The most dangerous sci-fi worlds found in gacha games

You're essentially playing hardcore mode if your default spawn is on Earth overrun by Corrupted and its atmosphere stifled with the Punishing Virus, the latter requiring a regularly scheduled administration of the Anti-Punishing Serum. To make matters worse, you're at the mercy of the elements such as Red Tide – a sentient, parasitic tsunami composed of dense viral matter capable of luring unsuspecting humans with hallucinations. Not all hope is lost, however, as there is a network of cities dotted around Earth like City 043 that's retrofitted with virus filter systems. Alternatively, camping out in elevated terrain or sub-zero climates can keep viral exposure to a minimum. Count your blessings if you stumble across city-states such as the highly fortified Kowloong Metropolis with a proven track record of resistance or a zero-point reactor mega structure like the Atlantis. The former is the least welcoming to outsiders or is otherwise inaccessible like the latter. The space station Babylonia, humanity's last bastion is easily the S tier of spawn points, is decked out with state-of-the-art faculties and systems coupled with prodigious researchers to patch up vulnerabilities. However, you are subjected to constant anxiety from the relentless attempts by Ascendants to ground it and the hyper-competitive living conditions. If you're less intellectually inclined, the easy way up is through volunteering for the Construct surgery process with a paltry success rate like the main cast. Exhausted all your options? Well, if you can't beat them, join them, provided you're one of a million to demonstrate an amiable affinity towards the virus, allowing you to harness its raw power once jacked into an Ascendant network.

For the inquisitive, here's a PGR tier list of every construct stationed on Babylonia and their combat prowess.

On a planetary scale, the morbidity rate in Project Gaia Zero is the least of your concerns. Spawning right into the Sephirah Zone guarantees you a stable financial foothold in its functioning economy, coupled with a decent quality of life. Most importantly, technology enjoys a symbiotic relationship with humankind – provided they are not under the spell of Visbanes (more on that later). But, if for any reason, you did not sign your consciousness up to the simulated universe as a joint effort to take refuge from the Star Dust Calamity and chose to remain behind, then a hearty congrats as you have just doomed yourself to the fate of ulceration by the nanobots. The hostile element at play here is Visbanes, who share an eerie resemblance to the machines from the Matrix. With the power to hijack machines and brute force their way through things, just a sneeze from them is lethal enough to get your consciousness and data booted off the Source code. But you wouldn't need to worry too much as the presence of Modifiers is here to neutralise the threat, think of them as the Agent Smiths except they're less malicious and serve a greater purpose.

Don't forget to check out Aether Gazer tier list on the best modifiers in the realm of Gaia Zero.

All hell breaks loose in this peak dystopia. Welcome to The City, which consists of 26 districts overseen by the Wing and your survival chance varies significantly depending on where you're dropped.

Oh and executive manager, before you venture further, know your employees better via our neat tier list for Limbus Company ranking each of their identities.

As a rule of thumb, spawning in a Nest sets you up for life since they are generally well-off neighbourhoods under a Wing's jurisdiction and protection. Things take a flip turn when you end up in the Backstreets as backwater areas are free real estate for a vast network of Syndicates. Some prominent ones like Five Fingers govern it with a set of strait-laced rules. Other than bickering and territorial disputes between these Syndicates, you'll also be living in unsanitary conditions and run the risk of bumping into a rampaging Distorted being or Abnormality who are, in essence, monsters. The district you start in matters a lot too, with the best bet unanimously being the tech dystopia K Corp, a district so morbidly fascinating that warranted an article from me some time ago. As a refresher, K Corp champions the biomedical industry that revolutionised healthcare with creations such as the HP bullet. Look past the usual corporate nonchalance for research ethics and work culture and you find yourself housed in one of the safest modern districts, safeguarded with heavy fortifications, advanced drones, and a nigh-invincible militia. Though its Backstreets aren't much better compared to the other districts that are regularly susceptible to stuff like genocide by N Corp. While places like J Corp - the neon-lit urban capital of casinos - are pretty harmless to live in, some districts require expertise in both skill and survival intuitions. For example, U Corp - a district surrounded by the Great Lake rife with pirate shenanigans and Eldritch abominations. However, we can agree that L Corp is the worst district to spawn in its current state, with a defunct Wing and its Nest swallowed up by its surrounding Backstreets.

Imagine if Gotham were struck by natural disasters. That’s the state of DisCity and ironically, it's an ideal spawn point with better survival odds. Besides housing a functional medical facility named SALVO, the entire section is directly under the jurisdiction of the FAC and boasts a robust legion of combat personnel and an ample supply of Hypercube for peacekeeping. Both are tantamount to countering the threat of Mania - a unique psychodelic infection that has varying effects depending on your aptitude.

But for the mavericks out there, here's a Path to Nowhere tier list of the most reliable partners in crime.

Off the mega-metropolis, taking shelter in the Eastside is a feasible choice if we discount the fact that it's a cyberpunk dystopia that thrives on human vices. On the other side of the coin, the Westside is less desirable for being a gathering spot for Syndicate members and it doesn't exactly inspire confidence when its autonomous overseer is a mining company drenched in debt. For whatever circumstances you ended up in the vast expanses of wasteland such as WhiteSands or places with dense Mania concentration like the Rust. You fight a battle of survival on multiple fronts: hostile elements, scarce resources, Mania fallout, and roaming Corruptors. Salvation is beyond you if you spawned in Black Ring with notable places including DisSea where the contamination rate is off the charts and densely populated with Corruptors as Carnival has shown. Not all hope is lost, however, as Mania will be a blessing in disguise if your guts have got what it takes - with the manifestation of unparalleled superpowers and the privilege to retain a shred of sentience like the Sinners in the story.