Table of Contents
Introduction: A Golden Era of Role-Playing Excellence
The period between 2010 and 2021 stands as a remarkable chapter in gaming history, particularly for role-playing game enthusiasts. This twelve-year span delivered some of the most memorable, innovative, and emotionally resonant RPG experiences ever created. From sprawling open worlds that took hundreds of hours to fully explore to intimate character-driven narratives that challenged our understanding of interactive storytelling, this era proved that RPGs weren’t just surviving in the modern gaming landscape—they were thriving.
Whether you’re a veteran gamer who lived through these releases or a newcomer curious about where to start your RPG journey, understanding this golden period provides invaluable context for appreciating how the genre evolved. These weren’t just games; they were cultural phenomena that sparked conversations, built communities, and in many cases, changed how we think about what video games can achieve as an artistic medium.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the standout RPG from each year between 2010 and 2021, examining what made these games special, how they influenced the industry, and why they continue to resonate with players today. Let’s embark on this nostalgic journey through role-playing greatness.
What Defines a Great RPG? Understanding the Genre’s Core Appeal
Before we dive into our year-by-year breakdown, it’s worth examining what elevates an RPG from merely good to truly exceptional. Role-playing games have always occupied a unique space in gaming, offering experiences that blend multiple elements into cohesive, immersive packages.
The Power of Player Agency
At their heart, great RPGs give players meaningful choices. This goes beyond simple dialogue options or branching paths. The best RPGs make you feel like your decisions have weight and consequence, whether you’re choosing between saving a village or pursuing a personal vendetta, deciding which companion to trust with a dangerous secret, or determining the fate of entire kingdoms through political maneuvering.
This sense of agency transforms passive entertainment into active participation. You’re not just watching a story unfold—you’re shaping it, living it, and owning the consequences of your choices.
World-Building That Captivates
RPGs transport us to other realms, and the most successful ones create worlds that feel lived-in and authentic. Whether it’s a fantasy kingdom with centuries of lore, a sci-fi universe with complex political systems, or a contemporary setting with supernatural elements, great RPGs make their worlds feel real through attention to detail, consistent internal logic, and environmental storytelling.
The difference between a good RPG world and a great one often lies in the small details: readable books that expand the lore, NPC conversations that reveal cultural nuances, architectural styles that tell stories about a civilization’s values, and ecosystems that feel organic rather than manufactured.
Character Development and Relationships
The most memorable RPGs feature characters that stay with us long after we’ve finished playing. These aren’t just quest-givers or combat companions—they’re fully realized personalities with motivations, flaws, backstories, and growth arcs. The best RPGs let us form genuine emotional connections with these characters, whether through romance options, friendship systems, or simply well-written dialogue that reveals depth and complexity.
Gameplay Systems That Engage
While story and characters often take center stage in RPG discussions, the underlying gameplay systems matter tremendously. Whether it’s turn-based tactical combat, real-time action battles, deep character customization through skill trees and equipment, or innovative mechanics that break genre conventions, great RPGs find ways to keep players engaged through their core gameplay loops.
The most successful RPGs balance accessibility with depth, ensuring that newcomers can enjoy the experience while offering veterans enough complexity to master and experiment with different playstyles.
2010 – Mass Effect 2: Where Science Fiction Met Personal Stakes
The decade opened with one of BioWare’s finest achievements. Mass Effect 2 took everything that worked about its predecessor and refined it while adding emotional depth that elevated the entire trilogy. Commander Shepard’s mission to stop the Collectors became intensely personal as players assembled a diverse crew of specialists, each with their own baggage, motivations, and loyalty missions.
What made Mass Effect 2 revolutionary was how it married third-person shooter mechanics with deep RPG systems and choice-driven storytelling. Every conversation felt consequential thanks to the dialogue wheel system, which allowed for nuanced roleplay beyond simple good/bad dichotomies. The Paragon and Renegade system gave players freedom to define Shepard’s personality while maintaining narrative coherence.
The suicide mission finale remains one of gaming’s most tension-filled sequences. Any squad member could die based on your choices throughout the game, from who you assigned to specific tasks to whether you’d completed their loyalty missions. This created genuine stakes that made players care deeply about their crew’s survival.
Beyond its mechanical innovations, Mass Effect 2 excelled at world-building. The galaxy felt vast yet interconnected, with different alien species having distinct cultures, politics, and perspectives. Conversations with teammates like Garrus, Tali, or Mordin revealed layers of personality and philosophy that made the universe feel authentic and lived-in.
The game’s impact on the industry cannot be overstated. It proved that RPGs could deliver cinematic experiences without sacrificing player agency, and it showed that meaningful choices could extend beyond simple dialogue trees to affect fundamental aspects of gameplay and story outcomes.
2011 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: An Open World That Defined a Generation
If one game could claim to define open-world RPGs for an entire generation, Skyrim would be it. Released on November 11, 2011, Bethesda’s masterpiece transported players to the frozen northern province of Tamriel, where dragons had returned and only the Dragonborn could stop them.
Skyrim’s genius lay in its approach to player freedom. From the moment you escaped Helgen, you could pursue the main questline, join any of the game’s numerous guilds, explore ancient Nordic ruins, collect butterfly wings for alchemy experiments, or simply wander the wilderness discovering unmarked locations. The game never forced a particular path, instead trusting players to create their own adventures.
The world itself was a character. Snow-capped mountains, dense forests, sprawling tundras, and ancient cities created a diverse landscape that rewarded exploration. Random encounters—from dragon attacks to bandit ambushes to chance meetings with interesting NPCs—ensured that traversing the world never felt like empty walking.
The leveling system allowed for incredible build diversity. You could become a heavily armored warrior wielding massive two-handed weapons, a stealthy archer who never got caught, a pure mage specializing in destruction or conjuration, or any combination thereof. The lack of class restrictions meant experimentation was always possible.
Skyrim’s cultural impact extended far beyond gaming. “Arrow to the knee” jokes became internet phenomena. “Fus Ro Dah” entered popular vocabulary. The game’s iconic theme, composed by Jeremy Soule, became instantly recognizable even to non-gamers. Modding communities kept the game alive and relevant, with thousands of user-created modifications adding everything from graphical overhauls to entirely new questlines and gameplay systems.
More than a decade after release, Skyrim remains relevant. It’s been ported to virtually every platform imaginable, introducing new generations to its particular brand of open-world exploration. Its influence can be seen in countless games that followed, as developers studied what made Skyrim’s approach to open-world design so compelling.
2012 – Xenoblade Chronicles: JRPG Innovation at Its Finest
While Western RPGs dominated much of the early 2010s conversation, 2012 reminded everyone that Japanese RPGs still had plenty to offer. Xenoblade Chronicles, originally developed by Monolith Soft for the Nintendo Wii, represented a bold reimagining of what JRPGs could be.
The game’s setting immediately captured imaginations. The entire world existed on the bodies of two frozen titans, the Bionis and Mechonis, locked in eternal combat. This wasn’t just a creative backdrop—it informed the game’s themes about destiny, conflict, and the cycle of life and death.
Combat in Xenoblade Chronicles broke from traditional turn-based systems while maintaining strategic depth. Characters auto-attacked, but players controlled positioning, special abilities (called Arts), and party dynamics in real-time. This created battles that felt active and engaging while preserving the tactical planning that made JRPG combat satisfying.
The scope of Xenoblade Chronicles impressed players accustomed to more linear JRPG experiences. Environments were massive and encouraged exploration, with dozens of side quests, collectibles, and hidden areas to discover. Yet despite its scale, the game maintained a focused narrative about protagonist Shulk’s quest for revenge and eventual understanding about the nature of his world.
Perhaps most importantly, Xenoblade Chronicles showed that JRPGs could evolve without abandoning what made them special. It respected genre traditions while innovating in meaningful ways, proving that turn-based mechanics weren’t the only viable approach to JRPG combat and that Japanese developers could create open environments as compelling as their Western counterparts.
2013 – Fire Emblem Awakening: Tactical Excellence That Saved a Franchise
Fire Emblem Awakening arrived at a critical moment for its series. After years of declining sales, Nintendo considered ending the franchise entirely. Instead, Awakening became a phenomenon that not only saved Fire Emblem but revitalized it for modern audiences.
What made Awakening special was how it balanced hardcore tactical gameplay with accessible features and emotional character development. The core tactical combat remained challenging, with permadeath meaning that fallen units stayed dead permanently. But for players who found this too punishing, Casual mode allowed fallen units to return after each battle, opening the game to broader audiences without compromising the traditional experience.
The relationship system became Awakening’s secret weapon. Characters could build support levels through adjacent positioning in battle, unlocking conversations that revealed backstories, personalities, and eventually romantic relationships. These relationships had mechanical benefits—paired units fought better together—but they also created emotional investment that made permadeath genuinely painful.
The ability to have characters marry and produce children who could then join your army added both strategic depth and narrative weight. Players carefully considered which pairings would create the most powerful offspring while also being invested in seeing their favorite characters find happiness together.
Awakening’s class system offered satisfying progression. Characters could switch between classes, learning new abilities and finding optimal builds. This customization, combined with the support system and permadeath stakes, created a deeply engaging tactical experience where every decision mattered.
The game’s success directly led to Fire Emblem’s current prominence. Characters like Lucina and Chrom became Nintendo icons, appearing in games like Super Smash Bros. The franchise expanded with multiple successful sequels and spinoffs, all owing their existence to Awakening’s critical and commercial triumph.
2014 – Dragon Age: Inquisition: Political Intrigue Meets Epic Fantasy
After the divisive reception of Dragon Age II, BioWare needed to deliver something special with Inquisition. They succeeded, creating an epic that combined the party-based tactical combat fans loved with massive open areas to explore and a politically charged narrative about religious faith, power, and responsibility.
As the Inquisitor, players led an organization tasked with restoring order to Thedas after a catastrophic magical explosion tore open the Veil between the physical world and the Fade, releasing demons across the land. The narrative explored weighty themes about religious authority, the nature of faith, and how power corrupts even well-intentioned leaders.
The companion roster ranked among BioWare’s best. Characters like the rebellious Sera, the guilt-ridden Grey Warden Blackwall, the scholarly necromancer Dorian, and the mysterious Solas each brought unique perspectives and moral complexities. Their banter during exploration added personality and helped the vast world feel less empty.
Inquisition’s approach to open-world design drew mixed reactions but ultimately succeeded in creating varied environments worth exploring. From the lush Emerald Graves to the harsh Storm Coast to the sun-baked Western Approach, each region offered distinct challenges, questlines, and atmospheres.
The combat system blended real-time action with tactical pause functionality, allowing players to control positioning and ability use strategically or dive into more action-oriented gameplay. The crafting system let players customize weapons and armor extensively, creating builds that reflected their playstyle preferences.
Perhaps most impressively, Inquisition delivered satisfying conclusions to storylines established across multiple games while remaining accessible to newcomers. It rewarded series veterans with callbacks and character returns while ensuring new players could fully enjoy the experience.
2015 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: The RPG That Set New Standards
Few games achieve true masterpiece status, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt earned that designation through its combination of superb storytelling, meaningful choices, stunning visuals, and meticulous world-building. CD Projekt Red’s magnum opus showed what RPGs could achieve when developers refused to compromise on quality.
Geralt of Rivia’s quest to find his adopted daughter Ciri while navigating political conflicts across multiple kingdoms provided the narrative framework, but The Witcher 3’s brilliance lay in how every element worked in harmony. The main story delivered epic stakes and emotional payoffs, but side quests often matched or exceeded the main narrative’s quality.
Take “The Bloody Baron” questline, for instance. What began as a simple task to gather information evolved into a tragic exploration of domestic abuse, alcoholism, regret, and redemption. Choices made throughout this storyline had no clear “right” answers, forcing players to wrestle with moral ambiguity in ways few games attempted.
The world itself was breathtaking. From the war-torn lands of Velen to the cosmopolitan streets of Novigrad to the picturesque Skellige Isles, each region felt culturally distinct and geographically coherent. Environmental storytelling revealed histories and conflicts without exposition dumps, rewarding observant players.
Combat evolved from previous entries, offering a more fluid and responsive system that required preparation, timing, and tactical thinking. The bestiary provided information about monster weaknesses, encouraging players to use appropriate oils, signs, and strategies rather than simply hack-and-slash their way through encounters.
Perhaps most remarkably, The Witcher 3 treated players with respect. It assumed intelligence and maturity, presenting complex political situations, morally gray characters, and consequences that manifested hours after decisions were made. The game trusted players to engage with its themes and narratives without hand-holding or simplification.
The two expansion packs, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, maintained this quality standard. Blood and Wine particularly served as a perfect epilogue, giving Geralt a fitting conclusion to his saga while introducing the beautiful region of Toussaint.
2016 – Dark Souls III: Mastery Through Adversity
From Software’s Dark Souls series carved out its own subgenre, inspiring countless imitators and fundamentally changing conversations about difficulty in games. Dark Souls III served as a culmination of lessons learned across the series, delivering the most polished and refined version of the formula.
The game’s approach to difficulty wasn’t about punishing players arbitrarily but about teaching through failure. Every death provided information—enemy attack patterns, environmental hazards, positioning mistakes. Patient players who observed and adapted found seemingly impossible encounters becoming manageable through skill improvement rather than character level grinding alone.
Dark Souls III’s world design showcased masterful environmental storytelling. The Kingdom of Lothric revealed its history through architecture, item descriptions, and enemy placement rather than cutscenes or exposition. Piecing together the lore became a community effort, with players sharing theories and interpretations about the cyclical nature of the world and the fate of various NPCs.
Boss battles remained the series’ hallmark. From the towering Abyss Watchers to the nightmarish Pontiff Sulyvahn to the epic final confrontation with the Soul of Cinder, each boss tested different skills and required pattern recognition, timing, and persistence. Victory felt earned in ways few other games could match.
The multiplayer components added unique dimensions. Leaving messages for other players, seeing bloodstains showing how others died, summoning help for difficult areas, or invading other worlds created a strange sense of community despite the game’s lonely atmosphere. This asynchronous multiplayer made the journey feel both solitary and shared.
Dark Souls III’s influence extended beyond its immediate playerbase. It proved that modern audiences would embrace challenging games that respected their intelligence and rewarded mastery. The “Soulslike” label became an entire subgenre, with developers studying From Software’s design philosophies about difficulty, exploration, and player empowerment through skill development.
2017 – Persona 5: Style, Substance, and Social Simulation
Atlus had built a devoted following for the Persona series, but Persona 5 broke through to mainstream recognition through its incredible presentation, innovative gameplay systems, and confident style. Everything about the game oozed cool, from its striking red and black color scheme to its jazz-fusion soundtrack to its smooth UI animations.
The premise put players in the shoes of a falsely accused high school student who discovers the ability to enter a cognitive world and “steal” the distorted desires of corrupt adults, forcing them to confess their crimes and reform their behavior. As leader of the Phantom Thieves, you recruited fellow outcasts and rebels, each with their own reasons for fighting against societal injustice.
Persona 5’s dual structure created compelling gameplay loops. By day, you attended school, worked part-time jobs, studied, and built relationships with confidants across Tokyo. By night, you entered elaborate palaces representing the twisted psyches of your targets, engaging in turn-based combat using your personas—manifestations of your inner psyche drawn from mythological and religious figures.
The time management aspect added strategic depth beyond combat. With limited time before deadlines, you had to choose how to spend each day carefully. Would you focus on building relationships that unlocked new abilities, or would you grind stats needed to access certain confidants? Every choice meant sacrificing something else.
Combat refined the series’ “One More” system, where exploiting enemy weaknesses granted extra turns. The addition of stylish finishing moves, detailed animations, and the ability to negotiate with demons for recruitment or resources made battles consistently engaging rather than repetitive grinds.
But Persona 5’s greatest achievement was its thematic cohesion. The game explored topics like abuse of power, societal apathy toward injustice, the crushing weight of expectations, and how systems protect the powerful while punishing the vulnerable. These themes resonated across both the supernatural palace heists and the grounded high school social simulation, creating a unified experience that felt purposeful.
2018 – Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age: Tradition Perfected
In an era obsessed with innovation and reinvention, Dragon Quest XI offered something different: a masterful execution of classic JRPG design principles updated with modern production values. It proved that traditional turn-based combat, straightforward storytelling, and familiar fantasy tropes could still deliver exceptional experiences when crafted with care and expertise.
Dragon Quest XI told the story of a young man who discovers he’s the reincarnation of an ancient hero, setting him on a journey to gather allies and confront a rising evil. The narrative embraced traditional hero’s journey structure without embarrassment, finding emotional depth through character moments and surprising plot developments rather than subverting expectations for shock value.
The turn-based combat honored series traditions while adding engaging modern touches. The Pep Powers system let characters enter enhanced states when hitting certain conditions, allowing for devastating combination attacks. The extensive skill trees for each character provided meaningful customization options without overwhelming complexity.
Perhaps most impressively, Dragon Quest XI maintained consistent quality across a 70-100 hour playtime. Side quests rarely felt like filler, instead offering character development, world-building, or genuinely enjoyable gameplay challenges. The post-game content added significant story revelations that recontextualized earlier events, rewarding players who continued beyond the initial credits.
The game’s visual style perfectly captured Akira Toriyama’s iconic character designs, creating a colorful, expressive world that felt like a playable anime. Towns and regions drew inspiration from various real-world cultures while maintaining the series’ fantastical aesthetic.
Dragon Quest XI succeeded because it understood that innovation for its own sake isn’t always necessary. Sometimes, executing fundamentals brilliantly creates experiences just as memorable as revolutionary new mechanics. For players craving the comfort of traditional JRPG design, Dragon Quest XI delivered exactly what they wanted at the highest quality level.
2019 – Disco Elysium: Revolutionizing RPG Storytelling
Disco Elysium shattered RPG conventions so thoroughly that it forced redefinitions of what the genre could be. Developed by ZA/UM, this detective RPG removed almost all traditional gameplay elements—no combat system, no dungeons, no equipment upgrades in the conventional sense—and replaced them with the deepest character roleplay system ever created.
You played as an amnesiac detective who woke up in a trashed hotel room with no memory of who you are, tasked with solving a murder in the district of Martinaise. But the real mystery was yourself. Through conversations and internal dialogue with different aspects of your psyche—your Ancient Reptilian Brain, your Limbic System, your various ideological leanings—you reconstructed your identity while investigating the case.
The skill system was unlike anything seen before. Twenty-four skills represented different aspects of cognition and personality, from Logic and Encyclopedia to Empathy and Electrochemistry. These skills actively participated in conversations as distinct voices in your head, offering insights, making suggestions, and sometimes arguing with each other. Your build determined not just your capabilities but your actual personality and how you perceived the world.
The writing was extraordinary. Disco Elysium featured some of the best video game dialogue ever written, filled with wit, philosophy, political theory, existential dread, and dark humor. Characters felt like real people with complex motivations, not quest dispensers. The game tackled heavy themes about addiction, failure, political ideology, and what it means to keep going when everything seems hopeless.
The lack of combat proved liberating rather than limiting. Every challenge could be approached through dialogue, investigation, or creative problem-solving. Failure didn’t mean game over but often led to the most interesting story developments. The game embraced chaos and imperfection, allowing your character to be a terrible detective, a brilliant investigator, or anything in between.
Disco Elysium’s impact on RPG design continues to unfold. It proved that RPGs could be successful without combat, that dialogue systems could be far more sophisticated than dialogue trees, and that games could tackle serious philosophical and political topics without being preachy or simplistic.
2020 – Final Fantasy VII Remake: Reimagining a Legend
Remaking one of gaming’s most beloved classics was a monumental challenge. Final Fantasy VII left an indelible mark on gaming history, and fans had strong opinions about how a remake should approach the material. Square Enix chose an ambitious path: rather than simply updating graphics, they fundamentally reimagined the experience while respecting the original’s spirit.
Final Fantasy VII Remake covered only the Midgar section of the original game but expanded it into a full 30-40 hour experience. What was originally 4-5 hours became an epic that fleshed out characters, locations, and storylines that were merely sketched in the original. Side characters like Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs received full character arcs and emotional depth.
The combat system brilliantly merged real-time action with strategic depth. Characters could attack freely, but abilities, magic, and items required filling an ATB gauge, creating a hybrid system that felt both modern and respectful of Final Fantasy’s tactical roots. Switching between characters during battle added strategic layers as you managed the entire party’s resources and positioning.
Visually, the game was stunning. Midgar came to life with incredible detail, from the oppressive upper plates to the struggling slums below. Character models and animations brought the cast to life in ways that exceeded expectations, making emotional scenes hit harder and action sequences feel visceral.
The game wasn’t without controversy. Changes to certain story elements and the ambiguous ending suggested this wasn’t a straightforward remake but a “reimagining” that might deviate from the original’s plot in future installments. Some fans embraced this bold approach while others worried about preservation of the original narrative.
Regardless of opinions on narrative changes, Final Fantasy VII Remake succeeded in making Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret feel vital and relevant to modern audiences. It proved that classic games could be reinvented for new generations without losing what made them special.
2021 – Tales of Arise: Revitalizing a Long-Running Series
The Tales series had been producing quality action RPGs for over two decades, but by 2021, some felt the formula had grown stale. Tales of Arise addressed this by refining every aspect of the experience, from combat to storytelling to visual design, creating what many considered the best entry in the franchise.
The story followed Alphen and Shionne as they led a rebellion against the Renans who had enslaved the people of Dahna for 300 years. This premise grounded the traditional Tales adventure in themes about oppression, freedom, and the cycle of hatred between oppressor and oppressed. The narrative didn’t shy away from difficult topics but handled them with nuance and empathy.
Combat reached new heights of fluidity and excitement. The battle system encouraged aggressive play with Boost Strikes that let characters team up for devastating attacks, creating spectacular animations that never got old. Each character had distinct playstyles, encouraging experimentation with different party compositions.
Visually, Tales of Arise was gorgeous. The “atmospheric shader” technique created a painterly aesthetic that made every scene look like concept art come to life. Environments ranged from lush forests to industrial wastelands to crystalline mountains, each region visually distinct and memorable.
The relationship between Alphen and Shionne anchored the emotional core. Their initially antagonistic dynamic evolved into genuine partnership and eventually romance, with their personal growth mirroring the game’s themes about overcoming trauma and finding hope despite suffering.
Tales of Arise proved that long-running series could refresh themselves without abandoning their identity. It honored Tales traditions—skits, cooking, extensive side content—while modernizing presentation and tightening pacing. For both series veterans and newcomers, it delivered a complete, satisfying RPG experience.
The Evolution of RPG Design: Lessons From a Decade
Looking back at these twelve games reveals interesting patterns about how RPG design evolved throughout this period. Several key trends emerged that shaped the genre’s direction and continue influencing development today.
The Rise of Player Choice
Every game on this list emphasized player agency in different ways. Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition let choices shape narrative outcomes. Skyrim and The Witcher 3 allowed freedom in how to explore and approach challenges. Disco Elysium made choice the core gameplay mechanic itself. This emphasis on meaningful player input became expected rather than exceptional.
Blending Genre Boundaries
Traditional genre boundaries blurred significantly. Dark Souls incorporated action game reflexes. Persona 5 merged social simulation with dungeon crawling. Final Fantasy VII Remake combined action combat with strategic planning. This willingness to experiment with gameplay systems enriched the genre and attracted players who might not have tried traditional RPGs.
Quality Over Quantity in Questing
Early 2010s open-world RPGs often stuffed their worlds with dozens or hundreds of minor quests. By the end of the decade, developers recognized that quality mattered more than quantity. The Witcher 3’s approach of making even side quests narratively meaningful became the gold standard, influencing how later games approached optional content.
The Importance of Polish
The most celebrated games on this list shared exceptional polish in execution. Whether it was Persona 5’s slick presentation, Dragon Quest XI’s consistent quality, or Tales of Arise’s refined combat, these games succeeded because every element received attention and care. Players increasingly expected professional execution across all aspects of RPG design.
Diverse Approaches to Difficulty
The period saw varied philosophies about challenge. Dark Souls embraced punishing difficulty as core to its identity. Fire Emblem Awakening offered multiple difficulty modes to accommodate different skill levels. This diversity recognized that players wanted different experiences from their RPGs, and there was room in the market for both approaches.
How These Games Influenced Modern RPG Development
The impact of these twelve titles extends far beyond their release years. Modern RPG development continues to be shaped by innovations and successes from this period.
The Witcher 3’s approach to side quest quality influenced countless open-world games. Developers recognized that players would engage with optional content if it offered meaningful storytelling rather than just experience points and loot. This raised the bar for what players expected from open-world RPGs.
Dark Souls spawned an entire subgenre. The “Soulslike” category now encompasses dozens of games that adopt its approach to challenging combat, interconnected world design, and environmental storytelling. From Software’s success proved that difficulty could be a selling point rather than a barrier.
Persona 5’s style-forward presentation showed that UI design and aesthetic cohesion mattered. Games are interactive visual experiences, and every element—menus, transitions, text displays—contributes to overall impression. Many modern games pay far more attention to presentation thanks to Persona 5’s example.
Disco Elysium opened doors for narrative-focused RPGs without traditional combat. Its success demonstrated that there was an audience for games prioritizing dialogue, character development, and philosophical exploration over action-oriented gameplay.
Mass Effect 2’s character loyalty system influenced how many games approach companion relationships. The idea that investing in characters through personal missions would create stronger emotional connections and gameplay benefits became standard in party-based RPGs.
Building Your RPG Library: Where to Start
With twelve incredible games spanning different styles and approaches, newcomers might wonder where to begin. Here are some suggestions based on your preferences:
For Open-World Exploration Lovers: Start with Skyrim or The Witcher 3. Both offer massive worlds worth hundreds of hours of exploration, though Skyrim emphasizes player freedom while The Witcher 3 focuses more on narrative.
For Tactical Challenge Seekers: Fire Emblem Awakening provides accessible entry into tactical RPGs, while Dark Souls III offers the ultimate test of reflexes and pattern recognition for action-oriented players.
For Story and Character Focus: Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Inquisition, or Disco Elysium deliver exceptional narratives with memorable characters. Choose based on whether you prefer sci-fi, fantasy, or contemporary settings.
For JRPG Traditions: Dragon Quest XI offers classic turn-based combat and straightforward storytelling, while Persona 5 blends dungeon crawling with social simulation in a contemporary setting. Xenoblade Chronicles and Tales of Arise provide real-time combat alternatives.
For Something Completely Different: Disco Elysium stands apart from everything else on this list, offering an experience unlike any other RPG. It’s perfect for players who love reading, philosophy, and detective stories.
The Technical Evolution: Graphics, Performance, and Accessibility
Beyond gameplay and narrative innovations, this period saw tremendous technical advances in how RPGs looked and performed. The jump from 2010’s Mass Effect 2 to 2021’s Tales of Arise represents an entire generation of graphical improvement.
Early in the decade, games like Skyrim pushed boundaries on platforms like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, squeezing impressive worlds from limited hardware. By 2015, The Witcher 3 showcased what current-generation consoles could achieve with more powerful hardware supporting vast, detailed open worlds.
The shift toward more realistic graphics wasn’t universal. Many games embraced stylized aesthetics that aged better than photorealistic approaches. Persona 5’s bold art direction, Dragon Quest XI’s painterly style, and Tales of Arise’s atmospheric shading showed that artistic vision mattered more than raw polygon counts.
Performance became increasingly important as frame rates affected gameplay feel, especially in action-oriented titles like Dark Souls III and Final Fantasy VII Remake. Developers learned to optimize for consistent performance rather than pushing visual effects that caused stuttering.
Accessibility options expanded dramatically throughout the decade. Later titles offered extensive difficulty options, colorblind modes, remappable controls, and subtitle customization. This recognition that more accessible games reach wider audiences while not diminishing challenge for those who want it became standard practice.
The Community Impact: How These Games Built Lasting Fandoms
Great RPGs create communities that extend far beyond the games themselves. Each title on this list spawned passionate fanbases that continue producing content, theories, and discussions years after release.
Skyrim’s modding community transformed the game into an endlessly customizable platform. Thousands of creators built new quests, locations, gameplay systems, and graphical overhauls, keeping the game alive for new players and veterans alike. This modding ecosystem became so vital that it influenced how Bethesda approached subsequent releases.
The Witcher 3 built a fanbase that extended to the novels that inspired the games and eventually the Netflix series. This multimedia expansion introduced even more people to Geralt’s adventures, creating feedback loops where new fans discovered the games through other media.
Dark Souls communities became famous for their collaborative approach to understanding the game’s cryptic lore. VaatiVidya and other content creators built followings by piecing together environmental clues and item descriptions into cohesive narratives about the world’s history.
Persona 5’s style and music transcended gaming circles. The soundtrack topped streaming charts, cosplayers embraced the Phantom Thieves’ distinctive looks, and fan artists created countless pieces celebrating the characters and aesthetic.
These communities demonstrated how great RPGs create spaces for creativity, analysis, and shared experiences that outlast the games themselves.
Looking Forward: What These Games Teach About RPG Future
As we look toward RPG development in the years ahead, the lessons from 2010-2021 remain relevant. Future classics will likely continue blending genre conventions, prioritizing meaningful player choice, and recognizing that polish and presentation matter as much as innovative mechanics.
The success of diverse approaches—from Disco Elysium’s pure narrative focus to Dark Souls’ action challenge to Persona 5’s life simulation blend—suggests the genre remains healthier when it embraces variety rather than chasing a single dominant design philosophy.
Technological advances will enable even more impressive worlds and more sophisticated systems, but the fundamental appeal of RPGs remains constant: the ability to immerse ourselves in other worlds, make meaningful choices, and experience stories that resonate emotionally.
Final Thoughts: A Decade to Remember
The RPG landscape between 2010 and 2021 delivered an embarrassment of riches. From epic space operas to intimate detective stories, from dragon-filled fantasies to contemporary urban adventures, these twelve games showcased the genre’s incredible range and enduring appeal.
Whether you lived through these releases as they happened or are discovering them years later, each offers something special. They represent hundreds of thousands of hours of combined development effort from teams passionate about creating unforgettable experiences.
So if you’re looking for your next adventure, you can’t go wrong with any game on this list. Each offers a portal to another world, a chance to be someone else, and stories that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
What will you play first? The choice, as always in great RPGs, is yours.
Have you played all these RPG classics? Which ones left the biggest impression on you? Share your experiences and recommendations in the comments below—the RPG community thrives on shared stories and passionate discussions about these incredible games!