In many RPG games, you embark on an adventure with a full party of typically three or four people. Together you can combine your individual talents and abilities to overcome any enemy you face. You see this in games like Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, and Persona 5.
Yet, it isn't a requirement for a role-playing game. In fact, many of the biggest titles in the genre only provide you with a single hero without a team backing them up. While they may occasionally receive some help, these protagonists usually have to go it alone. Here are some of the most notable examples.
7 Cyberpunk 2077
At the start of Cyberpunk 2077, you get to create and customize the protagonist before selecting their life path. Whatever options you choose, you end up as a mercenary named V, who's operating in the technologically advanced Night City. And several hours into the game, another personality gets lodged into your head.
He is with you the entire adventure but doesn't count as a party member. After all, he's just a construct. He may be able to give you advice, but he can't fight alongside you. So, you must complete most of the missions in the game on your own.
6 Assassin's Creed Valhalla
While the early Assassin's Creed games were all action-adventure titles, some of the recent ones have been RPGs. For instance, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is an open-world RPG set in the Viking age. You play as a Norwegian Viking named Eivor. Along with some of their closest clan members, they travel to England to create a new settlement. While there, they must make alliances with nearby regions to help them settle in this new world.
You're the main person involved in making these connections, but you don't do everything alone. There are many raids and big battles in the adventure where your fight alongside your allies. Yet, they aren't party members. They're just NPCs that occasionally fight by your side. Plus, they aren't around often, as you spend most of the game alone.
5 Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set in a futuristic world where humans can alter their bodies with all sorts of technological augmentations. The protagonist Adam Jenson certainly gets some, but he doesn't have a choice.
A ruthless attack leaves him clinging for life, and replacing much of his body with cybernetics is the only way to keep him alive. After getting back on his feet, he sets out to figure out who was behind the attack. While his reasons for needing augmentations aren't happy ones, they do give him a much better chance of completing his objectives. After all, they can give him all sorts of combat and stealth boosts. This is why he has no need for teammates.
4 Horizon Zero Dawn
When it comes to post-apocalyptic worlds in gaming, Horizon Zero Dawn has perhaps the most unique one. Instead of nuclear wastelands, the world of Horizon is actually quite beautiful. Yet, there seem to be a lot fewer humans around, as they live in scattered tribes. Much of the remaining space is taken up by large animal-like machines.
You play as a young hunter named Aloy that seeks to find out who she really is. As Aloy has been a literal outcast from a young age, she doesn't have an abundance of allies. But she doesn't often need them since she's capable of taking out any robotic beast that gets in her way.
3 Undertale
In Undertale, you control a child who finds themselves in a strange underground place. It's not the sort of area you want to spend plenty of time in, so you head for the surface. Along the way, you run into all sorts of different monsters, which you must either kill or spare.
These creatures are usually alone. Sometimes there is a pair, but most of the time, there is only one of them. As such, you don't go into battle with a bunch of people, either. You keep things fair by facing them one-on-one. Not that there are many options for allies anyway since the kid is typically alone.
2 Dark Souls
The one thing everyone knows about Dark Souls and other FromSoftware games is that they're very difficult. From the start, they continually test your endurance and reflexes by pitting you against extremely deadly adversaries.
So, it's no surprise that Dark Souls doesn't contain any party members. After all, allowing you to fight beside teammates all the time would diminish the punishing nature of the experience. As such, you're alone in your quest to find out what happened to the fate of the protagonist's people.
1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The main story of The Witcher 3 sees the playable protagonist, Geralt, journey across the land looking for his adoptive daughter, Ciri. He's not the only one searching for her, though, as the heartless specters known as The Wild Hunt are also after the woman. You have several allies who help you on your adventure in various ways. Sometimes, they even assist in combat, but these moments are rare.
Most of the time, you have to contend with monsters, guards, and bandits alone. This is also the case during the occasional sequences where you control Ciri. Neither character needs much help anyway, as they're two of the greatest fighters in gaming.
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