11 Legendary RPGs Loved by Millions Worldwide
Why do we love role playing games? Is it the thrill of fighting overwhelming odds? Building a character or team and using tactics to win epic battles against bandit kings and fire breathing dragons? Or are we simply child at hearts playing through our characters and unleashing our imagination in a colorful world?
RPGs have a rich history of games that pull us from the humdrum of every day and place us in incredible fantasies. Some games stand out from the rest. We’ve poured hours into these adventures and will continue to do so for years to come.
From old to new, these classics can never be forgotten. Without further ado, here are 11 legendary RPGs every PC gamer should know about.
11. Diablo
The dark landscape and cruelly jagged architecture of Diablo’s gothic world strikes the perfect tone. As soon as you venture out into the pitch, rainy wilderness, you know danger is afoot. From crawling and winged creatures, to shambling corpses, to twisted blood-red imps, the land and its perverse dungeons are teeming with disturbing monsters.
You select your character from a plethora of classes, such as the close combat barbarian and the wizard who strikes from afar with blazing spells. Attributes and skill trees are expansive and customizable; no two builds will ever feel the same.
"I'll just be taking that. You don't mind, right?"
Diablo is an old school epic. It’s easy to get lost in the rich lore and disturbed history of the world plagued by chaos and demons. You fight these demons in goretastic, point and click battles where felled monsters lay strewn in a heap of blood (or even explode in a storm of chunks).
A horror game through and through, Diablo remains perhaps the darkest RPG around. Whether it's Diablo III or its classic predessors, players still return to the dank catacombs, wretched forests, and scorched deserts of this dark fantasy.
10. Fallout
Fallout allows you to fully experience the dilapidated world of a retro 50’s post-apocalyptia. The sky is murky, the barren trees and sickly grass struggle to grow upwards, and the streets and buildings are cracked, caved, and rusted.
You’re able to explore every inch of the decaying world. While the ruined cityscapes and brown wasteland fill you with an oppressive sense of void desolation, this RPG is chock-full of content. Grizzled survivors inhabit the irradiated wastes, offering you settlements to explore and quests to undertake. Some might even tag along for the ride.
"I don't want to set the world on fire, honey."
The sense of desperate survival and scraping by is one of Fallout’s biggest draws. You’re restricted by obstacles such as radiation poisoning, limited ammo, and weapon degradation. Not to mention the hordes of mutated monsters and drug-hyped raiders doing everything they can to put you two feet under.
Combat compliments the RPG elements beautifully. V.A.T.S., a tactical mechanic which allows you to stop time and strategize during battles, adds a meaningful layer to battles. Depending on your playstyle and character build, you can fight with guns, laser rifles, explosives, and melee weapons. The choice is yours.
Afters hours spent exploring the wastes, embarking on quests, and fighting for survival, you’ll still have barely scratched the surface.
9. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
A delightful blend of RPG and FPS, Deus Ex is a cyber punk adventure boasting challenging gameplay and a comprehensive story. Dues Ex functions on its four pillars of gameplay: combat, stealth, hacking, and social. Using each of these mechanics, you work your way through the story.
If you want a challenge, you've come to the right place.
How you progress depends on you. You can hack your way into a building, sneak past guards, persuade a key NPC, or put your balls to the wall and shoot your way through.
As you gain experience, you can unlock mechanical augmentations for each pillar. This allows you to build your character however you please. You can play as a master hacker, a slippery spy, a socialite, or a gun toting badass—or any blend between.
8. Dragon Age: Origins
Thanks to the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, and Game of Thrones, we’ve all dreamt of diving sword-first into the whimsical world of medieval fantasy. Dragon Age curbs that itch with its deep story, developed characters, generous customization, and tactical combat. One playthrough is barely enough to have lived the world of Thedas.
True to its “Origins” title, the game largely focuses on the race and background of your character. You can choose between three classes and two backgrounds for a human, elf, or dwarf. Each option offers a unique story that affects side quests, dialogue, and how the world reacts to you. For example, elves are discriminated against and often referred to as “knife ears”.
Here there be dragons.
Tactical gameplay allows you to pause, scroll out, and issue commands during combat. And extensive scripting gives you full control of your companions’ AI. You can really get creative with your allies’ behavior during combat. Such as by sicing your war hound on ranged opponents or having your tank attack anyone who targets your mage.
7. Dark Souls
Tired of games you can beat in your sleep? Be carefully what you wish for, because Dark Souls will bring you to tears. This dark fantasy action RPG firmly implants its gameplay in the “trial and error” category of battling. You learn by dying, and boy will you die a lot.
But its hair-pulling challenge is exactly what makes this game so great. You come across a challenge, be it traps or goliath enemies, and you try, and you try, and you learn. Cool your head, buckle down, and strategize, and your willpower will be rewarded.
In which you die. Again. And again. And—
Dark Souls boasts a fantastic fantasy aesthetic. You’ll plunge head first into a gothic world of dungeons, traps, skeletons, and hulking monsters. A vast open world allows you to wander and embark on different paths to your destination.
And if you’re of the cheeky sort, you can view bloodstains to watch how other players have died. Either to learn about traps and dangerous enemies or chuckle as someone careens towards their demise.
6. The Witcher
In this action RPG, you get to play as a bona fide monster hunter with unique powers: a Witcher. A dynamic combat system allows you to pick between three fighting styles of fast to strike quickly, strong to hit powerfully, and group to attack multiple enemies at once. Make use of alchemic potions that recover and health and grant abilities, oils that augment weapons, bombs that deal damage, and combos to hack and slash your way to victory.
There are multiple story paths to choose from in a deep fantasy narrative. Characters are always interesting, even the ones who’re just the worst people. Everyone is well rounded with flaws, personal agendas, and selfish tendencies—even the intelligent and level headed ones.
"Giant, bloody wendigo? This is fine. Everything is fine."
The world of the Witcher is a reflection of the damaged times of the medieval age. It’s perhaps the most adult RPG out there, with mature themes at every level, down to the mechanics. The moral choices you make are realistic and gray rather than clear-cut black and white.
In a world full of good VS evil tropes, a shift to gray is oddly refreshing. And it remains a huge reason why the Witcher has us enraptured.
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Have you ever dreamt of being jedi? What am I saying—who hasn’t? Knights of the Old Republic gifted us with the chance to live out our dreams of wielding a lightsaber and the force. In this story rich RPG, you can create the jedi—or sith for you sinister folk—you’ve always wanted to be. Down to your fighting style, force powers, team, and whether you draw your power from the light side or the dark.
But KOTOR went above and beyond just fulfilling our fantasies. The game boasts a deep, faithful lore with familiar and new planets to explore and aliens to interact with. Your ragtag team is made up of quirky individuals, each with their own unique personalities and backstories.
Looks like someone brought a lightsaber to a knife fight.
The turn-based, point and click combat may seem simple at first. But you’ll find yourself utterly destroyed if you neglect to build your team and strategize. It’s truly an unforgettable experience. Not to mention the amazing story with a twist you won’t soon forget.
4. Planescape: Torment
A cult classic through and through, Planescape: Torment is famous amongst RPG fans for its strong story and D&D setting. While it wasn’t a commercial success, the game is largely recognized for its freakish monsters and intriguing setting. You play as The Nameless One, an immortal being who loses his memories upon each of his “deaths”.
Since the story is the focus here, the 2D gameplay is simple—possibly contributing to why the game was wrongfully overlooked. You’re given customization of your character, class, and alignment as you point and click your way through dungeons. Companions, complete with frequent dialogue, can join you on your quest.
No two companions are the same. For example, only one of them is on fire.
The story’s concept is unbelievable fascinating. You learn more and more about your past personalities as you journey onwards—for better or worse. And you even meet characters who’ve interacted with your past selves. Themes of human nature and morality are firmly imbedded in the story. It’s undeniably an incredible narrative that remains unique to the genre.
3. Mass Effect
In the same vein as Star Wars and Star Trek, Mass Effect takes place in a stiflingly large universe packed with alien races, deep cultures, factions, and beautiful planets to explore (complete with lens flares and gorgeous atmosphere). After choosing your sex, class, and appearance, you take on the role of Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, blazing your way through the galaxy as you battle space pirates, rogue AI called geth, and alien creatures. Your mission is straightforward enough: Save the galaxy from the mysterious reapers, gigantic ship-like entities hell-bent on eliminating all organic life.
Easy, right?
"No, I got him first!"
The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic adventure centering on a doomsday plot. All the games are incredible RPGs, but Mass Effect 2 stands out as the crowning gem of the series. This is thanks to a high stakes story, beautiful worlds to dive into, wonderfully written quests with a classic 70s sci-fi feel, and the ragtag, dirty dozen team you put together and fight alongside.
The entire game has you prepping for an all or nothing suicide mission. An elusive race of aliens, the collectors, are abducting entire human colonies. And you’re the only one who can stop them.
The game isn’t shy of telling you people will die. And it’s not lying either; play your cards wrong, and the characters you’ve come to love may fall in battle. That’s just the kind of adrenaline pumping experience we love—one that you simply can’t get anywhere else.
2. Baldur's Gate
When story driven RPGs were dwindling, Baldur’s Gate put the spark back in the genre. The game is based in the Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, the Forgotten Realms. Upon its release, it was critically received as the best D&D video game around. And it wasn’t an exaggeration—Baldur’s Gate laid the foundation for the RPGs we know and love today.
Your player character is fully customizable. You have your standard choices of class, skill, and abilities, but you can also select your race and alignment (as a patron of the internet, you might’ve heard of D&D's nine alignments). Your moral choices affect your reputation, which determines how the world reacts to you.
"Back in my day, we rolled for our attacks!"
A reactive world, a rich story with deep dialogue, and a wealth of dimensional characters make the game spring to life. With quests to partake in, enemies to defeat, and places to explore—from towns and castles to dungeons and forests—gamers clambered to immerse themselves in this sleeper hit.
1. The Elder Scrolls
Nothing will whisk you away quite like an Elder Scrolls game.
Each installment is set in a province of Tamriel, areas ruled by one of the races. Morrowind brings you to the alien world of the dark elves, rife with giant mushrooms sprouting in marshlands and dust swept deserts. Oblivion plunges you into the imperials' home, Cyrodiil, a sophisticated land of lush green hills, snowy mountain ranges, murky green marshland, and shimmering fields of golden grass. And Skyrim has you venture into the blizzarding, mountainous snowscape of Skyrim, home to the proud and fierce nords.
Wonder what happens to iron armor when it burns?
Your imagination is left to run wild. You play as any race, building your character's appearance and class however you wish. Duel enemies with a claymore, bringing them down with a weighted strike. Burn foes with fiery magic. Slip through the shadows, slicing throats or piercing unaware targets with an aimed arrow.
Or hey, pick any combination of the three. You can play as a balanced spellsword. Or even as a stealthy knight tiptoeing around in clanky armor. Go crazy, the choice is yours!
Summoning netherworldly weapons is the "Batman's utility belt" of the game.
Each game has you embark on an epic quest. In Morrowind you'll fight a demonic cult. In Oblivion you'll dive straight into hell itself to close fiery orange gates, where twisted monsters known as daedra pour forth. In Skyrim you use the power of your voice to battle enormous dragons and consume their souls.
So yeah, pretty intense. The epic battles and wars waged make you feel like a damn hero. And really, what better treat could a roleplayer ask for?
With so many amazing RPGs to choose from, which one is your favorite? What sequels do you want to see? Discuss in the comments below.
Eager for more RPGs to dive into? Check out these articles for great PC games.
11 Most Popular MMORPGs in 2016
