My Top 5 RPGs of All Time

Jan. 22, 2014

My Top 5 RPGs of All Time

I’ve always been a huge fan of Role Playing Games.  I don’t know why they appeal to me so much.  I love the worlds surrounding them, the characters with in them, the choices you get to make and the consequences you must live with.  I love that often times you think you will play your protagonist a certain way based upon the opening narrative and the class you select, and then you find yourself at the end of the game and things are markedly different.  I love that often times, even when you aren’t playing, you are still playing the game in your head.  This to me, is a sign of a truly great game.  And simply put, RPGs just do it best.

The first game on my list starts out in a post apocalyptic wasteland…

I got so addicted to this game at one point that I literally couldn’t sleep because I was still thinking about it after playing 12 hours straight.  I was planning and plotting my character down to the last details in my head and my mind just wouldn’t shut off.  I both hate and love when this happens.  What’s not to love about a post apocalyptic RPG where you can literally do just about anything you can think of and there are multiple ways to solve almost every problem.  You can bribe people, intimidate them, persuade them, flirt with their wife (or husband) for information, lock pick their safe, hack their computer,  or just pull out your auto shotgun and spill their guts all over the walls.  So many choices and only one to choose…makes for some high replay value and a lot of fun.

There is no class system in Fallout.  This, in my opinion, is one of the reasons this game is so good.  Games without a class system allow so much more freedom and Fallout was really one of the first games (if not the first) to incorporate this.  You can put points into any of about 20 skills including: Repair, Lock Pick, Science, Unarmed, Energy Weapons, Big Guns, Thrown Weapons, Speech, Barter etc.  You can only “tag” 3, which essentially makes points put into these skills worth 2 instead of 1.  You also get “perks” every few levels.  If you’ve played Fallout 3, these are similar to those.  Primary stats like Strength, Charisma and Perception etc. are the same as Fallout 3 as well.  All in all, you can make drastically different characters.

The story in Fallout 2 isn’t as good as Fallout 1, but the gameplay is on par easily and New Reno is a blast.  There you can become a Made Man by one of the four warring factions, become a boxer and get famous, or, if you’re into that sort of thing (which I of course am not) become a porn star and make movies.  There are many other great places in the game, but New Reno is really where it’s at in this game.

The combat is turn based and you use action points to determine what you can do on a given turn.  Your skill with whatever weapon type you are using determines the percentage chance to hit your target.  You can also aim for specific body parts.  For example, aiming for the head does the most damage, but injuring someones arm will make it so they can’t use two handed weapons or shooting their leg cripples them so they can’t move as far.  You can also enlist companions to help you, just like Fallout 3.

The graphics are antiquated and that may deter modern gamers from playing it.  It is really hard to play old games that haven’t been enhanced, but this one is definitely worth it.  If you can get past the graphics and the very slow beginning then you will fall in love with this game.

This game has hands down one of the best stories in any RPG I’ve ever played.  That combined with the cinematic feel of this game and you have some of the best story telling you will find in video game history.  While I detest being pigeon-holed into playing the same character in every play through, you still get to customize him/her quite a bit.  This is also softened by the fact that Sheppard is such a great character you hardly care after playing for a bit of time.

The gameplay is a bit different than a traditional RPG.  I both liked this and didn’t like it.  The combat plays similarly to an FPS tactical shooter.  If this isn’t your cup of tea, then you may not like this series.  I have a friend who loves FPSes and doesn’t really care for RPGs and he loved this game because of the combat and story.  One of the nice things, is that you get to choose what type of character you are and how you handle combat so you can snipe or run up and blast them in the face with a shotgun or sit somewhere in between and use assault rifles.  The downside to this, is that if you chose a style and end up not liking it, you are kinda fucked unless you start a new character.

In Mass Effect, you get to choose from about 10 characters to make up your team.  You get to pick 2 each time you land on a planet or embark on a mission.  You unravel each character’s personal story as you play with them more and make decisions that they agree with, and also, having them along usually opens up some additional dialogue that wouldn’t otherwise be there if they weren’t along(I generally rolled with Miranda and Garrus or Grunt because their dialogue was always entertaining).  You become quite attached to them after awhile and it’s a shame when one of them is spoiler killed…

You can customize your weapons and armor, upgrade them, upgrade your ship, search for minerals on planets and discover artifacts.  There is really quite a lot to do outside of the main quest and combat.  It will keep you busy for hours and is fun and rewarding in it’s own way.

All in all, you will not be disappointed by this game.  It has story, characters, replay value and good combat (I always up the difficulty to maximum to make it challenging), but if you are an RPG purist, you may not enjoy it.

This is probably the first serious RPG I ever played on PC (I’m not sure if you could really call Diablo an RPG).  I discovered it at boarding school when I went into a friend’s dorm and he was playing it on his computer.  Some friends and I watched him blow away an entire village in a matter of minutes and after that I was sold.  When I went home next, I went to the store and bought it and played it every chance I could.  The game was so original and the story was amazing.  The freedom to do whatever you wanted was unlike anything I’d ever seen in a game.  It was a game made for adults, not for kids or teenagers.  That fact right there made it something special (especially since I was like 14).

This game will always hold special meaning for me because of the countless hours I spent playing in my dorm with some of my best friends sitting around me munching away on snacks, dying to play too.  They of course eventually got their turn and often I would come back to my room to find them parked in front on my computer yelling profanity and wreaking havoc on the wasteland.  It became the thing to do when we had free time and watching someone get pissed off that he couldn’t persuade a guy to give him the info he needed, and proceed to pull out his pistol and shoot the guy in the face never seemed to get old.

The graphics on this game are so old now that it will probably never be played by me again.  It is a real shame.  It is also terrible that many people who love Fallout 3 and New Vegas have never played it.  It’s really a disservice to them.  There’s a reason Fallout 3 was made…THIS GAME IS THE REASON…

Where to begin with this game.  I had this game on my list months before it ever came out.  I was not disappointed! If you were looking for “that game” this was it.  Dragon Age: Origins was the closest thing I have ever played to a perfect traditional RPG (I somehow missed the boat on Baldur’s Gate, so please don’t be offended they aren’t included).  This game is that table top RPG with modern day graphics and story telling and exceptional combat.

You can choose from different starting races and backrounds that all feature different beginning areas and quests.  There are 3 classes to choose from that have different skill lines to play around with.  I always looked forward to leveling up in this game because the party you created became so personal and every skill mattered.  I loved that you could pause combat and give directions to your team and then unpause and watch your directions unfold (only gripe here was that it seemed my mage, more often than not, determined whether we lived or died and I didn’t roll a mage).

Similarly to Mass Effect you got to choose from a party of characters to take out questing and you revealed their personal stories through this, some of them having huge impacts on the game.  There are party members you may not access if you make certain decisions and there are huge disparities between the personalities  of your party mates (Morrigan was by far my favorite).

The game has multiple endings and there are so many decisions to make through the game that put you on one side or the other.  You cannot navigate between and remain neutral.  This allows for several playthroughs with completely different stories (some I have yet to experience myself).  It genuinely feels like a whole new game on the second playthrough.

How is this game different than every other RPG you have ever played?  The answer is simple: it isn’t…it’s just better in every possible way.

This may actually be my favorite game of all time.  I have never enjoyed an RPG so much in my entire life.  It’s that game where you start playing and everything else ceases to exist…It’s that game where countless hours of your life vanish in what seem like minutes…it’s that game that when it’s over a part of you ends with it…

This game has the best story of any game I have ever played bar none.  You will not find better characters or a better plot in an RPG to date.  It is one of the few RPGs that blend the story in with the gameplay so perfectly that you aren’t sure what you’re more excited about, the loot, leveling up or what will happen next.  Revan is one of the greatest characters to grace a video game in modern history.  There isn’t a gamer out there who hasn’t heard of him.  The spoiler plot twist in this game will blow your fucking mind.

Creating your jedi or sith is about as good as it gets.  Would you prefer him to be more like Luke Skywalker and be great with a lightsaber or be more like the Emperor and have very strong force powers or be somewhere in between like Obi Wan.  You can customize your lightsaber’s color, you can duel wield them or have a double bladed one.  You can add mods to them, you can wear armor or robes to increase protection or force powers and you can choose from a list of force powers and skills to your liking.  I think I played through this game like 5 times so I could try just about everything.

Combat actually uses D&D mechanics and you can pause it and que up commands and unpause it just like Dragon Age.  The force powers are fun and using a lightsaber just brings out the inner geek in you and you don’t even care.  The music makes the combat feel amped up and it reminds me of Episode 1 where Obi Wan is fighting Darth Maul.

Party members are similar to Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

The game features different planets to explore.  My favorite was the Sith home world, Korriban.  Visiting the tombs of ancient Sith Lords long deceased was one of the defining moments of that game for me.  The final trial in the tombs was an experience that only comes around once in a blue moon in games.  One of the great things about the game too, is that a good portion of the loot you receive is random, so you will maybe never see certain OP items in one playthrough.  Some is restricted to Dark Side or Light Side, so you can’t use everything (so choose wisely).

The graphics are a bit outdated (not nearly as much as Fallout) but if you can see past that you will  find this game is the Star Wars game you’ve always dreamed of.  It’s the Star Wars game you will compare every other one too and it just may be one of the greatest RPGs ever made.

Well there you have it.  Hoping to hear from some of you fellow gamers about your favorite RPGs.

You can read more game articleshere.

Castielle

Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.

You is so dead, no FF games. Totally agree on Starwars, i was such a starwars nerd, i bought the box just for that game, played the crap out of it and never touched any other game on the box. Loved DA and ME(pity about the crappy 3 ending).

Pfff star ocean the second story greatest rpg of all time.

KoToR is probably a top five but I don’t know about number one. But since the article is clearly labeled as your list I suppose any arguments are moot.But further since this is the internet [insert horrible name calling here, maybe something about your mother and/or a chihuahua]….[Obscenity laced rant about not including Xenogears OR Chrono Trigger, probably some homophobic and poorly spelled insult][Something about you being a terrible author and I hate you but I’ve read all your articles and will continue to do so for some mysterious reason]

Yeah, your choices aren’t exactly like mine, I hate you and your wife/family/children/pets/political viewpoints…

Lol Skare you have these net commenter thing all figured out

Kudos on getting it down to 5. It’s a hard genre to whittle down but I’ll try and list the ones I’ve enjoyed the most, not necessarily the objective best rpg mechanics or story.

5. Final Fantasy X4) Oblivion3) Persona 42) Borderlands1) Demon’s Souls

Um, you have Mass effect 1 pics for Mass effect 2, and if you do everything exactly right, you can beat the game with no one dying. Mass Effect is my favorite series (so far) of all time, even all the ending controversy. (Honestly didnt think it was bad)

Since this is RPG, go Paper Mario: A Thousand Year Door…

That’s a pretty nice list, although i haven’t played any Mass Effect nor Star Wars i really see myself enjoying kotor. Heres my list!

5. Legend of the Dragoon4. Pokemon (1st generation)3. Skyrim2. Demon’s Souls / Dark Souls1. Any Monster Hunter game since Monster Hunter 2 Freedom Unite

Certain love for MH – wish we had PS3/PS4 versions of it

That’s why i hate Capcom.. at least there’s Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD ver. but it’s Japan only, and there’s the upcoming Monster Hunter Frontier G, its confirmed for PSVita, but some articles state that is also going to be on PS3.

Monster Hunter Frontier G – Promohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1yBa9iBCqw

No Dark Souls? Blasphemy, in all seriousness though good article Cas. Although I haven’t really played any of the games here with the exception of Dragon Age.

I didn’t add Demon’s Souls to this list or Dark Souls to this list, since, in my opinion, they feel more like action RPGs. I guess I was going for traditional ones.

I’ve never really thought about what RPGs I liked, but this article made me realize I play loads of them.

Question: What makes an RPG a traditional?

You know that’s a great question. Maybe someone should write and article about that…

I feel that you’re trying to insinuate I should write it…I consider that a challenge.

Let’s just assume the literary glove has been thrown 😉

Hey Cas!Great List with which I wholeheartedly agree – only I would exchange Fallout 1 with New Vegas (yes, really).

So actuality 80% heartedly then?Sorry, math jokes are hard for me to resist 😉

@Superdude (it wouldn’t let me reply again xD) that would be a very interesting article and indeed would be a challenge…this is a very RPGcentric site, I can only imagine the responses it would get…

I’m finally going to do it. I decided that the article was impossible to do after revising it like three times, but I’m going to give it another go. Later.I promise it will be done in the near future.

Cool list 🙂I try to list mine here too (leaving out the obvious “big D”…that sounded wrong).

One titles/series rule.

5. Final Fantasy 64. Fallout: New Vegas3. Tales of Phantasia2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim1. Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Very nice list, personally mine would be:5) Dragon Age Origins4) Final Fantasy X3) Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn2) Dark Souls1) Final Fantasy VI

Really hard to categorize them though, as each game/ story is good in its own way. Final Fantasy IV got me into RPGs, and I’ve been hooked ever since. No Fallout or MassEffect though, I like my RPGs with swords, magic, and dragons!

Oh ho, fighting talk now is it? I’ll meet you behind the bike sheds after school for a fight, and my dad can beat up your dad.

Agree with comments it is actually quite hard to pare it down to just five, but as my mood and nostalgia takes me today, and removing action RPGs from the list so I don’t need to go on and on about Soul Reaver:

5. Lunar: Silver Star. Thankfully GameArts decided to use the Mega CD storage capacity for voice acting and high-res art, instead of the awful FMV that was the trend in the 90s. Great story and felt like playing an anime a long time before Ni No Kuni.

6. Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. When Bioware first perfected their RPG mechanics, with optional quests and a lot of NPC interplay. Everything since is just 3D.

7. Secret of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 2. The first entry on my list without a colon in the title. The seminal SNES RPG, no matter what conventional wisdom and marketing has to say about Zelda. Beautifully drawn, with a nicely designed inventory system that kept you in the game and not lost in menus.

8. Planescape: Torment. What can change the nature of a man? Great story telling, based around a reasonably deep philosophical question which is well handled. Multiple options and multiple endings, some nice humour without breaking the overall feeling of the game, and a good rendition of the D&D Planescape world. Still my laptop wallpaper to this day.

9. Phantasy Star series. Not the ‘Online’ reincarnation that started on Dreamcast, but the original, with the first installment on the Master System and the other three on Mega Drive. The Babylon 5 to Final Fantasy’s Star Trek. Each Final Fantasy is a self contained story, usually totally unrelated to the characters or events of the previous ones (bar oddities like X-2 and XIII-2). Phantasy Star was set in the same universe and has an arc (which is why I am treating it as a single choice – so I’m cheating, sue me). The ending to 2 was one of the most perplexing events ever, with no internet to run to for answers. The setting for 3 was inspired. So disappointed with the Online series which uses the name and little else. Farewell, Phantasy Star. You are remembered with fondness.

aww Here’s my Top 55. Baldurs Gate II and its Expansion Throne of Bhaal4. Neverwinter Nights I-II3. FFIV – Made me love Dark knights till today2. Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King1. FFIX

I could give you the worst RPG.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. What on earth was that haha.

But if I was going for a top 5.

I’d have to go with

5. FF74. Chrono Trigger3. Skies of Arcadia2. .. Can’t believe I’m going to publically say this … Super Mario RPG1. Earthbound

My top 5:5. Telltale’s The Walking Dead (very neat experience)4. DA Origins (I was disappointed with DA2)3. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim2. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion1. The entire Mass Effect Series (mind = blown)

It’s funny, I completely agree about Fallout 1 &2, and KOTR, and completely disagree about Mass Effect 2 (which I thought was terrible and a bastardization of Mass Effect) and Dragon Age: Origins (one of the worst RPGs I’ve ever played, and the only game to actually get worse when I went back to give it a “second chance”).

I would replace those two with: Gothic, and Chrono Cross. Honorable mentions: Planescape: Torment, Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger.

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