If there’s one thing you can expect to find inside an AAA RPG, it’s the presence of a massively sized world filled with intricate details and characters that make the place feel truly alive. And with how many great examples of RPGs done right we’ve seen over the decades, I’ll admit that it was a bit hard to zero down on just 15 games to feature on this list, but I’m confident that you’ll be satisfied with the selection of both recent and classic gems of the RPG genre that’s present for this list. So why waste any more time talking about it, when we can just get right into today’s article instead? An article which we’ll be kicking off with…
#15: Horizon Forbidden West (PS4/PS5)
Horizon Forbidden West - Story Trailer
The world of Horizon Forbidden West takes place in a post-apocalypse 31st-century America, where humanity has been reduced to primitive tribes with varying levels of technological development scattered across the country, and large, robotic creatures of different shapes and sizes known simply as the “Machines” dominate the Earth. Launched in early 2022, Forbidden West is a sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn and continues the story of Aloy, a young hunter from the mountain-dwelling Nora tribe who at a young age discovered an old-world augmented reality device that gives her special precognitive abilities and allows her to connect and use other pieces of abandoned scattered around the world. In the six months after the events of the first game, Aloy has been searching desperately for a working backup of GAIA, an artificial intelligence program that was developed in the leadup to the event that nearly wiped out humanity, to help restore the planet’s degrading biosphere, a search which eventually leads Aloy and a few allies to the frontier region known as the “Forbidden West”, where a mysterious plague is killing everyone it infects and a growing occurrence of massive storms threatens the entire region.
While the previous game primarily took place in the region of what used to be the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, Horizon Forbidden West takes Aloy and the player into the titular Forbidden West region, which stretches from the edge of Utah all the way to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, an uncharted region filled with mystery and danger, as well as all-new secrets, dangerous machines, and even mysterious tribes of humans to discover. Dangerous enemies both old and new, man and machine alike, will stand in Aloy’s path as she ventures across the expansive landscape in search of the source of the mysterious plague that has been wreaking havoc across the human population, a quest that will also put her in the heart of massive storms that are ravaging the area and killing off natural flora and fauna on top of the human settlers. On top of new enemies, the Forbidden West features a vast array of environments and ecosystems to explore, including lush valleys, dry deserts, snowy mountains, tropical beaches, ruined cities, and underwater settings.
On top of new tribes of human settlers across the Forbidden West, Aloy will also encounter over 40 different kinds of Machines, the large-scale robotic organisms that now rule the Earth, 22 of which are entirely new entities that can either be fought or controlled. Along with new enemies, Aloy also has a range of new equipment and abilities to use when traversing the much larger world of Forbidden West, which includes new underwater swimming sections that allow you to discover the mysteries beneath the surfaces of lakes, rivers, and seas, with exploration also includes improved freeform climbing and the ability to ride flying machines. When you’re in combat against either the machines or enemy humans riding them, Aloy can now find and upgrade new equipment options at workbenches to improve her arsenal, along with upgrading certain outfits that now provide outfit-specific bonuses, along with a handful of other new tools such as the Shieldwing, Focus Scanner, Diving Mask, and Pullcaster.
The Horizon games have been some of my favorite recent releases in the past five-ish years due to the characters and how they interact with the world, its unique worldbuilding and setting, and of course, because the premise of “you fight giant robot dinosaurs” alone is what makes video games as a whole so great. For our PC users out there, you’re going to have to wait until either the first or second quarter of 2024 for the Steam release of Forbidden West, but for those reading who already have either a PlayStation 4 or 5, I recommend that you go and give either Horizon games a try as soon as you can, as there are few RPGs out there with a setting, story, and gameplay experience that’s quite like Horizon Forbidden West. And, again… giant robot dinosaurs are just too cool to ignore, am I right or am I right?
Aloy’s search for the source of a mysterious and deadly plague and a way to stop the new deadly storms that threaten the very ecosystem of the world leads her to the equally deadly and mysterious frontier known only as the “Forbidden West”.
#14: Assassin's Creed Mirage (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S)
Assassin's Creed Mirage: Launch Trailer
Released on October 3rd earlier this year, Assassin’s Creed Mirage steps up as the most recently released game on this list and takes fans back into the world of the long-running Assassin’s Creed franchise. In the series’ thirteenth mainline installment, players are taken to 9th-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, particularly during the Anarchy at Samarra period, where we follow the story of Basim Ibn Ishaq as he goes from a simple street thief trying to survive to a full-fledged member of the Hidden Ones, an order of assassins who wage an eternal fight for peace and liberty against the Order of the Ancients, who only desire “peace” through control. And while Basim wishes to fulfill his duties and remain loyal to the Hidden Ones, he also struggles with nightmarish visions that pull his focus and desire toward uncovering the truth of the past he can’t remember at any cost.
Though the RPG elements that were introduced in more recent entries into the series, such as Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, are still present in this title, Mirage puts them a bit on the backseat in favor of returning to the series’ roots by bringing back a focus on stealth elements, parkouring around the map, and assassination missions that feature the “Black Box” design from Unity and Syndicate, where players will have to explore the environments around them for different ways to locate and assassinate their targets. The game also gives you an arsenal of useful Assassin’s weapons to use across your playthrough, including the staple assassin’s hidden wrist blade, along with items like smoke bombs, throwing knives, poison darts, and other useful tools. You will also be able to utilize Basim’s avian companion Enkidu, an eastern imperial eagle that can scout nearby areas to locate enemies for you. However, unlike previous games, the enemies will try to shoot down your Enkidu with arrows, on top of a new feature debuting in this game called “Assassin Focus”, which when used allows the player to freeze time and then select up to five enemies to be automatically killed by Basim in rapid succession.
The world of Mirage is smaller than in the past few Assassin’s Creed games to further get back to what made the series so successful originally and gives you the entirety of Baghdad and its surrounding areas to explore. These areas include the four main districts of the city of Baghdad, consisting of the Round City, Karkh, Abbasiyah with its House of Wisdom, and Harbiyah, along with several smaller towns like Anbar around the city outskirts which can also be parkoured across, at your leisure. In certain story missions, you can even visit Alamut, the fortress headquarters of the Hidden Ones where Basim was initially trained.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage offers plenty of features that will attract both old and new fans of the series alike, including its all-new story that ties into the overarching themes of the franchise and refined gameplay for both combat and parkour movements. Like any other game in the series, Mirage does a brilliant job of immersing its players in the historical setting that the current title places them in, and combines that historical immersion with its fantastical twists and turns that make each of these games memorable in their own way. So if you’ve played even one of the Assassin’s Creed games before this one, whether it’s one of the more recent titles or one of the originals, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is proving itself to be a worthy next step in the direction of the franchise and then some.
During the Islamic Golden Age in the city of Baghdad, Basim Ibn Ishaq struggles to balance his duties as a member of the Order of Assassins known as Hidden Ones, and his desire to uncover the truth behind his mysterious past and the nightmarish visions he’s been having since childhood.
#13: Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Announcement Trailer
Yakuza: Like A Dragon puts players in the shoes of Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, who takes the fall for a murder he didn’t commit for the sake of the family, and loyally serves out his 18-year sentence in prison, only to eventually return to society and discover that nobody is waiting for him, unlike how he was promised those 18 long years ago. His pursuit for answers leads him to discover that his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most, who betrays him once again by shooting him and leaving him for dead. But Ichiban narrowly avoids death and sets out to discover the truth behind his family’s betrayal and to take his life back, and along the way he will draw in a ragtag group of society’s outcasts, much like himself, to join him at his side as they’re drawn into a conflict that will force them to rise up as the heroes they never expected to be.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the 8th mainline entry into the Yakuza series, but the first game to step away from the real-time beat ‘em up mechanics of the previous games and instead implement a real-time turn-based RPG fighting system, where Ichiban will fight alongside his main allies, Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission, against a wide variety of enemy types with their own unique battle styles. The main heroes can switch between 19 “Jobs” that work as the character class system in-game, which range from Bodyguard to Musician and can give you new ways to attack your enemies alongside using the environment of the world around you to your advantage, which includes throwing enemies into nearby walls or kicking interactable objects into enemies while walking past said object. Additionally, you can use your smartphone to summon “Poundmates”, a cast of characters ranging from misunderstood meat butchers to literal cats that can be summoned mid-battle to do some extra damage to your enemies.
Though the combat gameplay of Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a step in a vastly different direction for the series, that same Yakuza charm that bleeds into its dramatic overarching story, its humorous side-stories, and its wide variety of mini-games like gambling to karaoke is still very much present. If you haven’t played any Yakuza games before, Like A Dragon is a good jumping-on point if you want to experience the rising up of a new slew of characters, though there will still be plenty of familiar faces from across the games that will hook you into wanting to play the old games for yourself. But whichever of these many games you decide to play first, I can assure you that the Yakuza franchise as a whole, which includes Like A Dragon, will not leave fans of over-the-top crime dramas disappointed in the slightest.
After being betrayed by the man he respected most and sacrificed 18 years of his life for, Ichiban Kasuga begins a quest alongside his newfound friends to take back his life and become the hero he always wanted to be.
#12: Starfield (PC/Xbox Series X/S)
Starfield Official Gameplay Trailer
Another more recent release on this list, we now turn our attention towards Starfield, the latest release to come from RPG-making giant Bethesda Game Studios, where players are flung headlong into the expansive void of space and left to explore it to their heart's content. Starfield is the first original universe created by Bethesda in over 25 years and puts players in the distant year 2330 A.D., where humanity has ventured far beyond the limits of our humble little solar system, settling entire cities on all-new planets and living as a space-faring species. From your relatively humble beginnings, you the player will soon join Constellation, the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy, and ultimately set off on an adventure across the expanse of space, exploring the galaxy however you want, wherever you want.
The first and most important thing you’ll do when you begin a new game in Starfield is create your custom character, where you will not only be able to alter your character’s appearance but also edit their background and traits, with each of the 21 available backgrounds offering three starting traits for your character. Backgrounds include the Cyber Runner background that gives boosts to Stealth, Security, and Theft skills, while the Explorer background gives you boosts to the Lasers, Astrodynamics, and Surveying skills, with other backgrounds including being an Industrialist, a Diplomat, a Long Hauler, or even a humble Chef. You can also select, and even unlock at certain points, character traits that can have both positive and negative effects on your character during the game, which include the Neon Street Rat trait that gives you bonus dialog options and rewards when on the planet Neon, and the Kid Stuff strait where both your parents are alive and you can visit them, but you send them 2% of your earnings every week.
Starfield is packed to the brim with everything you’d expect from a Bethesda game and then some, as the open-world concept has been massively expanded upon by giving players over 1000 planets, moons, and other celestial bodies to explore how they like, where they can meet and potentially recruit companions from a memorable cast of characters across the galaxy, along with various factions that you can encounter and even become a part of. But if you’re going to explore the cosmos you need to do so in style, which is why Starfield also gives you the ability to build and customize your very own spaceship out of a vast list of ship pieces, which you can position and modify however you want, which includes the defensive and offensive systems of your ship and other critical systems, on top of altering its appearance. Across the galaxy of Starfield, not only will you be able to explore alien worlds and discover new types of flora, fauna, and potentially alien life forms, but you will also get into dramatic shootouts that span both the ground and the vacuum of space, along with hundreds of new experiences waiting around every corner, where the only thing stopping you from discovering the secrets of the universe are your own choices.
Starfield has virtually everything that any RPG fan could want, from open-world exploration taken to an all-new scale to more down-to-earth moments of bonding between you and your companions. That, of course, and plenty of opportunities for explosive shootouts that take place either in abandoned mining facilities on a forgotten moon or across the stars as you get into fast-paced dogfights with enemy spaceships. If you’ve been a fan of Bethesda games in the past, you should be able to at least partially know what Starfield has in store for you, while still managing to leave plenty of wiggle room to leave you pleasantly surprised with the vast universe that’s just waiting for you to explore it.
Decide who you will be and what you will become as you explore the galaxy in pursuit of the last remaining mysteries of our universe in Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game yet.
#11: Middle-earth: Shadow of War (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Official Shadow of War Story Trailer | 4K
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a spinoff of the original storyline from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, where players take control of Talion, a ranger from Gondor who was brought back from the dead after he and his family were slaughtered by the forces of Sauron when he became infused with the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor, the creator of the Rings of Power. After the events of the first game, Talion and Celebrimbor travel to Mount Doom where they forge a new Ring of Power that is free from Sauron’s corruption and will allow them the ability to control the minds of Sauron’s army of Orcs. With this power, Talion and Celebrimbor set out across the harsh lands of Mordor to slowly grow their armies, turning Sauron’s army into servants of the “Bright Lord” to fuel their ultimate goal of finally destroying Sauron once and for all… or at least that’s what the goal seems to be.
Though Shadow of War has more traditional RPG aspects like exploring a massive open-world setting and finding every little secret it has to offer, and the occasional interaction with other non-enemy characters where your choices can affect the course of their lives, what really makes Shadow of War stand out among other games is its expanded Nemesis System, where certain orcs, along with the new Olog-hai or War Troll enemies, can go from generic cannon fodder enemies to high-ranking and vastly more powerful enemies after achieving certain feats that the games track, which includes defeating other powerful orcs in random encounters, surviving an encounter with Talion, and especially killing Talion themselves which will give a massive boost to their status and strength. The Uruks of Mordor come in many forms, from the lowly grunts and worms to the powerful captains and war chiefs, and even the overlords in charge of entire castles and war camps, each of which can be part of one of the game’s tribes, such as the Warmonger Tribe or the Terror Tribe, and each of which can be recruited into your army using your Ring of Power, and then subsequently upgraded through your own army’s ranks so you can use their strengths to your advantage instead of having to face them in battle.
Shadow of War is one of my sleeper favorites on this list, both because of the use of the legendary Middle-earth setting, and because of the way it takes full advantage of the innovative Nemesis System to make for open-world combat like no other. Whether you’ve played Shadow of Mordor or not, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a gameplay experience that is well worth your time if you want a truly unique take on the familiar action-adventure formula that will leave you wanting more every time you play it. And if I haven’t sold you on it enough, did I mention that you’ll even be able to fight a Balrog?
Talion and Celebrimbor continue their quest for revenge against the Dark Lord Sauron by using their newly forged Ring of Power to control the minds of Sauron’s Uruks, turning them against the Dark Lord and now leading them across Mordor in the name of the Bright Lord.
#10: Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition Official Reveal Trailer (4K)
Relive the legend of Commander Shepard, the one person who stands between humanity and the greatest threat it’s ever faced, in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. You’re going to get a pretty big bang for your buck with #10 on this list, as Mass Effect: Legendary edition doesn’t only include the original Mass Effect game, but it also includes Mass Effect 2 and 3, along with over 40 DLC packs from across the three games, all of which has been remastered and optimized for 4K Ultra HD Graphics. From enhanced and even entirely rebuilt textures, more detailed 3D character models, and dozens of other little improvements across the games, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition brings back this fan-favorite series in full force, and only continues to build upon its legacy as an amazing RPG trilogy.
Though certain gameplay elements have been updated alongside the graphical improvements, such as a few boss fights being updated to feel less frustrating to play, the overall story of the Mass Effect trilogy remains untouched and continues to remain the same as it was when long-time fans first fell in love with the world and characters of Mass Effect. Each game in the trilogy puts an extensive focus on its interactive story elements just as well as its heart-pounding combat gameplay, as each decision you make will control the outcome of the path ahead, from every mission you undertake, every relationship you make, and every battle you fight. Whether the choice is what you want to say to another character, what tactics you choose in a battle, or even what member of your crew you end up falling in love with, each decision you make seamlessly travels from one game to the next, shaping the legend of Commander Shepard, and more importantly, changing the very fate of the galaxy itself with every step you take.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a fitting name for this legendary trilogy of games, and that’s even without taking all the high-quality graphical upgrades into account. If you haven’t played a Mass Effect game before, then this upcoming holiday season will be the perfect time for you to get your hands on three amazing games at a dirt-cheap price for what you’ll be getting. But even if you can’t wait for a Steam sale or anything like that, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is sold at $59.99 at full price, which means that you’ll be getting three entire full-length games plus each DLC package for each game, all remastered with stunning new graphics and details as well, for the cost of what typically would be just one major AAA release nowadays. And if that’s not a great value, then I don’t know what is.
Take control of Commander Shepard as he leads his crew, humanity, and the galactic community as a whole against the dawning threat of the genocidal Reapers in this remastered 4K Ultra HD collection of the Mass Effect Trilogy.
#9: Fallout: New Vegas (PC/PS3/Xbox 360)
Fallout: New Vegas Trailer - E3 2010
In Fallout: New Vegas, the year 2281, 204 years after the Great War OF 2077 that saw the Earth reduced to ash in the fires of nuclear war, you are a courier for the Mojave Express postal service who, when in the middle of delivering a Platinum Poker Chip, is captured by a gang of raiders and a man in a checkered suit who subsequently who steal the Platinum Chip before shooting you in the head and leaving you in a shallow grave. Luckily for you, you manage to survive and are fixed up by the local doctor in the town of Goodsprings, who acts as the game’s character creator. Once you finish customizing your character’s appearance, editing their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute trees, and choosing optional beginning character traits, you are let loose into the Mojave Wasteland and are free to go anywhere, do anything, and of course, track down the man that shot you in the head and enact your revenge however you see fit.
Fallout: New Vegas is a prime example of an RPG that truly lets you be whatever kind of person you want to be, which is reflected by the in-game Karma system that is affected by nearly every choice you make in-game on a scale of choices that are either “Good” or “Evil”, which give or take away Karma points at various rates depending on the action. You can choose to go anywhere in the wasteland at any point you like, though your survival is never assured, just as you can accept and complete a large number of quests given by a large number of characters from across the Mojave, some of which are even part of certain Factions around the Mojave, the most important among them being the New California Republic who is trying to restore old-world governmental order to the wasteland, Caesar’s Legion, a massive army of slavers who indiscriminately murder and pillage however they see fit, and the more neutral city-state of New Vegas itself, which is ruled by a mysterious overseer known only as Mr. House. Your freedom of choice allows you to join and help whichever faction you want as they all vie for control of the Mojave. Alternatively, you could also destroy any faction you come across with extreme prejudice, as again, the choice is yours.
Whether you find yourself liberating a slave camp, delving into one of the many abandoned underground Vaults that are littered across the wasteland, or exploring any of the other hundreds of locations scattered across the Mojave wasteland, there will be plenty of interesting characters for you to meet and twice as many enemies, be they monstrous mutants or plain ol’ raiders, for you to shoot in the face. I’m sure it’s not a surprise to anyone that New Vegas, the game many consider to be the best in the entire Fallout series, is featured on this list in some capacity. Just like I’m sure it’s no surprise that I’m going to tell you, if you somehow haven’t played Fallout: New Vegas already, then you should do yourself the favor of picking up this expansive RPG as soon as you can, so you can pour as many hours as you can into this justifiably addicting piece of gaming excellence.
Step foot into the Mojave wasteland as you track down the man who shot you in the head, a simple quest for revenge that will ultimately lead to you determining the fate of New Vegas itself.
#8: Hogwarts Legacy (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S/Nintendo Switch)
Hogwarts Legacy - Official Reveal Trailer
An open-world action RPG like no other, Hogwarts Legacy transports the player into the Wizarding World made famous by the Harry Potter books and film franchise, and gives them the means to become the powerful witch or wizard they’ve always wanted to be. The story takes place back in the 1800s, and you are sent a letter by Professor Weasley that confirms you’ll now be attending the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a fifth-year student, a typically unusual circumstance after you recently discovered that you have a connection to a mysterious, ancient form of magic. This power of yours is said to be the key to an ancient secret, one that threatens the very stability of the wizarding world itself, which is why it quickly becomes your mission once you arrive at Hogwarts to discover the reasons behind the resurgence of this forgotten magic and to discover the identities of those who are trying to harness its power for malicious purposes.
Hogwarts Legacy lets you explore an intricately detailed and faithfully recreated Hogwarts castle when playing the game, along with dozens of side locations like the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade Village, and the Scottish Highlands for example, where you’ll be tasked first and foremost with completing your duties as a fifth-year student at Hogwarts, which includes learning new spells, brewing potions, and mastering combat abilities for the dangers you’ll inevitably face on your journey. You will unlock new areas to explore as you progress through the game’s plot, which includes both areas where you will face enemy wizards and magical creatures like massive and dangerous trolls alike, and also places like the Room of Requirement that allows you to freely customize its architecture and the objects located within it, which range from cosmetic items to crafting stations, which can be used as an alternate hang-out spot for your character outside of the unique common room associated with your House. And like any good RPG, you will also be able to build up relationships with certain fellow students around Hogwarts, some of whom will even join you as companions on your quests if your relationship with them builds high enough.
During your time at Hogwarts, you will learn new spells ranging from the simple Lumos spell to light your way to mastering your Ancient Magic to unleash devastating attacks, as well as meeting strange new faces, be they your professors or your future friends, and even learn how to tame magical beasts like Hippogriffs and Thestrals. I think it’s safe to say that Hogwarts Legacy has become a surprise favorite among the big-name AAA games released during 2023, a status the game earned through both the magically entertaining gameplay and the level of detail that was put into making the world of Hogwarts feel truly alive. Whether you’re a fan of the book series or the films, or you’re just looking for a standout RPG to invest in, the premise of Hogwarts Legacy is enough to draw in all types of fans, and the content within is more than enough to keep them there for quite a while.
After receiving a letter from Professor Weasley, you soon begin your journey to become the greatest witch or wizard you can be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a journey that could unravel the entire wizarding world itself if you aren’t careful.
#7: Monster Hunter: World (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Monster Hunter: World - Launch Trailer
Standing tall as a towering giant among the other AAA RPGs on this list, Monster Hunter: World throws players head-first into the role of a hunter in the “New World”, an untamed wilderness where incredibly dangerous and powerful monsters roam free, and where members of the Research Commission have been drawn to uncover new mysteries. If you hadn’t already guessed, your role as a hunter among the first wave of settlers in this New World is to either kill or capture certain monsters across this unpopulated continent, both to protect the members of the Commission back in their home base and to study the monsters that roam these lands. Monster Hunter: World allows players to enjoy the ultimate hunting experience as they use every weapon and tool at their disposal to travel across a variety of unique monster habitats, hunting down a variety of powerful monsters so you can use their materials to create even better weapons in armor, so you can, in turn, pursue even bigger and stronger monsters across the New World.
When starting a new game in Monster Hunter: World, while you can create a custom character that looks however you want, the typical RPG system of giving your character specific perks is not present. Instead, your character’s skills and attributes are determined by the equipment you’re using, including whatever weapon you’re using that’s selected from the series 14 class archetypes that range from long swords, bows, and very large hammers, which then further defines the types of combat moves and abilities the player can use and require you to think about what stats combine well between the various weapon and armor types in the game. Along with your weapons and armor, you also have access to specialized tools that can either give you bonuses in battle or help you traverse the world. And if you’re either alone or only playing with one other human player, your hunter will be joined in battle by a Palico, a species of sentient anthropomorphic cat-like creatures, who can equip weapons and armor in the same fashion as your hunter.
The central command base of the Research Commission is located in a region called Astera, which also acts as the central hub for buying and selling goods, managing your inventory, crafting new equipment, and of course accepting new quests. After accepting a quest, or choosing to simply go on an open-ended expedition instead, you are taken to one of the on-site base camps located across one of the six large regions that are available to explore, with each region being made up of numbered zones that, unlike previous games, you can seamlessly travel through without waiting for loading screens. These base camps allow you to both rest and acquire limited provisions to heal your character and to also cook meals that provide limited-time buffs in a new feature to World, which you’ll certainly need when traveling across the New World to hunt down some of the most dangerous creatures than this strange new continent is utterly infested with.
It’s not a “standard” RPG in most senses, but Monster Hunter: World still provides a phenomenal role-playing game experience that few other games can hope to achieve. Combined with its stunning visual landscape and engaging core gameplay loop, what also makes Monster Hunter: World a great example of an AAA RPG done right is the regular stream of updates that introduce new in-game events, monsters, and other fresh pieces of content that helps keep the player base invested. Whether you like to play alone or you want to play with friends in multiplayer co-op, Monster Hunter: World is a must-play for RPG fans who want to take on larger-than-life creatures and experience a world that’s as beautiful as it is dangerous. Or maybe you just want to cook meals with a group of talking cat people, which is also a possibility.
Explore the massive continent of the New World that is as beautiful as it is deadly, where you will track down, hunt, or capture powerful monsters of all shapes and sizes in pursuit of researching the mysterious once-a-decade migration of the Elder Dragons.
#6: Baldur’s Gate 3 (PC/Mac/PS5/Xbox Series X/S)
Baldur's Gate 3 Official Launch Trailer
You wake up onboard a giant dimension-crossing ship piloted by Illithids, or Mind Flayers as they’re more commonly known, and have a parasite known as an Illithid tadpole implanted inside you, which will ultimately enthrall your mind and turn you into an Illithid yourself. But before the transformation can be complete, a group of Githyanki warriors attack the Mind Flayer ship, allowing you to take control of the ship and steer it toward the continent of Faerûn, where it swiftly crashes. Though you are now free from your imprisonment, you and the other survivors of the crash-landing remain infected with the parasite that is slowly transforming you into an Illithid, which means you and your newfound companions must begin a quest across the Forgotten Realms in search of a cure to the parasitic plague that is slowly stealing your very sense of self away from you.
It’s only natural that Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the biggest smash-hits of 2023, ends up featured on this list for its incredible role-playing gameplay that takes heavy inspiration from another widely-known RPG, that game being Dungeons & Dragons, specifically the Fifth Edition in this case. When you begin a new game of Baldur’s Gate you’re given the ability to either select one of the pre-made Origin Characters or to create a custom character from the ground up, which allows you to choose from any of the 11 playable races, which expands into 31 total subraces, along with being able to select one of the 12 in-game character classes, ranging from Barbarian to Fighter, and even the Bard class, and finally your character’s background that boosts certain proficiencies. Once you’ve created your character and you’re unleashed into the world, you will also be given the option through brief side-quests to recruit most of the pre-made Origin characters into your party, which allows them to exist as full-fledged characters rather than just the one you control.
Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t just a great RPG because it shares races, classes, and even a world setting with official D&D works, as great as they all are, but what makes Baldur’s Gate 3 stand out among other RPGs is the virtually limitless freedom that the game gives you when it comes to accepting and completing in-game quests. Thanks to BG3’s flexible quest system, nearly every non-player character you encounter can be killed regardless of the importance of the storyline, meaning that you can go and find the chamber of a boss fight, sneak inside, place a dozen explosive barrels around his throne, and blow him to pieces before you’re even halfway to the point in the story where you would normally be sent to go and fight him, with the kicker being that the game lets you naturally continue the in-game story regardless of how you “complete” your quests. Among the hundreds of in-game quests about pretty much anything you can think of, the fan-favorite quests are the ones given to you by your companions once your bond with them raises high enough, as they both allow you to learn more about your favorite camp-mates, and to potentially turn that friendship into something more.
Whether you want to play as a heroic Human Paladin, a morally dubious Half-Elf Rogue, or a villainous Dwarven Warlock, Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you the means to create and play any kind of character you can think of. The versatile freedom of Baldur’s Gate 3 combined with its tense turn-based combat has made this game a fast favorite across the entire gaming world, and in turn made it not just one of the best RPGs, but one of the best games released all year. If you’re looking for a classic role-play experience, Baldur’s Gate 3 takes everything great about the best RPGs out there and uses them to perfection across the game’s expansive original story, which altogether makes this game a must-play.
After you and a group of other random strangers are infected with a Mind Flayer parasite, you must join together to travel across the Forgotten Realms to search for a cure in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power.
#5: Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC/PS4/Xbox One)
Red Dead Redemption 2: Official Trailer #3
In the year 1899, the “Wild West” of the American frontier had all but been tamed, as soon-to-be modern society with all its rules and laws continued to spread across the country, and in turn, the age of outlaws and gunslingers had nearly come to an end and passed by into myth. The story of Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the life of one such outlaw named Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang of outlaws on the run, with federal agents and the best bounty hunters from across the country amassing on their heels. Arthur and his fellow gang members must rob, steal, and fight their way across the rugged and still somewhat untamed heartland of America if they want to survive, but with growing internal divisions threatening to tear the gang apart, Arthur finds himself faced with choosing between his own ideals and his loyalty to the gang that raised him.
From towering snow-capped mountains, rolling plains of grass, sweltering and murky swamplands, and everything in between, every inch of Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is intricately detailed to offer a visual spectacle that is both immersive to 1890s America and, being frank, incredibly beautiful to look at, especially the game’s lighting and dynamic weather systems that are on a level all its own. Beyond the beautiful visuals of the old west, you’ll also experience life on the edge through the eyes of Arthur Morgan, as he not only battles against rival outlaw gangs and the occasional lawman in fast-paced shootouts that are as dramatic as they are cinematic but also battles against his conscience. When playing as Arthur, you’re given plenty of choices both big and small that affect the Honor system that measures how your actions are perceived, with an example being if you choose to pull up a man hanging from the edge of a cliff despite the fact he knows your an outlaw, you’ll increase your Honor, while instead kicking him off that cliff will lower your Honor. From storyline decisions to choosing to rob an innocent civilian, many actions will affect your Honor score, which in turn will affect certain events throughout the game’s story in surprisingly big ways.
The game seamlessly blends action, exploration, and RPG elements, allowing players to shape Arthur's morality through decisions that impact the story and relationships with other characters as they play through the game’s expansive story, which will lead Arthur and his gangmates from committing roadside carriage robberies to holding up entire banks in search of that next big score. At the same time, the expansive open-world gives way for Arthur to enjoy more leisurely pursuits like fishing across the many rivers, ponds, and lakes across the map, or trying their luck at several gambling tables that include poker, blackjack, and a few other games. On top of gambling and other mini-games that can be played, like Five Finger Fillet for example, the world of Red Dead 2 is also filled with many hours of bonus side content, like hunting down the list of the world’s Legendary Animals, following a treasure map in pursuit of long-lost riches, and even searching for dinosaur bones. Even when you aren’t actively doing anything yourself, the game will continue to immerse you in the world of 1890s America, as each NPC you encounter in every town across the game follows a daily schedule, including when they wake up, when they go to work, when they eat and drink at the local saloon, and even when they go to bed, making nearly every character you encounter feel like a genuine living, breathing resident of the old west.
Whether you’re committed to exclusively playing in Red Dead 2’s massive single-player story mode, or you wind up wanting to spend some time in the robust Red Dead Online mode, whatever way you play will still leave you looking on in amazement at the wonderfully crafted world you find yourself in. From the bustling towns to the serene wilderness, the world of Red Dead 2 possesses an unparalleled sense of realism that draws players into its rich, narrative tapestry that will leave you feeling the highest of highs as well as the lowest of lows right alongside our beloved antihero Arthur Morgan. As a big fan of both this game and the original, I more than recommend you give Red Dead Redemption 2 a playthrough if you haven’t already, as it’s by far one of the most entertaining AAA experiences that we’ve seen in the past decade.
The age of the outlaw is slowly coming to an end, and Arthur Morgan must not only fight for his survival but fight for what he believes is right and just, in a world that no longer wants men like him living in it.
#4: Stardew Valley (PC/Mac/Linux/PS4/PS Vita/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch/iOS/Android)
Stardew Valley Trailer
As a child, your grandfather gave you a sealed envelope while on his deathbed and told you that, on the day when you feel crushed by the burdens of modern life, you will be ready to receive the gift inside. Years later that day comes to pass, where after you find yourself feeling empty inside during another grueling 9-to-5 shift at the office, you finally open your grandfather’s letter and discover that he has left you the deed to his old farm plot located in a small town on the southern coast called Stardew Valley. From here you choose to hop on a bus and leave your old life behind, now looking forward to your new life of living off the land and turning the overgrown fields you’ve inherited into your very own thriving farm.
The main gameplay aspect of Stardew Valley is to live the day-to-day life of a farmer, which begins with you inheriting an overgrown plot of land that you will need to clear out over time with hand-me-down tools, and in turn slowly morph from that overgrown plot of land into a vibrant, expansive farm where you can not only grow crops, but also plant vast orchards, and even construct barns that can house an array of farm animals from cows, chickens, pigs and more. The purpose of doing all that farming, beyond it being the main appeal of the game of course, is that once you’ve grown your crops to completion you can sell them off to the local town, which in turn gives you the funds to purchase upgraded tools, new pieces of equipment, materials for new buildings, and new kinds of crops to grow. The game is also filled with additional activities for when you aren’t busy tending to your crops, which include exploring the surrounding land and getting to know the residents of Stardew Valley.
The game has five different skills that you level up throughout gameplay, the first being your farming skill, along with the mining, combat, fishing, and foraging skills. Fishing and foraging can be done around Stardew Valley, as throughout certain wilderness areas you can gather natural materials, and there are plenty of places across the local streams, ponds, and then along the ocean coast for you to fish up a wide variety of fish that change depending on the time of day and the time of year, then you can delve into a vast and mysterious cave nearby to both mine for stones, metals, and geodes, and to fight against bats, slimes, and an assortment of other monsters to gather rare crafting materials. Finally, you can also become ingrained in the community by conversing and bonding with the locals, participating in community events throughout the year, and if you feel bold enough, you can try your hand at wooing any of the 12 available bachelors and bachelorettes around town, each of whom possesses multiple relationship progression cutscenes that are unique to them. And who knows, maybe someday you’ll move in together and start a family?
Stardew Valley is another favorite of mine here on this list, because as entertaining as all these games about exploring massive worlds and fighting monstrous boss battles are, sometimes you just want a more relaxing, down-to-earth experience every now and again, right? That’s why I recommend you give this game a try sometime even if you think it might not be for you, because this sweet little game has a way of surprisingly sucking you into its delightfully designed world for what will inevitably be many, many hours. And if Stardew Valley itself isn’t enough, well, maybe you could try your hand at being an actual farmer.
After becoming bogged down by the burdens of modern life, you decide to move into your grandfather’s old farmhouse in the small coastal town of Stardew Valley to start your new life as an up-and-coming farmer. Though be warned, it’s harder than it looks.
#3: Elden Ring (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S)
ELDEN RING Official Launch Trailer
Elden Ring takes place in the Lands Between, which previously was once ruled by the immortal Queen Marika who also acted as keeper of the Elden Ring, a force so powerful it manifested itself into the physical concept of order. At one point in time, Marika shattered the Elden Ring and disappeared from her kingdom, and soon after her children, who themselves are demigods, began fighting one another over pieces of the Ring in an event now known as The Shattering. In this story you are a Tarnished, a member of a group of exiles from the Lands Between who is both summoned back to the Lands and back from death itself after The Shattering, where you are given a quest to defeat each of the demigods who now rule the Lands Between in order to take their shards of the Elden Ring, now called Great Runes, so you can ultimately repair the Elden Ring itself and become the new Elden Lord.
Elden Ring comes to us courtesy of FromSoftware, who you may know as the creators of the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne as well, and if you know about those games in any capacity, then you also know that Elden Ring is perhaps the most notoriously difficult game featured on this list. Elden Ring takes on an open-world concept rather than a linear one like in Dark Souls, where you can traverse across six main areas that are filled with secrets to uncover, dungeons to crawl, and plenty of strange, dangerous enemies to do battle against, naturally. To survive the dangers that you’ll face in the Lands Between, and believe me there will be plenty of danger, you will need to combine the strengths of the weapons, armor, and magic that you’ll gather along your journey with the strengths that you give your character themselves according to your play style, such as increasing your physical strength to become a powerhouse warrior, using dexterity to increase your speed and ability to dodge incoming attacks, and mastering magical abilities to help you overwhelm your enemies.
Along with customizing your character’s appearance, you’ll also need to choose a character class to determine what kind of combat archetype you want to play as, with such classes including the magic-focused Astrologer, the melee-focused Warrior, and the aggressive high endurance Samurai. You’ll be able to play however you want, but whatever path you choose, you’ll still need to keep your wits about you when going up against the various enemies you’ll encounter, be they lowly beasts or the demigod boss fights you’ll need to overcome to complete your overall main goal. You’ll be able to stop at certain checkpoints or areas with non-hostile NPCs around the map where you’ll be able to regenerate your health and healing items by resting, as well as being able to strengthen your attributes and edit the placements of items or spells in your inventory.
If you can manage to survive for long enough in your quest to become the new Elden Lord, you will uncover the multilayered story behind the strange world you now inhabit in fragments across your adventure, one which will slowly help you realize your place in the grand drama of this world. If you’ve played any FromSoftware game in the past you know the gist of what you’re getting into with Elden Ring, but the game still offers plenty of new changes that help this game stand out from the rest of their library in all the right ways. If you want an RPG that doesn’t pull its punches, Elden Ring will offer you a brutal experience that will keep you coming back for more so you can prove yourself worthy of being this world’s champion.
After being brought back from death, you must grow as strong as you can if you are to complete your near-impossible quest of defeating the demigods who rule the Lands Between, taking their Great Runes, and repairing the Elden Ring to cement yourself as the new Elden Lord.
#2: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (PC/PS5/Xbox Series X/S)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Cinematic Trailer
Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most detail-rich RPGs we’ve gotten in recent years, and just this year we saw the hard work of CD Projekt RED’s efforts to make up for a glitch-filled 2020 launch finally pay off with the release of the game’s first major story DLC, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. In this expansion, the cyber-enhanced mercenary V, and by proxy the digital phantom of Johnny Silverhand stuck in their head, returns to embark on a high-stakes mission of espionage and intrigue to save the NUS President, a mission that will take you to the new explorable district of Dogtown, a district riddled with secrets and opportunities, where V must forge alliances within a web of shattered loyalties and sinister political machinations. Failure isn’t an option in this high-risk game of espionage, so you’ll need to make your choices carefully, as you never know who might suffer as a result of your decisions.
Although V is a spoken protagonist, you’re still able to customize their appearance however you please, ranging from usual choices like skin color and hairstyles to the more unique ability to customize their genitals if you so wish. Once appearances are out of the way you’re able to choose from one of three “Lifepaths” that act as that version of V’s character background, which includes the Nomad path where V grows up in the badlands outside of Night City, the Streetkid path where V lives most of their life on Night City’s streets working for gangs and small-time fixers, and the Corpo path that sees V as a cynical employee of the Arasaka corporation who’s career soon falls right out from under them. With your V’s appearance and background set, you’ll then be free to customize the five attribute trees in the game, those being the Body, Reflexes, Technical Ability, Intelligence, and Cool attributes, each of which possesses several perks that can be unlocked and upgraded over time that can boost V’s proficiency during certain actions, unlock bonus conversation options, give combat upgrades, and more.
In Night City, the main setting of Cyberpunk 2077, virtually every person living in the city has undergone some form of cybernetic augmentation, commonly known as Cyberware, where a living body is grafted with cybernetic implants that have gone from being simple medical prosthetics to more of a lifestyle choice that’s as commonplace as tattoos or jewelry. The possession of trendy Cyberware is an integral and defining part of Night City culture in 2077, making “uniqueness” just another form of currency, but while “trendy” is enough for most civilians, in Cyberpunk you can mod V’s body with all sorts of Cyberware options, be it adding ballistic weaving throughout V’s skin to improve defense, upgrading your nervous system with movement speed increasing sensors, replacing your flesh and blood arms with ones that can transform into Mantis Blades, and several other upgrades that can be applied throughout your body by visiting Ripperdocs, professionals that can install Cyberware both legally and somewhat illicitly depending on who you go see. But be careful, as there have been plenty of incidents where someone goes “Cyberpsycho” and loses their mind after going overboard with installing Cyberware…
Though it’s fair to acknowledge that Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t have the best launch out of most AAA-level games out there, it’s just as fair to acknowledge that despite the downsides of the original launch, the developers behind 2077 have given it their all to turn the game around in post-launch updates. And it’s the opinion of many after the past few years that Cyberpunk 2077 has finally reached that pinnacle of quality that both CD Projekt RED and the fans were hoping for when the game was first announced, and with continued developer support still going strong even after the launch of Phantom Liberty, that level of quality is only going up. If you were put off by the original launch of 2077, I fully recommend that you go and give it a try now, because both the base game and the Phantom Liberty expansion have turned Cyberpunk 2077 from a wing and a miss into a game that is truly worth your time.
Return to Night City as V, the cybernetically enhanced mercenary, where you will be roped into a dangerous mission of espionage and mystery for the NUS government where you won’t ever know who you can trust, and the only thing you need to remember is… the game is fixed.
#1: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X/S/Nintendo Switch)
Official Launch Trailer - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Humans, elves, dwarves, and other creatures live alongside each other in a world currently filled with turmoil and death due to the war between the invading empire of Nilfgaard, led by led by Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, and the defending Northern Kingdoms, ruled by King Radovid V. The only thing worse than a war between two petty kings who have let their egos run away from them, however, is the population of vicious monsters that dwell across the island, killing people unfortunate enough to find themselves caught in their sights. This is where you come in, as you take on the role of the Witcher known as Geralt of Rivia, who was trained and mutated since childhood to become the perfect monster hunter, and who you will control on his quest to slay the monsters for hire, and more importantly, to locate his adopted daughter Ciri, a living weapon some call the Child of Prophecy who has the power to reshape the world.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt follows the story of Geralt as he continues to make his way through the world as a monster slayer for hire, whose dangerous line of work constantly brings him face to face with dangerous monsters of all shapes and sizes, and worse than that, face to face with treasonous soldiers, devious witches, egotistical royals, and many other unsavory locals across the world. This is why Geralt carries two swords on his back, one steel and one silver, with his silver sword being used to fight monsters and his steel sword being used for humans, more often than not. Along with using physical weapons like his swords or other weapons like crossbows, Geralt also has access to magic spells called “Signs” which he can cast through practiced hand movements, such as the Igni Sign that summons flames and the Aard Sign that knocks opponents down with a telekinetic thrust.
The final piece of a Witcher’s equipment is the mutagen potions they consume that are poisonous to any normal individual, but due to the often extremely painful mutations a Witcher undergoes during their childhood training, their mutated bodies are resistant to the dangers of mutagens and can drink these otherwise toxic potions to induce temporary benefits. Such potions include the Cat potion that allows sight even in total darkness, the Tawny Owl potion that increases vigor stat regeneration, and of course, the self-explained Healing Brew potion, along with dozens of others. As Geralt, you will need to search the world for the ingredients needed to craft these potions, which include common sources such as plantlife and rarer ingredients like the organs of certain monsters, as you will need to expand your supply of mutagen potions just as you will need to improve your armor and weapons if you want to survive this world, and more importantly, if you want to make a living hunting the most dangerous monsters around.
In the rare moments you aren’t fighting off incredibly dangerous creatures, Geralt can also engage in conversation with NPCs across the world, be it for common purposes like buying and selling from a town’s local merchant, or to try and bargain for a better deal on your monster hunting contract with certain clients. There are a wide number of quests you can accept and complete across the world of Wild Hunt, which can greatly affect the lives of those you encounter depending on how you choose to proceed through dialogue just as well as through combat. Geralt has the opportunity to get involved in several steamy romances with certain women throughout the game, including with his longtime on-and-off lover and powerful sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, along with the more usual affair of choices that can determine the fates of innocent villagers and dangerous monsters alike, leaving it up to the player to decide how often Geralt goes out of his way to show his humanity, or if he should remain truly neutral to the state of the world around him like most Witchers “should”.
The Witcher series is one of my favorites in the realm of RPGs as a whole, a sentiment that’s clearly shared by many others in the gaming world, seeing as The Witcher 3 has won over 800 awards since it first launched in 2015. CD Projekt RED continues to prove that they fully understand what makes an RPG truly great and continuously entertaining to play, whether it be through a cybernetic near-future dystopia or through a fantasy world shrouded in mystery. Closing out our top 15 list at #1, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an RPG that showcases everything amazing about the genre with outstanding quality, and tells a story well worth experiencing firsthand if you haven’t already.
Become the Witcher Geralt of Rivia, a proficient monster hunter for hire who has a knack for getting himself into dangerous situations even outside his profession, as he ventures across the Continent searching for Ciri, the Child of Prophecy, a living weapon who stands as the key to saving or destroying this world.
Conclusion
And with that, we’ve made it to the end of today’s article. If you’ve made it this far, I thank you for reading all that I had to say in this post, and I hope that you’ve enjoyed the selection of games that we’ve showcased today. If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, I would be more than happy to read some comments talking about what you thought of the games you saw on here. Otherwise, I’ll just leave you with one last thanks and sign off.
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