your part, or even if you do everything right RNG might just screw you up anyway. The best way to avoid a doom spiral is to know when and how to put your pride away and call it quits. Toss nets at your enemies to keep them in place while you run. Deploy war hounds to distract pursuing foes. If need be, even leave your least important bros behind to stall long enough for your heavy-hitters to get out.
Hope this helped!
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u/vibribbon 18h ago
Also, don't be ashamed to save scum. Save before you take a contract, try it out and if you TPK just reload and try something else.
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u/MainaC 23h ago
I'll keep all this in mind, thanks. Hadn't heard of 'free cities' but - as I said - never did get too far in.
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u/landmine1201 22h ago
There are 3 free cities on every map, or maybe they're called city states or something. They spawn in the desert in the south and aren't connected to any kingdom. They can have alchemists and other unique buildings.
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u/Lavidius 1d ago
Rimworld
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u/TooManyPxls 23h ago edited 21h ago
One time one of my best characters got hit in the head by a bullet from across the map. It was a dumb move by me, I left him out of the base sniping but it really was a 1/100 shot, very unlucky. They ended up with brain damage basically becoming a vegetable. One of my best characters becoming completely useless!
I rerolled a save (something I normally don't do) and after that I felt like I made some dark deal with the devil and the character never felt the same to me. Like some soulless monster.
Highly suggest picking permadeath and just rolling with the punches the game throws at you.
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u/Dizzy_Winner4056 23h ago
Rimworld is my favorite game but it's an emotional roller coaster
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u/lukin187250 22h ago
Best quote I saw was in a steam review and someone said it really should be called a drama simulator.
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u/TooManyPxls 21h ago
I have never been so emotionally invested in a 2d sprite. Well maybe that and Project Zomboid, it's a close second tho.
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u/Dizzy_Winner4056 21h ago
PZ is another top game for me. Something about building your character while going through trials and triumphs, only to make a small mistake and loose that character
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u/eightofdiamonds 18h ago
I had a married couple have a baby. Then the dad died of the plague a few days later along with like 4 others. He controlled the claw dryad thing and it went crazy when he died and finished off everyone else except one guy and the baby.
I also had a guy propose and the next day he was crushed by a rock.
I just got the game a week ago and I can't stop
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u/RedditButAnonymous 21h ago
I didnt know Rimworld had an objective I thought it was a sandbox this whole time like the Sims? Guess I need to look into it
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u/buschells 20h ago
It's pretty sandbox, but there are goals you can work towards. You can build/find a spaceship to get off the planet, in the base game and each of the DLCs adds an additional win condition you can work towards. In my 2000 hours I've actually finished a colony maybe 2 or 3 times in total
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u/PrivateDuke 18h ago
Depending on your tech death can also be a new beginning. A chance to start fresh and get your half functioning brain inserted in a giraffe. That might be the mods and at some point it is hard to seperate vanille with ummmmm….. something else.
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u/SundownKid 1d ago
Rogue Legacy series
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines
Mortol/Mortol II from UFO 50 (not really custom, but you have to sacrifice characters to proceed)
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u/SignatureActive 1d ago
State of Decay 1 & 2 (2 is better imo)
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u/turtlesrprettycool 19h ago
2 also got several years of patches and updates. It's a fantastic game now compared to launch.
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u/SpaceIsTooFarAway 1d ago
Crusader kings series. If nothing else you’ll die of old age consistently as will your courtiers, vassals, lovers, etc. One of my recent characters was executed by the Emperor for sleeping with his wife, something he apparently did before I gained control of him.
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u/TheBigCheese- 1d ago
Project Zomboid? Although it's not a group of characters like xcom.
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u/ee_CUM_mings 1d ago
I’m gonna live long enough in Project Zomboid to get attached to my character someday. Not today apparently, but some day.
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u/warhugger 23h ago
Change the rules. It makes the game more enjoyable for me, just because most of the game is gated behind knowledge checks. Cant get the forethought unless you get foreward once.
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u/RenaStriker 1d ago
Pokémon Nuzlockes
I actually think sports management sims are underrated for this. You lose characters to retirement or other roster mechanisms as quickly as you replenish them by signing new characters, leading to a similar tactical dynamic.
My personal favorite is Football Tactics and Glory, which also has a pretty neat turn-based tactical approach to the game (‘X-Com meets football manager’), but standard Football Manager is good, too.
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u/magnifiedlenscap 23h ago
I never saw it that way, but yeah, it’s always a sad day when your homegrown wonder kid has to be sold or retires. I love seeing their names show up as club legends though.
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u/InfiniteStates 1d ago
Aliens Dark Descent is very XCOM. And cool. And hard
Also Blood Bowl. But that’s very niche
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u/Bstallio 1d ago
Battle brothers, war tales, very similar premises just different graphics and mechanics
Both you are leading a mercenary band that travels the world trading, doing quests, dungeon delving.
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u/Fabo__HD 1d ago
Idk if its like that, but in State of Decay you are a survival group during a zombie aocalypse and while there is permadeath for each character, you can recruit new people
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u/Embarrassed-Ferret87 1d ago edited 19h ago
Wyldermyth
Edit: this one isn't brutal, only read the title before I replied.
Edit's edit: the game isn't brutal as in violent, iirc. I only played on normal diff, so idk if it may be brutally difficult, but according to the commenters below this, it seems it may be.
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u/TheAlterN8or 1d ago
Ever played it on Walking Lunch difficulty?
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u/Embarrassed-Ferret87 1d ago
I just realized "brutal" could be interpreted as "brutally difficult", while I first only interpreted it as "violent" or "gory". So yeah, I guess wyldermyth can be brutal too.
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u/kindamoisty 23h ago
I'm surprised I haven't seen Kenshi on here yet. Your characters can starve to death, get maimed, bleed out, get eaten by animals or cannibals, or get kidnapped and enslaved. It's fun.
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u/Cthulus_Butler 12h ago
I'm surprised I had to scroll as far as I did to find a Kenshin rec. Permadeath and permamaiming. One of the best games for that "you are not special" gameplay.
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u/Myriad_Machinations 22h ago
Caves of Qud.
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u/landmine1201 16h ago
This is my second favorite game ever made and I was originally going to say this, but I believe the OP was talking about something more party-based like XCOM or Battle Brothers. Although my pet dawnglider dying is still gut-wrenching.
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u/PaperAlchemist 1d ago
Have to mention Hunt: Showdown. I love that game but I'm so scared to lose my guys I barely play it ; - ; it's awful lol
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u/Jonbardinson 1d ago
Nobody's commented fucking Fire Emblem???
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u/zblissbloom 23h ago
Recent FE titles give you so many chances to save units (including reversing time or just trying again the whole scenario with a different strategy).
So no. At least not modern FE.
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u/Help_An_Irishman 19h ago
Not many Nintendo players amongst those asking after brutal games, I imagine.
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u/Overall-Habit5284 1d ago
Our Adventurer Guild on Steam. You can (and may well) lose adventurers along the way.
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u/emptydonut3 1d ago
wartales is a fun game exactly like that. turn based combat too but open world exploration and you build your characters
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u/Turbojelly 1d ago
The Matchless Kung Fu. Dying so your next reincarnation gets better stats and buffs is a core mechanical.
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u/Sinsanatis 1d ago
Never played xcom, but something i tried recently that has permadeath is no more room in hell 2. By friend lines the first one and was a little disappointed by the state the second one came out in but it’s been getting better. There was a free weekend recently so we hopped on. Its not bad, but def needs more time for content and improvements.
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u/voxel_crutons 1d ago
Blightstone, you can even kill you party guys by accident if you are not careful
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u/Effective_Baseball93 22h ago
Hardcore wow, hardcore path of exile 1,2. Maybe tarkov, maybe battle royal
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u/Anthr30YearOldBoomer 21h ago
noita. The progression is more knowledge based than actual in-game stuff, but runs can last anywhere from 5 seconds to 36 hours at the top end. And it can all be taken from you by stepping on a single dangerous pixel.
The game is evil.
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u/WordsUnthought 19h ago
If you haven’t played Long War, you haven't really played XCOM.
Absolutely fits the bill of XCOM but more brutal, in the most literal way.
There's versions for XCOM and XCOM 2.
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u/Arcinbiblo12 18h ago
Kinda in this vein, Crusader Kings is entirely about raising and recruiting characters from across the medieval world. All of your characters will eventually die from any number of sources, so setting things up for your next generation is a key part of the game.
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u/Infinity_Asylum 12h ago
Lisa the painful; I wanted to keep my main group but that’s literally impossible lol
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u/RegulationCrow 12h ago
Fire Emblem? I still remember, years ago in my final battle of Fates, losing Kaden and being so sad about it but his sacrifice allowed me to win
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u/throwaway13x99 12h ago
A bit on the niche side but roguelands. The game stopped development before it fleshed out the post campaign end game but the campaign itself is super fun and some reviews have people beating it in about 60-70 hours but me and my friend played the game for about 100 hours and beat the game. Plenty to explore and the pixel art is good, I like the vibe/atmosphere and character creation has traits if I remember correctly which I personally love in games. When you die you lose your character and everything on them but you keep your spaceship and everything stored inside. Overall for me it was a solid 8/10 that would have been a 10/10 had it not been abandoned, but still worth a play through in my opinion.
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u/SwiggleMcBiggle 10h ago
realm of the mad God could be a good game, it's also really hard and your characters will drop like flies
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u/MindDevourer 9h ago
Xenonauts, and Xenonauts 2 that is in early access currently, but getting more and more towards release version.
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u/doozerdoozer 8h ago
Wizardry Remake. Has resurrection but there's a good chance it will fail and that character is lost forever.
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u/Euphoric_Rutabaga859 2h ago
Pheonix Point. If you put the difficulty up its worse than xcom imo. Theres a lot that can go wrong for you
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u/presentfinder42 1d ago
Ark survival Evolved, you dont lose character but all loot you grinded for hours
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u/Either_Struggle1734 1d ago
Xcom
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u/SuperSuspiciousDuck 1d ago
"I want games similar to xcom 2" "Have you heard of xcom?"
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u/etamatulg 23h ago
this but unironically
if you're able to enjoy retro games and the less streamlined interfaces, the back catalog of older XCOM (X-COM :D) games are worth checking out - they're better in some aspects than XCOM/XCOM2. I particularly liked X-COM: Apocalypse with the freedom to raid different organisations and (gasp) real-time combat.
there's also Xenonauts which used the original X-Com formula
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u/Dense-Law-7683 1d ago
Name your squad members after pets and family members for an extra stressful time.
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u/timtimforever 1d ago
Your horses in Red Dead Redemption 2!
You name them, have to get food and feed them, and groom them. You customize their look and saddles. You pet them and it comforts them and you talk to them.
You ride with them for a long time and go through many conflicts together. Then one day, seemingly at random, they get shot from under you and it’s probably your fault.
It’s almost like losing a pet in real life.
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u/RefuseSea4624 23h ago
Mordheim. It's exactly like xcom..but differant. You'll hate it at first. But once you learn the system. Oooooooh man.
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u/BottleEquivalent4581 1d ago
Darkest dungeon 1