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[VertigoOA]

This generation has offered my tastes a good balance of competitive gaming with shooters, racers and fighters. I love my online games, however... sometimes I don’t want to play a game where a cup of coffee and a good night’s sleep is paramount on my efficiency and enjoyment.

RPGs have always been a solid alternative. They are all pretty causal, with low skill ceilings - if we ignore their online counterpart like Ff14 and PoE. These experiences by mostly being narrative driven, or built around their setting, tend to be auto-pilot experiences which I appreciate. Nothing wrong with that either... I enjoy cinematic experiences quite a bit (the order is a favorite of mine).

Ive played most western rpgs this gen. Dragon Age Inquisition is kinda shit. I really enjoyed Deus Ex but more as a stealth game. Mass Effect: Andromeda is better than those two shockingly as well. Fallout 4 is okay too. But of course The Witcher 3 is GOAT and I keep going back to it year after year knocking out the dlc content (about to wrap up blood and wine today).

On the jrpg spectrum ...ehhh Listen I played Persona. I loved/hated it for like 90hrs. I never want to play it again ever. Reinstalling Nier but didn’t like it much then but It seems short enough to give it another shake. Had the most fun with Dragon’s Dogma remaster but there’s not much of a fantasy world or narrative there.

I know most of us are going to want to flood lists with Bloodborne and Dark Souls. And I love those games; some of my favorites of all time, but... overall weak gen for rpgs outside the Witcher it seems.

 

[Elektro Demon]

One of the best rpgs of this generation, is, in my humble opinion, GREEDFALL.
It's highly underrated and unappreciated.

 

[Mista]

The Witcher 3 is the best RPG this gen. also sorry OP but there’s no such as “love/hate specific game” when you’ve clocked 90 hours

Persona 5 was an amazing experience too and I feel you on the Nier part if you mean Automata of course. I didn’t like it myself but lots of people liked it

If you really appreciate RPGs mate then you gotta play GreedFall. This amazing RPGmust be recognised by RPG freaks!

 

[psorcerer]

+100 for Greedfall.
It's in a small club of RPGs where your adventure looks personal and unique.

 

[The Cockatrice]

The fact that you said Mass Effect Andromeda is better than Deus Ex just pissed me off. How fucking dare you?

 

[VertigoOA]

The Witcher 3 is the best RPG this gen. also sorry OP but there’s no such as “love/hate specific game” when you’ve clocked 90 hours

Persona 5 was an amazing experience too and I feel you on the Nier part if you mean Automata of course. I didn’t like it myself but lots of people liked it

If you really appreciate RPGs mate then you gotta play GreedFall. This amazing RPGmust be recognised by RPG freaks!

Nah, I legit ended up hating Persona 5 in the end. I wanted it to end so badly I just stopped playing. It took me about 40hrs to actually start loving the Witcher no less. I chop away at these games over the course of months.

 

[D.Final]

This generation has offered my tastes a good balance of competitive gaming with shooters, racers and fighters. I love my online games, however... sometimes I don’t want to play a game where a cup of coffee and a good night’s sleep is paramount on my efficiency and enjoyment.

RPGs have always been a solid alternative. They are all pretty causal, with low skill ceilings - if we ignore their online counterpart like Ff14 and PoE. These experiences by mostly being narrative driven, or built around their setting, tend to be auto-pilot experiences which I appreciate. Nothing wrong with that either... I enjoy cinematic experiences quite a bit (the order is a favorite of mine).

Ive played most western rpgs this gen. Dragon Age Inquisition is kinda shit. I really enjoyed Deus Ex but more as a stealth game. Mass Effect: Andromeda is better than those two shockingly as well. Fallout 4 is okay too. But of course The Witcher 3 is GOAT and I keep going back to it year after year knocking out the dlc content (about to wrap up blood and wine today).

On the jrpg spectrum ...ehhh Listen I played Persona. I loved/hated it for like 90hrs. I never want to play it again ever. Reinstalling Nier but didn’t like it much then but It seems short enough to give it another shake. Had the most fun with Dragon’s Dogma remaster but there’s not much of a fantasy world or narrative there.

I know most of us are going to want to flood lists with Bloodborne and Dark Souls. And I love those games; some of my favorites of all time, but... overall weak gen for rpgs outside the Witcher it seems.

The best classic JRPG of the generation, for me, is Dragon Quest XI (and also Dragon Quest XI S).

Other excellent action jrpg are:

Nier Automata
Final Fantasy XV
Kingdom Hearts 3
Ni-ho
Dark Souls 3
Bloodborne

 

[Matt_Fox]

Skyrim Special Edition, The Witcher 3, and Fallout 4 as my favourite 'true blue' RPGs of the gen.

Honourable mentions to Assassins Creed Odyssey and Red Dead Redemption 2 as outstanding 'RPG lite' titles.

I haven't yet played Kingdom Come Deliverance and am looking forward to that very much, and of course Cyberpunk will definitely be a late in the day contender too.

 

[GreyHorace]

Well I can only comment on the RPGS that I've played in this generation. So here goes:

Dragon Age Inquisition - Shit. It's a boring slog of a game with huge environments crammed with inconsequential fluff. When did Bioware start taking notes from Ubisoft on filling their huge open worlds with useless filler? And the main plot is uninspired and boring even though it has it's moments of epic brilliance, but they're few and far between. The characters are interesting and they do have some nice side quests dedicated to them, but again, it's buried under so much useless garbage. I was really disappointed in Bioware for this lackluster effort that I never bothered to get Mass Effect Andromeda.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - My RPG of the generation, perhaps even of all time. It's not without it's flaws (the combat is not bad but it does need some tweaking), but what it does get right is straight up fantastic. The story is gripping and paced really well, the characters are interesting, and despite being a huge open world it has interesting side content that at times is more engaging than the main quest (Hearts of Stone is one of the best written stories I've seen in a game).

CD Projekt Red really knocked it out of the park with this game. I know Netflix is currently enjoying immense success with their Witcher series, but this game and the previous ones are still the best adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy books for me.

Pillars of Eternity - It's a good game with some really good world building and the plot is intriguing. But for some reason or another I couldn't be arsed to finish it. Maybe isometric rpgs just aren't my bag anymore.

Divinity Original Sin 2 - Like the Pillars example above, I thought this game was good and Larian has an excellent rpg system in place. But damnit, I couldn't finish this either.

Persona 5 - A very good game with some great characters and an intriguing storyline. But damn is it long. I couldn't bother playing through it again but once the Royal edition comes out I'll take another crack at it.

EDIT: Shit. Forgot about one more title.

Greedfall - Never played a Spiders game before, so I didn't know what to expect from this. But I liked it and it's definitely on underrated game of this gen. Sure it lacks the polish and budget of a Bioware game (you can tell the devs are Bioware fans), but it's made with heart and passion and that's something more RPGs need today.

 

[Kagey K]

There wasn’t a good RPG this decade. Shooters with RPG elements or anything of the sort don’t count, to me. Unless you want to call COD a RPG.

Every game is an RPG going forward. Just add XP and levels.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

overall weak gen for rpgs outside the Witcher it seems.

There wasn’t a good RPG this decade.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Disgusting thread where I'm the first to mention the best rpg of the past 5 years: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (minus Torna, which wasn't so good)

Played it for over 365 hours, still not done (only 2 super bosses so far).

Most likeable cast ever with fantastic voice acting. I still hope we eventually get spinoffs like Xenoblade Warriors and Xenoblade Dancing.

 

[Lanrutcon]

There wasn’t a good RPG this decade.

decade
/ˈdɛkeɪd,dɪˈkeɪd/
noun
1. A period of ten years.

What the fuck have you been doing?

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

XC2. The gameplay was the weakest part in this game. (and the framerate) followed by SMT4 Apocalypse as the best RPG this gen.

Disgusting thread where I'm the first to mention the best rpg of the past 5 years: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (minus Torna, which wasn't so good)

Played it for over 365 hours, still not done (only 2 super bosses so far).

Most likeable cast ever with fantastic voice acting. I still hope we eventually get spinoffs like Xenoblade Warriors and Xenoblade Dancing.

The original audio yes.

 

[Lux R7]

Divinity OS 2 is the best rpg of the gen imho

 

[Impotaku]

For myself it would be easily Dragon quest 11 a world i didn't want to leave the only thing that could have improved it would have been an even higher selection of monsters. The way they were all animated made them totally come to life and made battling a pleasure.

I also really enjoyed Ninokuni 2 as well, the kingdom building alongside the main rpg stuff i found enjoyable. Apart from those 2 i really havent dived much into rpg stuff this time around since owning a ps4 i really should have a look into what the west has been releasing as i do enjoy rpg gaming from both the anime inspired side of the east but also the medieval dungeons & dragons style adventuring that the west is good at producing.

 

[ethomaz]

Dragon Quest XI.

 

[hunthunt]

Bloodborne is the best game of the last 5 years and its a RPG so there you go

 

[SantaC]

YS8 is the best rpg of the gen.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

YS8 is the best rpg of the gen.

TFW no reptile gf with blue hair

 

[Psykodad]

FF XIV, just gonna count it as current gen.

Other than that, Bloodborne and Horizon Zero Dawn.
The Elder Scrolls Online, maybe too?

Didn't like The Witcher 3 though. Quit playing relatively early in the game.

 

[sublimit]

Edit: Note to self* I should read OP's more carefully.

These are my top 5 from this gen:
Bloodborne
Witcher 3
Dragon Quest XI
Dark Souls 3
Valkyria Chronicles 4

 

[Malio]

The Big 5 for me:

Dark Souls
Dragon's Dogma
Legend of Grimrock II
Witcher 3
tie: Pillars of Eternity / Skyrim

 

[EverydayBeast]

RPG games are compelling and I'm always rooting for the next Dragon Age Origins, but the genre leads the genres in garbage games, I think the pressure is on RPG games next generation.

 

[magnumpy]

cyberpunk 2077 looks very good

 

[Handel]

I still have too many to play. Started up Kingdom Come : Deliverance got a fair way in then stopped playing for a good couple months now almost, need to get back to that. Need to get Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but I'm waiting for the DE of the first game first as I've never played XC1. Persona 5 waiting for Royal.

Divinity : Original Sin 2 is the best RPG of the gen so far for me. It hits all the right RPG notes : great tactical turn-based combat, a good story that has a proper mix of humor and tension, a well crafted world/lore, just enough puzzles, and great characters with actual meaningful choices that are reflected mid-combat(the Shadow Prince hating on my dragon son when I summoned him was my favorite moment of the game). Also full campaign coop on top of that makes this the easy victor, played through the entire thing my two best friends and we had a blast.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Top RPG of the decade for me: Divinity: OS or Pathfinder: Kingmaker. D:OS 2 has a weird armor system I dislike, so the original beats it for me. Lots of notable mentions, but those 2 are clearly at the top. I don't include action games with RPG elements as there are more than enough of those for a category in itself. The decade was rife with high quality action rpgs from both sides of the pond.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

XC2. The gameplay was the weakest part in this game. (and the framerate) followed by SMT4 Apocalypse as the best RPG this gen.

The original audio yes.

There is no jrpg with stronger gameplay than Xenoblade 2, other Xenoblade. Xenoblade 2's combat is so varied and fun it didn't get boring/repetitive in the 365 hours I played, whereas the gameplay in DQ, SMT4 or Persona is boring after a couple hours.

And no, the English voice acting is masterful. Unless you're an ass and dismiss everything because Rex can't shout the 2 times he does.

 

[Blond]

The fact that you said Mass Effect Andromeda is better than Deus Ex just pissed me off. How fucking dare you?

I laughed but you're right lol.

XC2. The gameplay was the weakest part in this game. (and the framerate) followed by SMT4 Apocalypse as the best RPG this gen.

 

[MadYarpen]

No love for kingdom come deliverance?
It was a proper rpg, and quite a good one.

The Witcher stands strong as goat though. Outer worlds was a disappointment, but I have not tried greed fall yet.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Kingdom come
Divinity OS 1 and 2
Bloodborne

I give the title of the decade to Divinity. It hits all of the old-school notes while introducing modern graphics and modern UI's. Mix it in with puzzles that need thought to solve, like reading books or understanding the lore and a local co-op experience which is great fun.

Co-op'ing the game on the hardest difficulty using Lone Wolf mod is some of the most fun I've had this gen. Some of the set pieces and battles are hilarious and breaking the game with a duel-wielding berserker and magic archer was great fun

 

[Fbh]

Of the more traditional ones definitely The Witcher 3. Really loved that game and for me set the standard to which I'll compare every big open world RPG moving forward.
Hell, Blood and Wine was like a $15 expansion and even if you take it as a standalone title I think it's better than a lot of full games this gen.

Of the less traditional ones I loved:
Bloodborne
Dark Souls 3
Nier Automata
Yakuza 0 (to me it's technically an RPG. You level up, unlock skills, get equipment, complete quests, etc)

JRPG's the only 2 I liked A LOT were:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Shin Megami Tensei IV.
Overerall I though it was a rather weak gen for "regualar JRPG's". I've yet to play Dragon Quest XI though


I'll need to give Divinity OS another go. I liked the gameplay and combat and how it's one of those games that are ok with you bending the rules and trying to break it. But I found the world and story rather boring and to me that's an important part of RPG's

 

[Deleted member 774430]

Of the more traditional ones definitely The Witcher 3. Really loved that game and for me set the standard to which I'll compare every big open world RPG moving forward.
Hell, Blood and Wine was like a $15 expansion and even if you take it as a standalone title I think it's better than a lot of full games this gen.

Of the less traditional ones I loved:
Bloodborne
Dark Souls 3
Nier Automata
Yakuza 0 (to me it's technically an RPG. You level up, unlock skills, get equipment, complete quests, etc)

JRPG's the only 2 I liked A LOT were:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Shin Megami Tensei IV.
Overerall I though it was a rather weak gen for "regualar JRPG's". I've yet to play Dragon Quest XI though


I'll need to give Divinity OS another go. I liked the gameplay and combat and how it's one of those games that are ok with you bending the rules and trying to break it. But I found the world and story rather boring and to me that's an important part of RPG's

The last one was far worse, where the only true masterpiece of a JRPG was Xenoblade Chronicles, and most japanese developers forgot how to make good single player RPG. (remember it was the gen where even Dragon Quest, the most classical JRPG series, became a full on multiplayer and even mmo-ish with DQ IX and DQ X).

 

[Fbh]

The last one was far worse, where the only true masterpiece of a JRPG was Xenoblade Chronicles, and most japanese developers forgot how to make good single player RPG. (remember it was the gen where even Dragon Quest, the most classical JRPG series, became a full on multiplayer and even mmo-ish with DQ IX and DQ X).

Yeah, I guess.

For me JRPG's in general have been in a decline during the past 15 years. There's still some good ones but the vast majority of them no longer interest me.
I enjoy the less traditional stuff coming from Japan (Souls games, Nier, Yakuza, Dragon Dogma, etc) way more.


Though I guess the future looks a bit better. FF7 Remake is looking good, SMTV is probably going to be great, that Granblue Fantasy one looks pretty good. Even Tales Of seems like it will at least try to evolve, etc.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

The Witcher 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 are basically it for western RPGs for me. Include stuff like Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Kingdom Come: Deliverance if more action-focused stuff is appropriate, too. There's also Disco Elysium, but I would personally consider that more of a point-and-click adventure. Unfortunately, I didn't much get on with the Kickstarted stuff like Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 despite being really excited for them.

For JRPGs, we had Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI, which are both excellent. The latest Fire Emblem is a great SRPG, too. Then, of course, if we're including action-oriented stuff, we have Dark Souls III and Bloodborne (maybe Sekiro, too?), and hell, a lot of the Yakuza series, too. Might as well throw in Nier as well.

That's basically all that comes to mind for me right now.

 

[iorek21]

This decade was very great for RPGS:

Mass Effect 2
Fallout New Vegas
The birth of Soulsborne
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Skyrim
South Park Stick of Truth
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2
Undertale
The Witcher 3
Nier Automata
Persona 5
The Outer Worlds

 

[Havoc2049]

Everyone should play Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition. It includes all the bug fixes and all the DLC. Excellent game!

 

[Lanrutcon]

This thread is telling me that very few people on this board had the balls to try Kingmaker.

That's ok. Difficult games aren't for everyone. Enjoy your Witcherborne: Under Quest IV, casuals.

Spoiler

But seriously looks like so few of you actually played it.

 

[Matt_Fox]

This decade was very great for RPGS:

Mass Effect 2
Fallout New Vegas
The birth of Soulsborne
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Skyrim
South Park Stick of Truth
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2
Undertale
The Witcher 3
Nier Automata
Persona 5
The Outer Worlds

The decade WAS great but the OP was talking about this gen only - we had some brilliant RPGs last gen but they don't qualify sadly.

 

[Fuz]

Bloodborne is the best game of the last 5 years and its a RPG so there you go

Souls games are not RPGs. And neither is Automata. They're action games with RPG-like stats.

This thread is telling me that very few people on this board had the balls to try Kingmaker.

That's ok. Difficult games aren't for everyone. Enjoy your Witcherborne: Under Quest IV, casuals.

Spoiler

But seriously looks like so few of you actually played it.

I've been wanting to try it for ages, but the weird difficulty, stupid design choices and bugs kept me away from it. Now I've read they fixed most of it, but I keep postponing it and seeing it fall further and further in my backlog.

 

[CatLady]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Horizon Zero Dawn
AC: Odyessy

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

And no, the English voice acting is masterful. Unless you're an ass and dismiss everything because Rex can't shout the 2 times he does.

Is this bait

Rex sounds like a 25+year old yanker
Nia sounds like a 30 year old chain smoker
Pyra sounds like an airhead valleygirl
and Tora sounds like something you'd hear at fucking PBS.

The Japanese (aka original audio) on the other hand is carried by goddamn veterans and only Pyra is new to VA and even then she sounds better than Britney or whatever her name is. In no universe is it masterful what are you on about LMAO!

 

[iorek21]

The decade WAS great but the OP was talking about this gen only - we had some brilliant RPGs last gen but they don't qualify sadly.

Oops, mistook for decade, there has been so many threads about the end of the decade that my brain is hotwired in it.

Let's remake that list then:

Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne
Divinity Original 1 and 2
Undertale
The Witcher 3
Stardew Valley (?)
Nier Automata
Persona 5
The Outer Worlds
Disco Elysium

Although not 100% RPG's, I would include Tales from the Borderlands and Life is Strange (as we as role playing in some way).

 

[OutrageousFacts]

Is this bait

Rex sounds like a 25+year old yanker
Nia sounds like a 30 year old chain smoker
Pyra sounds like an airhead valleygirl
and Tora sounds like something you'd hear at fucking PBS.

The Japanese (aka original audio) on the other hand is carried by goddamn veterans and only Pyra is new to VA and even then she sounds better than Britney or whatever her name is. In no universe is it masterful what are you on about LMAO!

Is THAT bait?!

Wow, what a terrible (wrong) opinion. :/

 

[Matt_Fox]

Yes, the God of War, Devil May Cry, Soulsborne series are all third-person hack and slash titles, with RPG lite elements. I think it's a stretch to classify them as genuine RPGs but I know that some do.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Is THAT bait?!

Wow, what a terrible (wrong) opinion. :/

Yeah no, most people that play JRPG's prefer the original audio. Hell original audio in general is the best no matter the media. It is fine to have a preference but if you are just gonna say "no bad opinion" without saying why you don't think a cast is miscast is wait what were we talking about? Oh right playing JPN games with dubs, lol pass.

 

[Virex]

Trails Of Cold Steel III

 

[Fuz]

Although not 100% RPG's, I would include Tales from the Borderlands and Life is Strange (as we as role playing in some way).

0% RPG.

 

[VertigoOA]

Yes, the God of War, Devil May Cry, Soulsborne series are all third-person hack and slash titles, with RPG lite elements. I think it's a stretch to classify them as genuine RPGs but I know that some do.

To an extent Souls games are more of an rpg than any square Enix game simply because you have a player created avatar and systems that allow you to create a variety of builds.

it’s difficult to define what an rpg is in general these days, as all games are to an extent.

I don’t really want to include souls games into the debate here much. I prefer those above any of the games I may have mentioned as I adore Bloodborne more so than even Witcher 3. And I would make the argument that Bloodborne is more of a Metroidvania than anything else so...

 

[Lanrutcon]

Although not 100% RPG's, I would include Tales from the Borderlands and Life is Strange (as we as role playing in some way).

I vote we mock and shun this man.

For the greater good.