Lemming42
Arcane
Decline was when consolisation occurred in the 2000s. It's more or less over now - you can say what you like about the RPGs of the last decade, and many of them are shit, but it's not uncommon for them to match 90s games in terms of mechanics and C&C.
I think it's more interesting to look at decline in other genres, since RPGs had a return to form after the whole Kickstarter/indie boom (again, you can argue that these games are subjectively shit because of boring stories/settings and a lack of innovation, but I think you'd have a hard time suggesting some of them are mechanical "decline" compared to many 90s cRPGs, especially post-Fallout ones which seem to be the most imitated type). FPS games in particular got utterly fucked, so badly that the only way anyone could think to rescue the genre was to desperately try to ape the visuals, themes, styles and mechanics of games from 20 - 30 years ago, which is pretty pathetic when you think about it - and I say that as someone who unironically enjoyed Ion Fury.
I think it's more interesting to look at decline in other genres, since RPGs had a return to form after the whole Kickstarter/indie boom (again, you can argue that these games are subjectively shit because of boring stories/settings and a lack of innovation, but I think you'd have a hard time suggesting some of them are mechanical "decline" compared to many 90s cRPGs, especially post-Fallout ones which seem to be the most imitated type). FPS games in particular got utterly fucked, so badly that the only way anyone could think to rescue the genre was to desperately try to ape the visuals, themes, styles and mechanics of games from 20 - 30 years ago, which is pretty pathetic when you think about it - and I say that as someone who unironically enjoyed Ion Fury.