There's no doubt that role-playing games (RPGs) are some of the best video games around, but with so much choice, which ones should you be playing? We’ve rounded up the 26 best RPG games.
26: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has two primary playable factions with character customisation, quests full of Warhammer lore, characters of various races who are comprised of a number of archetypes, and career paths to specialise in a craft of some sort.
With an already established fan-base of the Games Workshop's tabletop game, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning provides its players with a dark and humorous experience that penalises unfair advantages between higher and lower level players in Realm vs Realm combat.
We especially enjoy capturing Victory Points in the Player vs Player gameplay which involves random PvP encounters, objective-based encounters, and other campaigns and scenarios.
25: Kingdom Hearts II
Square and Disney did more than merely prove that they could pump out a decent RPG. They gave life to a grand, genre-changing experience featuring classic tales, heroes and villains from our childhood.
Kingdom Hearts had a lot to live up to in its second act, and Kingdom Hearts II completely blew us away. Only a year had passed for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but the worlds were bigger, the Keyblades were badder, and the entire scope of the battle between the Heartless, the Nobodys, and Organization XIII had grown to epic proportions.
All we can do now is wait for the magic to return in Kingdom Hearts III, but at the very least, we'll get to revisit the series in the PS2 remake of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories this winter.
24: Grandia
The story of a young adventurer named Justin featured incredible music, an epic story, unique characters brought to life with superb voice acting, and a combat system unlike any other before it.
This game's name was Grandia.
The world of Grandia was unlike anything gamers had seen before on the PlayStation, with large and colourful 3D cities and dungeons, filled with treasure, people, and monsters alike. While some RPGs had combat systems that would let you lazily hammer on a single button, Grandia refreshed the entire concept of turn-based battles by having every character and enemy attack each other at the same time.
What really drove the game was how you timed your magic and melee moves - in the best cases, you could pre-empt your foes entirely with nary a scratch on your party. When you made your way to so-called 'End of the World', Grandia's story reached a new height, and more surprise still laid in wait for eager adventurers.
NEXT PAGE: Skies of Arcadia and Planetscape Torment
- The must-have games for any role play fan
- Skies of Arcadia and Planetscape Torment
- Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness and Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
- Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
- Final Fantasy XII and Earthbound
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Xenogears
- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Fallout 3
- Our top three role playing games
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Comments
wasd said: loved that rpg so much :D
Boronguy said: Neverwinter Nights was and is just great, my expectations where kind of low when I tried this game, but I ended up playing this game for (true story) 29 hours straight, i was so hooked up into the game i didn't even realize there was a real world anymore and i didn't notice it was turning night ... twice
Adventurer said: At least i know now to never purchase PC advisor... what a poor list
J.p. Miller said: I completely agree with the OP. I remember when it came out and every one was gushing over the game. So I got it and was so disappointed. Cloud was terrible. The story was ok but not engaging or emersive and the villain forgetable.
Jamc1648 said: Well the list was made in 2008 and Skyrim came out in 2011.
Osirinact said: Do you realise that this was posted on November 2008?
mustdisquss said: WOW and FF7 above Zelda??? LOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!! of course, as with any list, its down to opinion XD
David said: crap.
Ereerrfr said: OBLIVION!!!
user016608 said: It is a good game but not the best RPG ever as stated by this article. The story is okay but it is too linear and cheesy. The characters in the game are just uninteresting. The gameplay is okay but could get boring. I consider the 2nd best in the series just behind FFVI. Consider that there has been a total of 14 franchises in the series, I wonder if this fantasy would ever be final lol.
Mycrosparks said: Final fantasy,Zelda,10 more japanese games... Huh? I wouldn't put those games in the top 100000 list....
hotelcesarfan2008 said: at least its better than final fantasy 13
hotelcesarfan2008 said: your a gaming veteran
hotelcesarfan2008 said: your name speak for it self...
Cooktim8 said: Suikoden 2/ Chrono Series???
Hexxon77 said: Are you f... kidding me how old are you??? 10 ??? Wow 2nd?? Pokemon? Were are Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale, Might and Magic, Wizardy, Eye Of Beholder, Neverwinter 1 and 2, THE WITCHER????!! Do you know what RPG actually means?
Macspie said: What about Skyrim on number 2 and skyrim online mod on number 1?
ANON said: Simply /by posting this comment, you have proved that you are, in fact; A N00/B. /Become An Hero... IMMEDIATLY! THE VOICE OF ANON COMMANDS IT!
GH057 said: ohhh HELLLLLLLZ no... FFVII blew FFX out of the water and was made nearly a decade previously. The ONLY way in which FFX is better than FFVII is the level of graphics, and that was simply down to technology at the time.
GH057 said: So it was an older version of COD then the biggest FPS... FPS being the operative here... ever made. As for Everquest and Ultima... well, i sha'nt even comment.