RPGs of the Decade [PC]

[Ergonpandilus]

Insipired by this article (http://digihub.smh.com.au/node/1453) and the fact that the decade is about the end, I decided to make a thread.

Top5 (non-MORPG) RPGs

Baldur's Gate II
SW: Knights of the Old Republic
Gothic II (+NotR)
Neverwinter Nights
Diablo II


1. Best Overall
- I'm sure I don't need to comment on that.
2. Best Characters and Story
- Every element works perfectly, but the character interaction and story are the most important aspects of KotOR.
3. Best World and Atmosphere
- G2 has incredible detailed world and everything feels authentic, unlike Oblivion's random-generated world.
4. Best Adventuring and Extendability
- The game still keeps growing and you can still get new content to the game by download modules. And there are few remarkable adventures to be experienced, like Stefan Gagne's modules.
5. Best Lasting Appeal and Re-playability
- Diablo and Diablo 2 basically created a whole new genre, action-RPG. And there is lot of games that tried to achieve what D2 did, without still succeeding in it. Games like Titan Quest, Sacred and even WoW exists because of Diablo 2.

Honourable mentions: Oblivion, Icewind Dale 2, ToEE and The Witcher.

What is YOUR list of the best non-MORPG roleplaying games of the decade (2000… 2009)?

[Melvil]

No specific order: Gothic, Gothic 2, Baldurs Gate 2, The Witcher, Divine Divinity

[JDR13]

Best party-based crpg - Baldur's Gate 1/2

Best solo crpg - Gothic 1/2

In both of those series, it's hard for me to differentiate between the first game and the sequel, so I tend to just list them as if they're a single game.

The Witcher definitely deserves to be mentioned as well.

[GhanBuriGhan]

Oooh, list time again? Well, I got to play less this decade, so there are many games I still haven't touched, but these are the ones I remember as good times:

Morrowind
Gothic 2 - NOTR
Gothic
Deus Ex
The Witcher
KOTOR
Fallout 3

Edit: added some comments:

The Sandboxes:
Morrowind: great sandbox game - I loved the depth of the lore and just the "seeing the land" aspect of it. The strangeness of the setting and the dunmer culture are memorable to me. And you can't talk about Morrowind without talking about modding - modding turned MW into a super-customizable experience.
Fallout 3 - despite the controversy about its heritage the best recent Bethesda game. Atmospheric, great open world exploration, and avoiding many of the pitfalls I disliked in Oblivion.

The explorer adventures:
Gothics - in my opinion the best mixes between open world exploration and story driven roleplaying.
Witcher - A great setting, an interesting hero, interesting quests, and a smart use of choice and consequence.

The shooter:
Deus Ex - how shooters should really be made.

The Interactive story;
KOTOR - great story, and man, it's Star Wars!

[Ergonpandilus]

Lots of good games. And please, comment your choices too, why they are so good? What makes 'em remarkable and better than the rest? :)

[Tragos]

1.Morrowind
Free roam , fantastic lore , no black / white MQ , well done level scaling , lot's of secrets , very easy to mod.

2.The Witcher
Super atmosphere , lots of game affecting choices , strong language , no good vs evil BS , one of the few games that i enjoyed swords

3. Mount & Blade
Realistic medieval simulator , best combat approach ever , no MQ , can be done solo or with an army , no magic , the only game i can be a mounted Mongol spreading chaos with my bow

4.Vampire : Bloodlines
I like the concept , love to be a villain , spooky themes , lots of blood and raw meat, tiamat and chiasm music .

5. X3-The Return , i know that for many this doesn't count as a RPG but it is open for role play since you can be what you want to be (merchant , fighter , pirate , industrialist, explorer , space weed dealer or just a taxi driver ) .

[JemyM]

A far more interesting (perhaps depressive) list you will get if you make a list of RPGs of the last 5 years.

2000 Baldur's Gate II
2000 Deus Ex
2000 Diablo II
2001 Gothic
2002 Divine Divinity
2002 Morrowind
2002 Neverwinter Nights
2003 Gothic II (+NotR)
2004 SW: Knights of the Old Republic
2004 Vampire : Bloodlines
-------------------------
2007 The Witcher
2007 X3: Reunion
2008 Fallout 3
2008 Mount & Blade

[Maylander]

I'd say the same as JDR - BG series as the best party based games, Gothic 1-2 as the best solo RPGs. I'd also like to add Planescape: Torment, which wins the category "best writing" by a long shot. It was released 9 years and 50 weeks ago, so it's still eligible..

[Alrik Fassbauer]

@Jemy : I wouldn't call X3 an RPG ... but I must admit that I haven't got it yet.

[Ergonpandilus]

Well, there are couple of good recent RPGs, like Neverwinter Nights II, Drakensang, Titan Quest, Sacred 2, Risen and Dragon Age. Though they really don't fit to my top 5 list. Are we getting old or are the games getting worse? :D

[GhanBuriGhan]

Well, there are couple of good recent RPGs, like Neverwinter Nights II, Drakensang, Titan Quest, Sacred 2, Risen and Dragon Age. Though they really don't fit to my top 5 list. Are we getting old or are the games getting worse? :D

I don't think they have been getting worse overall, although there have been undeniable ups and downs in the RPG genre. But they also haven't really grown with me - I have higher demands now regarding many things, and would like to see more cerebral games now that the current market produces rarely, if at all.

[Tragos]

Some interesting choices here, looks like although we love the same genre we have very different tastes when it comes to games .

I think that the games are not getting worst but good RPGs are most of the time big expensive projects , customers are asking so much , gfx - sound wise and the numbers show that the big money are in the shooters .

@Jemy : I wouldn't call X3 an RPG … but I must admit that I haven't got it yet.

In X series you can role play without the set of rules , it is the exact opposite of Oblivion where you do have the rule set but you can not role play.

[BlackHarmo]

A far more interesting (perhaps depressive) list you will get if you make a list of RPGs of the last 5 years.

2000 Baldur's Gate II
2000 Deus Ex
2000 Diablo II
2001 Gothic
2002 Divine Divinity
2002 Morrowind
2002 Neverwinter Nights
2003 Gothic II (+NotR)
2004 SW: Knights of the Old Republic
2004 Vampire : Bloodlines
————————————-
2007 The Witcher
2007 X3: Reunion
2008 Fallout 3
2008 Mount & Blade

I see (and kinda share) your point, although you forgot Two Worlds (2007... I think?). Also, if you mention X3 as an RPG, then "Space Rangers 2 - Dominators" should count too. Lastly, some might consider Titan Quest and its extension as an crpg too, sligtly extending this second list further, no?

[DeepO]

My top 10, in no order:

Deus Ex, Baldur´s Gate 2, Wizardry 8, Arx Fatalis, Gothic, Gothic 2: NotR, Bloodlines, Mask of the Betrayer, The Witcher, Dragon Age

Disappointment of the decade - Gothic 3

I´ve been postponing a proper playthrough of Arcanum for ages, but from what I know about the game I´m quite surprised no one listed it yet.

[Maylander]

Can't believe I forgot Arcanum. Definetly a favourite, one worth remembering for its original setting and open world w/loads of choices/consequences.

[Zaleukos]

Wile I love the game Arcanum has a lot of issues (balancing, horrid combat etc) that prevents it from being in my top five.

My unordered top five would be:

Gothic 2 NotR (NPCs and geography)
Baldurs Gate 2 with ToB (MP and overall polish, better than the sum of its parts)
Morrowind (sandbox)
The Witcher (choices and consequences, gameworld)
Mount & Blade (combat)
Just outside the list I'd put flawed gems: Arcanum, Gothic 3 (somewhat controversial, but I actually liked the game a lot after patches:D), KotOR2, and possibly Fallout 3
and below that the solid efforts that amused me for one playthrough but didnt quite touch me: Jade Empire, KotOR1

Oblivion is my RPG disappointment of the decade (and second most disappointing game after the steaming turd that is Sid Meiers Railroads). Polished and solid craftsmanship, but Bethsoft didnt aim to produce a game to my liking.

EDIT: I havent tried Dragon Age or Risen yet, one or both would likely make it to my list given how well user reviews align with my preferences.:) I havent played Mass Effect either, but that would likely only make it to the KotOR1/JE group...

[magerette]

Can't believe I missed this thread—I love lists. :) I'm just going to do my favorites from the last five years, though, as the same games (PST, BG2, Arcanum, ToEE, IWD, Gothic, Wiz8) always turn up on my "best of" alltime list.

1. The Witcher: best overall for game world, plot & dialogue choices and consequences, interesting skill sets and combat, best new use of potions in a crpg, and the excellent main character, Geralt.
2. Eschalon: Book 1: best turn based combat, best picking up the torch of old school, best dungeons, particularly in an indie game.
3. Titan Quest with expansion Immortal Throne: Best action rpg in the Diablo tradition that is not Diablo.
4. Kings Bounty: Not an rpg per se, but definitely best strategy hybrid with rpg elements.

Not yet played but probably destined to make it to a list at some point: Risen, Drakensang and Divinity 2.

[DeepO]

please, comment your choices too, why they are so good? What makes 'em remarkable and better than the rest? :)

I think that most of my choices are well known here, but here are specific comments on some of them:

BG2
The game I replayed the most, thanks to the mods.
Some user made npcs are rather very well done with writing quality comparable to the vanilla ones. They often scream "mod!" for various reasons but I just tend to enjoy take on the world made by enthusiasts.
For tactically fresh game, my current setup has a combo of these generally well thought-out and conceived mods - Ascension, Spell Revisions, Item Revisions, Rogue Rebalancing, Refinements and Sword Coast Stratagems - and the whole combat/character development experience is on entirely different level while still leaving original game´s tone intact.
Add Item Randomization to the bunch and the fresh experience is guaranteed.
Of course, vanilla game rocks too :).

Wizardry 8
On first playthrough this game can be really tedious due to frequent monster respawns and slow battles, but it really shines on successive runs.
Being able to plan travelling routes more effectively significantly cuts the tedium and leaves player with adrenaline fueled turn based combat scenarios and one of the best character development in any party based game to date.

Arx Fatalis
This game has quite a lot of flaws but the atmosphere of its dungeons is simply superb and imo unrivalled as far as modern games go. This one aspect alone easily makes it a worthy top ten member.

Mask of the Betrayer, Bloodlines
Both games have quite immense replay value out of the box.
Both have really good writing, story and characters.
Mask of the Betrayer offers probably the best realized and satisfying alternatives for evil characters.
Bloodlines offers Malkavian playthrough which is the strong contender for the most unique role I´ve ever experienced in a computer game.

Dragon Age
AAA title done right. Period.
Numerous (mostly minor imo) flaws and lack of originality just don´t take from the fact that the game offers a very polished, expansive and complete rpg experience in a well put together fantasy world.
I haven´t been this positively surprised by a game in a long time.


That´s just about it, I think commenting on the other games would be more-or-less reduntant here:).

[Benedict]

If planescape's still in, that's number 1 for me. Followed by Bloodlines, MotB, Gothic 2 w/ NOTR & Dragon Age.

[DeepO]

I think Planescape was december 1999 or so, but yeah, if it´s in, it´s my number 1 too.

[JDR13]

Arx Fatalis
This game has quite a lot of flaws but the atmosphere of its dungeons is simply superb and imo unrivalled as far as modern games go. This one aspect alone easily makes it a worthy top ten member.


Awesome game. It's not in my top 5, but it's easily #1 if there's a "most overlooked" category.

[dteowner]

21 Posts and only 2 mentions of Wiz8, by the same person? Sorry folks, but you all epic fail. EPIC, I tell you.

[magerette]

Hey, I stuck one in after being reminded, in my list of "games already listed too many times to be mentioned" as one of teh greatest. :)

[Fezzik]

Alright, here's my favorites of the decade:

1) Prelude to Darkness
This little indie with terrible CTDs also happens to have some of the best overall design I've seen in an RPG. Excellent turn-based combat. A robust skill system that makes different play-throughs distinct. Multiple solutions to quests and two distinct paths through the game. In terms of having the whole package, I'm not sure if it's ever been surpassed.


2) Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
I'm not sure if the atmosphere and writing of this game has been matched in any RPG except maybe Torment. Excellent quests and character skill-based gameplay early on make this a must-play.


3) Knights of the Chalice
KotC was a very pleasant surprise this year. A tiny indie delivered a very well-implemented combat system and probably the best combat encounters I've ever seen.


4) Arcanum
I don't think that any RPG has made paths through a game more distinct than Arcanum. The game is riddled with flaws, from bad combat to nearly useless statistics to lame dungeons that you're forced to slog through. But the beauty of the possibilities allowed by the character system, the quests and the interesting world shine enough to make the flaws worth overlooking.


5) Baldur's Gate 2
Athkatla is an experience every RPG player should have. There is just so much to do in this game and the level of quality, even if not rising to Tormentian levels, remains consistently good, making this game a joy to play. And the mage fights were somewhat interesting.


An honorable mention to Wizardry 8. That game is terribly fun.

[Jaz]

If it's just a PC games list… well… there are just three games from the current decade that make my personal list:

3) Arx Fatalis: The atmosphere! Wonderful. Gloomy, literally dark… a fun way of doing magical spells… and those great ambient sounds! I know that it was supposed to be a nod to the UU games, but for some reason it reminded me even more of Thunderscape.
The only weak point IMO: it was far too easy to break quests. But otherwise… *sigh*

2) Gothic 1: Great setting, great characters, great atmosphere. The story was a tad linear after chapter two, but hey, did that setting and air tickle my imagination! I spent so many hours replaying this game just to discover the last secret and try the last dialog option. And when my computer started to have power trouble, I used this game as a benchmark when testing VCore settings.
Everything was fresh, fresh, fresh: Darkish, gritty, politically incorrect. And a time-sink.
While Gothic 2 (especially with the NotR add-on) was technically superior, it was way more traditional in the story, character and gameplay departments… a pity. While I loved that game, too, it didn't impress me as much as the first one.

1) Morrowind (GotY edition): Finally, a game that gave me what I always wanted in games: I could decorate my house with all the light sources I could snatch (and carry back). Yesssss! My preciousssss!
But seriously, Morrowind had all that I had enjoyed in the other Elder Scrolls games, and more. A huge world to explore, houses to own, weather effects, tons of lore… and a haunting ugliness that was most beautiful to me. I spent hours just taking walks…and did I mention interior decoration?
This game was the biggest time-sink ever for me: I spent at least 1 1/2 years with MW and its add-ons. Up to that point, Daggerfall had been my No. 1 (7 months of playing with just one character).

I think the last PC RPG I played was Oblivion - not being able to move light sources was a serious let-down for me. Hurt feelings drove me back to my beloved consoles, and I haven't touched another PC RPG ever since… ;)

[GhanBuriGhan]

2. Eschalon: Book 1: best turn based combat, best picking up the torch of old school, best dungeons, particularly in an indie game.

That baffles me. I am playing this right now, and while I find a Lot to like, I find the Combat a very dull affair - Not because it is turnbased, but because there seem to Be no tactical options to speak of. Why did you like it so?

[magerette]

That baffles me. I am playing this right now, and while I find a Lot to like, I find the Combat a very dull affair - Not because it is turnbased, but because there seem to Be no tactical options to speak of. Why did you like it so?

I suppose I enjoyed the building of my character the most, and that just bled over into the combat reflecting the effectiveness of the skills chosen. It was one of the few games I 've played as an archer that reflected the fact that arrows can actually kill things--ONE arrow, even. ;) It's been awhile since I played, so it's hard for me to be terribly specific but I seemed to remember there being quite a bit of selective skill/spell usage to make combat work out to one's advantage. Don't know if that's what you mean by tactics or not. :)

[Zloth]

Non-MMO?? Hmmm, actually that might be a good idea. A lot of the fun in an MMO comes from the quality of the friends you make in the game, which makes it hard to distinguish a good game from a not-so-good game. (But City of Heroes is still the best, anyway. ;))

RPGs… Let's see…

Oblivion - It gets a lot of hate around here but I really loved this game. Especially with a few mods to make the natural environments look even better and that mod to add more hotkeys. The quests were great ("Oh my poor rats!"), exploration was fun, the landscape was gorgeous, and Shivering Island was a real blast. The 'butterfly room' was one of this decade's high points for sure.

Dragon Age I'm not even done with it but it's been very impressive. Good quests, good humor, excellent battles, strong character development - this is definitely one of my favorite games. And, unlike some other Bioware games not on this list, it doesn't get stupidly easy as time goes on.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Hearts:_Covenant) When I first started playing this, I didn't like it at all. I mean, the German commander in this World War 1 battle is a sexy young woman? Are you insane? But then it became clear that the answer was yes, they were quite insane. The irreverant characters were great (and sometimes rather disturbing), the story was OK, the humor was great, and the battles were quite fun, too, thanks to the "judgement ring." When you attacked, a marker would spin around a circle with some good sized green areas that count as hits and tiny areas that count as criticals. It worked quite well and made the turn based JRPG have a little action element.

Xenosaga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenosaga_Episode_I:_Der_Wille_zur_Macht) Great combat and a great story. I really liked how the game plopped you right into a complex, high-tech universe and let you figure out all the buzz words for yourself. A lot of folks hated the huge cutscenes but I just put my controller down and enjoyed them. It's a pity the second game in the series had such an awful combat system. The second game's failure forced them to cut the series short and try to cram three games' worth of plot into the last game - ugh.

Baldur's Gate 2 - at least I think it was pretty good. It was friggin' 9.75 years ago, about all I can remember is Minsc! Oh, and walking into some town and having half a dozen people mob me to offer me quests. And, of course, gathering my party before venturing %#()$! forth.

Neverwinter Nights 2 + Mask of the Betrayer - I got to play my character all the way up into super high levels! And the stories were well done, too. I loved building up that castle.

I have to admit, there's serious role playing in X3: Terran Conflict. Quite a bit more role playing than you'll see in action RPGs, that's for sure. It's a flawed game but the flaws are easy to overlook given that titanic scale of the game. Definitely one of my favorites of the decade, though I'm not sure I would call it an RPG. (I would actually call it an Elite-like game.)

[Ergonpandilus]

Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Xenosaga do NOT count since they are console *cough-shit-cough* RPGs.

I totally forgot Arx Fatalis, it's the best FPS RPG and deserves at least honourable mention. Though the late game isn't as great as the begining.

[skavenhorde]

Here is my list mostly based on how many times I have replayed the game or couldn't stop playing it.

1. The Witcher: Need I say more on why?;)

2. Gothic 2 + Expansion: Gothic 2 was very good. Gothic 2 + expansion was perfect.

3.Bloodlines: I can easily forgive bugs if the game is worth it and this one was definitely worth it. It's funny because when I heard that Troika was making this a 1st person point of view RPG I was disappointed (I thoroughly enjoyed Vampire: Redemption. When I finally played the game it blew my socks off and is THE most replayed game in my collection. (someone has just reloaded Bloodlines ;))

4. Knights of the Chalice: Basically Fezzik and I have the same opinion on this little gem. It also took me by surprise just how much there was to this game and how refreshing it was to actually use some kind of thought process when battling it out with the enemies. The absolute best game for a pure combat RPG. This would of ranked much higher if it had any kind of story to it.

5. Wizard & Warriors: Despite the bugs this one still ranks up there as the most replayed games in my collection. With every new upgraded OS it is getting harder and harder to get this game running, but when I do it is always worth it. Too bad D.W. Bradly didn't just continue the W&W series instead of heading off in a whole new direction with Dungeon Lords.

There are a few others that I would mention, but we are limited to 5. So, for now, those are my picks.

These lists are sorta silly though. The RPG genre is so diverse that there should be lists for certain sub-genres like action RPG, party based RPG, 1st person pov RPG, 3rd person isometric pov…etc Each of these, imo, are a totally different genres. I don't expect the same thing from a 1st person pov rpg as I would a 3rd person one.

[joxer]

I loved most RPGs and can't make my top5. Sorry.

But I can do something else. And that's my top5 worst RPGs of the decade. You may agree or disagree, but it's my (not humble but very arogant ;)) opinion.

So there goes:

1. NWN
The one and only RPG ever I've uninstalled before finishing it. It's annoying, boring and the most unpleasant experience (to the part I decided that it's utter crap that needs to be burned).

2. Fallout 3
This game should never have the name "Fallout". It's more of FPS than RPG, there is no story that drags you in, quests are idiotic and are MMO based. Except the converted 2d to 3d surrounds there is nothing even close to original Fallouts.

3. The Last Remanant
Unbelievable annoying and more of odd strategy than RPG. Inventive? Yea, like a vacuum cleaner that blows the dust in another direction.

4. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
Unbelievably bad turnbased combats, boring dungeons, no story and for god's sake why do I always have to see Elminster in D&D games. One word: Yuck.

5. Dungeon Lords
Perhaps the worst game ever made. Game as a overall game, not only as RP game. Sad but true this game has (had) more bugs than illreputed Sea Dogs, there was no map (until the patch), the story was good old same worldsaving cliche, quests were cretinous probably ment to be understood even by mentally retarded monkeys, spawning monsters (rats, of course) out of nowhere was more of annoyance than a boredom break.


Awesome game. It's not in my top 5, but it's easily #1 if there's a "most overlooked" category.
Can't agree on that, I believe that #1 in most overlooked games would be Anachronox. Arx Fatalis would be #2. ;)

[Jaz]

1. NWN
The one and only RPG ever I've uninstalled before finishing it. It's annoying, boring and the most unpleasant experience (to the part I decided that it's utter crap that needs to be burned).I don't think I even finished chapter 2. NWN worked better than any other type of benzodiazepine. May be tolerable if you're into multiplayer RPGs, but I'm not.

[Relayer]

My RPGs of the Decade list (in no particular order):

Baldur's Gate II - As I've said previously, other games can rightfully claim to have done any individual thing better than BG 2 but BG 2 to me is the perfect combination of everything I love and expect in an RPG. Not only that but it's also possibly the only game to boast being EPIC and truly live up to it. But bottom line: It was highly enjoyable, easy to get into, had a ton of side quests, and lots of personality.

Wizardry 8 - What a great swan song to the "old school" style RPG. You know, the one that favored gameplay and challenge above presentation and handholding. Overall, just simple, old fashioned RPG fun.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind + both expansions - One of the most immersive and intriguing game worlds ever crafted and very different from your typical D & D inspired creations. While the flaws were quite noticeable, they didn't detract from the excitement and sense of wonder you felt from simply walking the landscape and exploring.

And while we're talking mostly about PC RPGs - I have to include a console RPG:

Persona 4 - Atlus creates a winning combo with it's social-simulator/dungeon hack game. To me this game is what JRPGs should aspire to these days. The dialogue is extremely well written, smart, witty and expertly delivered and for a game centered around High Schoolers it has some of the most mature and fully realized characters I've seen in any type of game. The story, centered around a serial killer, is also suspenseful and exciting and the core game play is always entertaining. And the PS2's limitations aside (compared to the current-gen systems), the art design is unique and generally top notch. On top of all this it has an excellent soundtrack of mostly modern pop/electronica that is extremely catchy and fitting.

So those are my RPGs of the Decade.

I left out other excellent titles like Arcanum, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and others because then it would be no different than a run of the mill top 10 list.

To me these 4 games have given me the most memorable and exciting gaming hours in the last 10 years, heck, in my lifetime.

[Relayer]

Oh and Oblivion was my Disappointment Of The Decade!!!

I would have said Fallout 3 except that after Oblivion, I didn't expect much from Fallout 3 :D

[ToddMcF2002]

I loved Arx for the most part but the game wrecking quest bugs were beyond belief. There were some really difficult puzzles in that one too. Frustrating, memorable… a very good game.

POR2 gets lots of bad press but frankly I find alot of the critiques would apply to some of the accepted greats. Redundant combat? I offer you a 1001 Kobolts in BG. No story? You didnt play far enough in, or you just need the Bioware standard rising evil horde that threatens the world? A Blight perhaps?

The only thing I can come up with worthy for the decade list starts with Gothic in the title. I'll add Morrowind and Oblivion too, because they both caused me lots of sleepless nights until the level scaling system became so obvious there was no reason to play.

Oh and ToEE for good measure, the best turn based combat system ever devised.

[Zloth]

Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Xenosaga do NOT count since they are console *cough-shit-cough* RPGs.
Uhhh, yeah - so Final Fantasy 7 was complete shit until it came out on PC months later? I wonder if people playing the game on the Playstation when the game first got installed on a PC had their experience magically upgraded?

[Ergonpandilus]

About NWN, the original game is not that great, but what makes NWN (1) so GREAT is the modules. There is basically endless amount of adventures to play. And the game engine is very well written.

[azraelck]

(In no order)

Baldur's Gate 2 - One of my old favorites, BG took the Forgotten Realms, and made it live. It was a mesh of well written plot, NPCs, solid (if clunky 2E) mechanics, and the great 2D graphics that still look good today that made it all work. I wore my copy out years ago. Gotta buy a new one.

Wizardry 8 - I have a soft spot for first-person party-based games. And Wizardry 8 is probably the best in that narrow sub-genre. Unmatched character development coupled with a highly enjoyable world to explore. Combat did get a little tedious, but for me, not bad.

Dragon Age: Origins - My gaming in the last couple of years has fallen off considerably. Especially RPGs. Witcher and Gothic 3 both won't run for me, (across 2 different computers), and the ever-presence of increasingly restrictive and dangerous DRM-viruses has made PC gaming nearly dead. Dragon Age fixed that. Playing from the tactical perspective constantly (mainly because it helps my framerate, which isn't the best...)makes the game remind me of BG. Nothing is done innovative, just done very well, making for a fun, and engaging, RPG romp. Here's to DA2: with 6 player parties and improved AI.

Eschalon Book 1 - This marked my return to PC gaming, as I was frustrated with the lack of playable console games. The top down view reminded me of a few old favorites like Ultima 6 and The Summoning, and the overall gameplay experience was enjoyable. Again, there was nothing innovative, but just well done.

Dwarf Fortress - Technically, it's not an RPG. But then, read some of the stories on various forts, and it quickly becomes one. This is easily the most detailed game out there, and it's only getting more and more detailed as time marches on. It's a strategy game, sim, and RPG rolled into one. Again, my laptop can barely handle this; 50 dwarves kill it. So my next laptop will be bought on the basis: can it run Dwarf Fortress?