NGP's Top 5 RPGs of All Time

NGP's Top 5 RPGs of All Time

In the wake of Dragon Age Inquisition releasing in a couple days I have decided to compile a list of top RPGs (in my mind) that have stood out against the rest. I have spent hours of my life (and in some cases hundreds of hours) on each one of these games and I plan on spending hours more in future RPGs to come. In my mind it is the best genre in gaming and everyone knows it. There isn't a game out today that hasn't taken inspiration from some facet of these games. Just looking at the new Call of Duty you can see signs of RPG influence in their supply crate system (loot drops) and in their progression system (classic RPG level system). With every new game out, the list of great RPGs just grows and gets more diverse and exciting. Given that growth lets take a look at this genre at its best. Here is my list of Top 5 RPGs of All Time.

5.) Mass Effect (2007 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC)



When this game released it was a brand new take on the RPG genre. Most other RPG games took place in some sort of medieval-esque location with swords and shields and pitted you against dragons or some kind of skeletal archers. This game however took you into deep space and allowed you to explore different planets with a crew of your choosing. I think what makes Mass Effect stand out the most is the choices it gave you. Right from the intro of the game you selected what your character looks like, his or her background and upbringing, and what kind of powers and weapons they were best at using. Not only did it give you these initial choices but as the game progressed you made many more choices that shaped how the story plays out. In the dialogue wheel, a system that developer BioWare has now perfected and uses in all their games, you could even choose what you character says in every conversation. If you wanted to be a hardhearted bastard then so be it, just be careful of the ramifications of those choices.

4.) Dragon Age Origins (2009 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC)



I can't talk about Dragon Age Inquisition without mentioning the game that started the entire series. Origins was a game that further developed the dialogue wheel started by BioWare in Mass Effect and allowed you to make many choices but on a whole different level. In Mass Effect you choice to play good, evil, or somewhere in-between didn't have a huge sway over how the main plot of the game would turn out. In Dragon Age Origins however your choices meant life or death for characters and plot lines in the game. DAO also put a small spin on the typical hack n' slash gameplay of RPGs and added a more tactical system to take on foes. At any time during combat you could pause the action and go into a top down battlefield perspective and issue orders to each one of your followers and then play out the action in real time. That combined with one of the best fantasy stories of all time is why this game makes the list.

3.) Diablo 3 (2012 - PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)



To me this game is not great because of its story or combat but because of the loot system and its easy to operate inventory. This game is constantly rewarding you with new loot like sweet weapons that do more damage to your foes or a new piece of armor that protects you from foes doing damage to you. Nothing gets my heart racing more than when, from out of a pile of loot, comes a bright orange beam of light indicating a legendary loot drop. I drop everything I'm doing and rush to the inventory screen to check out the stats on the new gear and often find it is miles better then what I have equipped already. It's like Christmas but you get to experience that feeling in this game every time you see loot drop from an enemy.

2.) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC)



This game is massive. I have spent well over 300 hours with 3 different characters traveling the lands of Skyrim and I still find new areas that I have never laid eyes on before. The map itself consists of over 15 square miles of terrain to explore and with a side quest system that dynamically creates new missions infinitely this game really never ends. The skill tree is incredibly expansive too. If you want to create a character who is good with two-handed swords but is also good with alchemy you can. If you want to create an archer who knows a few destruction spells you can. You are not pigeon-holed into the typical warrior, mage, rogue classes and then stuck with that class for the entirety of the game. This is one of those games that when they say it's a sandbox they really mean it.

1.) Fallout 3 (2008 - Xbox 360, PS3, PC)



No surprise that the #1 and #2 spots are occupied by games developed by Bethesda Softworks. When it comes to RPGs Bethesda is far beyond their competition in creating expansive sandbox environments. In Fallout 3 we see one of the best environments coming together with one of the best main story lines in what is not only the best RPG but quite possibly the best video-game of all time. Fallout 3 introduced us to the wasteland of post-apocalypse Washington D.C. You start off as a child and a survivor of the apocalypse by way of living in a sealed vault underground. Unfortunate circumstances find you having to flee the vault in your late teens to start life venturing and exploring the wastes to find your father. One of the things that sets this game apart is a system Bethesda added to the game's combat called V.A.T.S. (or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). This allowed you to pause the combat and focus directly onto an enemy and aim at specific parts of their body. It would also give you a stat that would show what your percentage likely-hood of hitting that particular spot on the enemy would be. Bethesda also came up with a system of "perks" that went along with leveling up. So now when you level up your character not only are you spending earned skill points on various talents you also get to pick a perk. Perks gave you additional boosts that could not be attained by normally leveling up with skill points. For example there was the Pyromaniac perk which gave you +50% damage with fire weapons or my favorite called Bloody Mess which gave you +5% overall damage and more violent death animations (usually foes exploding into a mess of body parts). With all of these things combined into one epic game it's no wonder why Fallout 3 is considered to be one of the best games of all time.

-Demo