The Best RPG Video Games

The first computer RPG made its debut in 1974. Since then, this genre has produced many titles such as The Elder Scrolls series, The Baldur's Gate series, Diablo 1 & 2, just to name a few. And some of these role-playing games have made a big impact not only for this genre but also for the gaming industry. The important elements that makes a great RPG includes character development, themes, navigation, quest structure, encounters and combat. Here's a list of the Best RPG Video Games.

[greed]

laame!!!!!

[cloud360]

Am not even gonna check it. i bet FFVII is #1

[urban bohemian]

Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star, Vagrant Story, Kingdom Hearts, & The highest selling RPG in Japan - Dragon Quest etc etc.

Nice to see a rpg related one and one with Fallout on it too. Anyone read Edge's top 100 video games a couple of months back? That was a great magazine.

Disappointing they didn't split up the final fantasys separately.

[cartman313]

Don't forget Shining Force! I would beat that one, replay it using different characters over and over and over. God it was fun.

[Vagrant_1]

That list blows lol FF @ # 12 give me a break most of those are western which clearly are not the best kinds of rpg's imo

Sorry Cloud360 that list is mostly made up of action rpg's meh not that they arent good but....

[Saint Sony]

Poor kid, I bet he has never even seen Ultima serie from 1-7, nor Akalabeth which started the whole graphical RPG genre in PC.

[REbirth]

LOOOL..i thought zelda was an adventure game!! what a shame

and fable on no. 7? comon the game only has 25 to 30 hours to play...i have it and i don't like it!

they forgot that FF is the bigest franshise on rpg history...and always received great scores (only XI don't)

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines? yeah right...lame! KOTOR2 was a hype and an awful experience with the same graphics of the first why it is in no 4? when they made the top they don't even questioned what the games were in their time!

nothing more to say...by the way lair should be on top too:P

[grayfox_2k]

what a friggin lame list! they've even put the FF series just to shut the fans up!
poster haven't played much JRPGs so he can kiss my natural black behind!

[peksi]

Diablos were not RPGs, they were action titles.

[REbirth]

but nop...diablo was one the the greatest RPGs i've ever played

[REbirth]

"VTMB was actually a really good game and entertaining. It would've been a lot better without the numerous bugs and glitches"

if the game has so much of that why it is in top 10? laaame...and why dungeon siege is in the list and WoW don't? lool

[WilliamRLBaker]

that list is 100% correct...

[sumfood4u]

No one in their right mind would agree with this list. I didn't see Suikoden 2, or Final Fantasy 7. Also Zelda should of been way past Knight of the old Republic, not the other way round. lol.

[RadientFlux]

Good list I they did leave out the best RPG of all (imo) Planescape Torment and before haters start attacking the list. This is someone's opinion and should be treated as such.

[Zevious]

I get the impression that the person here is relating a list rather than speaking from personal experience. Since there are a lot of great rpg's that I have not played, I will make my own list of game/series that I have personally played. Here goes:

10. Gold Box D&D series from SSI
9. Diablo
8. Legend of Zelda (I know, more of an action series than rpg but it has been a favorite of mine since the first cartridge)
7. Fallout 1-2
6. neverwinter Nights
5. The Elder Scrolls series (have not played TES2 however)
4. The Bard's Tale 1-3
3. Might & Magic 1-5 (the quality really drops off after this)
2. Wizardry 1-8 (especially 6-8)
1. Wasteland- while I have played other games in other series more (8 time for Pool of Radiance, 5-6 for Wizardry 7 and 8, you get the idea) this is my all time favorite rpg for any platform. While I eagerly wait for Fallout 3, if someone did an update of Wasteland I'd buy it in a hurry.

[ParaDise_LosT]

people

[synetic]

wild arms >__< the best

[spammy_nooo]

what gets me is that he said there are currently 12 final fantasy titles. WRONG!

final fantasy I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII,VIII,IX,X ,X-2,11,12,Tactics, Dirge of Cerberus, and probably more that i cant think of right now.

this guy hasnt played enough games to write an article like this.

[Darrius Cole]

Errr....perhaps I am a bit older than the rest of you guys. But isn't Myst considered on of the best games of all time.

[junk56]

so apparantely Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts, System Shock 2, Zelda (its not even an rpg man) are ALL worse than fable and some lame vampire game.

seriously, fable? that was some crap game that doesnt even compare to KOTOR or Oblivion.

this guy doesnt know his rpgs

[khellendros1]

Ok, the Final Fantasy series is 12. Is this guy on crack? And where the hell is Dragon Quest?Oh, and Deux Ex is NOT a RPG. It's a FPS with role-playing elements. Zelda's not either.

[Rooftrellen]

Skies of Arcadia is like RPGs in 10 years, seriously. No game, to my knowledge, ever gave you more options of what to say in a single player game. In the future, mark my words, all RPGs will be like that and will heavily influance the rest of the game, not just give you a different title.

I can say the same about the discoveries. I would imagine RPGs in the future will have some very well hidden things, but they'll do more than give you a little extra cash.

I have nothing against any of the games on there, but Zelda is misplaced, and it really misses some of the classics, so it seems like it was made by someone who has only been playing games for 7-10 years.

[thorstein]

Let us not forget the amazing Shadowrun for SNES and Genesis.
Ummm...Icewind Dale II and I anybody?
Ultima IV for the C64. Ah, the music.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? The Text Adventure.
ALL DQuests/Warriors
I could have named many others that would hands down beat all those titles.