Community The RPG Codex's Top 70 PC RPGs (And Some Hidden Gems)

[Decado]

It's a very good top ten. I don't agree with everything in it, but it is not missing anything crucial imo. I have two quibbles with the remaining 60 games: Pillars of Eternity 1 is not in there, which seems ridiculous to me. It's not in the top ten, but it's in the top 70 for me. I recognize this is a contentious position on the Codex.

The second, more important quibble is that the Canadian garbage known as "Deus Ex" should not be on this list anywhere, at all, ever, because it is not an RPG, is Canadian, and it fucking sucks as a game. The fact that it is tied with PoE II is fucking bonkers.

Fuck off, Deus Ex is more of an rpg than Pricks of Eternity II

Your opinion is garbage and you're a fucking retard.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

It's a very good top ten. I don't agree with everything in it, but it is not missing anything crucial imo. I have two quibbles with the remaining 60 games: Pillars of Eternity 1 is not in there, which seems ridiculous to me. It's not in the top ten, but it's in the top 70 for me. I recognize this is a contentious position on the Codex.

The second, more important quibble is that the Canadian garbage known as "Deus Ex" should not be on this list anywhere, at all, ever, because it is not an RPG, is Canadian, and it fucking sucks as a game. The fact that it is tied with PoE II is fucking bonkers.

Fuck off, Deus Ex is more of an rpg than Pricks of Eternity II

Your opinion is garbage and you're a fucking retard.

So what, are you Josh Soyer's alt? Shouldn't you be making another quirky indie budget game?

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Hey retards they're both fucking shit, Space Rangers should be above both. Go get a room

 

[Decado]

Space Rangers is a good game.

 

[Decado]

Anyway you don't have to like any RPG ever made to understand that the Canadian Deus Ex games are garbage and certainly not RPGs. They're shit.

 

[Beans00]

Anyway you don't have to like any RPG ever made to understand that the Canadian Deus Ex games are garbage and certainly not RPGs. They're shit.

They are way better than Pillars of boredom lol. Which is why they are higher.

 

[Ryzer]

It's so underlooked how advanced Gothic 2 was but that game offers a level of realism and immersion still unmatched to this day. The game was released at about the same period as Morrowind, and yet a whole world sets them apart

Imagine playing Morrowind, except it's a standard brown fantasy world and doesn't have Kirkbride tripping on magic mushrooms and writing the lore and backstory. And no mods.

Gothic is good but it's like the iron curtain version of Morrowind, created in a basement in East Germany.

Gothic doesn't need any mod to be good, because the game itself is good enough unlike Morrowind.
Also the game has mods like Chronicle of Myrtana (which I don't like) that is deemed as great.

 

[Jaedar]

Fuck off, Deus Ex is more of an rpg than Pricks of Eternity II

Deus Ex makes a lot of sense high up in the list, but human revolution is highly dubious as it is inferior to mankind divided, and neither is particularly amazing.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

Fuck off, Deus Ex is more of an rpg than Pricks of Eternity II

Deus Ex makes a lot of sense high up in the list, but human revolution is highly dubious as it is inferior to mankind divided, and neither is particularly amazing.

I agree with that, but he said Deus Ex in general should not be on the list anywhere. He didn't specify HR.

Also ngl Deus Ex HR should still be above PoEII.

 

[Butter]

I agree with that, but he said Deus Ex in general should not be on the list anywhere. He didn't specify HR.

He said Canadian Deus Ex, which obviously means the post-IW games. Austin Texas isn't in Canada.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

I agree with that, but he said Deus Ex in general should not be on the list anywhere. He didn't specify HR.

He said Canadian Deus Ex, which obviously means the post-IW games. Austin Texas isn't in Canada.

Fair enough. I stand by deus ex HR deserving to be above PoEII regardless though.

 

[Goral]

Disco Elysium being on the list (and so high at that) is an abomination. Underrail being higher than Age of Decadence is a travesty.

AoD is better both mechanics-wise and as far as writing is concerned. Writing is WAY better and there shouldn't even be a hint of doubt here. Dialogues in UR either suck or are mediocre, dialogues (and writing overall) in AoD is either very good or superb. UR is too easy, especially with Oddity system (classic with grinding is easy too, if you're a fighter of course), while AoD combat system is challenging and requires the use of tactics. UR has too many flaws that annoy me like:

1) You can't load a game during combat unless it's your turn. It is annoying especially when you know for sure you will die before even all the guards will have a chance to burst ammo in you. No such problem in AoD.

2) If you want to sell your stuff you have to go from one vendor to another because one trader will buy only very specific things and nothing else. Which makes sense in real life but in a game it's annoying (and to be honest in a post-apocalyptic world I doubt any trader would pass on a chance to buy something he doesn't need at the moment but for a fraction of it's real value). AoD wins again.

3) Running is so slow in here and it's one of the main reasons I don't want to replay the game. Playing Underrail lets you realize how great "teleporting" is in AoD. First location (SGS) is very annoying, especially cave tunnel exit which is slow like a retard. Also, you can't skip the shooting session with Gorsky.

4) There are some idiotic choices, like you can't open your room from the inside unless you have a keycard (or lockpicks).

5) There aren't that many ways to accomplish missions and pickpocketing skill is a must have. AoD gives much more freedom to the player and always gives you more than 2 options. Here there are usually 2 options only where the second one is way more difficult than the first (e.g. retrieving Elwood's key).

6) It has too monotonous locations. Corridors, corridors and some more corridors. That is the main reason it's not as replayable as AoD.

7) https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...e-game-of-the-year.106067/page-4#post-4311525

Crafting is good in both games (in AoD you also have Alchemy), UR offers more interactivity so you can disable cameras or actively use sneak (that also goes for your opponents). AoD often resembles a text adventure game rather than cRPG but that shouldn't be a problem for people with imagination. At least I don't have to spend 5 minutes on walking to disable a security system or to sneak into a building and pickpocket someone.

Last but not least UR is Fallout in sewers while AoD is a cRPG unlike any other.

And don't get me started on Deep Caverns: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/underrail-the-incline-awakens.105387/post-4319112

Underrail is way more difficult than Fallout and that's a plus. It doesn't "require powergaming", you just need to git gud. On my first playthrough I literally made an 800-damage, one-punch "monk" build without any metagaming. Just combined the Combo feat with a pneumatic glove.

Sounds like it's easier then not more difficult. On my first run I made a sniper that literally one-shot Tchort (and went after him straight, without doing the puzzle). It's way, way easier than Age of Decadence and Dungeon Rats especially.

 

[Velut]

I started Troubleshooter today and it's great. Thanks to all who voted for it. Part with hidden gemes was a great idea, strange to see Colony ship there thought.

 

[lukaszek]

It is annoying especially when you know for sure you will die

the what now?

also:

UR is too easy

pick one

 

[Goral]

It is annoying especially when you know for sure you will die

the what now?

also:

UR is too easy

pick one

I don't have to pick one, even easy games can be hard in ironman mode and just because you die in a fight due to a bad roll (or if I end up in an ambush unprepared or in a location where I'm extremely under-levelled) it doesn't mean it's normally a hard game. Even in Fallout (which is an easy game) you could die easily if someone would crit you. Are you retarded that I have to explain it to you?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Underrail being higher than Age of Decadence is a travesty

Pitting these against each other is like a tragic meaningless brothers feud. Their powers combined they orbit the trinity

 

[Decado]

Fuck off, Deus Ex is more of an rpg than Pricks of Eternity II

Deus Ex makes a lot of sense high up in the list, but human revolution is highly dubious as it is inferior to mankind divided, and neither is particularly amazing.

I agree with that, but he said Deus Ex in general should not be on the list anywhere. He didn't specify HR.

Also ngl Deus Ex HR should still be above PoEII.

I wrote "Canadian Deus Ex" on purpose, you nosebleed. The first Deus Ex is a hall of famer. The Canadian Deus Ex games -- especially the first -- are trash. The first one managed to bamboozle people (including me) because we had waited so long for a proper sequel to the first, but the Canadian writing showed its ugly face and it was game over. The game has aged like cat shit at the beach.

PoE 2 should be higher than Canadian Deus Ex merely by its virtue of being an actual Role Playing Game. Canadian Deus Ex are shooter/stealth hybrids that don't do either particularly well, with anemic character building options and terrible resource management. The first was so broken they had to go back and fix the boss fights because they forced to you to play them as a shooter. Garbage.

 

[Rahdulan]

I said it ages ago and I'll repeat myself.

The 2012-2016 poll had a pretty good system, I would stick with that one: a huge list of games, everyone votes on everything. This way the Codex opinion is much better represented.

If feasible I think both approaches should be used and subsequently compared - one huge ass "Top X" list to vote on, and then a number of highly curated polls simply so we don't compare and try to rank apples to oranges just because they're both round fruits. Not to mention it would let people who are better versed in certain subgenres to voice their opinion. This would be double the work if not more for questionable gains, though. And I sure as hell wouldn't want to be the one to sort RPGs into specific types for latter polls.

I would also like to rectify the first part and say all-inclusive fuck huge lists are largely pointless because you already know about 80% of the entries and you're just playing the guessing game which rank those genre classics and fan favorites are going to occupy.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Also lol at the "good" 2012-2016 system which got Twitcher 3 first place

 

[Beans00]

Underrail being higher than Age of Decadence is a travesty

Pitting these against each other is like a tragic meaningless brothers feud. Their powers combined they orbit the trinity

Not really, usually fans of one game dislike the other intensely.

 

[luj1]

Underrail being higher than Age of Decadence is a travesty.

AoD is better both mechanics-wise

>"AoD has better mechanics"
>game is literally being teleported from one dialogue to another

 

[Decado]

Underrail being higher than Age of Decadence is a travesty.

AoD is better both mechanics-wise

>"AoD has better mechanics"
>game is literally being teleported from one dialogue to another

I feel like I was the only one who noticed this! Drove me nuts.

 

[Gahbreeil]

1. Black Isle
2. Bethesda
3. BioWare

Just wanted to point it out, clearer, definitive and in general more enjoyable to read.

Post Scriptum
I'd like to direct everyone here who thinks any of the Witchers deserves a place as an RPG of all-time to visit this thread where I have addressed a few issues with the setting.

 

[Irminsul]

I just skimmed over the first page of the thread you linked. It demonstrates that you actually cannot read simple sentences and you reaped more retarded reactions for it than I've ever seen before. I wish I had your confidence going through life.

 

[Goldschmidt]

Arcanum is the most shit game ever. It can't get any more cringe with the very first npc you meet when your ship crashed. The combat mechanics suck and are devoid of any fun. How that game can be top 3 is beyond me.

Also the list does not include Path of Exile. Path of Exile 2 (the last shining beacon in this crappy age of gaming) will take top spot next time.