Role-playing games are in the bedrock of video game history. After all, how many games in the last few decades have had you assuming a role and playing it? Seriously, though, how impactful has the genre been for video games? From the humble text adventure beginnings on hulking computers to the screen-shaking epics on the snazzy consoles of today, it’s likely that an RPG of some shape or form had an essential say in your love of video games, directly or indirectly.
I know that’s been the case for me. Admittedly, RPGs were not my first video game love (platformers!), but countless amazing RPGs have changed my tastes and views of gaming over the decades. Yet my earliest introduction to the world of role-playing games actually came in the physical predecessor, the tabletop RPG. My uncle bought a Dungeons and Dragons starter set for my brothers and me back when we were kids, but he wasn’t really around much after that to explain exactly what we were supposed to do with it. Still, we got the gist in a roundabout way as we’d play as the die-cast characters provided with the set and made up little stories for them. I’m sure any avid tabletop player would have gotten hives watching us play D&D so very wrong, but the spirit of it was coming through, so who cares, eh?
I say that as a parent who has sometimes despaired at my kids approaching the things I love to do in the ”wrong way” (video games, for instance) but ultimately realising the cruel march of time changes the entry point to everything, and there really isn’t one way to enjoy things, RPGs very much included.
What defines an RPG has largely stayed the same, yet the scope for what an RPG can be has grown and mutated so much over the years. As the Editor of EpicRPGTales, I want to cover all sorts of RPGs and RPG-infused titles, big and small (and very small in some cases). I’m excited by what that aforementioned scope has to offer, and it will hopefully expand my own horizons as much as yours.
So, as an icebreaker for the start of my time here, I’ve listed some of my favorite RPGs over the years. There is no order or ranking—just some of the games that did it for me, like Rikishi did it for The Rock.
Skies of Arcadia
I was determined to wring every last drop out of the Dreamcast before it signalled the death knell for SEGA as a console maker. Skies of Arcadia was one of the last games I played for it, and what a swansong it was.
There’s something about taking to the skies in flying ships that scratches an itch for me (most recently scratched by Granblue Fantasy Relink).
Shenmue
Shenmue was the first RPG to truly blow my mind. Whereas many genre-mates of the time were about sweeping epic sagas, this was a more grounded, compact one, albeit filled with the kind of detail that made it just as engrossing.
It’s perhaps the first time that a game really felt like it could imitate life, even if it were, in hindsight, within a limited scope. I found myself immersed in the day-to-day life of Ryo Hazuki. The ticking clock gimmick has been deployed in many a game, but Shenmue’s managed to feel unique thanks to its moving parts that saw the open world work as a living one where people go about their routines, shops close and open, you can miss the bus, and fritter your cash away in the arcades.
It’s a shame it got drowned on the ill-fated Dreamcast, because I do feel it would be talked about so much more if it had had a wider audience back then. All its best ideas were nabbed way before it got a chance to shine again.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Look, I’ll be the first to admit that the Star Ocean series is a patchy affair, and The Last Hope is no exception, but I’m very fond of it anyway.
Maybe it’s the spacefaring. Maybe it’s the real-time combat that lets you switch between party members. Or perhaps it feels like a bit of a throwback. I know I have a soft spot for it, whatever the reason.
Final Fantasy VIII
There may be about 1000 Final Fantasy games at this point, but very few of them have connected with me as much as I hoped. Final Fantasy XIV is probably my second highest point with the series, but Final Fantasy VIII? It’s just phenomenal. It felt excitingly overwhelming for a relatively naive RPG player at the time, and I got fully swept up in the journey this ace set of characters went on.
I know there are plenty of great bad guys/rivals in Final Fantasy history, but Seifer Almasy is a favorite of mine. The evil mirror of Squall is a cocky arrogant bastard and right from that CG intro his hot rivalry with his fellow SeeD student had me intrigued. I love how aesthetically different Squall and Seifer look while sharing similar traits.
It also has one of my all-time favorite scores. For me, it’s one of the first games that was really enhanced by its music. That set a benchmark for all games to follow: have a great soundtrack, and I’ll like your game a lot more.
Demon’s Souls
Yes, I know. Why is this over Bloodborne, Dark Souls, or Elden Ring? Well, when I picked it up for PS3 a staggering 15 years ago (think of all the From games we’ve had in that time!), it was a largely unknown entity. Apart from a very positive review in a magazine, I went in with little knowledge of the euphorically brutal experience I was about to embark on.
I don’t think I’ve died in any game quite as much as I did in Demon’s Souls, but every little inch I managed to progress felt as rewarding as entire games. It was hard to feel that same fresh, exciting obsession in a FromSoftware game again, but the developer has undoubtedly made a bloody good go of it since!
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Growing up, my only interactions with Nintendo consoles were fleeting. A bit of Mario here and there, and some Tetris and Pokemon on GameBoy.
But then my brother bought a GameCube, and that console opened up a whole new world to me. Not only did I find the wonderful, underappreciated Super Mario Sunshine, but it also marked the first time I was able to get my hands on a Zelda game, and Wind Waker floored me. It’s such a beautiful game that, despite its chill exterior, has some fire in its belly.
To date, I’ve only played four Zelda games, and sure, it’s probably nostalgia talking, but I like Wind Waker’s sunshine stylings more than any other.
Persona 5 Royal
Back in the day, fortune shone upon me as I’d just finished Persona 4 Golden on PS Vita for the first time, and the site I worked for then needed a reviewer for Persona 5. So, for a few magical weeks before the embargo, my life was Persona 5, and I was glad.
Persona 5 was the first time in years I had really been locked into a game world. The day-to-day workings of living a life reminded me so much of that wonderful, engrossing experience Shenmue had given me years before. I don’t think I’ve listened to any soundtrack anywhere near as much as this one, either. It’s such a catchy jazz-funk-tinged bop machine.
When Persona 5 Royal came out, a lot had changed personally, and I didn’t have time to cram a 120-hour RPG into a few weeks. So I ended up playing it in ‘’seasons’’ over the span of several years, reaching the finale in 2024. A different way to experience it, yet still a great experience.
Wasteland 3
Look, this is probably going to come up a lot on this site because I can’t help myself, but XCOM is one of my all-time favorite game series, so I am forever chasing the white whale of a game that can capture even a smidgen of what it does for me. For all the copycats over the years, the RPG stylings of Wasteland 3 somehow did it best.
It could be the threat of game-ending peril or the think-on-your-feet flexibility of correcting your mistakes, or it could be the attachment I made to my squad of wasteland wanderers. All I know is that I felt that familiar itch scratched for a bit.
Divinity: Original Sin II
Baldur’s Gate 3 is arguably the better game, but Larian got me on the hook for its flavor of RPG goodness with the Divinity: Original Sin games. As with Wasteland 3, there are elements of original Sin II that remind me of the things I love about XCOM, and the combat was certainly a big part of that. But it also had a great story with wonderfully-written characters.
cRPGs haven’t been my favorite kind, as I missed a lot of the original wave, so hats off to Larian for not only making me care about them, but producing some of the best modern examples of the sub-genre.
Stardew Valley
Not every RPG needs to be a heart-wrenching epic about star bastards clashing in cataclysmic battles for our collective fate. Sometimes, it’s just as lovely to tend to your farm, pick up some seashells, woo the locals, and bludgeon bugs in an abandoned mine.
Stardew Valley is the perfect example of a retro-inspired game that subtly blends modern touches. Eric Barone’s sublime indie RPG life sim feels timeless and time-swallowing.
So that’s a taste of what I like. Here’s to discovering new favorites!
