Games That Have Sluggish Combat On Purpose

Key Takeaways

• Sluggish combat in games like Lords of the Fallen adds realism and challenge to gameplay.
• Titles like Wildermyth and Monster Hunter World focus on slower, strategic combat mechanics.
• Games such as For Honor and Kingdom Come: Deliverance offer slow combat based on real-life weapon physics.

Gaming has become more and more fast-paced in recent years with the improvements in technology and gaming becoming more accessible, increasing the competition. However, that doesn’t stop some games from going against the norm and creating slow-paced and sluggish combat on purpose, usually to provide a more realistic experience.

These slower-paced games have become increasingly more popular over the years, with Soulslike titles becoming more and more popular among gamers. Most games with sluggish combat have spent time refining realistic combat systems that, despite the slower pace, offer challenging gameplay and high skill levels. Let’s take a look at eight games that have sluggish and slow combat on purpose.

8 Lords Of The Fallen

A Dark Fantasy RPG With Carefully Designed Steady Combat

Lords of the Fallen is a Soulslike game set in a dark, gothic world. Players become a Dark Crusader and set out to defeat Adyr, the evil god of chaos. Like many Soulslike titles, Lords of the Fallen’s combat is heavily focused on timing, strategy, and skill.

Lords of the Fallen has slow-paced combat that takes a more realistic approach, adding more weight and pressure to every encounter. Players must learn techniques, positioning, patterns, and timing to beat the tough multiphased boss battles, much like other Soulslike games.

7 Wildermyth

A Charming Storytelling Game, With Steady Turn-Based Gameplay

Wildermyth is a turn-based game set in a fantasy world inspired by folklore, myths, and fables. Players take control of a group of everyday villagers as they embark on a heroic journey. A standout aspect of Wildermyth is its storybook-like art style, which adds a charming vibe to the game.

With Wildermyth being a turn-based game, the combat is naturally slow and sluggish compared to other titles, but this doesn’t make the game any less enjoyable. Players must use a combination of movement, taking cover, and special abilities to defeat their enemies.

6 Monster Hunter World

The Monster Hunting Game With Sluggish Combat Due To Massive Weapons

Monster Hunter World is the best-selling game in the Monster Hunter franchise. The game is set in the New World; players delve into an unexplored continent in the Monster Hunter franchise. They become members of the Fifth Fleet as they battle countless monsters and creatures.

Players have access to a large range of weapon types, from small blades to the massive Great Sword. With these massive weapons, it only makes sense that the combat is intentionally sluggish and slow-paced while players do their best to evade attacks from huge monsters.

5 Dark Souls 2

The Second Installment of The Dark Souls Franchise, With The Slowest Combat

Dark Souls 2 is set in the kingdom of Drangleic, where players become the Bearer of the Curse, an undead who must collect powerful souls to lift his curse.

Much like other Dark Souls games, Dark Souls 2 has slower-paced combat that focuses more on precise movement positioning and timing, creating a more competitive gaming style despite being single-player. Dark Souls 2 has slightly more sluggish and slow combat compared to the other Souls games.

4 Remember Me

A Memory Manipulating Adventure With Arkham-Like Combat But Slower

Remember Me is an action-adventure game set in a futuristic Paris in the year 2084. Players become Nilin, a former memory hunter who sets out to hunt down her memories after they are erased. The game’s combat is similar to the Arkham series, but a bit slower.

It has very interesting combat mechanics, where players can even create and save their custom combos in a feature called the Combo Lab. This feature makes Remember Me a much more enjoyable experience despite its slower combat. It would be interesting to see something like it implemented in other games.

3 Exanima

A Physics-Based Dungeon Crawler With An Emphasis On Realism

Exanima is a mysterious RPG, where dungeon exploration is the main focus, as players uncover undead creatures, hidden traps, and dark secrets. The key standout feature of Exanima is the Physics-Based combat mechanic. Unlike similar titles, Exanima has an inbuilt physics model that applies real-world science to the game mechanics.

The Physics model adds a sense of realism to the game, with weapon weight, character weight, and momentum all playing a role in the gameplay. This is why the game can feel sluggish and slow during combat, especially with a heavily armored character, a full inventory, and a heavy weapon. Exanima also uses the physics model in the character ragdoll mechanics, adding extreme realism to the death animations and combat movements.

2 For Honor

Intense, Realistic Melee Combat That Might Come Across A Sluggish

For Honor is a combat game combining warriors from different cultures and locations around the world. Players can play as the Knights of Ashfeld, the Vikings of Valkenheim, the Samurai of the Myre, and the Wu Lin of the Marching Fire. Each faction has unique cultural backgrounds, weaponry, armor, and combat styles.

The combat system in For Honor is heavily based on realism, with the Art of Battle system. It relies on timing, positioning, reading the opponent’s movements, and reacting swiftly. The system aims to replicate real-life hand-to-hand combat along with stamina management, feints, guards, and, of course, blocks and attacks.

1 Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Realistic Medieval RPG With Sluggish Combat Based On Real-Life

Kingdom Come: Deliverance sets a precedent for basing its combat system on realism, with similar systems to For Honor. Its realistic combat system simulates the weight, speed, and difficulty of medieval weapons, creating a refreshing feeling compared to hack-and-slash games.

Each weapon type has different strengths and weaknesses, alongside different weights and speeds, creating a realistic and somewhat sluggish combat system at times. Armor and stamina play huge roles in the combat system. When players are overloaded with weight or low on stamina, the combat becomes much slower than it would in real life.