I only played ME1 and 2 but would consider ME2 the far superior game. Yes, a few "RPG Elements" from the first part got scrapped. But they were horrible to begin with and contributed nothing to the game. I don't need an item system which just makes you dig through garbage every few hours.
Witcher 1 and 2 had absolutely horrible combat imho. I didn't play W3 but in terms of combat it couldn't be worse at least.
Don't remember Morrowind good enough to compare it with skyrim.
I agree on Dragonfall being the best Shadowrun game though.
Concerning the original List: Lots of great games there, but I'd also cross out a few ones:
Never Played:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
Dark Souls
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
Games I'd consider great or significant:
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Pillars of Eternity
Planescape: Torment
Fallout: New Vegas
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Deus Ex
Mass Effect 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Mount & Blade: Warband
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls (standing for Diablo in general without which we wouldn't have Path of Exile either)
The only ones I'd argue are not good or significant for the list and which I played are:
Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Short, not very good mechanics, not very interesting storytelling
Torment: Tides of Numenera - Some of the worst RPG mechanics, no Consequences for anything, more of a visual novel than an RPG
ME1's main RPG elements which made it stand apart were the freedom of exploration & less streamlined dialogue options. Even then the dialogue was a bit too streamlined for my liking, but at least it didn't always scream "This is the good option, this is the bad option" much like ME2 & 3 did. Dragon Age 2 was when it became truly unbareable, with Bioware feeling the bizare need to tell me what each dialogue choice was outright. Mechanical aspects aside, overall ME2
felt like an action based spin off, kinda like ME the TV series. Whereas ME1
felt like a game about exploring the wonders of space. Which people prefer is just down to what they're after IMO.
Witcher 1's combat was dull, Witcher 2's combat was twitchy but great with a signs build on Dark Mode. I can definitely see why folk don't like it, but the overall feel you get of being a Witcher is bang on IMO. Preperation for fights & pre-fight thinking feel far more significant.
For me all that's happened in recent years is "RPGs" have morphed into something way more casual, yet still retain the "RPG" tag. ME2 the perfect example used earlier.
Nothing wrong with that, it's part of gaming evolution. But there's shed loads of hype & praise out there at the mo for "Best RPGs", when loads are just action games with a bit of fluff added.
Again, it all goes back to
feel for me. Space Jock, Monster Hunter etc. capturing that & the originality in those roles is what for me personally makes a good RPG. I could play Gears of War & feel like I've played something very similar to ME2, and I could play Assisns Creed Origins and feel as if I played something similar to TW3 etc.