Factions can play an important role when it comes to creating believable and dynamic open world games. Not only do they immediately create a sense of conflict, which is essential for creating a sense of urgency and purpose in a story, but they also provide a chance to explore different ideologies, aesthetics, and outcomes within a game.
Some games have players working for a single faction against others, while others enable players to choose from several potential factions which may even alter the entire course of a game’s story and the fate of its game world.
Whether you’re looking to stand up for the downtrodden or rule over the masses, a good faction system will provide the opportunity to do so.
It’s not always as straightforward as ascending the ranks of either the ‘good guys’ or the ‘bad guys’ though, and the best titles manage to provide nuance and appeal to a range of different factions. The following games tackle their respective faction systems very differently, but each one will provide something for players who are interested in more political and ideological open world games.
8 Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game
Three Factions, One Destination
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Released |
2023 |
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Developer |
Iron Tower Studios |
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Publisher |
Iron Tower Studios |
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Platforms |
PC |
Colony Ship might seem like just another isometric sci-fi RPG, but its different factions and openness to player choice is what sets it apart from more generic titles.
Set aboard a space ship travelling to a destination hundreds of years away, you are thrust into a world of competing factions, ideologies. and religions, each with their own goals and purposes for the future colonisation of a faraway planet.
The game features complex RPG mechanics with a range of skills and perks, as well as a fun turn-based combat system reminiscent of titles like XCOM and the Wasteland series.
Working your way up from local power struggles in minor areas, you will soon find yourself having to make decisions which affect everyone’s life aboard the ship — as well as potentially many more in the stars beyond.
7 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
The Ultimate Master Assassin Experience
Out of all the games in the Assassin’s Creed series, none managed to incorporate the assassins as an organized entity quite so well as Brotherhood.
While you play predominantly solo as Ezio, Brotherhood features a range of useful abilities and upgrades pertaining to your fellow assassins who can be called upon to fight alongside you at any given moment.
This particular mechanic is what really makes Brotherhood a stand-out favorite among long-time fans of the series, and no other game since has quite managed to incorporate anything like it.
Even today, the game still holds up well as one of the stronger titles in the series, and on PC in particular it has aged like a fine Italian wine.
6 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
One Clan To Rule Them All
There’s a good reason why Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is getting a sequel this year, and why it is so highly acclaimed by old-school fans of this classic RPG.
The series features some incredibly deep and complex lore, particularly relating to the diverse range of vampire clans you can be a part of. Choosing your particular clan is one of the most important decisions in the game as it will not only open up different quest lines, but can also vastly change the playstyle required to complete them.
Some clans, such as the Tremere and Toreadors, rely on their charisma and social skills to progress in the game world, while others, like the more free-spirited Bruja, use more primitive and violent means to get their way.
Characters will react differently to you depending on your chosen clan, and this will be especially noticeable for the hideously deformed Nosferatu, who have to conceal themselves and take a stealthy approach to almost the entire game.
5 Fallout: New Vegas
The Mojave’s Fate Is In Your Hands
The world of Fallout is full of both major and minor factions, each with their own unique aesthetics and ideologies, and Fallout: New Vegas is certainly no exception.
New Vegas arguably has the best factions in the series and allows players to choose from four different potential endings, each with wildly different outcomes for the game world’s inhabitants.
While there’s an obvious struggle between the NCR and Caesar’s Legion players can join, it is also possible to form your own robot army and conquer New Vegas for yourself.
Additionally, there are tonnes of minor factions, from the performative Kings and Great Khans to the pyromaniacal Boomers and Powder Gangers. The Brotherhood of Steel are also featured, but in a lesser role compared to the likes of Fallout 3 and 4.
4 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
The Most Militaristic STALKER Game
The STALKER community is split on many topics, but most would agree unanimously that STALKER: Clear Sky has the best implementation of factions in the series.
While there are several warring factions throughout the Zone in every STALKER game, Clear Sky really puts an emphasis on them with ongoing warfare and territorial disputes.
Initially starting out as a Mercenary taking contracts for the Clear Sky faction, you can later branch out and join others to help them with their specific goals.
The Loners and Bandits are weaker but less demanding, while Freedom and Duty represent the more elite and capable militaristic factions. There are certainly pros and cons to each faction, and joining one will make their enemies immediately hostile to you — choose wisely.
3 Kenshi
A System That Allows You To Do Just About Anything
Kenshi is one of the most unique open world RPGs out there and takes place in a fully living game world which acts and evolves independently of the player. That’s not to say your actions are inconsequential, but there are a lot of moving parts in the game world, including a complex and dynamic faction system.
Set in a desolate, post-apocalyptic hellscape filled with cannibals, tyrants, samurai, and cyborgs, Kenshi gives players a lot of freedom regarding how they want to integrate or conquer the existing world.
As your tribe progresses in skills and technology, you will also be able to craft bases and take on some of the larger factions in the game.
Despite its bleak setting, the lore of each faction is surprisingly deep, as are the relations between different factions and how they interact with one another.
2 Crusader Kings 3
A Perfect Blend of Grand Strategy and RPG Elements
Although it started out as a grand strategy game, and still is for the most part, the introduction of the Adventurer mechanic in Crusader Kings 3 transformed it into more of an RPG at times, enabling players to live a completely different but equally interesting life as their noble counterparts.
Allegiance is everything in Crusader Kings, from your culture and religion to your nation and empire. It’s the different factions which really make the game so much fun and make every playthrough so entirely different.
Spanning across generations as you shape the fate of your dynasty, Crusader Kings 3 gives players more options than ever before when it comes to joining or creating your own factions and expanding them into fully fledged Kingdoms.
So, whether you’re looking to conquer all of Europe with Icelandic Vikings or push West as a Samurai clan from Japan, Crusader Kings 3 will let you do just about all of it — provided you’re willing to fork out for some DLC content, of course.
1 Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
The Ultimate Medieval Warlord Simulator
It’s hard to think of many games with a better or deeper faction system than the Mount and Blade series, particularly its latest iteration, Bannerlord.
From the Aserai of the deserts and Khuzaits of the steppes to the Viking-inspired Sturgians, players can join and lead a range of different factions with their own distinct cultures, architecture and unit types.
Starting off as a simple sellsword doing basic tasks like delivering letters, you can quickly work your way up to leading huge armies with hundreds of soldiers, and you can even declare your own independent faction to take territory for yourself.
In addition to the large-scale battles the series is known for, it also has surprisingly deep political and economic systems in place, allowing you to marry strategically and manipulate the markets for your own benefit.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
