Video Game Search: single player pony RPG

[FocusedGleam 6]

Greetings. I come to you seeking aid in a search that has long since plagued me. My interests have proven incredibly niche, and I am conducting a number of broad sweeps across multiple communities to find any and all possibilities before resigning this search. This is of a high level of personal importance to me, so finding nothing is not something I can accept easily.

I am looking for ways to play as my ponysona, a unicorn stallion with a magic talent. However, while there are some online multiplayer experiences, these lack the necessary levels of immersion or integration I used to find in other games I used to play, such as Skyrim or other RPGs. As I do not want to leave behind this interest, but I also would like to play such games again, I am looking for a game to meet these needs. This has proven extremely difficult, as non-humanlike races in games are difficult to find to begin with, much less equines and even further unicorns.

I am looking for a game, conversion mod, or equivalent interactive experience with the following features:

1.       A fully customizable main character. This does not need to be extensive or super in-depth; Skyrim level is fine, but I must not have any component of the character be predetermined. A silent protagonist like the Elder Scrolls is preferable. This must include gender and race.

2.       Unicorns as a playable and represented race in the game. This can either be as full equines or as anthropomorphic creatures, but they must at least walk on hooves, have a horse-like head, a horn, and sapience. They must be a naturally fitting part of the universe and lore, and not just something tacked in.

3.       An open world, fantasy or sci-fi/fantasy setting which allows for both a feeling of being part of the world as well as adventuring. Elder Scrolls-like would be ideal, but I understand that is an incredibly high bar and I only list it as the best concrete example of the kind of world/gameplay I prefer. I strongly dislike grimdark or post-apocalypses, so those settings would be last resort.

4.       Magic as a mechanic available to the player. In particular, wizards or other forms of academic or “magic as a science” type systems would be preferred. I prefer to avoid magic systems that involve spiritualism or dealing with gods, devils, or other sorts of pacts.

5.       Fully singleplayer. While I do make use of online RPGs and roleplay, there are a number of elements that online multiplayer make difficult or cannot fully accomplish. I am looking for something with external NPCs to interact with. If romance is a mechanic in the game, a female unicorn (see option 2) must be an option.

While I know there is one such mod for Skyrim, my present hardware and monetary limitations make using PC only Skyrim mods impossible. If there is a mod available on the Xbox, I would be able to use it, but my search has turned up nothing. Additionally, there is one game that comes close on Steam, Unicorn Tails, but it is just too shallow to retain my attention.

I understand this is an incredibly hard ask, and I have been searching for a fitting game independently to no avail for some time. I would be extremely grateful for any potential leads or fitting suggestions you may have. Unfortunately, due to my current situation, neither commissioning or creating such a game is viable, so I need to find something that presently exists. I would also appreciate it if you could share any other places where I could post this that may know of something to fit my needs.

[Iforgotmybrain 7,559]

Modded Rimworld is the only game that comes to mind immediately. It’s a single player strategy game that focuses on building up a colony and surviving on an alien planet alongside other factions. It has a detailed pony mod (Ponies of the Rim, @Xada‘s Ponies of the Rim), detailed magic mods (Vanilla Psycasts Expanded, A Rimworld of Magic) and you can edit characters however you want with the right mod as well (Be Prepared). You can have one character to manage or dozens, it’s ultimately up to the player.

You can add other mods to shape it how you like, such as adding more high fantasy stuff, limiting it only to medieval type weapons, stuff like that. It has probably the most in-depth modding community I know of outside of Bethesda games like Skyrim.

It is a very daunting game to get into and mod though just because of how much stuff there is. Might not be quite what you’re looking for but it’s the only thing that comes to mind right now.

It is PC only but isn’t overly demanding when it comes to graphics. I first played it on a T440s and it worked alright so any fairly modern computer should be able to handle it okay.

Edited August 18 by Iforgotmybrain

[Iridescent Edge 708]

Well, if I ever learn game development, recruit a team of developers, start a Kickstarter campaign that meets your criteria, get that Kickstarter campaign fully funded, and then commit months or years to its development...then I'll let you know.

[FocusedGleam 6]

1 hour ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

Modded Rimworld is the only game that comes to mind immediately. It’s a single player strategy game that focuses on building up a colony and surviving on an alien planet alongside other factions. It has a detailed pony mod (Ponies of the Rim, @Xada‘s Ponies of the Rim), detailed magic mods (Vanilla Psycasts Expanded, A Rimworld of Magic) and you can edit characters however you want with the right mod as well (Be Prepared). You can have one character to manage or dozens, it’s ultimately up to the player.

You can add other mods to shape it how you like, such as adding more high fantasy stuff, limiting it only to medieval type weapons, stuff like that. It has probably the most in-depth modding community I know of outside of Bethesda games like Skyrim.

It is a very daunting game to get into and mod though just because of how much stuff there is. Might not be quite what you’re looking for but it’s the only thing that comes to mind right now.

It is PC only but isn’t overly demanding when it comes to graphics. I first played it on a T440s and it worked alright so any fairly modern computer should be able to handle it okay.

Yeah, that's been one of the things I know about, but Rimworld is much more of a management simulator/sandbox rather than the single character focused RPG I'm looking for. Not to mention the base game is incredibly expensive for what it is. I do appreciate the suggestion.

40 minutes ago, Iridescent Edge said:

Well, if I ever learn game development, recruit a team of developers, start a Kickstarter campaign that meets your criteria, get that Kickstarter campaign fully funded, and then commit months or years to its development...then I'll let you know.

I take it that means you don't know of anything?