RPGs have been prevalent within gaming since the dawn of the medium. They continue to evolve with the passing of time, with elements of the genre often making their way into other types of games.
The momentum from the genre’s explosion in the ’90s did not slow down after the new millennium arrived, with many classic RPGs coming out at the turn of the century. The following ten are not just great games; they broke barriers and did things which would only become the standard years later. Some might say modern games have yet to catch up to these all-time greats.
10 Deus Ex
The immersion present in this cyberpunk opus was unprecedented back in 2000. Every level was an intricately detailed sandbox where players could approach a situation in any variety of ways depending on their imagination the character’s abilities. Directed by Warren Spector, it is exactly the evolution one would have expected from the mind who brought gamers Thief and System Shock. Even after a sequel and a reboot, many consider the debut entry the best of the series.
9 Knights Of The Old Republic
BioWare had already made a name for themselves with the Baldur’s Gate franchise and Neverwinter Nights, but Knights of the Old Republic brought this extensive RPG experience to a whole new audience thanks to its existence on consoles and the usage of the Star Wars license. Good Star Wars games already came out, but none were this expansive, making gamers truly feel like they were living in the galaxy far, far away.
8 World Of Warcraft
MMOs were pretty niche in the 90s and hard to access. With the increased ubiquity and accessibility of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before World of Warcraft came along and swept up a large chunk of gaming culture along with it. One could not go to a gaming website or open up a magazine without reading something new about the game upon the first several years of its release. Sixteen years later and the MMO is still a titan among the now crowded genre.
7 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Some games are too ambitious for their own health. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is brimming with innovative ideas, but without fan patches the game barely works.
This is the price one pays for trying such an ambitious 3D RPG in 2004. The character players create and their actions effect multiple aspects of the world. Hopefully the sequel can create the same experience, only with fewer technical issues.
6 EVE Online
First released in 2003, EVE Online is an MMO unlike any other. Instead of using multiple servers, the game essentially takes place in a single-persistent world where gamers effect the environment and economy more heavily than almost any other game in existence. This also means griefing is more acceptable in the cosmos. It is difficult to imagine any other game ever coming close to a similar level of depth.
5 Fable
Fable is definitely not the first game to include a morality system, but it still did it long before every RPG was including them in some form.
The Xbox RPG is surprisingly brief for the genre, but the multiple ways to approach every quest and the way the main character changes depending on how virtuous or vicious the player is makes several play throughs almost mandatory in order to see everything it to offer.
4 Final Fantasy XI
Two years before World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI broke ground by not only being the first MMORPG in the franchise, but also the first to include cross-platform play. PlayStation 2 players could interact with PC players on the same server. By today’s standards, it is extremely hard to get into, but it managed to be extremely popular in its day. While still playable on PC, most have moved on to Final Fantasy XIV.
3 Diablo II
The dungeon crawler series from Blizzard removes most of the superfluous story and boils the genre down to combat and loot collection. Not only was it endlessly entertaining, but the game saw regular updates for years, making the long wait for Diablo III more tolerable. Other dungeon crawlers like Borderlands would follow a similar structure. Currently, a fourth game in the franchise is in the works, though no one can tell when Diablo IV will come out.
2 Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The recent acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft was extremely surprising, but it made more sense upon deeper thought. After all, Microsoft helped bring Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to the original Xbox. At the time, such a grand RPG on a console was nearly unheard of, and the game itself brings the Xbox to its knees. Now, few RPGs are PC exclusives, and Morrowind helped make this a reality.
1 Demon’s Souls
The game that put FromSoftware on the map and made Hidetaka Miyazaki a household name among gamers, Demon’s Souls introduced numerous innovative ideas into modern games. The extreme difficulty and ambiguity came at a time when many big budget games were becoming easier and more forgiving. While it certainly has its quirks and future games from the studio improved upon the style, the foundation laid by Demon’s Souls is still solid, as evidenced by the recent remake by Bluepoint Games on the PlayStation 5.
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