Best RPGs of All Time

What does your top 25 RPG list include?

My list can change depending on the wind direction but this is how I’m feeling today. Definitely lean more towards RPGs developed in Japan but I feel it has some pretty solid worldwide representation.

Feel free to ask me about any game on the list, or feel free to post your list below.

I want to know what I'm missing out on

For me I would say:

Final Fantasy 6

Lunar

Chrono Trigger

Edit:

Thanks everyone for voting! Here's are the top 9 from this thread

1. Xenogears

2. Chrono Trigger

3. Final Fantasy VI

4. Final Fantasy VII

5. Legend of Dragoon

6. Lunar

7. Tales of Symphonia

8. Kingdom Hearts II

9. Front Mission 3

As mentioned in the title what is everyone's top 5 RPGs of all time. Curious to see how different everyone's choices are or whether the it follows a similar tangent. For me... I'll say my top 5 are

• Dragon age origins (awakening one of the best dlcs out there)
• Baldurs gate 3
• Elden ring
• KOTOR 2
• fire emblem - three houses likely but I do love most of them (persona 5 could also go here)
• the elder scrolls morrowind (love all the franchise but this one has a special place)

Some underrated or more "niche" ones I love

• Kessen 2, 3
• Gladius
• Kingdom under fire 2
• most of the falcom game library
• kingdom of amalur
• dragon quest 8, sentinels of the starry skies

Removed Zelda windwaker as others rightfully pointed out it's not really an RPG 😂 one of the best zeldas though

Mines has to be

1 Chrono Cross 2 Final Fantasy 10 3 Kingdom Hearts 2 4 Legend Of The Dragoon 5 Star Ocean until the end of time

What’s yours?

My list of course with my taste.

1) Crusader Kings III (With fantasy mods)

(most RP elements In any RPG and I love NPC simulation rather than them being just props or task givers and the latest entry double down on RP elements)

2) TES III: Morrowind

(Tough call between this and Gothic II as both excels equally IMO in different ways but how unique and awesome the world design is takes the cake for me)

3) Gothic II

(Gameplay is what it excels in compared to Morrowind IMHO)

4) Wasteland III

5) Divinity Original Sin II

6) TES IV Oblivion

7) Kingdom comes deliverance

(As far as RP elements goes, it has the least RP elements but damn the game is immersive especially in it’s genre)

8) Fallout New Vegas

9) TES V: Modrim

10) The Baldur Gates III

Honourable mention: The Witcher III

Spent more than a few hours on Topsters making what I feel are pretty pivotal titles for becoming AN RPG fan for me and you can probably see that being a Bioware stan is a common motif here, but what titles do you consider essential here and if you feel there are any that have been missed, what are they and how do you feel they pushed the RPG genre forward?

I took a break from gaming for a long time and, as a man in my 30s, I'd been predominantly working on self discovery, career, etc. I have a bit more time on my hands currently and am wondering what I've missed over the past decade?

What gems should I check out that I might have missed?

Edit: wow! Thanks for all the responses.ni can't possibly respond to you all 😂

Very much appreciated though 🙏

I really want to finish BG3. I did play that a bit when it came out but it was overwhelming at the time.

I mainly play isometric RPGs but I’d say:

• Baldurs Gate 3: The production value alone is crazy for an isometric rpg. Incredible amount of content too for the price.

• Tyranny: Bit of an underrated gem. King of choice and consequence. It’s got a gripping story and isn’t incredibly long (~40 hours). Instead it encourages replayability. Magic system is very fun too.

• Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2: Fantastic story and worldbuilding. PoE 2 (Deadfire) especially is gorgeous and has a lot of charm.

Pillars Of Eternity

Dragon Age: Origins

Fallout: New Vegas

Mass Effect

Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines

They are similar in their deep narratives and strong roleplaying elements. I love them for their interesting universe and companions.

I never played Chrono Trigger until I was an adult so I feel I can confidently say Chrono Trigger

But Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and BG3 are very very very good 

Also just for fun let’s throw Pokemon Emerald in the mix 

For me probably Baldur’s Gate 2. There’s plenty of great recent RPGs that come *really* close, but they all have some key flaw that holds them back from the top spot; Pathfinder games have too much bloat, Pillars games have inconsistent writing and flawed mechanics, Baldur’s Gate 3 has a low level cap…

BG2 just does everything right, with its only real weakness being its clunkiness due to its age, which isn’t a big enough problem for me personally since I play retro games all the time and am more or less immune to its jank.

Baldur's Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077
Dragon Age Origins
The Witcher 3
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I'll also give a shoutout to Elden Ring. I don't really think it's enough of an RPG in my book, but if people think it is, it should be in my top 5. And also, Baldur's Gate 1/2 + the Throne of Bhaal DLC. They're separate games so I didn't add them onto my top 5 list (BG2 is in top 10), but altogether I think it's some of the most compelling storytelling ever in any game I've played.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 took the Betheada formula to places that Betheada itself couldn't dream of.

BG3

Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 and 2

Cyberpunk 2077 + PL isnt a pure RPG but it's maybe the best all around game of all time in my opinion and there's plenty of character decisions, builds and 8-9 endings

It's not subjective at all and it's Morrowind 😉

Joke asside, I feel like every category (cRPG, aRPG, jRPG...) would have its own candidate but even then it's hard to say which one is the best.

Like, if two games are really good but one has better combat and the other has a better story, how do you decide what's more important? It will always come down to your own preference.

To me, it's Morrowind because it has an awesome story, really good side quests and factions, a very original setting and deep lore and the gameplay is complex and full-featured. But of course, it's a very old game which didn't age quite well. It also crash quite a lot. So I can understand why people may not like it (especially younger players).

Baldurs Gate 3

Dragon Age Origins

Fallout New Vegas

Cyberpunk 2077

Mass Effect Legendary Edition (i'm kinda cheating with this one, but i dont care lol)

some honourable mentions to persona 3 reload (and 5 but i like 3 more), metaphor refantazio, fire emblem three houses. Knights of The Old Republic and Witcher 3.

Hey guys,

Lately, I've been replaying old RPGs from my childhood and teenage years. And all kinds of RPGs. The first two Baldur's Gate games, Morrowind, Oblivion, DAO, etc., as well as some newer ones.

Some turned out to be much better than I remembered (BG 2, Fallout 2), some much worse (DAO, Deus ex), and I realized that nostalgia can really play a role, be it positive or negative. I had imagined it before, but to this extent ?

So, I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that, aside from a few standout examples, I have a strong preference for recent RPGs. Some weeks ago, I would have put most of these games in my top 10, but now, not really.

So my question is: if you really try to set nostalgia aside and think with your head rather than your heart, which RPG (including CRPGs, action-RPGs, JRPGs, etc.) would you put at the very top of your list? I’m really curious. And I’m not asking for a top list, just the one game that immediately comes to mind when I say “best RPG, now.”

Witcher 3 is up there for me due to sheer fidelity of the narrative and the game world, it literally feels like walking into a story book, choose-your-own-adventure style. Which to me is what RPGs are all about in their core essence.

It's hard for me to say that with how many amazing RPGs there are that give more character freedom, agency and opportunities for roleplay. I'm not 100% asserting Witcher 3 as the GOAT, but it's definitely up there.

This is the first post about this tournament I've seen but why are the nominations so weird? I guess the subreddit is for all RPGs but JRPGs are way more niche than mainstream modern-day RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Witcher 3, the JRPGs never stood a chance here.

Two Mass Effect games? Two Bethesda games? Famously unfinished KOTOR 2 over KOTOR? Also the nominations are really lacking things like classic western RPGs or any kind of traditional-style CRPG like Pillars of Eternity or Underrail or something. I don't know how the nominations were picked but so many similar games seems wild.

Witcher 3 all the way, Baldur's Gate 3 runner up

Welp it come to this. My two favorite rpgs in the last 30 years pinned against each other.

But i have to go with Cyberpunk 2077. It made me fall in love with video games again.

Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout: New Vegas

Divinity Original Sin II is the best RPGs imo. Download the Divinity conflux mods and go to town.

This list is stacked with the best RPGs of all time (according to previous votes), I threw them in a tournament, made a programme to shuffle them up and make random match ups, and now it's time THE SEMI FINALS!

\- Match 1: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Vs Cyberpunk 2077

\- Match 2: Baldurs Gate 3 Vs Fallout: New Vegas

Pick the best from each match, the one with the most votes will move on to round 3 and the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.

Eliminations so far:

\- Chrono Trigger 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

\- Final Fantasy 7

\- Mass Effect 2

\- Mass Effect

\- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

\- Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 😭😭😭

\- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 😭😭😭

\- Divinity: Original Sin 2

\- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2

\- Dragon Age: Origins

\- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

\- Elden Ring 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭

If you can't pick between the two or simply don't know either one of them you don't have to vote. \\\*\\\*Making a vote for each match is NOT required. Even if you just vote in one match it's fine.\\\*\\\*

I could name at least 50 more games and I did originally starting with 139 RPGs I've played in my lifetime that I could think of, but I've finally gotten down to my Top 30, and some of these Games had such a massive impact on the industry that it cannot be overstated.
A Masterpiece. A Beacon. An Icon.
_

In the end, Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle) remains my #1 RPG of All Time.
I played it as a child, again as a teenager, and again as an adult and even made some of my own mods for the game, and you know what? It was never a chore.
_

I have posted a template image in the 2nd picture if you would like to use the background art feel free to do so and make your own!