As usual, RPG Codex manages to provide a very interesting look into the best RPGs. This year they decided to include everything from 2012 to 2016, that period of which many have dubbed a new RPG renaissance.
The Age of Incline: RPG Codex's 2012-2016 GOTY Results
The Age of Incline: RPG Codex's 2012-2016 GOTY Results
Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the RPG Codex's latest poll results!
As you all know, the mid/late 2000's were quite sad for RPG fans. We were treated to the glory of the late 90's/early 2000's with some of the best RPGs ever released, only to see the "Death of PC" - Black Isle, Sir-Tech, Troika, Looking Glass Studios, Westwood Studios, DreamForge, New World Computing, Origin - all closed down or were bought (and then closed down), leaving us under the iron, multi-platform rule of a few giant publishers.
Then came 2012, and things changed. Or it felt like they changed.
First, Legend of Grimrock came out of nowhere (with productions values above RPG Maker levels!) reviving the real-time blobber sub-genre, dead since the 90's. Then Dark Souls got a PC port (something rare back then) and, more importantly, Kickstarter became a thing. That year we all saw Brian Fargo sell us on a dream of RPG revival, spearheaded by Wasteland 2 and soon followed by Shadowrun: Returns, Pillars of Eternity, Dead State, Banner Saga, Xenonauts, FTL: Faster Than Light, Legends of Eisenwald, Hero-U, Barkley 2, Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar, etc...
This began what many called The Age of Incline, a hopeful return to our past glory.
Now, onward to the results! According to 800 users, the best RPGs of the past 5 years were:
On slightly related news, here's a list of the worst games:
We also divided the games by year and made a new Bayesian Average for each year, leading to these results:
So, has The Age of Incline truly arrived?
Not in 2012, and not as a barrage of all-time classics loved by everyone as in the late 90's. But since 2014 we've definitely been getting more great games, and what's more important - we broke away from the dullness of an industry dominated by a handful of publishers and AAA releases. Due to Kickstarter, Steam & Early Access, cheaper engines and other changes on the macro environment, we now have a healthier industry, with more devs, games and options.