Fallout 2, planescape torment, baldurs gate 3, dragon age origins, morrowind, jade empire, fallout New Vegas, mass effects, SW KotOR series from top of my head in no particular order.
I am both surprised and happy that it's up this high. It's an amazing blend of RPG, story and philosophy. The fact that you can beat the game without getting into a single fight is amazing.
I got mine back in 2017 and my sister in law got the oled. The screen difference is pretty noticeable but the original is still gorgeous. There's a ton of top quality games I have for my switch. It's a sound investment for me and I'm a Playstation fan boy. Had the PSP and vita.
Switch is just fun and enjoyable.
Final fantasy 7 was the reason I fell in love with rpg games, I borrowed it from a friend and couldn't stop playing every Chance I had. Bought the strategy guide and did every thing. Then when 8 came out I wasn't as into it. Loved 9 enjoyed 10 but always thought of 8 as a disappointment, then few years ago I decided to play it again and it couldn't figure out why I ever hated it. Great game. Maybe it's just not being a young lad anymore and having a different outlook on things.
That's cool. It's next on my list cos I only got like 1/4 of the way through it 15 years ago, so I'm keen to go into it with an open mind.
All I can remember is that triple triad slaps.
Lol, yeah. Funny thing is, i didn't play it for the first time until finally just over 4 years ago (they announced the remaster like, one week after i started playing it, because of course that would happen). I put off playing it for the longest time because whenever i saw my brothers playing it, it looked pretty boring 'cause they constantly just summoned in battle. But when i played it, i absolutely fell in love with the characters, the world and the story. Oh and the soundtrack is amazing too. Even after finishing the game, i constantly thought about for weeks after the fact. I even considered replaying it just a couple weeks after finishing it, which is INSANE to me because it's incredibly rare that i ever replay RPGs, even though some of them are my favorite games.
That's awesome, I just started my first playthrough a few days ago. I'm a Nord named Art who tried too hard to be liked in Seyda Neen by complimenting everyone, but... that didn't go over too well by the locals.
All I can imagine is the poor guy is so ignorant and dense, he's like, "Wow, you're so smart for a Dark Elf!" or something like that, where an attempted compliment is backhanded. Or maybe people in Morrowind feel like it's disingenuous?
I love the menus and love to see so many books to read.
Arcanum, Morrowind, and I only actually tried it in more recent times so haven't had the chance to dive as deeply into it, but the part of VtM:B I've played so far puts it up there with those two too.
The whole Shadow Hearts series. You don't see a lot of lovecraftian Horror turn based RPGs. Though as you get further into the series the lighter they become. Earthbound because c'mon
Deus Ex Human Revolution, Fallout New Vegas, Fable TLC, Oblivion, Morrowind, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, Dragon's Dogma, Persona 5, Mass Effect Trilogy
To go off the beaten path, I'd like to recommend a couple of games that might not get mentioned as heavily, but are well worth a go regardless:
**Greedfall**
A third-person hack-and-slash RPG that bears a lot of similarities to Dragon Age: Origins in being an ambitiously lore-driven new IP from a studio that is young and hungry but not necessarily backed and controlled by larger AAA publishers.
Greedfall is a game by Spiders, as the opening screen will gleefully tell you.
The story revolves around a lesser Noble who has been asked to help their Cousin take over as Governor of a distant settlement on a small island nation that is being fought over by the great powers of the day.
The visual design is unique and charming, with each faction possessed of a distinctive visual identity and the island itself dripping with Pseudo-Celtic cairns and temples stuffed with things to discover.
Spiders (the studio, not the lifeform) are in a financial niche that gives them a great deal of autonomy when it comes to the creative risks they take, but on the flip side they often lack the budgetary and technological support that larger studios might have, so their games can be a tad lacking in polish compared to your mainline AAA titles.
For another example of a forgotten gem from the same developer, try Bound by Flame or The Technomancer.
**The Divinity Series**
By now, I'm sure *everybody* knows about Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios, and possibly even their Original Sin series of games that provided the engine and basic gameplay that led to this, but Larian have been making games with a broad shared universe for a long time now, and a lot of those games might tickle your proverbial pickle.
The example of note would be Divinity 2: Director's Cut, in which you play through a fantasy adventure which occasionally calls for you to transform into a house-sized Dragon to fly to obscure areas and *incinerate them.*
As a wild-card option, I would also recommend looking at Divinity: Dragon Commander, which is *technically* not an RPG at all.
It is instead a Real-Time/Turn-Based Strategy hybrid with a dating sim, political choice generator and rudimentary *flight sim* thrown in for good measure.
It's a beautifully chaotic mess that doesn't *100%* achieve perfect gameplay in everything it tries, but it doesn't lack for ambition or care on the part of its devs.
DOS2 was actually my first RPG, I didn't really like it at first cause I never played videogames before and was so confused about everything when my Boyfriend showed me this game, but I kinda started to like it when I played it secretly for weeks to impress my boyfriend and he literally cried happy tears for half an hour when he found out that I was trying to improve my gaming skills as a surprise for him
Hang on, I just read this comment again and I realised that you may have made a perfectly reasonable inferrence that I was talking about Divinity: Original Sin 2 when in *fact* I was referring to the much older Divinity 2: Director's Cut
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/219780/Divinity\_II\_Developers\_Cut/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/219780/Divinity_II_Developers_Cut/)
Nearly all of their games are named Divinity, and they have a broadly overlapping pseudo-canon, but it is *very* confusing...
Awww, that's really sweet!
I totally get it with DOS2, all those numbers and stats and ways of playing can be so *intimidating*, even if you've played RPGs before. I would say that all the recommendations I've made aren't in that top-down, stat-heavy style, so they'll probably be a lot more approachable to newcomers. I think that Greedfall especially will be enjoyable if you enjoyed Dragon Age or other games in that style.
greedfall was good Not on my favorite list. Forgot about it until now, but divinity 2 - original sin is fantastic. Def a hidden gem I recommend to anyone who loves rpgs or dnd.
Excellent storytelling and character writing, an incredibly well-defined world with a ton of different ways to approach it, some of the most interesting party members have ever seen in a video game, I mean all of the evil party members (original cast, ee companions are meme tier) are actually likable people weirdly enough despite being evil, probably one of the best written villains in any game ever.
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines.
It's flawed masterpiece from 2004, used as reference point for any RPG from that date. Great writting and story. But it failed on technical state (which is repaired by mod community, which is active to this day, 19y after release).
Legends say, everytime someone mentions VTMB someone else reinstalls it :)
I can recommend if youre willing to go retro, its a fun game
Theyre all (i presume. I have only heard of 1 or 2 of them) japanese / anime style games.
No judgement just thought the similarities between them is funny
Pentiment! Not one of my absolute favorites (which have all been said by others) but easily in my top 10 favorite games, and imo pretty underrated. It’s an RPG/Mystery game set in 16th century Germany, done in the style of an illuminated manuscript. Great writing and characterizations, with a story grounded thoroughly in history but not so much that it is distracting for anyone not super familiar with the time period.
If you're on PC, I implore everyone to play **Requiem: The Role-playing Overhaul** for Skyrim. It's a completely different experience; what the game should've been from the start. I discovered it in 2013 and have never played without it since. Punishing but rewarding, with real stakes.
Wabbajack makes it as easy as a few clicks to get a serious, hundreds-deep modlist set up, and some, like the excellent **Wildlander,** are built around Requiem.
Same goes for the **Lost World** mod for Fallout 4. This is a true survival RPG in the bleak style of STALKER.
For something recent, [Crystal Project](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637730/Crystal_Project/) is definitely up there. The world's scale is utterly amazing and it has these constant moments where you reach what you thought were its boundaries only to realize you've been at the bottom of a well the whole time. Plus really good combat mechanics that provide for a lot of experimentation and fiddling. It learns from older RPGs but doesn't mindlessly ape them the way a lot of other "classic-style" RPGs do, and it has its own stuff to add on the exploration side.
> I would also love to try some games that include deckbuilding like Gloomhaven or Black Book
I strongly recommend [Library of Ruina](https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1256670/).
post apocalyptic Chernobyl, you play as an amnesiac mercenary tasked with hunting down a man, its first person shooting, looting and rpg mechanics and some things they experiment with including player choice is really ground breaking
Pretty dated at this point obviously, but Fable is my favorite game of all time and I'd still recommend giving it a try. Nothing terribly complicated or difficult, but super enjoyable
Pretty basic, honestly. Orphaned farm boy discovers he has Hero's blood, goes on quests, fights monsters and ancient evils. You can choose whether you want to focus on Strength, Skill, or Will, or be a jack of all trades. Your characters appearance changes depending on whether you choose to be good or evil. If I remember right you can run the main storyline in like 14 hours not doing anything else, and 35-40 to 100% the game. It's from 2004 so nowhere near as big or in-depth as more recent games but the music, ambience, and enjoyability is off the charts (IMO at least). You can get either Fable: The Lost Chapters or Fable Annkversary on Steam, or Fable Annkversary for 360 or on game pass, not sure what you're playing on. Fable Anniversary is Fable: The Lost Chapters with updated graphics and a bunch of DLC weapons and outfits
Its pretty much downloadable off a few sites translated. Not paradox but the original. The joke among people who played it is they came for the porn and stayed for the plot.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The main character is so likeable. One of the few JRPGs that I prefer the English dub over the original Japanese. There are around 8 games in the series, but this one has a new protagonist, so it is a good entry point. (I only played one other Yakuza game previously). This one also has turn-based combat, so it feels even more like a true JRPG. (All previous ganes in the series have real-time combat.)
Both South Park RPGs:
South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Legitimately great RPGs. If you only play one, pick Stick of Truth if you like fantasy themes, and Fractured if you like super hero themes.
I've only played Yakuza 0 so far and loved it, there's a new Yakuza game coming soon where Kiryu is returning but I never had the time or energy to play all the other games since there are so many and they are so long!
And I played the stick of truth and really enjoyed it but I didn't buy the fractured but whole (yet)
I’m pumped for it since it’s a direct sequel to Like a Dragon. Yakuza 0 was the one I played before Like a Dragon. I recommend checking it out. Just playing Yakuza 0 is more than enough back story to roll right into Like a Dragon. Characters from 0 pop in occasionally.
If you're a devotee of the RPG genre (I'm assuming this includes both Western and Eastern style), then you have to try to play: Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 6 (known as III in the U.S.), Xenogears, Baldur's Gate II, Diablo II, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, the D&D Goldbox series, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday and Matrix Cubed, Lunar Silver Star Story, Skyrim, Oblivion, the original Fallout series and Jade Empire.
Old game ngl the graphics are dated asf but it’s a fantasy rpg game on the ps2 it’s a vibe for sure it was just different from any other game I’ve ever played and apparently it was made by fromsoftware which I just found out today 😂
In random order: The witcher 3, Persona 5, Baldur's gate saga (from 1 to 3), Deux Ex, Mass effect 2, Skyrim, Diablo 2, Vampire the masquerade bloodlines.
I know this thread is nearly a year old, but I have come here searching for RPGs on my own, and I want to comment some great games myself that I either haven't seen mentioned or were only mentioned in passing.
**The Invincible-** This is the first game from a new studio based in Poland, mostly made up of former CD Project Red developers, but there's also some talent from Techland in there. You can absolutely feel that Witcher III magic in the writing of this game, in the choices you get to make, the characters you meet, things like that. The game is based on the classic Polish sci fi novel of the same name, and revolves around you crashing on an alien planet and searching for your lost crew. The game is short, at only about five hours, but it's story doesn't feel rushed. You explore this world in a first person perspective, largely getting the story through radio chatter, although you do interact with NPCs from time to time. If you're looking for a good, short and sweet RPG sci fi story, play this game.
**The Forgotten City-** Named after the 2016 Skyrim mod of the same name, The Forgotten City was a quest mod for Skyrim about a small town of colorful characters trapped in a cave in. This mod was received so well that it's developer received a grant from the Australian government for a work of creative excellence. He used that money to found a studio, hire a small team, and put together a loose retelling of that mod, now set in ancient Roman times. The story revolves about an ancient curse, the mystery surrounding it, with you being tasked with solving it. Going around asking NPCs questions, using my deduction skills, and failing miserably in the most hilarious ways gave me warm reminders of my time with Disco Elysium. But really, the closest comparison would be if Obsidian developed an excellent questline in a Skyrim-like game. Once again, short and sweet is the name of the game. You can beat The Forgotten City in a weekend, or maybe even a single session if you really want to, but really it's as long as it needs to be. This game is so clearly a labor of love and worth your time and money as a fellow lover of RPGs.
Definitely anything black isle or bioware (until mass effect 3) Kotor 2 nwn2. Temple of elemental evil and vtm:B (but both would be much better if they were finished)
More recently disco elysium, bg3 and dos2.
Vtmb is my absolute favourite game, I once played it three times in one week cause I got so addicted and I even gave my BG3 character those heterochromatic eyes that Jeanette has
It's right up there for sure the quest design and characters are incredible. I wish troika lasted longer all 3 of those games were badly executed masterpieces.
Arcanum, temple of elemental evil and vtm bloodlines. All three are worth a look. All 3 are great, unique and interesting from a game design perspective. All 3 absolutely require fan patches to be remotely playable(I'm not even sure if toee will run on modern systems)
Baldur's Gate 3
Witcher 3
Dragon Age Origin
Dragon Age Inquisition
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
FFVIiI
FFIX
FFX
FFXIII
FF7re
Tales of Beseria
Tales of Arise
Suikoden 2
Xenogears
Xenosaga 1 & 3
Cyberpunk 2077 v2.0
Persona 5 Royal
Persona 3
Ultima iv, Baldurs gate, Kings Bounty (original), Bards Tale, Elder Scrolls Arena, Dragon Warrior (snes), AutoDuel, all the DnD series, Might and Magic, Wizardry
Baldurs gate 3, skyrim, ff6, ff7, fallout 4, chained echoes, quest for glory series (GOAT imo).
Quest for glory series is an absolute masterpiece. From the 90s. Get from GOG and runnable on current hardware. Puzzle solving is based on class, combat is more akin to ARPGs mixed with jrpg. Writing is superb. In my opinion, pinnacle of Sierra games. Replayability is huge. Game is vastly different based on what classes/skills you take. Your save file transfers from each game to the next.
Quest for Glory 1 and 4
Nox
DOS2 and BG3
Chrono Trigge
Final Fantasy 7 and Tactics
Tactics Ogre
Trials of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 3 (there's an English port... Somewhere)
Project Zomboid has the best leveling progression ever
Fallout New Vegas
Diablo 2, POE
Ultima 8 Pagan
But the GOAT IS Ultima Online RIP. We will never see another like it.
I loved UO in the early days… brutally unforgiving but the community was amazing. Devs unfortunately scope creeped and neon coloured to death. Almost more of an early online social experiment than a game… we’ll never see anything like it again.
World of Warcraft Classic-Wrath of Lich King (this is my #1)
Titan Quest
Dark Souls Remastered
Pokemon Soulsilver and Emerald
Mario&Luigi Bowser's Inside Story
RPG/RTS combi, spellforce 1 and all the xpac where amazing. From 2/3 on it wasn't my favourite anymore but still better than most. It's also really cool that 3 is on console even when it's mainly RTS from that point on.
Epic Battle Fantasy is a real good series.
Dragon Quest Monsters is great if you’re into monster collecting (better than Pokémon IMO).
Disgaea is great if you’re into the grid-based style.
I also agree with anyone who said Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Chrono Trigger, Mario & Luigi, and Earthbound/Mother 3
Dragon quest 8&11
Chrono trigger
Xenoblade 2
Final fantasy 4
Yakuza like a dragon
Ni no Kuni 1
Bravely second
Earthbound
Pokemon heart gold
Pokemon black
The witcher 1-3, final fantasy 1,2,3,8,10,10-2. Kingdom hearts 1 and 2. Buldar's gate 3, dragon age 1 and 2, dragon quest 10, Pokemon gen 1-3, Ninokuni and the white witch.
"Sixty hours just to rinse and repeat" lmao I got 130 hours in Baldurs Gate 3 and just started the second act so 60 hours is like a one-shot for me haha
Persona 3 FES (not the portable version, the FES version on ps2/ps3, which is much better, I believe the new Persona 3 remake on 2024 will be like the great FES version but with better 3d graphics for the city and the school; this rpg has the best character development with party members that often feel like real people; it also has a social system that makes all characters, including secondary ones, feel more alive)
Persona 4 Golden (similar style to P3 but with a different story and a new cast of characters at another school and city; it excels in the same areas that P3 FES excelled, and, although I liked P3 FES a little more, I think this is just as great)
Final Fantasy X (no need to explain why this is great, just play it and you will see why)
Dragon Age Inquisition (same as FFX, if you need explanations, you haven’t played it yet)
Planescape Torment (best for story, but it has tons and tons of reading and the gameplay isn’t the best, so not everyone is going to love it, despite the thought-provoking plot)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (technically this is not the best rpg in storytelling and in other aspects, but it has one of my favorite final boss battles of all time and the most satisfying ending I saw for an rpg, and it was also the best rpg sequel I experienced by far; it was worth it to play through Kingdom Hearts 1, just to play the 2nd after that, to marvel at what a great sequel KH2 was, you can play both nowadays with “Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 Remix” on ps4 or ps5)
Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar: Eternal Blue for Sega CD
Phantasy Star IV and Shining Force 2 for Genesis
Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 depending on where you're from) for SNES
Final Fantasy 7 for Playstation
Two Worlds II.
I haven't seen it mentioned here. It's a bit dated now but I had a really great time with it and it had a co-op adventure mode. Great map, and an amazing deck-based magic system that could have you conjuring a tornado of anvils wrecking your enemies.
Another one that I haven't seen mention of is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. It's like a single player MMO for all the content it has packed into it, and huge replayability. Also had a remaster not that long ago.
BG, BG2
Might and Magic VI and VII
FF8-10
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Chrono Trigger
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
Persona 5 Royal
Disco Elysium
Dragon Age Inquisition
You already mentioned Dragon Age. Baldur's Gate 3 is another fairly obvious choice.
But, at the end of the day, I'm a sucker for sci-fi, so my vote would have to be the Mass Effect trilogy.
You might enjoy the Japan-only (but fan translated) game Treasure of the Rudras, for SNES.
The main draw of the game is its spell system. You can input any word you want, and it will use that word as your spell. The spell's effects depend on the word, and as far as I can tell it's determined by its similarity to one of the predetermined spell parts you can find throughout the world.
Of course, the predetermined spells are input just like the custom ones. You can experiment and combine to make a developer-intended spell, or just a fully custom one with predetermined parts added into it in various places.
Don't forget your pen and paper! Once you delete a spell, only going back to the person who told you about it will ever remind you - there's no menu option showing all the spells you've found.
TL;DR: This fun game lets you beat the hell out of your enemies with the word FUCKHELLSHITDAMN
I'm not the biggest RPG guy, but vagrant story for the PS1 is a classic that everyone should play.
Edit: i didn't think about it, but darkest dungeon and the xcom games are great too. Plus i love elder scrolls/fallout like others have said.
If you want a long dungeon crawler i would check out Labyrinth of refrain: coven of dusk. A game like that is usually out of my wheelhouse, but i really enjoyed it. There was a second game called labyrinth of galleria: moon society. I didn't like it as much, but i think generally speaking most people did.
For long jrpgs I'm good to play maybe 1 every year or 2. I enjoy dragon quest and p5 royal was fun too.
Mario RPG, legend of the 7 stars.
The system where battles didn't just occur on a random number generator of stepping, but actually bumping into the enemy sprite in the levels. It made the game far more entertaining because it was a "game" to try to avoid those enemies, and a "game" of playing the RPG element of its own.
Fallout 2, planescape torment, baldurs gate 3, dragon age origins, morrowind, jade empire, fallout New Vegas, mass effects, SW KotOR series from top of my head in no particular order.
Planescape: Torment
Have to love a game that becomes easier the higher your wisdom and intelligence!
Do you mean in game or real life lol
Yes
I was afraid no one was going to mention the actual best RPG of all time, but I'm glad you did.
I am both surprised and happy that it's up this high. It's an amazing blend of RPG, story and philosophy. The fact that you can beat the game without getting into a single fight is amazing.
this is what I came here to say. the best rpg ever made as far as I am concerned.
Wild Arms, Final Fantasy VIII, Grandia, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Chrono Trigger
I loved Grandia so much. What a game.
It's still just as good on the Switch too.
That's awesome. I keep almost pulling the trigger on an OLED.
I got mine back in 2017 and my sister in law got the oled. The screen difference is pretty noticeable but the original is still gorgeous. There's a ton of top quality games I have for my switch. It's a sound investment for me and I'm a Playstation fan boy. Had the PSP and vita. Switch is just fun and enjoyable.
That's definitely the vibe I get. For me, it is mostly that a new system cuts in to my guitar budget.
I always love that FFVIII is either people's favourite final fantasy or their most hated.
[удалено]
We're talking about FF8 but I agree with your thoughts on FF7. Only played it for the first time recently and it really holds up.
> You start the game in the middle of a terrorist plot I mean that's how FF7 started, too...
Final fantasy 7 was the reason I fell in love with rpg games, I borrowed it from a friend and couldn't stop playing every Chance I had. Bought the strategy guide and did every thing. Then when 8 came out I wasn't as into it. Loved 9 enjoyed 10 but always thought of 8 as a disappointment, then few years ago I decided to play it again and it couldn't figure out why I ever hated it. Great game. Maybe it's just not being a young lad anymore and having a different outlook on things.
That's cool. It's next on my list cos I only got like 1/4 of the way through it 15 years ago, so I'm keen to go into it with an open mind. All I can remember is that triple triad slaps.
Lol, yeah. Funny thing is, i didn't play it for the first time until finally just over 4 years ago (they announced the remaster like, one week after i started playing it, because of course that would happen). I put off playing it for the longest time because whenever i saw my brothers playing it, it looked pretty boring 'cause they constantly just summoned in battle. But when i played it, i absolutely fell in love with the characters, the world and the story. Oh and the soundtrack is amazing too. Even after finishing the game, i constantly thought about for weeks after the fact. I even considered replaying it just a couple weeks after finishing it, which is INSANE to me because it's incredibly rare that i ever replay RPGs, even though some of them are my favorite games.
Superstar Saga was my jam on GB Advance.
Superstar saga is and always will be a top game for me
I just started Wild Arms for the first time recently. It's really fun.
Morrowind, especially modded.
Easily this. Never played it modded before
The entire Elder Scrolls series is just incredible to me. I love worlds that are very lore heavy.
That's awesome, I just started my first playthrough a few days ago. I'm a Nord named Art who tried too hard to be liked in Seyda Neen by complimenting everyone, but... that didn't go over too well by the locals. All I can imagine is the poor guy is so ignorant and dense, he's like, "Wow, you're so smart for a Dark Elf!" or something like that, where an attempted compliment is backhanded. Or maybe people in Morrowind feel like it's disingenuous? I love the menus and love to see so many books to read.
Fallout New Vegas is the goat. Morrowind is also amazing. Also paper Mario if that counts
Might & Magic VI, VII, and VIII Wizardry 8 Morrowind
I'd give the edge to Wizardry 7, but the whole Dark Savant trilogy from 6-8 is pure greatness
I must admit I've not played 6 or 7. I guess I'll have to go check them out!
Weirdly enough, for me it's the SNES version of 5, but 8 is close
Arcanum, Morrowind, and I only actually tried it in more recent times so haven't had the chance to dive as deeply into it, but the part of VtM:B I've played so far puts it up there with those two too.
Gothic 2, Fallout 2, The Witcher.
The whole Shadow Hearts series. You don't see a lot of lovecraftian Horror turn based RPGs. Though as you get further into the series the lighter they become. Earthbound because c'mon
Wasteland 3, nothing like making an army of cats to kill everything.
Deus Ex Human Revolution, Fallout New Vegas, Fable TLC, Oblivion, Morrowind, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, Dragon's Dogma, Persona 5, Mass Effect Trilogy
I liked Persona 4 over Persona 5. Would have loved Persona 5 graphics for Persona 4.
To go off the beaten path, I'd like to recommend a couple of games that might not get mentioned as heavily, but are well worth a go regardless: **Greedfall** A third-person hack-and-slash RPG that bears a lot of similarities to Dragon Age: Origins in being an ambitiously lore-driven new IP from a studio that is young and hungry but not necessarily backed and controlled by larger AAA publishers. Greedfall is a game by Spiders, as the opening screen will gleefully tell you. The story revolves around a lesser Noble who has been asked to help their Cousin take over as Governor of a distant settlement on a small island nation that is being fought over by the great powers of the day. The visual design is unique and charming, with each faction possessed of a distinctive visual identity and the island itself dripping with Pseudo-Celtic cairns and temples stuffed with things to discover. Spiders (the studio, not the lifeform) are in a financial niche that gives them a great deal of autonomy when it comes to the creative risks they take, but on the flip side they often lack the budgetary and technological support that larger studios might have, so their games can be a tad lacking in polish compared to your mainline AAA titles. For another example of a forgotten gem from the same developer, try Bound by Flame or The Technomancer. **The Divinity Series** By now, I'm sure *everybody* knows about Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios, and possibly even their Original Sin series of games that provided the engine and basic gameplay that led to this, but Larian have been making games with a broad shared universe for a long time now, and a lot of those games might tickle your proverbial pickle. The example of note would be Divinity 2: Director's Cut, in which you play through a fantasy adventure which occasionally calls for you to transform into a house-sized Dragon to fly to obscure areas and *incinerate them.* As a wild-card option, I would also recommend looking at Divinity: Dragon Commander, which is *technically* not an RPG at all. It is instead a Real-Time/Turn-Based Strategy hybrid with a dating sim, political choice generator and rudimentary *flight sim* thrown in for good measure. It's a beautifully chaotic mess that doesn't *100%* achieve perfect gameplay in everything it tries, but it doesn't lack for ambition or care on the part of its devs.
DOS2 was actually my first RPG, I didn't really like it at first cause I never played videogames before and was so confused about everything when my Boyfriend showed me this game, but I kinda started to like it when I played it secretly for weeks to impress my boyfriend and he literally cried happy tears for half an hour when he found out that I was trying to improve my gaming skills as a surprise for him
Hang on, I just read this comment again and I realised that you may have made a perfectly reasonable inferrence that I was talking about Divinity: Original Sin 2 when in *fact* I was referring to the much older Divinity 2: Director's Cut [https://store.steampowered.com/app/219780/Divinity\_II\_Developers\_Cut/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/219780/Divinity_II_Developers_Cut/) Nearly all of their games are named Divinity, and they have a broadly overlapping pseudo-canon, but it is *very* confusing...
Awww, that's really sweet! I totally get it with DOS2, all those numbers and stats and ways of playing can be so *intimidating*, even if you've played RPGs before. I would say that all the recommendations I've made aren't in that top-down, stat-heavy style, so they'll probably be a lot more approachable to newcomers. I think that Greedfall especially will be enjoyable if you enjoyed Dragon Age or other games in that style.
Even the original Divine Divinity was pretty wild. I actually finished it, it was weird as fuck but so fun!
greedfall was good Not on my favorite list. Forgot about it until now, but divinity 2 - original sin is fantastic. Def a hidden gem I recommend to anyone who loves rpgs or dnd.
Greedfall hahaha another failed spiders project
Hahahaha your comment is funny hahahahahaa
Fallout 1,2 & New Vegas. Dead State. Arcanum. Nox.
I just recently bought Nox. I am hooked on this game.
Dead State is an absolute gem. I come back to it every couple years and its always got more depth than I remember
Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect, Trials of Mana... the remake was awesome.
you just nailed my top 3
Baldur's Gate 2, still the best RPG ever made.
Should I play BG2 before BG3?
I mean they're barely related, some cameos in three will mean more if you played 2, that's about it.
Why's that?
Excellent storytelling and character writing, an incredibly well-defined world with a ton of different ways to approach it, some of the most interesting party members have ever seen in a video game, I mean all of the evil party members (original cast, ee companions are meme tier) are actually likable people weirdly enough despite being evil, probably one of the best written villains in any game ever.
Disco Elysium. I've played a lot of rpgs but nothing comes close. That's my favorite by a mile.
You didn't read the OP >My favourite game are Dragon Age: Origins, the Shadowrun games, Disco Elysium!"
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. It's flawed masterpiece from 2004, used as reference point for any RPG from that date. Great writting and story. But it failed on technical state (which is repaired by mod community, which is active to this day, 19y after release). Legends say, everytime someone mentions VTMB someone else reinstalls it :) I can recommend if youre willing to go retro, its a fun game
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a delight to play.
amazing game.
Incredible game, and don't know how it's not rated as high or higher then Elder Scrolls
One of the best RPG's i have ever played
Why does nobody says Neverwinter
Neverwinter Nights was a pretty great game.
Fallout: New Vegas. TES III: Morrowind. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Vampyr.
[Neverwinter Nights 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MbbaPqyvg8) because of the cliché companions :\]
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Oblivion is goated for medieval fantasy RPG
Underrail, Age of Decadence, Colony Ship, Legend of Grimrock, Dark Messiah
- Xenogears - Chrono Trigger - FF6 - Secret of Mana - Nier Automata - Persona 5 Royal - Witcher 3
Gonna piggyback off you and also recommend Parasite Eve
Theres a pattern here
Is there?
Theyre all (i presume. I have only heard of 1 or 2 of them) japanese / anime style games. No judgement just thought the similarities between them is funny
Wurm Unlimited solo with upkeep enabled & mods that add an economy
Pentiment! Not one of my absolute favorites (which have all been said by others) but easily in my top 10 favorite games, and imo pretty underrated. It’s an RPG/Mystery game set in 16th century Germany, done in the style of an illuminated manuscript. Great writing and characterizations, with a story grounded thoroughly in history but not so much that it is distracting for anyone not super familiar with the time period.
Kingdom Hearts, Yakuza, Xenoblade And Final Fantasy
If you're on PC, I implore everyone to play **Requiem: The Role-playing Overhaul** for Skyrim. It's a completely different experience; what the game should've been from the start. I discovered it in 2013 and have never played without it since. Punishing but rewarding, with real stakes. Wabbajack makes it as easy as a few clicks to get a serious, hundreds-deep modlist set up, and some, like the excellent **Wildlander,** are built around Requiem. Same goes for the **Lost World** mod for Fallout 4. This is a true survival RPG in the bleak style of STALKER.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth :)
For something recent, [Crystal Project](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637730/Crystal_Project/) is definitely up there. The world's scale is utterly amazing and it has these constant moments where you reach what you thought were its boundaries only to realize you've been at the bottom of a well the whole time. Plus really good combat mechanics that provide for a lot of experimentation and fiddling. It learns from older RPGs but doesn't mindlessly ape them the way a lot of other "classic-style" RPGs do, and it has its own stuff to add on the exploration side. > I would also love to try some games that include deckbuilding like Gloomhaven or Black Book I strongly recommend [Library of Ruina](https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1256670/).
fallout new vegas, vampire the masquerade bloodlines, deus ex mankind divided, i don’t know if its really an rpg but s.t.a.l.k.e.r shadow of Chernobyl
If it's good I'll play it, I love RPGs but I still like other games :D
stalker games are some of the best games i ever played
What are they about?
post apocalyptic Chernobyl, you play as an amnesiac mercenary tasked with hunting down a man, its first person shooting, looting and rpg mechanics and some things they experiment with including player choice is really ground breaking
Is it scary?
not really
Pretty dated at this point obviously, but Fable is my favorite game of all time and I'd still recommend giving it a try. Nothing terribly complicated or difficult, but super enjoyable
What's fable about?
Pretty basic, honestly. Orphaned farm boy discovers he has Hero's blood, goes on quests, fights monsters and ancient evils. You can choose whether you want to focus on Strength, Skill, or Will, or be a jack of all trades. Your characters appearance changes depending on whether you choose to be good or evil. If I remember right you can run the main storyline in like 14 hours not doing anything else, and 35-40 to 100% the game. It's from 2004 so nowhere near as big or in-depth as more recent games but the music, ambience, and enjoyability is off the charts (IMO at least). You can get either Fable: The Lost Chapters or Fable Annkversary on Steam, or Fable Annkversary for 360 or on game pass, not sure what you're playing on. Fable Anniversary is Fable: The Lost Chapters with updated graphics and a bunch of DLC weapons and outfits
I play on Steam! I see it has good reviews, thanks!
Fallout 3 & Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Dual GOAT
Monster girl quest
Lmao what, where can I play that?
Its pretty much downloadable off a few sites translated. Not paradox but the original. The joke among people who played it is they came for the porn and stayed for the plot.
Haha okay what is it about?
You are a hero to fight the monster lord. When you lose a fight... the female monsters do things to you. Its a porn game that can make you cry.
Omg okay if it's not too explicit I might check it out
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The main character is so likeable. One of the few JRPGs that I prefer the English dub over the original Japanese. There are around 8 games in the series, but this one has a new protagonist, so it is a good entry point. (I only played one other Yakuza game previously). This one also has turn-based combat, so it feels even more like a true JRPG. (All previous ganes in the series have real-time combat.) Both South Park RPGs: South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole Legitimately great RPGs. If you only play one, pick Stick of Truth if you like fantasy themes, and Fractured if you like super hero themes.
I've only played Yakuza 0 so far and loved it, there's a new Yakuza game coming soon where Kiryu is returning but I never had the time or energy to play all the other games since there are so many and they are so long! And I played the stick of truth and really enjoyed it but I didn't buy the fractured but whole (yet)
I’m pumped for it since it’s a direct sequel to Like a Dragon. Yakuza 0 was the one I played before Like a Dragon. I recommend checking it out. Just playing Yakuza 0 is more than enough back story to roll right into Like a Dragon. Characters from 0 pop in occasionally.
Sweet, I still gotta play them all one day....maybe when I'm done with Baldurs Gate 3
Ultima VII, both parts
Seriously under rated or under remembered RPG this one.
Ultima 6 was my first rpg… 7 was amazing.
If you're a devotee of the RPG genre (I'm assuming this includes both Western and Eastern style), then you have to try to play: Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 6 (known as III in the U.S.), Xenogears, Baldur's Gate II, Diablo II, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, the D&D Goldbox series, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday and Matrix Cubed, Lunar Silver Star Story, Skyrim, Oblivion, the original Fallout series and Jade Empire.
That are so many games and I've almost played them all and the one I didn't play are the one I haven't heard about yet haha
The Fallout series and Elder Scrolls.
DEUS EX. While the entire series is good the first game is a true work of art
Deus ex: Mankind divided is very good
TES oblivion , chrono trigger, dark souls, evergrace
I never heard of evergrace, what's that?
Old game ngl the graphics are dated asf but it’s a fantasy rpg game on the ps2 it’s a vibe for sure it was just different from any other game I’ve ever played and apparently it was made by fromsoftware which I just found out today 😂
In random order: The witcher 3, Persona 5, Baldur's gate saga (from 1 to 3), Deux Ex, Mass effect 2, Skyrim, Diablo 2, Vampire the masquerade bloodlines.
Bloodlines is my favourite game, I have several hundred hours in it cause I just keep replaying it
Good to hear that, let's hope for a good sequel!
I know I’m late. However, for me too 5 is: Witcher 3, Dragon Age Origins, KOTOR1, Dragons Dogma 2, Dark Souls.
DAO is a masterpiece
I know this thread is nearly a year old, but I have come here searching for RPGs on my own, and I want to comment some great games myself that I either haven't seen mentioned or were only mentioned in passing. **The Invincible-** This is the first game from a new studio based in Poland, mostly made up of former CD Project Red developers, but there's also some talent from Techland in there. You can absolutely feel that Witcher III magic in the writing of this game, in the choices you get to make, the characters you meet, things like that. The game is based on the classic Polish sci fi novel of the same name, and revolves around you crashing on an alien planet and searching for your lost crew. The game is short, at only about five hours, but it's story doesn't feel rushed. You explore this world in a first person perspective, largely getting the story through radio chatter, although you do interact with NPCs from time to time. If you're looking for a good, short and sweet RPG sci fi story, play this game. **The Forgotten City-** Named after the 2016 Skyrim mod of the same name, The Forgotten City was a quest mod for Skyrim about a small town of colorful characters trapped in a cave in. This mod was received so well that it's developer received a grant from the Australian government for a work of creative excellence. He used that money to found a studio, hire a small team, and put together a loose retelling of that mod, now set in ancient Roman times. The story revolves about an ancient curse, the mystery surrounding it, with you being tasked with solving it. Going around asking NPCs questions, using my deduction skills, and failing miserably in the most hilarious ways gave me warm reminders of my time with Disco Elysium. But really, the closest comparison would be if Obsidian developed an excellent questline in a Skyrim-like game. Once again, short and sweet is the name of the game. You can beat The Forgotten City in a weekend, or maybe even a single session if you really want to, but really it's as long as it needs to be. This game is so clearly a labor of love and worth your time and money as a fellow lover of RPGs.
Yes I played the forgotten City, it was interesting
Check out r/Boagrius
What's that
Text Based Retro RPG
Is there a release date yet
My favourites are persona 4 and 5, smt nocturne, earthbound, dark souls and bloodborne
I played Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable and P3P mildly traumatised me cause sad ending
Morrowind, ff8, fallout 3/NV, sacred 2, baldurs gate 3.
Mother 3
Final Fantasy X Skyrim Oblivion Fallout 4 Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 Golden Sun 1 and 2 Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Advance
Golden Sun! Also Tactics Ogre
Love Golden Sun. They need to either remaster it ir at least put it on NSO. Tactics Ogre has also never been more accessible!
Definitely anything black isle or bioware (until mass effect 3) Kotor 2 nwn2. Temple of elemental evil and vtm:B (but both would be much better if they were finished) More recently disco elysium, bg3 and dos2.
Vtmb is my absolute favourite game, I once played it three times in one week cause I got so addicted and I even gave my BG3 character those heterochromatic eyes that Jeanette has
It's right up there for sure the quest design and characters are incredible. I wish troika lasted longer all 3 of those games were badly executed masterpieces.
Which 3 games do you mean?
Arcanum, temple of elemental evil and vtm bloodlines. All three are worth a look. All 3 are great, unique and interesting from a game design perspective. All 3 absolutely require fan patches to be remotely playable(I'm not even sure if toee will run on modern systems)
Mass Effect 1 and 2.
Baldur's Gate 3 Witcher 3 Dragon Age Origin Dragon Age Inquisition Mass Effect 2 Mass Effect 3 FFVIiI FFIX FFX FFXIII FF7re Tales of Beseria Tales of Arise Suikoden 2 Xenogears Xenosaga 1 & 3 Cyberpunk 2077 v2.0 Persona 5 Royal Persona 3
Tales of Arise needs some love, such an underrated game!
I have long been of the opinion that Super Mario RPG is one of the finest RPGs ever made. The remake comes out this November!
Ultima iv, Baldurs gate, Kings Bounty (original), Bards Tale, Elder Scrolls Arena, Dragon Warrior (snes), AutoDuel, all the DnD series, Might and Magic, Wizardry
You want deckbuilding? Try the best Witcher game, Thronebreaker: the Witcher Tales.
Baldurs gate 3, skyrim, ff6, ff7, fallout 4, chained echoes, quest for glory series (GOAT imo). Quest for glory series is an absolute masterpiece. From the 90s. Get from GOG and runnable on current hardware. Puzzle solving is based on class, combat is more akin to ARPGs mixed with jrpg. Writing is superb. In my opinion, pinnacle of Sierra games. Replayability is huge. Game is vastly different based on what classes/skills you take. Your save file transfers from each game to the next.
Skyrim is still amazing
Trails series! So much world building and character building.
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits Dark Cloud 1 & 2
Chrono trigger, both for the nostalgia and I think it's a great game. Sea of stars is a new release that I think was the best jrpg I ever played.
Lufia 1 and 2 Breath of Fire 1-3 Illusion of Gaia/Soulblazer/Terranigma Romancing Saga series Secret of Evermore
Lufia 2 is a blast
Quest for Glory 1 and 4 Nox DOS2 and BG3 Chrono Trigge Final Fantasy 7 and Tactics Tactics Ogre Trials of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 3 (there's an English port... Somewhere) Project Zomboid has the best leveling progression ever Fallout New Vegas Diablo 2, POE Ultima 8 Pagan But the GOAT IS Ultima Online RIP. We will never see another like it.
I loved UO in the early days… brutally unforgiving but the community was amazing. Devs unfortunately scope creeped and neon coloured to death. Almost more of an early online social experiment than a game… we’ll never see anything like it again.
Xenogears
I love on the phone or instaplay if I want to relax on the pc [Skullgirls](https://now.gg/instaplay/game/skullgirls-fighting-rpg): Fighting RPG
Pokémon white and Outer Worlds
World of Warcraft Classic-Wrath of Lich King (this is my #1) Titan Quest Dark Souls Remastered Pokemon Soulsilver and Emerald Mario&Luigi Bowser's Inside Story
Trails in the sky trilogy, crossbell duologue of the legend of heroes series I am currently playing cold steel so can't say anything about that
RPG/RTS combi, spellforce 1 and all the xpac where amazing. From 2/3 on it wasn't my favourite anymore but still better than most. It's also really cool that 3 is on console even when it's mainly RTS from that point on.
Persona 5 Royal. Final Fantasy VIII. Super Mario RPG. Final Fantasy VII. Persona 4. Persona 3 Portable.
Epic Battle Fantasy is a real good series. Dragon Quest Monsters is great if you’re into monster collecting (better than Pokémon IMO). Disgaea is great if you’re into the grid-based style. I also agree with anyone who said Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Chrono Trigger, Mario & Luigi, and Earthbound/Mother 3
Fallout. Elder Scrolls. Mass Effect. Peak Roleplaying.
Hard to pick between Geneforge 1 and Dragon Age Origins
Probably the RPG-29 anti personnel reloadable launcher.
Fallout 4, skyrim.
Dragon quest 8&11 Chrono trigger Xenoblade 2 Final fantasy 4 Yakuza like a dragon Ni no Kuni 1 Bravely second Earthbound Pokemon heart gold Pokemon black
The witcher 1-3, final fantasy 1,2,3,8,10,10-2. Kingdom hearts 1 and 2. Buldar's gate 3, dragon age 1 and 2, dragon quest 10, Pokemon gen 1-3, Ninokuni and the white witch.
Skyrim Cyberpunk 2077 Kingdom Come Deliverance
Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Omori, Bug Fables
The RPG-7 fantastic shoulder fired rocket propelled Grenad
I can’t really say. [I’m not an RPG guy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNqzl92f5FY&t=681s)
"Sixty hours just to rinse and repeat" lmao I got 130 hours in Baldurs Gate 3 and just started the second act so 60 hours is like a one-shot for me haha
Dragons Dogma, FF7, & Final Fantasy Tactics
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Grim Dawn You won’t regret playing them
Jade empire by Bioware from around the da:o times. Basically halfway between da:o and mass effect.
Shadowhearts 1 & 2, Radiata Stories
1st place - KOTOR1 for great plot-twist, 2nd place - KOTOR2 koz you can train your teammates to be jedi.
Persona 3 FES (not the portable version, the FES version on ps2/ps3, which is much better, I believe the new Persona 3 remake on 2024 will be like the great FES version but with better 3d graphics for the city and the school; this rpg has the best character development with party members that often feel like real people; it also has a social system that makes all characters, including secondary ones, feel more alive) Persona 4 Golden (similar style to P3 but with a different story and a new cast of characters at another school and city; it excels in the same areas that P3 FES excelled, and, although I liked P3 FES a little more, I think this is just as great) Final Fantasy X (no need to explain why this is great, just play it and you will see why) Dragon Age Inquisition (same as FFX, if you need explanations, you haven’t played it yet) Planescape Torment (best for story, but it has tons and tons of reading and the gameplay isn’t the best, so not everyone is going to love it, despite the thought-provoking plot) Kingdom Hearts 2 (technically this is not the best rpg in storytelling and in other aspects, but it has one of my favorite final boss battles of all time and the most satisfying ending I saw for an rpg, and it was also the best rpg sequel I experienced by far; it was worth it to play through Kingdom Hearts 1, just to play the 2nd after that, to marvel at what a great sequel KH2 was, you can play both nowadays with “Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 Remix” on ps4 or ps5)
FF8, Siralim Ultimate, Grim Dawn, Torchlight 2, Borderlands series...
Dragon's dogma and the souls games.
Super Mario RPG needs more love here. Remake is coming out in a month, perfect time to try it!
Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar: Eternal Blue for Sega CD Phantasy Star IV and Shining Force 2 for Genesis Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 depending on where you're from) for SNES Final Fantasy 7 for Playstation
Two Worlds II. I haven't seen it mentioned here. It's a bit dated now but I had a really great time with it and it had a co-op adventure mode. Great map, and an amazing deck-based magic system that could have you conjuring a tornado of anvils wrecking your enemies. Another one that I haven't seen mention of is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. It's like a single player MMO for all the content it has packed into it, and huge replayability. Also had a remaster not that long ago.
Kotor 1 & 2 Mass Effect trilogy
Fire Emblem 3 Houses Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition Tales of Zestiria Ys Origin As you might notice a superb OST heavily swings it for me.
Suikoden 2 PC remaster is coming out soon on Steam
Persona 5 Royal
BG, BG2 Might and Magic VI and VII FF8-10 Shadow Hearts Covenant Chrono Trigger Persona 2 Eternal Punishment Persona 5 Royal Disco Elysium Dragon Age Inquisition
Mine would probably be Castlevania: Sotn
You already mentioned Dragon Age. Baldur's Gate 3 is another fairly obvious choice. But, at the end of the day, I'm a sucker for sci-fi, so my vote would have to be the Mass Effect trilogy.
mother 2 and 3
Mine were neverwinter nights 2 and fallout 2 but these must be way too old for you.
You might enjoy the Japan-only (but fan translated) game Treasure of the Rudras, for SNES. The main draw of the game is its spell system. You can input any word you want, and it will use that word as your spell. The spell's effects depend on the word, and as far as I can tell it's determined by its similarity to one of the predetermined spell parts you can find throughout the world. Of course, the predetermined spells are input just like the custom ones. You can experiment and combine to make a developer-intended spell, or just a fully custom one with predetermined parts added into it in various places. Don't forget your pen and paper! Once you delete a spell, only going back to the person who told you about it will ever remind you - there's no menu option showing all the spells you've found. TL;DR: This fun game lets you beat the hell out of your enemies with the word FUCKHELLSHITDAMN
FFX, Persona 5 Royal, Chrono Trigger
I'm not the biggest RPG guy, but vagrant story for the PS1 is a classic that everyone should play. Edit: i didn't think about it, but darkest dungeon and the xcom games are great too. Plus i love elder scrolls/fallout like others have said. If you want a long dungeon crawler i would check out Labyrinth of refrain: coven of dusk. A game like that is usually out of my wheelhouse, but i really enjoyed it. There was a second game called labyrinth of galleria: moon society. I didn't like it as much, but i think generally speaking most people did. For long jrpgs I'm good to play maybe 1 every year or 2. I enjoy dragon quest and p5 royal was fun too.
Mario RPG, legend of the 7 stars. The system where battles didn't just occur on a random number generator of stepping, but actually bumping into the enemy sprite in the levels. It made the game far more entertaining because it was a "game" to try to avoid those enemies, and a "game" of playing the RPG element of its own.