There are 3 series that stick out from the rest when I think of RPGs.

1. Baldurs Gate
2. Diablo
3. TES

All great in their own right.

Gothic 1/2, for 1 reason: verisimilitude.

The characters acted (mostly) like real people, the world is cohesive and new and interesting, the storylines are decent enough, the quests are good-ish, and the graphics are good-ish. If Bethesda could meld its prettiness with Gothic's world-building sensibilities, I think I'd cry every time I played a TES game.

DARKLANDS!

It's the RPG Skyrim wants to be. Only with [censored]tier graphics.



A really astonishing game that many have never heard of. The character creation system is so much fun you just might spend more time creating characters than playing the game. The game is HUGE, as you're basically playing across a map of medieval Germany, and you can go wherever you want. Loads of side quests, a main quest that I actually never finished, despite the fact that I still play the game now and then.

Yes, it's old. The graphics are dated. But as an RPG, it really and truly and honestly is still my number one all time super awesome favorite supreme RPG. The amount of historical research that went into the game is impressive. Then there's about a billion saints to pray to for aid, alchemy to learn... your 4 characters will each need to specialize to have a balanced group. And everyone ages over time. Now I want to go play it.

Anyone interested should check it out at http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/darklands.

OH!

Mass Effect 2.

How did I forget that? Best RPG ever made until ME3(hopefully)

The Neverwinter Nights series for their excellent character creation, magic system and story telling -- brilliant game for spell casters. Nostalgia wise I have fond memories of Eye of the Beholder as it was the first RPG that I played.

Well i would have to still say Final Fantasy 7, and legend of Zelda Orcane time and then Skyrim. Final Fantasy 7 had everything and was a head of its time for graphics sound and story.

1.FFX
2.Oblivion
3.Fallout 3
4.Borderlands

thank god for opinions and nobody out there listens to us this game was horible im sorry but i had to say it but i guess it made you happy so happy gaming but please Skyrim or should i just say any RPG is better than that pile of #%&%% haha each to his own.

ff 10. nuff said

Really? What did you dislike about it?

Baldur's Gate II. The game from another time and world, that will never come again, unfortunately.

Hackmaster by kenzerco good old school style table top fantasy rpg. Well there is a much higher degree of imagination needed. It takes me back to my roots of role playing. The new version still in construction refreshes the genre nicely. Even though its not a computer rpg it can still lag when you have players ignoring the "make sure you have your food situation sorted out before pllay begins" rule.

Morrowind, Final Fantasy 12 and Diablo 2 are my top 3 games, not just rpg, but from all the games. Also FF 9 and few of the 1st 6 ones, Baldur's Gate 2 and Sacred are in my favorites as well.

Betrayal at Krondor.

Hard to explain why, except that it was the first game I played that wasn't XP based.
The characters were developed, the plot had twists, and the world was... unique.

Heck, casting spells could KILL you.

Fable: The Lost Chapters is one of my favourites. I loved that game as a kid and still do. I must say I enjoyed every moment of it and the concept of starting the story as a young boy in oakville growing up and learning skills in the guild was just amazing.

Unfortunately Fable II wasn't as good and Fable III was a huge disappointment.

+1 I have not played it myself, but a friend of mine was hooked and watching him it was a good game in it's own way.

I have two favourites:

1) The Witcher 2: looks fantastic, characters are memorable, the story allows consequence based on choice (although more could have been done with it) and it was actually made for PC.

2) Final Fantasy VII: I spent months playing this game - it's very long and challenging, with memorable characters and a great story which makes you actually care.

Morrowind hands down my best RPG experience. I also love Planescape, Gothic, Deus Ex, Witcher and Skyrim.

+1

Ultima 6. I loved the fact that you had 7 people in your party and that game was total sand box.

Final Fantasy VII changed my world. It's the game that paved the way for RPG's for me.

Xenogears was also a great game and easily runner-up for me.

Fallout 1/2 for action and consequence and Fallout: New Vegas for choices and dialogue branching.

Skyrim still doesn't feel much like a "role-playing game", more like an adventure game where you get to choose race, appearance and what skills to use.
But there are so very very few choices in it, there are barely any action and consequence in it and the dialogue is not branching.
And those are very important for me in an RPG, I'm not going to call Dead Island, Dead Rising or Borderlands RPG's and I'm certainly not going to call Skyrim an RPG.
Not until there are multieple (not just two) choices for quests and events, branching dialogue that doesn't end the same and teaches players that your actions will have severe consequences.

Of all time, Ultima 7 the Black Gate. The things you did mattered, a lot. It was perfectly possible to screw up and be unable to finish the game because you killed the wrong person or said/did the wrong thing. It was not a perfect game but it didn't hold your hand and for the time it was epic.

More recently, Gothic 3 (also not perfect). Again the things you did matter. You can do just about anything you want, including killing whoever you want. Almost everything you did (or didn't do in some cases) had consequences. Most quests had at least 2 ways to finish them. Archery "felt" right. The game world is HUGE. It is not a game that holds your hand at all. If you're dumb, you die. I've always joked that the Gothic series is based on a simple policy of "Kill you early, and kill you often." And I like that because it's hard, and not because the enemies do ridiculous damage (unless you're under-leveled/geared). The game doesn't force you do be on this side or that side, it actually has multiple endings depending on which side you choose (well there's actually many "sides" you can choose, or you can remain neutral a lot of times). The list goes on. I just feel like Gothic 3 is more what TES should be like but they just haven't quite got there (at least not with Oblivion or Skyrim).

Skyrim, ff7, pso

So many good options on here ... Just a little shout-out to the BG 1 and 2 and Betrayal at Krondor players.

To good games and better times! :foodndrink: