RPGs where defeat/death isn't gameover

[rusty_shackleford]

Under condition that the game must acknowledge the defeat/death and give some sort of in-universe explanation. That is, if a game simply sends you back to an inn after defeat with no explanation, that doesn't count.

And don't mention planescape torment.

---

Ultima Underworld had the Silver Sapling, but I don't think there was a good lore reason given for why or how it works, so it meets the bare minimum required in that it's an in-universe plot device. I know there's an Ultima VII add-on about it, but that released after UU.

[J1M]

Is Soulreaver an RPG?

[Gunnar]

Borderlands, you get reconstructed by the New-U system

[NotAI]

The Nomad Soul (1999)

Though not quite clear whether it is an RPG.

When a character dies in the game, the soul passes to the next character who touches the body. Sometimes this actually must happen in a scripted way. For progress in the story.

This is the thing that created the interest in making big open world cities in 3D.

[Consul]

The Expedition games had such a feature to a limited extent. Losing a fight there didn't mean game over most of the time, it gave you a few sentences of text upon losing combat after which you could just carry on with your adventures. There was one fight in Vikings that could end in your main character being captured and thrown into a dungeon. Apart from that, most of the combat defeats would only give you some text or result in failed quests IIRC.

[Tweed]

In Ultima IV V and VI you die and Lord British pulls you out of the void with some hefty penalties to your level. In VII you never die you just miraculously survive and two of the main bad guys you're chasing deliver you to the homeless shelter in Paws which really doesn't make any sense. In Serpent Isle you always get miraculously summoned away at the point of death by the weirdo monks and then put back.

When you die in MM6 and 7 you get some ra ra talk about it not being your time to die and then you get chucked back into the land of the living.

In System Shock 2 your body is rebuilt from scratch which makes me wonder, if you die is it really you anymore or just a copy?

When you die in The Fairy Tale Adventure with no luck remaining you're dead and the next brother takes over.

[1998]

Numenera...
Also Swordflight, even though the explanation is kind of gamey.

[General Reign]

Earthbound kinda.

[The_Mask]

At the risk of everyone hating me: Dark Souls.

[Tweed]

Well if we're going to mention JRPGs then most of them do that, but that's really close to "waking up at the inn" with no explanation. In Sword of Vermillion the priest of the last town you visited revives you, but skims half of your money "for the poor". In Shining in the Darkness your earthly remains get dropped off at the shrine and then the priest revives you.

As I recall if you die in Shin Megami Tensei IF your spirit guide or whatever it is stops you from crossing the river whereas in most older SMT games when you die you're dead. In SMT 4 when you die Charon is willing to take a bribe because there's way too many people in line queuing for the afterlife and he doesn't want the paperwork.

Technically you can die in Kenshi, but so long as someone else has joined your faction it doesn't matter.

[Humbaba]

Infinity Blade.

And Planescape Torment.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

In Romancing Saga 2, you play as a dynasty of emperors (and his close friends and retainers) who are locked in a struggle against the seven demon lords. If a party member dies in battle enough times (10 to 20 times) then eventually he dies permanently and you have to go back to the castle and recruit a replacement (who can be quickly brought back up to speed). If the whole party wipes, then the game timeskips to the next generation. Characters inherit abilities from their predecessors and can quickly level skills back up to where their predecessor last left off. You do not want to wipe too much because certain questlines have a time limit, ie after several hundred years a volcano erupts and then you won't be able to do the quest there, and it takes a few generations to expand your empire enough to the point that you can reach the volcano.

The first emperor Leon and his party die as part of the story to the first demon lord. You then timeskip to his son Gerard and then avenge his father. You then timeskip to the next emperor (who is a silent protagonist) and then the game lets you cycle through generations indefinitely until you have slain five of the seven demon lords, at which point the game then timeskips to the Final Emperor's generation, at which point you will get a game over if he dies or his party wipes.




The creature and space stages of Spore play similarly, where if the character you are controlling dies then you take control of his offspring. I don't recall if that's true for the Cell Stage. You game over in the tribal and civilization stages if the tribe/civilization you are controlling is wiped out.

[Lhynn]

The secret world had the become a ghost thing, which was thematically fitting and used in quests too.

[rusty_shackleford]

and used in quests too.

I forgot about this, I wanted to go back and explore all the maps as a ghost but never did. What a cool idea it was.

[General Reign]

Gonna try to beat that soon. Almost to Vampland.

[2factorauth]

is this forum like a replay of every 2 years on rpgcodex kek

[rusty_shackleford]

is this forum like a replay of every 2 years on rpgcodex kek

[poseidon00]

Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis kind of straddles the fence on this. If your main character dies, it's game over. *But* dying in battle is the only way to get the Cycle of Life emblem that is associated with being revived from the dead. So while it ends the game, when you reload it more or less acknowledges your defeat and hints that you were revived (presumably by the church lady you follow)

The interesting thing about this is that the Cycle of Life emblem is associated with being revived as UNdead, with a normal resurrection granting you the Archangels Feather.

In Ogre Battle (which is definitely an RPG) as long as you don't lose your main character you can lose battles just fine with only a loss in reputation, and maybe being locked out of endings due to it, being your only penalty.

[Lhynn]

Conan exiles. The amulet that keeps you in the prison will never let you die, you will simply lose your mind in time and them become a husk.

There is actually a use for this, if you die at a certain sacrificial spot, you can open it and then come back later to enter, though its easier to just butcher the locals on top of it.

[Zoner]

Not a game, but there was an awesome mod for Skyrim. If you were defeated by bandits, they could take you captured, and so on. Which added a lot of dynamic to the game. I wish we would get something like that in a real game.

[rusty_shackleford]

Not a game, but there was an awesome mod for Skyrim. If you were defeated by bandits, they could take you captured, and so on. Which added a lot of dynamic to the game. I wish we would get something like that in a real game.

This is a mod from loverslab isn't it

[Zoner]

Lol no. I can't at all remember what it was called. But I do remember it got expansions and stuff, to expand on the death scenarios. I think this was before all the different Skyrim editions.

[Acrux]

It was Death Alternatives probably.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/45894

[revenant]

I wish we would get something like that in a real game.

M&B does that

[rusty_shackleford]

In Lord of the Rings Online, you don't have health at all, you just have morale. When you are defeated, you're really just retreating. Except, your corpse is kinda there on the ground. I guess?


It's basically the same exact thing.

[Landers78]

The Dougherty brother games (Questron 1 and 2, Legacy of the Ancients, Legend of Blacksilver) back in the 80's always had you magically saved and put back on the world map, with losses of equipment, gold, etc.

[Galdred]

I wish we would get something like that in a real game.

M&B does that

Indeed, in MnB, you are just captured, and escape, but without your party and your possessions.
But acknowledging death is more of a MMORPG thing, though, and it is present in almost every one of them (with either cloning, and resurrectiong, depending on the theme).

[Norfleet]

I'm pretty sure the Japanese figured out how to do this already.

[Ranselknulf]

[Tweed]

I've yet to see a game address the issue where you die and come back to loot your own corpse. Seeing your dead self should be traumatic, at least at first. And what do you do about burial and body disposal?