Here are your favourite RPGs of all time, as voted for by you, the RPS readership.
An RPG has to have a good story and I think that the story of FFVI really delivers.
Historybluff:I value kinesthetically satisfying gameplay more than anything else.
Western developers have largely failed to figure out how to do this in RPGs.
David Strong:WOTR had a good story and lots of really unique companions.
Including the Mythic Powers, it also had one of the most complex character creators out there mechanically.
It also had a lot of replayability.
The best D&D based game out there.
The story and the world are also fascinating and unique.
Rin:Baldur’s Gate II, but even more perfect?
Check out Tim Cains' fascinating YouTube channel for insights into the development if games design is your jam.
Camerooni:I enjoyed this game more than Baldur’s Gate.
Scruffy:Unpolished gem, fantastic system and world.
Fallout 2
RDG72:Great story and word, customization, deep skill system and fun combat.
I love the characters and the masterfully intertwining storylines of the regional iron shortage and the Bhaalspawn.
So better gather your party, baby, and go out there and level-up!
I love Baldur’s Gate’s complete visual, literal, musical, and audio aesthetics.
I love how Baldur’s Gate seamlessly weaves in so much so naturally.
A true gem, standing proudly tall through the test of time, especially in its original form.
Sarah:Baldur’s Gate is to computer role playing games what Tolkien is to fantasy.
Magus42:I likely have more hours sunk into this game than any other game I’ve ever bought.
Most of that just rolling new characters and finding different ways to play through the first couple chapters.
A solid story if you want to engage with it.
A ridiculous amount of freedom if you don’t.
Better games have followed but none I love more.
Jarno Virtanen:The king of RPGs.
The slow start snowballs into deciding the fate of the reals.
The dark atmospheric woods and dungeons make you feel like you are braving into the unknown.
What they were able to do with 16-bit sprites and limited animation is still incredible.
There’s simply no topping it.
Joel the magnificent:The music soundtrack ofChrono Triggeris so perfectly made.
It fits all situations and the theme of the game, while also packing a lot of emotions.
Coupled with a story of epic proportions that can be done in less than 40 hours.
Guy Montag:This is a near perfect game, and a near irreproducible one.
If you somehow haven’t played it, try it.
It’s got time travel, and spells, and robots, and lizard people.
And the music by Yasunori Mitsuda is beautiful.
StrafeMcgee:Still probably the greatest gaming experience I’ve ever had.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Purist:Let me tell you a story.
Got 1, loved it even more, and fell in love with its story.
Looking back, Mass Effect 2 and 3 are definitely inferior.
Still, one of the best RPG series in the new millennium.
Smudge:Sprawling and epic story with lots to do.
Khanorama:The magnum opus of Bioware and the modern RPG trilogy trifecta.
This is to sci-fi RPGs what LOTR was to fantasy cinema.
Decisions in the game (mostly) have significant ramifications.
I hate modern fantasy, but Vampire The Masquerade works very well without feeling intrusive to our everyday.
An RPG set in the era of skyscrapers and computers with a VERY moody 90s throw in of feeling.
The entire thing just oozes atmosphere.
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze:I’m a vampire!
I’m a vampire!
I’m a vampire!
The atmosphere was simultaneously bleak and wonderous.
Nothing felt forced as exploration of the world and lore is completely the onus of the player.
Victor Toba-Ogunleye:It’s not just open world Dark Souls.
Sentegraphs:The culmination of 13+ years inventing and perfecting the Soulslike genre.
Massive, fun, drop dead gorgeous, and endlessly enchanting.
Emman:Best there is.
I feel privileged to have experienced this masterpiece.
An unforgettable experience and groundbreaking achievement from FromSoftware.
And I loved its characters, world and lightsaber fights.
Is it the best RPG ever made?
I dunno, but it’s the one that got me to love RPGs, Bioware and Star Wars.
And, after replaying it a few years ago, it holds up well!
Joel:I love the real-time/turn-based combat and the engaging story and characters that were ahead of their time.
This was a formative game for me, showing what was possible with a game’s story.
It opened my eyes to a whole new experience.
It was the first time I’d ever been moved by a computer game and it blew my mind.
And of course light sabres.
There are numerous flaws, but this game holds a very special place in my heart.
And without KOTOR there would be no Mass Effect.
Lawton:KOTOR really made me believe in the world it built.
The world felt so free and open.
What’s not to like?
Bepidef:The story and HK-47.
It’s simply a good vs evil setting and it does it really well.
In many ways, it is a benchmark of RPG design.
Robust character creator, allowing players to craft a variety of characters.
If I can think of something, the game will allow it.
All of that to support a memorable take on post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and a well-crafted world.
Herzog:Everybody loves dwarves and elves, but what about the mutants?
The atmosphere was perfect and of its jokes and pop culture references all landed.
AlexV:The freedom.
Also the sound, art and original Fallout world.
I played it before I eventually tried Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter, and Icewind Dale.
Fallout set my world on fire and remains as a special flame in my heart.
StrafeMcgee:The best Mass Effect, with great characters and gameplay that was actually fun!
Ishkander:The perfect space opera improving on every feature of ME1, the height of Bioware’s power.
Utterly compelling combat mechanics.
:Great combat, perfect for couples, long game with many solutions to challenges.
Carrandas:I’ve been playing Larian Studios since they released Divine Divinity.
But they really got me hooked with Divinity: Original Sin and the sequel is even better.
The stand-out for this game is the insanely fun combat.
Be a vampire and stand in blood so you’re free to heal.
Or let it rain and make steam or just electrocute everyone in the puddles.
It never gets old.
RamblingMoose:Most RPGs do a few things well.
DOS2 does everything very well.
Larian combined solid story telling with goofy humour to great effect.
diaugupul:The first game I played where talking to animals was a valid solution to multiple quests.
The poor dogs in this game…
10.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Andrew Kellock:A unique, strange and compelling world.
Aaron Feinstein:A world I could (and did) live inside.
And such a weird one… khalilravanna:I remember picking this up off an end cap at Target having no idea what it was.
Booting it up, I was immediately in love.
Gloomy:“What a fool you are.
I’m a god, how can you kill a god?
What a grand and intoxicating innocence.
How could you be so naive?
There is no escape.
No recall or intervention can work in this place.
Come, lay down your weapons, it is not too late for my mercy.”
Souroldlemon:Imagination and uniqueness made the world feel more convincingly real than prettier, blander RPGs.
Morrowind was also full of stuff, everywhere you would explore would reveal genuinely interesting things.
You could literally follow rumors and legends only to find them to be true!
RDG72:Scale and scope, immersion, can make any key in of character you want.
Modding, modding, modding.
Momo:Unbridled choice, a world to explore, options and mysteries to solve.
And it let the imagination run wild.
Absolutely great expansion packs too!
Alex H:Wondrous is the word that comes to mind.
Terry:you could’t just walk to that cave?
Oh, you’re able to.
And that’s not getting into the DLC, which are full of beautiful experiments in tone and design.
Zinzan:Branching/varied outcomes; great world and variety of play style.
Especially modded it looks great and I mustn’t play it anymore.
Plus four excellent expansions, all huge yet all completely thematically different.
Dragon Age: Origins
Niccy Stew:BioWare at their CRPG peak.
AJ Rodgers:Helped me come out in high school!
NH3Maser:Some of the best companion characters out there, especially the romance options.
Things like party composition, and equipment, and character builds matter a lot in DA:O.
It’s got great characters and a compelling story, but it’s also a deeply engaging tactical game.
What a shame this won’t be #1.
AlexV:It was unbelievable at the time, the first true RPG shooter, I think.
Lots of hidden things and real rewards for exploring.
Some meaningful questions about truth and morality.
An amazing variety of conspiracy theories all are true.
Eerily prescient of some more recent events.
The only RPG that I end up installing again every time I replace my PC.
Dan:Probably the best game ever, and still a good RPG.
If Foucaults Pendulum were made into a game, it would have a similar vibe.
Also one of the first games that let you play it almost entirely without killing anyone.
Re-played recently and Deus Ex still holds up next to more modern immersive sims.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
JTDenton:Skyrim excels at verisimilitude like nothing else.
If you see a weapon, you’re free to always pick it up and use it.
No virtual world has ever felt more real to me.
Jason M.:Boring, I know, but I just love to spend time in that world.
I am currently working my 23rd(?)
HoboDragon:I loved the whole Norse-mythology based approach, the approach to combat.
David:I put well over 17,000 hours into the game.
Plus there’s Lydia, the best companion a boy (or girl) could have.
Victor Toba-Ogunleye:It’s Skyrim!!!!!
It was one of the first games I actually got lost in.
icanfathom:No other RPG is quite as zen as Skyrim.
I get lost in this world and don’t want to come back.
Isn’t that the best thing that can be said about a role-playing game?
I love it for the freedom, in all aspects of the game.
Dracorogue:Skyrim is my go-to game when I need an escape.
To live another life.
It is a unique game that none other to date has replicated.
Skyrim goes one step further to convince you its a real world.
Vic502:The freedom tobethe Dragonborn, go anywhere and do (almost) anything.
Together with great visuals (for the time), you could really immerse yourself in this world.
I also loved the get-skilled-in-what-you-use system.
You admire the dedication, and I’m one of them.
Kevin:An absolute epic, and the pinnacle of Infinity Engine games.
Maybe it’s rose-tinted glasses, but I still hold this one above all others.
Zephro:Baldur’s Gate 3 may end up competing with it.
But I’ve not finished it and nothing much can touch the story of the Bhaalspawn.
The voice is just a classic like SHODAN.
It’s the (almost) perfect RPG.
(Disclaimer: I haven’t played BG3 yet).
Rin:Everything just fits in Baldur’s Gate II.
The story, the characters, the art style, the setting.
I love it to bits.
Lawton:I loved everything fantasy as a kid.
I mostly spent my evenings getting lost in the latest Forgotten Realms book.
So to have the chance to get lost in realm of Baldur’s Gate was kinda surreal.
But that didn’t stop me imagining all the adventures my character could go on.
Even my nightly reading was replaced with the 100+ page manual!
Andy Tickner:Jon Irenicus is probably the greatest antagonist in an RPG.
Wormerine:It’s the game that started it all for me.
A seemingly unending world, with a story to find behind every corner.
A great entry point into RPGs.
The game doesn’t really allow real role-playing.
The reputation system is very broad.
Still, I will be damned, it is fun to play, even today.
Jonfon:The game that brought me back to RPGs after a mostly misspent 90s.
Amazing voice work, a huge game with a city that really felt alive.
The best thing Bioware / Obsidian ever did.
Mol:This is mostly because of my impressions at the time of playing it.
Every encounter is dirty, messy, physical and magical.
The flexibility… God DAMN!
Val Jones:I’m 70 hours in and it is simply sublime.
Phenomenal writing, beautiful design and very satisfying combat.
Smudge:Game is big and bug free right out of the box.
Professoinalism and passion of Larian to be commended.
The story is great and I love all of the complex characters.
This game is so good that it’s hard to understand just how good it is.
In time this will certainly be celebrated as one of the best RPGs ever made of all time.
What more could I possibly ask for?
Adam:Just phenomenal.
Realises the promise made by BG1 and 2 for a new era.
BG3 encourages me to just roll with the punches by making failure fun.
Emman:More polished than AAA games.
I cannot get enough.
fortuntek:Up until last week my fave RPG of all time was Baldur’s Gate 2.
Like it’s predecessor, I will be playing this for the next 20 years.
Latedave:Yes its early on but like everyone else Ive played the heck out of it.
It also had very memorable characters and a unique setting.
Some of the dialogue got tears out of me it was so good.
Yes it creaks a bit with age now, but still leads the way for me in overall design.
Dan:An excellent story in an excellent game.
Lots of text to read that give a lot of personality to the world.
All that makes Planescape a game like no other!
Scruffy:Best story and writing in any video game, great characters.
Inknowingthat this game existed, I have become stronger.
What can change the nature of an RPG?
This game is arguably not even a true RPG but rather a playable novel.
A novel with replayablility, even.
Party composition and even interactions and choices with party members can change how the story unfolds.
Where compassionate conversations with companions is more powerful than swords or spells.
EthicsGradient:It’s boring to keep talking about a game this old.
But also fun fights.
Zephro:It’s legendary and contains a street giving birth.
Everything to be said has been said.
Godwhacker:One of the first games I’ve played that remembered the role-playing bit of RPGs.
you’re free to be a horrible bastard or complete saint, and the game responds.
Chaotic Good actually means something when you’ve been nice-but-crazy on purpose.
Properly weird, brilliantly written, and everything an RPG should be.
Andy Tickner:Simply one of the best tales told in RPG history.
Every playthrough revealed more secrets about The Nameless One and the characters he came across.
Magus42:The best setting ever presented in a video game.
A compelling mystery story.
Basically, a masterpiece.
Brent Goren:The freedom to explore and the possibilities are almost limitless.
The amnesia aspect of the game is phenomenal!
Adam:The story is one of the best out there and would genuinely work today.
Cinnamon:What can you say about it?
Many people have played it and read a lot of text.
It deliberately does everything in the genre wrong and says, “So what?”
It is about being trapped in a maze of masks, names and words.
It is a game about updating your journal.
Gutock:“What can change the nature of man?”
is the best question a game has ever posed.
Then I rememberd this game exists, which made me smile happily.
You’re Geralt, and Geralt is.
Better get the silver oiled.
Work to do before morning.
EthicsGradient:Also a boring choice, and some of the game is just a Ubisoft slog.
But some of the vignettes and subplots are just fantastic.
(Given the qualified hedging I just did, the good bits were clearly really great!).
Vic502:CD Projekt Red’s magnum opus and my top RPG since I started playing in the 80s.
Very close to a perfect 10, with great visuals, awesome soundtrack, mature storytelling and interesting quests.
Brent Goren:Geralt is an amazing character and the Witcher world is incredible!
Can’t say enough praise for this game.
Professoinalism and passion of CDPR to be commended.
dogwaddle:I got absolutely sucked into its world building/immersion.
I also loved that it had mature and great story-building.
I don’t think I’ve quite got sucked into a video game world as much.
Tigris:I love the sidequests!
There are great stories everywhere, not only along the path.
Instead, all we got were the Assassin Creeds.
The Witcher 3 stands alone, the undisputed king of this genre.
Zlorwf:Just a massive journey with captivating missions that make you actually care.
Acantgetno:Rarely has a game offered such diverse playgrounds to RPG in.
Alex H:The Witcher 3 presented a world you believed in.
Its characters, world, and quests were so luxuriously rich (and clearly loved by their writers).
The computer game equivalent of being royally spoiled.
A generational diamond of a release.
jacknic:The Witcher 3 was my introduction to Geralt of Rivia, and what a ride it was.
The story is great and every choice seems like it has a real impact on the world.
The particular highlights are the cast of characters, voice acting, the multi-layered plot and atmospheric setting.
Oh, and Gwent.
The relatively weak combat didn’t much matter when you were so engrossed in the story.
Morte66:I care what happens.
It’s artistically meaningful to me and resonating with such emotional nuance as no other game before or since.
A creative triumph, for which I am forever grateful to everyone who created it.
Ilya Sh:Beautiful writing, like reading a good book.
Deep characters, ambiguous choices, many paths.
Caff:Beautiful, tragic and poetic.
I hope we’ll see many more games like this, that are unafraid of the human psyche.
godfatherbrak:Disco Elysium is the game that felt most like playing a TTRPG.
Hearing other people have such a massively different experience than I did in that same few blocks was incredible.
Disco Elysium, meanwhile, cannot do that.
Also hands-down the funniest RPG ever made, and the soundtrack is killer.
RamblingMoose:Disco Elysium was the best book I played in 2019.
It has a novelistic quality, in the writing especially but also in its austere presentation.
A lot of video games aim for some notion of “maturity.”
Disco Elysium tells a compelling alternate world tale of a failed communist revolution!
In a fantasy world that feels truly complex.
And scary to navigate.
I need an adult.
Disco manages all this by being Authentically Disco.
Don’t resist, Listen To The Tie.
CrustyGameShack:Great writing.
Polyhop:I first played Disco Elysium in 2019 shortly after its release.
I recently replayed it and was hooked even deeper than before.
Damn it’s good.
Hopefully it will receive many sequels and will be emulated and imitated by many other games.
Non-fantasy, non-traditional, a completely different world to experience for most players and yet nothing seemed too unfamiliar.
Just strange enough to keep the exploring up.
Also the game that proves that “combat” is really not necessary for an RPG to be good.
Zal:Many modern RPGs hand you the character you’ll be playing.
Johannes:The game with the best companion ever: Kim Kitsuragi!
I love the dark humour, the melancholic soundtrack and its deep story.
Zlorwf:There are some pieces of work, that redefine the medium that they are in.
Disco Elysium is one of these games.
It redefines how the narrative and the player choices should affect your gameplay.
The best ones are usually on par with a random summer novel or like a nice Netflix movie script.
The writing in Disco Elysium is justs heads above the rest of the sector.
It shows that proper writing is not wasted on video games and it can actually benefit the genre.
It has atmosphere, it has style.
It feels as close to the responsiveness of a tabletop RPG as I can imagine.
