RPG Codex - Top 70 PC RPG List

@Eliot69

If you are 25 or younger and a CRPG fan you can look at these lists and try some older games that you have missed before. Some games age bad, but others are still worth to be played.

Originally Posted by Eliot69
These type of lists are very biased towards age of the respondents. Would younger players under 25, for instance, agree on the same top 10 games? I doubt it. Not arguing those are terrific games but if you get younger reviewers in there I expect the mix up to change a bit.

You are of course absolutely right, but that's only because the younger audience hardly knows how to read and prefer it if they don't have to think.

Any list of RPGs that puts Ultima 7 way down at number 33 should be ridiculed!
Why are Deus Ex and System Shock 2 higher on that list than U7… They are not even RPGs! Yes, both are fantastic games with rpg elements, but so is STALKER, Thief, BioShock, and a dozen other shooters. And why didn't that top grossing action rpg, Diablo, make the list you ask? That was to make room for everyone's favorite classic rpg at #68… Star Control 2… Really? With this loose definition of an RPG, I'm surprised I don't see Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri… it probably just missed the list at number 73, just below Call of Duty.


Here's my top 20 list of PC RPGs…
Only my favorite from each series is listed (to avoid a list dominated by Ultimas).

1. Ultima VII
2. Ultima Underworld
3. Might & Magic III
4. Wizardry VIII
5. Planescape Torment
6. Fallout 1
7. Morrowind
8. Dungeon Master
9. Gothic 2
10. Ultima: Martian Dreams
11. The Witcher
12. Divine Divinity
13. Menzoberranzan
14. Lands of Lore
15. Baldur's Gate
16. KotOR
17. Diablo
18. Betrayal at Krondor
19. Eye of the Beholder 2
20. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

Ultima VII was splitted for voting by felipepepe in Black Gate and Serpent Isle.

The ranking was a matter of voting and is therefore imperfect. Duh. Of course there's no way for everyone to agree on the exact spot for every game, but nor is that needed.

Who cares if your favorite game is number 33 or 53 or 3 or 13? The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

Originally Posted by Crooked Bee
The ranking was a matter of voting and is therefore imperfect. Duh. Of course there's no way for everyone to agree on the exact spot for every game, but nor is that needed.

Who cares if your favorite game is number 33 or 53 or 3 or 13? The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

+ 1

Originally Posted by Crooked Bee
The ranking was a matter of voting and is therefore imperfect. Duh. Of course there's no way for everyone to agree on the exact spot for every game, but nor is that needed.

Who cares if your favorite game is number 33 or 53 or 3 or 13? The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

Well said., that's excactly how i chose to look at it when I read through the list.

Originally Posted by Crooked Bee
The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

Agreed! You guys have drawn my attention to the "Mount & Blade" which I own but I have never gave it a try.

Originally Posted by zahratustra
Yup, you guys have drawn my attention to the "Mount & Blade" which I own but I have never gave it a try.

Make sure you play M&B Warband if you have it. Has slight upgrades to the first one. Fire and Sword just adds other skins more or less.

Originally Posted by Crooked Bee
Who cares if your favorite game is number 33 or 53 or 3 or 13? The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

This. get so disappointed when there's a massive listing, ful of screenshots and over 150 reviews, and all people talk about is "waaah, game X should be higher!".

Next list I do will be purely chronological.

Yes, Codex list mentions Warband and that's the one I'm gonna play. And all the mods! Looks like it will keep me occupied for a while

EDIT: I wouldn't worry filipepepe - most of us appreciate your effort. You guys have done a good job but there is no way that you could have pleased everybody. Isn't the bitching minority a part of the job description?

Originally Posted by felipepepe
This. get so disappointed when there's a massive listing, ful of screenshots and over 150 reviews, and all people talk about is "waaah, game X should be higher!".

Next list I do will be purely chronological.

The people would discuss the exact release date per platform and country then

Originally Posted by Vindicator
Why are Deus Ex and System Shock 2 higher on that list than U7… They are not even RPGs! Yes, both are fantastic games with rpg elements, but so is STALKER, Thief, BioShock, and a dozen other shooters.

Um, no. DX1 has experience points to be distributed among skills. Is there such a thing in the other games? Also: Are there any cases of choice and consequence in Thief? DX1 has a plenty of those.

DX1 is a CRPG by any definition.

ON TOPIC:

Fine list, but some of those games have to go:
- Knights of the Calice
- Geneforge
- King of the Dragon Pass
- ADOM

- Heroine's Quest just barely qualifies - it's an adventure game.

Knights of the Calice
Geneforge

I can recommend these two.

Yep, Geneforge is pretty cool.

Still hesitating about Knights of the Chalice…it just looks to ugly…the font alone hurts in my eyes…

KotC -> It's ugly as hell, but gameplay (=combat) rules.

Deus Ex is not only one of the best crpgs ever made imo, it's one of the best PC games of all time regardless of genre.

Originally Posted by Crooked Bee
Who cares if your favorite game is number 33 or 53 or 3 or 13? The point is, this is a hopefully useful list of good PC RPGs and hybrids that every RPG fan should give a look, possibly discovering an underappreciated gem or two along the way.

…then don't rank them. And sort them alphabetically. Or, better yet, split the list apart via either subgenre or publication date. Having M&M next to Alpha Protocol or Dragon Age next to Ultima VII simply makes your entire ranking system a jumbled joke.

Drithius - it was not a ranking by a committee -> it was a public democratic Codex vote. Good way to limit such a list IMHO to a reasonable amount of entries.
The ranking can't be logical in such a process, because people have different priorities for voting:

1) rank for the historical impact on the CRPG genre
2) rank for the most success
3) rank for the most fun
4) rank for the best implemented CRPG elements
5) rank for interesting Underdogs
6) rank for the best story
7) rank for the best tactical combat
…

plus the demographic factor - some younger players simply don't know older gems of the genre.

All in all a great list, but I still don't understand their obsession with Dark Souls. They mock ARPGs all the time and claim they aren't real RPGs, but give this one a free pass.

But yes, this list was a huge undertaking, obviously a lot of work went into it, and I'm sure someone will find great rpgs to play from it.