The Shrine

I think the worst place to live would be Filgaia in Wild Arms. It is the only known fantasy world to have been attacked by nuclear weapons and a parallel universe in the same game. I didn't play WA3 but I'm guessing Filgaia's probably just a big world manipulated by some high-tech stuff and the high tech stuff can just wipe you out anytime. There are obviously numerous orbital platforms ready to unleash doom on the citizens.

Since Filgaia has the Wild West motif they don't even have very many trees. We know in RPG world no trees = impending doom. The guardians seem pretty much useless minus the Love/Courage/Hope Trio, and the only ones who are supposed to be able to call them died out in Wild Arms 1 when Cecilia ended up with Rudy and ended up having no kids and ending the Adlehyde bloodline (I guess in WA2 they managed to find a ghetto way to get guardian power back though). The native tree-hugging Elws with ancient powers probably get wiped out soon if not already so. So the entire world is doomed because they've no nature power on their side anymore.

FFX's Spira would be worse than Filgaia if not for the fact that when you die in Spira, you can always just say no, and it's not like you have to pay anything to stay alive as an unsent because if life starts to suck as an unsent, you could always find a summoner to send you to the Farplane, so it's 100% voluntary anyway.

Chrono Trigger during 12,000 BC, post Zeal touchdown. Few survivors, cold, rags for clothes. It seemed miserable.

I think you're taking this a little too seriously, Don...

But I'll play along for the sake of playing nice. How about Tristram? (the town in Diablo) That didn't look too fun. "Must...help. The Butcher! Took...them...all." Good times, for sure.

The Breath of Fire World. It slowly decayed over time from the first game. Breath of Fire 5's world was so bad that people were forced to live underground because the upper world was uninhabitable. Also, the underground world was becoming a poor place to live in, air pollution had become a huge problem. Living was completely dependent on technology.

In Chrono Trigger, I always found the futuristic world to be more miserable than 12,000 BC.

About Spira. Sure the place is in ruins, and there is often Sin running around. I would actually really love to live in that world though, there are a lot of interesting sites to see. Not to mention everyone loves Blitzball, I know the sport is physically impossible in many ways, but if it were possible I would play it all the time. I love volleyball, I love hockey, and I love swimming; Blitzball is kind of a combination of the three. Not to mention that some of the scenary is absolutely beautiful, there are beaches, enchanted woodlands, and even the thunder plains have a sense of beauty about them (I wouldn't go far, I am tall, I would get struck by lightning many times).

Aside from the obvious Chrono Trigger ones, I'd cement a vote for Shin Megami Tensei 1/2. Pretty much any time after Thor's Hammer falls.

Nosgoth from Legacy of Kain, after Kain takes over. Poor pathetic humans. lol.

Grandia II, the people of that world are SOOOO boring =P

Threed before you liberate it from the zombies in Earthbound.