The Top 10 Western RPG's Of All Time

Gamefaqs writes.... If there is one constant in the gaming world it's that nerds love RPG's. Whether it's 5 guys sitting around a table dressed as elves and eating Frito's or one kid grinding for 2 hours to beat that "impossible" boss fight RPG's have had a large place in the lives of people without lives. Within the past 15 years or so, however, RPG's have gotten mainstream acceptance. No, beyond acceptance, mainstream desire. They've become some of the highest rated and best selling games of all time. And it's all thanks to a little series called Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy brought RPG's out of the basement and into the living room.

[Bnet343]

Glad to see KOTOR 1 and Mass Effect. My two favorite WRPG's.

[Jpinter]

Most of those titles were by Bioware or Bethesda. Funny.

[kaveti6616]

Kotor is my favorite game of all time. Such a vast story with many satisfying side-quests and interesting characters. I cannot believe that Bioware let Obsidian make the sequel. I'm still waiting on Kotor 3.

[Poopface the 2nd]

DEUS EX is my favorite(RPG) ever.

The only game I liked as much was HL1 but taht isnt an RPG.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Weak.

Where's Planescape Torment?

[Pebz]

Played all those games except Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and while I definetly agree that most belong on a great games list, the lack of Planescape Torment is dissapointing to me, that game should be right up there with Baldur's Gate II for 1st place.

Gothic 1 and 2 (not 3) should also definetly be on the list, the open world exploration and faction system in those games is just awesome.

But well, such lists are always subjective.

[AnttiApina]

I think Deus Ex should be higher. But yeah, great choices!

[gaffyh]

Deus Ex should be near the top, that game is awesome, much better than Mass Effect imo.

[MagicAccent]

Good list. I kinda figured it'd be monstly BioWare stuff with Baldurs Gate 2 on top^^

Although, I didn't think Mass Effect was 'that' great.

[TheDude2dot0]

What does the author have against Mission? Her sneak attack ability made her the most useful and powerful character in the game.

[dktxx2]

Id say Fable 2 over the first one.

[-Mezzo-]

Completely agree with every game on the list. boy did i loved Deus Ex.

[Saaking]

Can't wait to play Mass Effect on my PS3.

[Stryfeno2]

Of course you can't wait...There are no good western RPGs on the PS3.

Edit: @ below...Droids are begging to taste what we have been playing months ago. If I only own a PS3, I would be begging EA and Bioware too.

[SlumTheoRy]

Has a PS3 version of Mass Effect been announced yet?

[skeletonss]

announced?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Let em dream all they have is Killzone 2

[-Mezzo-]

All we have is Killzone 2. lets see.

Killzone 2.
MGS 4.
Heavy Rain.
Uncharted, Drake's Fortune.
Heavenly Sword.
God OF War III
Uncharted 2.
InFAMOUS
AGENT
Fat Princess
Quantum Theory
Yakuza 3
Valkyria Chronicles
Resistance.
Resisitance 2
Ratchet & Clank 2 games.
Siren Blood Curse.

You want more coz i've still got more.

[Saaking]

I never played the original Fable, but Fable 2 is awesome (still haven't finished it). Mass Effect is also great.

[Honolulu]

Where is Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1 + 2 and Arcanum on that list? Seriously

[Odion]

just what I was about to say.

He has Fallout 3, but no Fallout 1
No Ultima 3
No Planescape
No Barbs tale
No System Shock
No IceWind Dale

[SixTwoTwo]

Its definitely a joke list. Probably made by someone too young to remember all those great WRPG's from the 90's.

[SmokeBRK]

apparently none of these games came out on ps3...

[lord_of_balrogs]

Fallout 3?

[r2kcipher]

Everyone seems to love Mass Effect on this site. I cant find it in the stores so I guess I'll be using Steam.

EDIT: oops wrong comment but, since I am here. they came out on the pc, ps2, xbox, and 360/ps3 I don't think any are exclusive except a few on the pc.

[SixTwoTwo]

your point is?

[QuantumWake]

I found Dues Ex to be the greatest WRPG ever made. KOTOR 1 was an amazing game that was very well crafted. Mass Effect was the best WRPG I ever played this gen, One of the best storylines I have ever seen. Mass Effect is a true masterpiece. Fallout 3 was by far my most longest lasting game. I still play it everyday because of Bethesda's awesome support for it.

WRPG's FTW!

[swiftshot93]

I think fallout should be higher on list. Love that game.

[Darrius Cole]

Soooooo......Elder Scrolls IV wasn't good enough to make his list, huh. Yet both Mass Effect and Fallout 3 were.

[swiftshot93]

Oblivion was amazing. But dude, who are we kidding? F3 and ME are better games than Oblivion.Just a testament to how great ME and Fallout are.

[Darrius Cole]

I Disagree!

How should I put it,???? The setting if Fallout 3 was an awful time to be alive, and made me feel awful, which flies in the face of what I look for in an RPG. Not that the game wasn't well written, it just reeked of wretchedness, and I couldn't get over that.

Said another way,............

If I woke up tomorrow and the real world was Fallout 3, I would think, man I'm screwed.

If I woke up tomorrow and the real world was Oblivion, I would think this isn't that bad.

If I woke up tomorrow and the real world was Mass Effect, I would think this cool I get to go live in outer space and see real live aliens.

If I woke up tomorrow and the real world was KOTOR, I would think this is great, let me find a Jedi Master to study under.

[SixTwoTwo]

Morrowind > Oblivion

[Bigpappy]

Morrowind is my favorite game of all time. That game had complete freedom: allowed you to enchant every thing, fix your own weapons, steal what ever, kill anyone, go anywhere. All the side quest were better than the main quest in many games. Fallout3 is based more on Morrowind than it was on Oblivion, Oblivion gave you everything. Too much hand holding for and RPG.

[Odion]

Fallout 1 thought blows Fallout 3 out of the water

[havikzero]

I really think that is nostalgia talking to you. I recently bought fallout 1 and played through it for the first time. While it is still a good game by today's standards, Fallout 3 is superior in almost every way. I like Fallout 1's difficulty, the much better balance of s.p.e.c.i.a.l. skills, random encounter(which can be added to Fallout 3 with a mod), and the ability to have more than one follower at a time(a terrible omission by bethesda.) But I still think Fallout 3 is a much more immersive and engaging experience. The sidequests are much better also in Fallout 3.

[SixTwoTwo]

I enjoyed FO3 but it doesn't come close to the originals imo.

[Fromage]

the very definition of which seems to be this article. Look, drool over Fallout 3 all you want, but don't write lists with imperious statements like, "I can say with 100% certainty that Fallout 3 proved every single one of the naysayers completely wrong. They might not admit it, but it's true."

Well, I suppose my disagreement then is just bitter and useless. I might as well change my opinion of a game, since your opinion is so obviously and unquestionably true.

Stop writing things like this! It's obnoxious! You got the game you wanted, clearly, while we that wanted a game cleaved closer to the originals were disappointed...isn't that enough? Or do you really need to reduce our argument to, "It's not the original games! WAHHHH!" to make yourself feel better?

I liked Fallout 3. I just liked Fallout 1 and 2 better. They are very, very different kinds of games, and I was kinda hoping for at least a little commonality between the gamestyles. Instead, we got a game that is almost an exact mirror of Oblivion with a veneer of the Fallout 3 license over it. That's all...I wasn't simply, "hating a game so passionately without ever having played it." I looked at what the developers were offering once they came public, and it disappointed me.

So, yeah, I don't know what Fallout 3 detractor killed your dog, man, but you got to let it go.

And to havikzero, I don't think we can disprove nostalgia as having an effect...but it's hardly a decisive element. We are talking about one game that is a tactical, isometric turn-based RPG and another that is a FPS with minor RPG elements. I actually like both these genres, but I wouldn't try to directly compare a game from each...it's like apples and oranges.

[havikzero]

You are correct to say that the two games cannot be directly compared efficiently. I was just really annoyed by Odion's post.

btw I hope Fallout New Vegas combines the strengths of both Fallout 1&2 and Fallout 3. Since it is being made by ex members of Black Isles.

[skeletonss]

keep me more than happy.

[ricardo45]

You missed out on one of the greatest rpg games this gen

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

The forgot Diablo, well I think Diablo is western but I'm not sure.

[ricardo45]

Diablo was made by Blizzard so it is Western

[DeNOOBinator]

Deus Ex should be #1. Best game I have ever played.

[MK_Red]

Wow, seriously, Fallout 3!? It's crap compared to Fallout 1 or 2. Where the **** is Planescape Torment?

[Javier19]

No oblivion, no Fable II, this list fails.

[Kamikaze8]

No Oblivion? Glad to see Morrowind made it, but I thought Morrowind deserved a top 10. Deus Ex and Mass Effect definitely deserved it.

[laved]

Greatest RPG of all time is Baldur's Gate 2.

[rjackson1]

This list sucks.

[led1090]

fallout 3>>mass effect

[led1090]

and i dont get the deal with ME....i mean it had some fantastic moments....but i really hated the exploration parts cause the basic environments and bases on the other planets were the same only few things were actually different and it was a major part of the game....the story quests were awesome though especially the end....but it cannot compare to something like the paradise level in fallout 3 that was just plain legendary....
and as far as oblivion goes....i'd like to say that i've never played morrowind or any of the elders scroll games....but as a game...for the content it offered oblivion was awesome and these are the only things that should decide how good a game is....

[likedamaster]

...although I would have added Oblivion & switched out Fable 1 with 2.

[Numark]

Bethesda and Bioware are 2 of my favorite devs.

[Eric Cartman]

West has no RPGs, it's all an illusion.

These are shooters and stuff.

[keysy420]

come on that game sucks

[keysy420]

m$ f1ckd up jrpg's so far this gen

[Lets-Game]

lol no diablo = list fail.

and fallout 1-2 were miles better than 3rd one. Feels like some 16years old wrote this garbage.

the only 3 games that deserve place on that list are morrowind, deus x and baldur's gate.