The Best RPGs That Prioritize Projectiles In Combat

When most people think of RPGs, they picture high fantasy with swords and spellcraft. However, the RPG genre has grown and evolved a lot since its inception, and it encompasses a lot of aspects and hallmarks from the rest of the gaming industry.

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This includes firearms and other projectile-based weapons. While the thoughtful, strategic gameplay of most RPGs would seem to be mutually exclusive with the hectic chaos of a gunfight, there have been plenty of games that skillfully combine the two. These are the best RPGs that prioritize long-range projectile combat.

9

The Outer Worlds

A Twisted Future

Obsidian’s irreverent space RPG brings players to a futuristic world where capitalism has grown out of control, resulting in shabby, broken-down settlements running on indentured labor. In the player’s quest to deliver this distant solar system from its oppressive rulers, they’ll accumulate an ever-growing armory of increasingly outlandish weapons.

The weapon catalog in The Outer Worlds encompasses everything fans would expect from a bombastic sci-fi adventure, from conventional rifles to outlandish laser weapons. Players can also acquire numerous “science weapons” with bizarre additional effects, such as shrinking or even mind-controlling enemies.

8

Wasteland 3

Apocalyptic Tactics

The Wasteland franchise isn’t as prominent in modern times as the Fallout games that were inspired by it, but 2020’s Wasteland 3 is no less enjoyable for tactical RPG fans. This squad-based adventure takes players to post-apocalyptic Colorado on a quest to resolve a bloody familial dispute taking place among the region’s rulers.

Wasteland 3 players have countless options in how they customize and outfit their squad of rangers, dipping into a vast arsenal of firearms in order to adequately face any challenge that might await them. With the addition of environmental effects and player vehicles, no two fights in Wasteland 3 will ever play out the same way.

7

Persona 5 Royal

Changing Hearts At Gunpoint

It’s not terribly common to see ranged weapons in turn-based JRPGs, but Persona 5 is a particularly illustrious example of this. Damage from firearms is a distinct damage type in the game that players can exploit in fights to expose enemy weaknesses, and each party member has their own distinctive type of firearm with its own unique properties.

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By increasing one’s bond with the enigmatic Airsoft Shop owner, Iwai, players can upgrade their projectile weapons even further, adding modifiers and special effects to their shots. The unique properties of guns and ammo in the game’s mystical cognitive realm means firearms are always a powerful option in combat.

6

Warframe

Fighting For The Future

The sci-fi MMO RPG Warframe takes place in the far future, as a race of powerful alien warriors struggles to survive against the numerous dangerous factions who have inherited a long-dead Earth. Players’ titular Warframes serve as combat units that they guide in battle, and they can customize these rigs with a variety of weapons for different combat situations.

The game’s high-speed gunplay and complex storyline have snared a lot of fans, and the fact that the basic experience is free-to-play is a definite selling point. In terms of accessibility, Warframe is one of the best gun-based RPGs on the market.

5

Fallout 4

Scrapping For A Fight

Systems

Released

November 10, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Bethesda’s Fallout 4 boasts one of the most robust weapon crafting systems in the industry. Fans can collect junk and scrap from ruins throughout the wasteland and bring it home to upgrade and modify their guns in a variety of ways. Players can add silencers, rapid-fire modifications, scopes, and even alternate handles to make their guns their own.

In addition to the elaborate modifications players can craft for themselves, there is a wide variety of unique and bizarre weapons for players to encounter in the wild. From the potent freezing potential of the Cryolator to the preposterous Broadsider, a hand-mounted naval cannon, fans can bring a lot of firepower to a fight.

4

Remnant 2

Gun Souls

Soulslike

Third-Person Shooter

Systems

Released

July 25, 2023

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

The Remnant franchise presents the dark future of humanity driven to the brink of ruin by exposure to alien forces from other realities. Players in Remnant 2 must take up arms to protect their struggling civilization from godly threats outside the known universe itself.

Remnant 2 made a name for itself by combining third-person shooter mechanics with the punishing action RPG elements from the infamous soulslike genre. Players must contend with tight resources and massive, powerful attacks as they fire away at powerful monsters.

3

Cyberpunk 2077

A Futuristic Firefight

The world of Cyberpunk 2077 depicts a culture increasingly submerged in consumerism and corporate greed. As social stratification grows, violence becomes all the more commonplace, to the point that vending machines throughout Night City dispense 3D-printed guns for citizens’ protection. In order to succeed in this game, players will need to come prepared.

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Cyberpunk 2077 presents a massive arsenal of weapons, with a tier system separating the cream of the crop. To heighten the futuristic nature of the game, many firearms have fanciful upgrades, from corrosive or fire damage to target-seeking projectiles.

2

Bloodborne

Blasting Back The Horrors

Systems

Released

March 24, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

FromSoftware’s iconic gothic horror soulslike changed a lot from the basic Dark Souls formula. One of the most striking new features was the addition of flintlock pistols and various other contemporary firearms. These guns rely on Quicksilver Bullets, a new resource players will have to manage as they confront the horrors within Yharnam.

Bloodborne‘s guns function quite distinctly in combat. With perfect timing, fans can unleash a blast of lead to halt an enemy’s attack and open them up for a devastating counterattack. A well-timed gunshot can be the difference between life and death, for hunter and beast alike.

1

Horizon Forbidden West

Big Game Hunting

Systems

Released

February 18, 2022

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

The deadly robotic beasts of Horizon Forbidden West require skill and strategy to take down. While Aloy does have a rather potent melee option, swinging wildly will rarely turn out well for her. Careful and clever use of ranged weapons is a much more reliable approach.

There are ten weapon types in Horizon Forbidden West, each of which has different strengths and weaknesses when facing a certain type of machine. Each weapon also comes with different ammo types, offering a variety of elemental damage options to exploit weaknesses. Aloy will have to aim carefully and plan strategically to survive in this hostile world.

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