which rpgs have the most secrets?

I've just replayed Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and it's defnitely a contender. The world map is huge and full of secrets. Dozens of quests have very non-obvious solutions and the reward of Fate Points when you just did something especially clever is super satisfying.

To think that this game was released before the existance of Google, I wonder how many people figured stuff like the order of the Ancient Gods Blessings without using a reference. Awesome game. Atrocious UI, but awesome game.

Originally Posted by joxer
DarkSouls? LOL. Even Tetris has more secrets than that abortion.

Dark Souls has so many secrets it would take you 5 playthroughs to find them all even with the wiki.

Originally Posted by joxer
Dark Souls has only one secret and it's the name of a person who finished it in the first playthrough without grinding. Of course such person doesn't exist thus it'll remain a secret till doomsday.

Actually, I finished it on the first playthrough without grinding while learning to use a controller.

But I can beat that. I finished it on the nth playthough without grinding AND without leveling up past level 1.

Originally Posted by spblue
To think that this game was released before the existance of Google, I wonder how many people figured stuff like the order of the Ancient Gods Blessings without using a reference.

Thank goodness for BBS's. Oh wait, that came out in 2001! Google was a thing by then.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Thank goodness for BBS's. Oh wait, that came out in 2001! Google was a thing by then.

Huh. You're right, I always remembered that google didn't become a thing until the early 2000s for some reason. I guess it launched earlier than I thought. Anyway I wasn't referring to BBSes, more like to earlier search engines like Yahoo or even meta search engines like metacrawler. Finding stuff on the internet wasn't as simple back then as it is today.

From what I've seen, Serpent in the Staglands fits the bill. I've haven't played the game much but in my brief time with it saw some neat things;

Unfortunately I really hate the combat (It's RTwP & the flaws of that system seem particularly bad in SitS combat IMHO). But if you can stomach RTwP and especially if you like the Infinity Engine games then I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Some of the earlier Final Fantasy games and others like Phantasy Star, Shining Force, and others turned this into an almost art form. You could find some exquisite goodies if you strayed off the known path, the objects were often hidden or guarded by ferocious enemies, but if you could defeat the guardians or find the lost treasure, the loot found could often vastly augment your characters. I simply love designs like this, because with great risk you should get a decent reward.

Love seeing some Shining Force & Phantasy Star love here. They don't get the recognition they deserve nearly often enough. Final Fantasy III on Famicom is also a great one, and my personal favorite RPG on the platform.

The other really obvious one, like others have said, is Morrowind.

The Divinity games often have a lot of interesting secrets. You just have to find them.