RPG Codex's Best RPGs - 2019 - RESULTS ARE OUT!

[Humanophage]

older titles, say.. pre-2010 should either have its own voting, or those titles should be kept as a legacy list. by focusing on titles in the last decade we could better sort the wheat from the chaff in the age of decline, while eliminating nostalgia from being a factor into one's opinion. then perhaps once we have a nu-list and the legacy list, we could elect to spend 25 points on ONLY the titles from either list (no adding our own) to formulate a combined incline.

If you strongly believe that newer good games also require some representation, you can just have a self-imposed quota for them. For example, I chose to have a quota of 12 for "heavyweights" like P:T, BG, Arcanum, Bloodlines, etc., a quota of 7 for "new incline" for the likes of Underrail, P:K, AoD, or Deadfire, and a quota of 6 for "underdogs" like ADOM, Risen, Geneforge, etc. This meant that some games didn't get in - e.g., I like Arcanum better than AoD, but there was no space left for it and I'm certain it will fare well enough without my help. I prefer BG to Underrail and certainly have more sentimental attachment to it, but gave more points to the latter.

As it stands, the poll should send the following message to the world: "The passage of time does not mean progress. It often means degeneration. The old is still better than the new if pitted against one another in a fair fight. But not all is as lost as it seemed a decade ago. With enough effort, zeal, and independent thinking, you can match past achievements and even surpass some. Ignore the temptations of modern decline and seek out true heirs to the superior tradition."

There will likely be a poll in 2020 equivalent to the 2012-2016 poll, so newer games will get their due.

As for poll concepts, I think it would be more interesting to have a separate poll where the top-15 games would be excluded, so people would be forced to distribute their votes differently. Your proposition handicaps the less prominent older games. It would be better for discovering new games because everyone knows both the new and the old top scorers.

 

[DalekFlay]

We could do a different poll of 2010's incline, but I don't see why the age of the game should effect a "best RPGs of all time" list. Yes some people will give a nostalgia bonus, but some others will give a flashy new thing bonus. Maybe it evens out, maybe it doesn't, but subjective list made by humans is what it is.

 

[T. Reich]

Mechanically, DS is more of an RPG than Gothic 1/2.

That says more about people who think Gothics are great RPGs than about DS.

Let's glance at some picks from the current top-25 of all time, shall we?

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Oh, my.

That surely speaks volumes about codexian consensus of what makes an RPG. As well as c-o-n-s-i-s-t-e-n-c-y.

 

[DalekFlay]

That surely speaks volumes about codexian consensus of what makes an RPG. As well as c-o-n-s-i-s-t-e-n-c-y.

Deus Ex and Morrowind are pretty much as RPG-y as you can get with any kind of "action" component. Even the chance to hit in Morrowind is stat-based, and Deus Ex got endless shit for its stat-based aiming. If those are at all questionable then you're basically saying only turn-based or RTwP should be considered. Dark Souls is a whole other matter.

 

[T. Reich]

RTwP should be considered

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[ScrotumBroth]

Voting system sucks donkey balls, we've got the likes of Mass Effect and Dark Souls overshadowing gems like Fundamental theorem of ideal theory in number fields.

 

[Butter]

I was feeling autistic, so I tallied up the first 8 pages of results. These rankings are tentative, of course, and I probably miscounted a bit.

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1. Planescape Torment
2. Fallout
3. Baldur's Gate 2
4. Arcanum
5. Fallout 2
6. Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines
7. Fallout: New Vegas
8. TES III: Morrowind
9. Dark Souls
9. Deus Ex

11. Gothic II
12. The Age of Decadence
13. Pathfinder: Kingmaker
14. The Witcher III
15. Underrail
16. Jagged Alliance 2
17. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
18. Baldur's Gate
19. Gothic
19. Wizardry 8

21. Icewind Dale
21. Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant
23. Neverwinter Nights 2
24. Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar
25. System Shock 2
26. Betrayal at Krondor
27. Dragon's Dogma
28. ATOM RPG
28. Divinity: Original Sin
28. Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

The top 8 games are the same as in the previous list, albeit in a different order. Planescape has a massive lead over the next game, and will likely keep its #1 spot without any trouble. Wizardry 8 dropped considerably from its #10 spot in the previous list. While some of this can be attributed to the addition of AoD, Kingmaker, and Underrail, that addition had virtually no effect on Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Darklands and Ultima Underworld were top 20 on the previous list, and don't even make the top 30 this time around.

 

[Ismaul]

Sampling the results, it looks like there's going to be a number of upsets this time around. Seems definite that Planescape is not going to take the #1 spot this time, that looks to be destined to Baldur's Gate 2.

I fully expect this is the year PST falls from grace, I mean even I didn't give it as much points as last time, but I really hope it won't be BG2 instead. Fallout 1 should be it, but I'd be willing to accept Fallout 2.

 

[SniperHF]

One of the Fallouts needs to be #1 and Gothic 2 should be in the top 10. The rest of the order I don't think is as important.
There's gonna be some dumb stuff so we can only do what we can do


Another thing this vote reminded me of is i've been meaning to go through the old list and play a game I both haven't played and already own.
So I'm starting Anachronox.

It should be illegal for people with Gothic avatars to rate it any less than 5.

I prefer 2, which I gave a 5. Plus I'd rather spend points on 2 strategically in the sense that it has a better shot of hitting the top 10 than does 1.

 

[DalekFlay]

Planescape has a massive lead over the next game, and will likely keep its #1 spot without any trouble.

Read a novel FFS.

 

[Parabalus]

Should we consider Battle Brothers as a RPG?

If Dark Souls and JA2 make the cut, BB has a case as well. It even has branching questlines since the DLC, the new one will add even more to it.

 

[felipepepe]

I was feeling autistic, so I tallied up the first 8 pages of results. These rankings are tentative, of course, and I probably miscounted a bit.

Sorry, but please delete this. Don't want people using the list to change their votes.

 

[BEvers]

If provisional RPG top 70 point tallies are outlawed, only outlaws will have provisional RPG top 70 point tallies.

 

[lophiaspis]

What a pathetic display if that list is correct. Witcher 3 is far superior to any other videogame, let alone any other RPG. It should be in a league of its own. And Codex won't even put it on top 10? They even place it below the travesty known as Failout: Spew Bumgas??

What more proof do you need that the Codex is just a hive of groupthinking nostalgiatards.

 

[Funposter]

please delete this

 

[BEvers]

inXile is also doing slightly worse than I had expected. Compared to the original games, their results have been mixed:

WL2 is winning against WL1 (12 points vs 8)
BT4 is losing against BT2 (0 vs 1)
Numenera vs PST would be too cruel to spell out

It's possible that a lot of votes that would have gone to Larian, inxile and Obsidian three years ago are now going to Kingmaker, Atom RPG et al. Changing times

 

[DalekFlay]

BT4 is losing against BT2 (0 vs 1)

The secret is, none of these games are that good.

 

[TT1]

Should we consider Battle Brothers as a RPG?

If Dark Souls and JA2 make the cut, BB has a case as well. It even has branching questlines since the DLC, the new one will add even more to it.

Good point.

Well, if Battle Brothers should be considered, its a no-brainer. I will edit my list.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Witcher 3 is far superior to any other videogame, let alone any other RPG.

I agree. It's the most game superior game, in recent memory, at being as painfully mediocre as possible with no redeeming qualities other than storyfaggotry.

 

[V_K]

no redeeming qualities other than storyfaggotry.

Storyfaggotry is the opposite of a redeeming quality.

 

[Marten Broadcloak]

Honestly, having Fallout 2 only ranked 5 is an enormous disgrace.

 

[Nano]

There's still more than a week left, y'all

 

[fantadomat]

I was feeling autistic, so I tallied up the first 8 pages of results. These rankings are tentative, of course, and I probably miscounted a bit.

Sorry, but please delete this. Don't want people using the list to change their votes.

I do hope that you do give preference to older games when they are tied.


LoL that garbage Dark souls is even seen as rpg,fuck the codex have declined a lot.

 

[Matador]

It's a shame Wizardry votes are getting so spreaded across 1-5-6-7-8.

Could be interesting to include a section in the results with franchises ranking with the average of each one.

 

[HarveyBirdman]

This thread and this poll are gay. Anyway...

What did y'all think of last night's GoT episode? I'm pretty sure I died of a rage induced heart attack, and now live in a terrible purgatory where George will never finish the books, and we will never get a satisfying ending to the story.