Favorite RPG from each decade?

[Tweed]

80s: Wasteland
90s: Fallout
00s: Deus Ex
10s: Underrail
20s: Archolos

 

[Brancaleone]

80s: Curse of the Azure Bonds
90s: Darklands (from when I could still read the font)
00s: Arcanum
10s: Battle Brothers
20s: Knights of the Chalice 2

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

80s: Battletech - Crescent Hawk's Inception
90s: Fallout
00s: Morrowind
10s: Mount & Blade: Warband, Kenshi or New Vegas, hard to pick.
20s: Fuck if I know. Nothing really stands out yet.

 

[mediocrepoet]

80s: Quest for Glory 1, honourable mention: Pool of Radiance
90s: Quest for Glory 4, honourable mentions: Baldur's Gate, Quest for Glory 2-3 (fuck 5), Wizardry VI-VII, Champions of Krynn
00s: Baldur's Gate 2, honourable mentions: Knights of the Chalice, NWN2: MotB
10s: Pathfinder: Kingmaker, honourable mention: Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
20s: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, honourable mention: Dragon's Dogma 2

 

[mediocrepoet]

Could be worse Zed Duke of Banville, I could've had a real time blobber in there. Disgusting things, I avoid them where I can.

 

[Humanophage]

1981-1985: ?
1986-1990: Alter Ego
1991-1995: Ultima VII - Black Gate
1996-2000: Baldur's Gate I
2001-2005: Gothic II
2006-2010: Geneforge IV
2011-2015: Underrail
2016-2020: Kingmaker
2021-2024: WOTR

 

[None]

It's hard to say for most decades except for this last one, Underrail was leagues above its competition. With a little bit of luck and Serbian magic we could get a repeat with Infusion.

 

[SkiNNyBane]

Fallout 1
Fallout 2
Fallout 3
Fallout 4
Fallout 76

 

[goregasm]

I cant just pick one for each decade because I love certain things about certain games, and my favorites tend to rotate, will say my favorite decades were the 90s and possibly 10s over the 00s.

00s had some obvious GOATS, and the 2010s had a ton of watering down of rpgs but it also had shit like Kenshi, battle bros, and while controversial I really enjoyed some of the kickstarter games like POE and WL2, flaws and all. Was nice to go back to the west coast in FNV, just find myself playing more shit from the 90s and 2010s over 80s-2000s or 20s.

At least recently.

 

[jakkis]

Gtfoh with your BB, laptop guy simulator, XCom, team management games those are not arrpeegees. Or your favourite shooters with rpg elements, don't count neither.


80s: CotAB. PoR maybe "better" but played this one first, can't beat that. Was like "Woah there exist games like this?" Meaning babbys first rpg.
90s: F2 Played this one first. Was like "Woah there exist Rpgs other than fantasy and you can do WHAT?" Can't beat that.
00s: Fallout 3

Spoiler

ahahaha not really. Maybe VTMB? Some good ones here as well. VTMB was like "Woah muh atmospheric storytelling", memorable.

10s: FNV by default like the only rpg I've played that decade
20s: none, or Grimoire as I only played it here and is the only rpg I've played in 14 years

 

[ds]

90s: Planescape: Torment
00s: Arx Fatalis
10s: Quest for Infamy
20s: ATOM RPG Trudograd

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I cant just pick one for each decade because I love certain things about certain games, and my favorites tend to rotate, will say my favorite decades were the 90s and possibly 10s over the 00s.

I agree. There are some decades that were leaps and bounds above others. 2000-2009 was somewhat piss poor because that was the decade where all the publishers wanted to publish either Diablo clones or Baldur's Gate clones. 2010 to 2019 had some really great games for a couple of reasons. One, it was when independent developers started pumping out some gems and the second is that there were enough successful AAA games that weren't Diablo and Baldur's Gate made a splash enough to break the previous decade's paradigm.

 

[roguefrog]

Most of the aughts (and into the '10s) might as well be a CRPG dark age.

After 2003 there was a drought, with BioWare/Bethesda shifting to console and Interplay(duh); and Troika soon going kaput. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer and The Witcher (released the same year in 2007) was a sudden rare oasis in the desert. But the glut lasted even longer after that!

Anyways it sucked. I can't really think of a worst time frame in gaming, barring 2007 which was exceptional of course, and not only for RPGs...

 

[Snufkin]

80's - None, I dont play them
90's - Fallout 2
00's - Arcanum
10's - Underrail
20's - hard to say, it's not even halfway through

 

[Anonymous Ranger]

80's Phantasy Star 1
90's Fallout 2
00's Baldur's Gate 2
10's Fallout New Vagas
20's Pathfinder WOTR

I didn't realize that I've hardly ever played any pre 90's games. Phantasy Star 1 was literally the only game I could think of that I played that would count.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

After 2003 there was a drought, with BioWare/Bethesda shifting to console and Interplay(duh); and Troika soon going kaput. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer and The Witcher (released the same year in 2007) was a sudden rare oasis in the desert. But the glut lasted even longer after that!

I'd argue that there was a drought after 1998. A lot of publishers thought CRPGs were too expensive and didn't make a lot of money, so in order to maximize the profit potential, they wanted everything to be a Baldur's Gate or Diablo clone. I'd also argue that making CRPGs that could also be played on a console brought them out of that, but very, very slowly. Morrowind's sales broke that Baldur's Gate/Diablo paradigm. Also, Diablo II really, REALLY raised the bar on expectations. Players started to expect seeing their new armor displayed on their character, and 3D still looked like shit, so game development got even more expensive.

 

[Butter]

I'd argue that there was a drought after 1998. A lot of publishers thought CRPGs were too expensive and didn't make a lot of money, so in order to maximize the profit potential, they wanted everything to be a Baldur's Gate or Diablo clone. I'd also argue that making CRPGs that could also be played on a console brought them out of that, but very, very slowly. Morrowind's sales broke that Baldur's Gate/Diablo paradigm. Also, Diablo II really, REALLY raised the bar on expectations. Players started to expect seeing their new armor displayed on their character, and 3D still looked like shit, so game development got even more expensive.

But that's like saying there was a drought in the 80s because of all the Ultima and Wizardry clones.

Great PC RPGs released between 1999 and 2003:
* Planescape: Torment
* Baldur's Gate 2
* Icewind Dale
* Icewind Dale 2
* Might and Magic 7
* Might and Magic 8
* Arcanum
* Temple of Elemental Evil
* Diablo 2
* Deus Ex
* Gothic
* Gothic 2
* Jagged Alliance 2
* Arx Fatalis
* Morrowind
* System Shock 2
* Neverwinter Nights
* Knights of the Old Republic
* Geneforge

The period of 2005-2012 doesn't have half this many great PC RPGs, hence a drought.

 

[MerchantKing]

80's Wizardry
90's Fallout
00's Arcanum
10's Underrail
20's KotC2 (though Infusion might take this spot if it comes out in the decade)

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Great PC RPGs released between 1999 and 2003:

Geneforge was an independent CRPG. Your first four, being made with the Infinity Engine, would count as "games like Baldur's Gate". Several of those games you mention also didn't do very well in terms of sales, despite being "good games", like Arx Fatalis and System Shock 2. Jagged Alliance 2's development started before 1998, and while commercially successful, only reached the 300,000 sales mark around 2006.

The period of 2005-2012 doesn't have half this many great PC RPGs, hence a drought.

While I may or may not like all these, during that time period, you had:

* Oblivion
* Fallout 3
* Fallout New Vegas
* Skyrim
* Fable
* Fable II
* Fable III
* Jade Empire
* KotOR 2
* Mass Effect
* Dragon Age: Origins
* Dragon Age II
* Mass Effect 2
* Divine Divinity
* Beyond Divinity
* Divnity II
* Two Worlds
* Two Worlds II
* STALKER
* Sacred
* Sacred II
* Mount & Blade
* Mount & Blade: Warband
* Risen
* The Witcher
* The Witcher II

And probably a Hell of a lot more that aren't in my Steam library.

 

[Butter]

Geneforge was an independent CRPG.

I don't know why this matters. I said here's a list of great PC RPGs released during the period 1999-2003.

Your first four, being made with the Infinity Engine, would count as "games like Baldur's Gate".

Yeah, I don't see why this matters. I never contested your point that games were being made to ape BG or Diablo. That really doesn't bother me if they're great games.

Several of those games you mention also didn't do very well in terms of sales, despite being "good games", like Arx Fatalis and System Shock 2. Jagged Alliance 2's development started before 1998, and while commercially successful, only reached the 300,000 sales mark around 2006.

I don't know why this matters either. I don't measure a game's worth by how many units it sold or how influential it was or by how notable it was on release. If it's good, it's good. Again, I was challenging your point that there was a drought after 1998, and a shitload of really good PC RPGs released in the 5 years following 1998.

While I may or may not like all these, during that time period, you had:

* Oblivion
* Fallout 3
* Fallout New Vegas
* Skyrim
* Fable
* Fable II
* Fable III
* Jade Empire
* KotOR 2
* Mass Effect
* Dragon Age: Origins
* Dragon Age II
* Mass Effect 2
* Divine Divinity
* Beyond Divinity
* Divnity II
* Two Worlds
* Two Worlds II
* STALKER
* Sacred
* Sacred II
* Mount & Blade
* Mount & Blade: Warband
* Risen
* The Witcher
* The Witcher II

And probably a Hell of a lot more that aren't in my Steam library.

A lot of those are shit (Fallout 3), or not even RPGs (STALKER), or console games (Jade Empire), or didn't even release in the 2005-2012 period (Divine Divinity). You can pick apart my 1999-2003 list if some of those were originally console games (KotOR might have been console first and then ported to PC, I don't remember). If I were to steelman the 2005-2012 period, I'd have:

* The Witcher
* The Witcher 2
* Fallout: New Vegas
* Dragon Age: Origins
* Neverwinter Nights 2
* Alpha Protocol
* Dark Souls
* Knights of the Chalice
* Mount & Blade: Warband
* Risen

And this shows a clear trend towards action RPGs, so if that's not your bag you were kinda screwed for the better part of a decade.

 

[0sacred]

80s: Dragon Wars
90s: Ultima VII - BG
00s: Neverwinter Nights
10s: Drakensang - River of Time

Hardest pick was 80s, I generally find those RPG's too simplistic to bother. Second hardest pick was 10s, as there were so many mediocre games I've bought and played. It's actually a tie with Kingdoms of Amalur.

 

[0sacred]

I cant just pick one for each decade because I love certain things about certain games, and my favorites tend to rotate, will say my favorite decades were the 90s and possibly 10s over the 00s.

I agree. There are some decades that were leaps and bounds above others. 2000-2009 was somewhat piss poor because that was the decade where all the publishers wanted to publish either Diablo clones or Baldur's Gate clones.

BG II
Deus Ex
Demon's Souls
Morrowind
Dragon Quest VIII
Wiz 8
VtM Bloodlines & Redemption
NWN 1 & 2
KotoR 2
Icewind Dale I & II
Gothic I & II
Arcanum
Drakensang
Arx Fatalis
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

Not piss poor in any way, even if you dislike BG for some reason

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

BG II
Deus Ex
Demon's Souls
Morrowind
Dragon Quest VIII
Wiz 8
VtM Bloodlines & Redemption
NWN 1 & 2
KotoR 2
Icewind Dale I & II
Gothic I & II
Arcanum
Drakensang
Arx Fatalis
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

Not piss poor in any way, even if you dislike BG for some reason

Of that list, I played and liked Morrowind, Bloodlines, Arcanum, and KotOR2. I own Arx Fatalis, but have yet to play it. I never played Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, but that one does look good.

 

[Falksi]

80's: Starflight
90's: Phantasy Star 4
00's: Baldur's Gate 2
10's: Shadowrun: Dragonfall
20's: Yakuza: Like A Dragon

 

[Radiane]

80s: Curse of the Azure Bonds
90s: RoA: Blade of Destiny
00s: Avernum 2
10s: XCOM 2: WotC
20s: Queen's Wish 2

I had to pretend that Wizardry 7 doesn't exist because it would trump every other game but even then, the 90s are full of really good crpgs