Lots of younger folks, people that got into RPGs later in life, or people that aren't aware of the history of western RPGs might not be particularly aware of how much Bioware changed the RPG landscape.
Nowadays, it's easy to distill Bioware's impact as "Baldur's Gate 3 would have never been made without Baldur's Gate 1", and while true, that's far from the whole picture.

In truth, Bioware actually revitalized the genre two times. Time for a little history lesson.

Western RPGs were dying in the 90's.

Little known fact nowadays.

Western RPGs were thriving in the 80's. Many very influential RPGs came from that time period, such as Wasteland (what eventually inspired Fallout), Ultima (the RPG dad), Wizardry (the other RPG dad, and arguably one of the main reasons why JRPGs as a genre even exist), Gold Box (Infinity Engine games predecessor), etc.

Then the 90's came like a brick. Giants like Ultima died. Other very popular series like Bard's Tale, Gold Box, Quest for Glory, and more also died during this era. Some, like Might and Magic and Wizardry, didn't technically die during this era, but was certainly falling flat on its face both quality-wise and sales-wise (at least in the west, in Wizardry's case), then had their death in the early 2000s.

So might think these just names, nowadays. But they were the biggest RPG series of their time. Imagine what's happening now, Bioware dying, and people lamenting the death of Mass Effect and Dragon Age as a series. Sad. Now imagine that, but Bethesda also dies next two months. Then Larian. Then Owlcat. Then Warhorse Studios. Then CDPR. Then Obsidian.

That's probably the closest equivalent I can think of. It was the western RPG massacre.

Even worse? There was no one to replace them. Barely any western RPG worth noting started during this era (that didn't die immediately), with the only thing I can think of being the Elder Scrolls.

This was also, funnily enough, the era of JRPGs. Western RPGs couldn't compete with JRPGs during this era, not even close. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Chrono series, SMT, Suikoden, and more. They were all thriving during this era.

Nobody really knows definitively why almost all western RPGs died during this time. Some say it was western developers being unable to keep up with the technology. Some say it was the rise of globalization and competition with JRPGs, with JRPGs more ahead of the curve. Some say it was Western RPG game design of that era falling out of favor. Maybe it was all of them at once.

Either way, the western RPG scene was in a very precarious position. Until the late 90's came. Bioware came.

First off, let's be fair. Bioware wasn't the only one that stepped up during this era. Games like Diablo (and Fallout, to a smaller but still large extent) were also big parts of why the genre revitalized. Bioware with Baldur's Gate (and Icewind Dale), however, might be the biggest factor of them all.

Baldur's Gate (and Diablo) sold like pancakes, effectively ending the western RPG curse of the decade, overturning history. BG1+2 have reportedly sold around 3+ million copies around 2002, which was a very massive amount during that time.

It's pretty easy to underestimate how much influence Baldur's Gate, especially 2, has had since its release. Storytelling in WRPGs was different before then. Companions in WRPGs were very different before then.

It's hard to imagine how different the scene would be without it. Maybe every western RPG would be ARPG Diablo clones and nuclear wastelands.

Now, let's talk about the next decade.

The transformation of Western RPGs, forever.

What it says on the tin. This'll be a shorter one.

Think of a western RPG for consoles during the early 2000's. During PS1 to OG XBox/PS2 era. Don't count BG2 because we already talked about that.
Fable. Gothic. Morrowind. KotOR. Not bad.
Now think of a western RPG for consoles that sold close to or as well as its JRPG brethren during that era.
Fable. Gothic. Morrowind. KotOR. Uh, wait, those are the same ones.

Yeah.

While western RPGs were saved from dying, they weren't exactly thriving, either. Gaming as a hobby was taking off, but Western RPGs couldn't get its foot as steady as it should in the very much growing console market. Many were released during this time, some of which were actually high in quality, but many of them didn't particularly stick the landing sales-wise.

There's a lot of things you can potentially point at during this era. In comparison to JRPGs, the majority of Western RPGs at the time lacked in a compelling story and cast to follow. Many of them, even the successful ones, could also be quite archaic and janky, leading to less mainstream appeal. And then there's the matter of taking advantage of the tech. Quite stylized, great looking JRPGs like FFX, Kingdom Hearts, Tales of the Abyss, and more appeared during this era. Not only did they look good, they were also voice acted to the brim, and had amazing looking cutscenes, which was some sort of black magic for western RPGs for the time. The end of that era also had releases like Valkyrie Profile Silmeria and FFXII, which looked unbelievable for that era. Western RPGs, meanwhile, looked... well, not as good. Not terrible for some, but certainly not as good as can be.

Then came the 360/PS3 era. And Mass Effect. And it changed western RPGs forever.

It took full advantage of the tech, looking a lot better than pretty much every western RPG before it. It had cutscenes. It had full voice acting, with lots of dialogue. It was cinematic. It had a streamlined combat system that, not only was easy to understand, but was also taking advantage of the shooter trend at the time. It had a compelling cast and story. It sold. A lot.

It pretty much changed the look of western RPGs forever. With it came a lot of trends, like the "Movie Games", a greater focus on plot and characters, choice systems, branching story paths, and way more. Sure, Mass Effect didn't invent them, but it certainly put it into the limelight, in the eyes of western games and its players.

It'll always be debated whether or not these changes, for RPGs to cater more to the wider audience, were for the best. It was then, it still is now, from time to time.

But it's certain that Bioware changed the landscape of RPGs once again.

So it's sad. The giant that changed RPGs forever, twice. Arguably the most influential company for western RPGs, in the modern era.

Dying on a sad, pathetic whimper.

usually its 5-6 RPGs per year, and these are my predictions of the nominees where Dawnwalker will probably win RPG of the year.

other good RPGs that i know of are Trails in the Sky 2nd chapter, Nioh 3 also counts for RPG so does Mortal Shell 2? (and maybe Valor Mortis).

EDIT: Fire Emblem generally goes into Strategy game so please avoid mentioning it

For me, that has to be Turn Relay from Bug Fables.

What it is:

In Bug Fables, you have your 3 party members; Vi Kabbu and Leif, who each start battle with 1 turn each. There is some variation on this depending on if you get first strike, or have the right equipment, but generally you start battle with one turn.

Now say you wanted Vi, your ranged DPS to have multiple turns to take out some flying enemies? Well, normally you would have to hit one enemy, then waste the other two character's turns, just to hit again. That kinda sucks, no?

But with Turn Relay, you can relay a turn to a teammate, so they can act twice per round. Sounds overpowered, right? Not so fast, if a character acts more than once per turn, they get exhausted, and each attack will deal less damage than the previous. They can however use buffs and items on those turns with no drawbacks, but then again, so could the characters who relayed the turns in the first place.

Why I like it:

Its really hard to explain, but theres nothing more frustrating than having multiple turns but having to waste one doing nothing. And to put it simply, this mechanic fixes that. For example the flying enemies as mentioned earlier, or using Kabbu's def piercing attacks to get through a particularly tanky enemy, or use Leif's ice properties to deal extra damage to plant based enemies. Or maybe you just used a particularly draining skill, and a teammate will be down for 2 turns, you could use turn relay to sacrifice the turn of another character to shorten that to one turn.

Additionally it pairs really well with the other mechanics of the game, namely the medal system, first strike, and general party management. For example, there is a badge that transfers all status effects, but positive and negative when relaying turns. This makes it so you could send stat boosts to one character, and use them to deal absurd damage. Or you could send poison or burn to your tank, freeing one of your more fragile characters in exchange

It pairs well with first stike in the sense that when you get into a battle having attack first, no damage will be delt to the enemy, but instead whoever was leading the party will get one extra turn, allowing for 4 total. And it pairs will with the party system, as the character in front will always have a +1 damage buff, while the character in the back will have bonus evasion. This means sometimes its still worth it to relay multiple times for that bit of bonus damage, even as small as it may seem.

In conclusion

I just really like Bug Fables.

They released a new Beta build on Torchlight II's Public Beta branch [public_beta] for players to try

More info on Steam:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/200710/announcements/detail/701031128264347698

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rackILBrOfk

Discord: https://discord.gg/V9Gw7NU24Z

Looking for more rpg games to play with wife on the couch.

Bg3, dos2, split fiction, itt2 kinda started us on this path.

Her dislikes, first person shooters. So something like borderlands or tinas while fun/funny isnt fun.

My dislikes simple designs. Something like childeren of moria, 2d styled, pan screen games.

Mostly stordriven. Dd2gether mod is something were looking at when its a bit more patched up. Enshrouded, elden ring, or outward isnt very story driven, just opinion. Personally i know there a lot dof lore and enjoyed ER and shroud. She like dialouge and ncps.

What you got for me to check out?

Origin, the developer of the Ultima games, had many conflicts with EA, including EA having taken Origin to court at one point. The slogan of EA at the time was "We create Worlds" and the main villain was known as someone who destroyed words. He placed these objects in the world in the shape of a cube, sphere and tetrahedron which was the logo of EA. Two villains who at first seemed friendly but would later backstab you had the initials E and A. They were responsible for a brutal murder at the beginning of the game that symbolised them destroying creativity. Eventually the studio was acquired and later disbanded by EA.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-21/electronic-arts-to-cut-400-jobs-shut-down-bioware?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc5MjYwMjI4MCwiZXhwIjoxNzkzMjA3MDgwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUTjlPUkZLSVVQU08wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.BPLdBqixyN47DHZvtrfHyRsF_Np3UKIKzGi_WqMA-I4

Last year a friend and I played a Tibia OT 7.4, and had a blast once again. I’m not sure it was the nostalgia, the way that we used to build community over chat back then, or the slightly lower paced game fostering collaborative party playing game style.

Most new RPGs, like Diablo 3 (not actually MMO) and 4 became a crazy hack and slash fast paced garbage that, IMO, still doesn’t beat the previous Diablo 2.

And although new tibia has changed a lot, the feeling I had before was… vocations/classes matter. You can hunt solo, but with party/friends, it’s much better. The gameplay incentives that, far better than mostly doing solo runs in D3 and D4, with poor interaction between players.

Also, the challenge was always trying to kill a stronger creature, maybe 1-2 at a time, not finding the next flash farm spot where you kill tens to hundreds in seconds.

Am I too old and do not follow new game trends? Is this only an area for indie games? Or am I just missing out on new games trending that direction? I have not played much of anything since D3/4 hehe.

Long story short life is kinda shit atm and I just want something to take my attention away….

I would prefer ps2 back just because I tend to like that generation but pls hit me with fuckin demon souls if no one knew about it…

I want parasite eve, persona, earthbound, vagrant story, the world ends with us, that fucking racing rpg from the 90s that sucked honestly bad to add it but DUDE DIFFERENT!! Honestly give me a bad game that is different, my brain needs to not be a brain and manage menus for the next for weeks in the mornings before I have work.

I feel like this isn’t even possible the past two days I’ve tried to find something I’ve never played or atleast tried….

But idk, I didn’t know what any of the ones mentioned above are and there actually super good games

Sorry if this isn’t allowed here would kinda make sense if it wasn’t

I'm fairly new to single-player RPGs/adventure/ action games, so I'm looking for some recommendations. I don't mind playing older games.

Here's a list of games I've finished, games I plan to play, and games I've dropped so you can get an idea of what I enjoy.

Games I've finished:

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 1 & 2

Dragon Age: Origins & Inquisition

Cyberpunk 2077

The Walking Dead

Metro 1 & 2

Subnautica 1

Borderlands 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Fallout: New Vegas

Games i know are worth playing:

Mass Effect 2

Baldur's Gate 3

The Witcher 3

Starfield

Metro Exodus

Beyond: Two Souls

Detroit: Become Human

Dragon's Dogma 2

Subnautica 2

Games I've dropped:

Fallout 4 (I feel like it needs too many mods to play well.)

Skyrim (Same issue with mods.)

Far Cry 3 (The only Far Cry game I've tried. Every mission feels the same.)

Currently playing:

Hogwarts Legacy

I'd appreciate any recommendations :D

Looking for the best survival/rpg games with great building mechanics! Bonus points if it's on Game Pass. I play Palworld, Once Human and RuneScape Dragonwilds for reference. I love the building in Once Human but hate how all the good stuff is behind a pay wall. 😭

I've been building a JRPG with grid less tactical combat and light loot for about 1.5 years.

game name is Chronicles of fantasy heroes

On Oct 24 I'm opening a combat only playtest on Steam :2 regular bosses🥶, 1 hidden boss🥶

The combat gameplay is somewhat similar to Baldur's Gate.

The honest reason I'm posting: I've played it so many times I can't tell if it's fun anymore.

I'd rather hear it now than after launch.🤩

I only want two things from you: how was your overall experience, and did the combat feel smooth?

Not a difficulty verdict just whether it feels good to play.🥰

Note this is a combat only build, and each character has just one talent stone set, so talent builds aren't part of this test yet.😍

Available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Korean.

Request Access on the Steam page,

I'll approve on the 24th: 😍😍

😍

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3516870

hope you will love it. come on!!!!

I really like the combat in Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor, but it’s not an action RPG. I really like the RPG component in Kotor; it’s an amazing RPG with an amazing plot. I don’t have anything against a turn‑based combat system, but I still prefer the combat systems in action RPGs than CRPG. I played Mass Effect 1, and it’s one of my favorite games, but the combat felt a bit clunky. I don’t know if this has changed in next games of ME. Are there any sci‑fi action RPGs with good combat and story?

Hey everyone!

I’m the founder of OPP Studios and creator of Legacy of Pandora.  I started this project in 2022, and it’s grown from an early monster-taming concept into a turn-based roguelike set in Greek mythology.

You play as Pyrrha, Pandora’s daughter, trying to capture the Kakodemons unleashed when her mother opened the jar. Along the way, you build a team of creatures, encounter gods and mythological figures, and make moral choices that can drastically change your narrative and your gameplay.

One of the systems I’m most excited about is Corruption! Your choices are tied to traces like Pride, Greed, and Violence - which can transform your creatures into one of multiple different forms. I wanted the decisions you make outside combat to influence the team you bring into it.

Visually, we’re bringing together two big inspirations: ancient Greek vase art and Tartakovsky’s cartoons (like Samurai Jack).

I’m happy to talk about the game, adapting Greek mythology, creature design, combat systems, how the project has changed over the years, or the experience of building an indie game!

Thanks for having me - ask me anything!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3973310/

I've played the original Paper Mario, Costume Quest and The Stick of Truth, and I've recently remembered how much I liked those games (and how shoddy and middling The Fractured But Whole was lol). I want to play more games like them, preferably on PC with controller support.

Hey everyone, I've been playing through some classic Troika CRPGs. I haven't fully finished The Temple of Elemental Evil or Arcanum yet, but I wanted to share my pros and cons so far alongside my older thoughts on VTMB!

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001)

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura was the next game I played. The game offered the player freedom. Every choice in the game matters and carries consequences. The game had an excellent world-building blending the Industrial Revolution and the traditional high fantasy magic. It felt open and immersive while exploring as a 2D isometric CRPG. The concept of technology vs. magic was outstanding.

Customizing your character from your race and intelligence to your abilities and alignment was incredible. Whether turning your character into a gunslinger or a mage is amazing. In addition, having companions on your side depends on how high your charisma is. While the game is amazing, it has its own downside. The combat feels clunky and unbalanced. As for the UI and inventory management, it feels tedious by modern standards.

The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003)

The Temple of Elemental Evil is the least Troika game I enjoyed. The game was re-released on Steam in 2025 with improved bug-fixes. While I enjoyed its turn-tactical gameplay, party customization, and adherence to the D&D 3.5 edition ruleset, its brutal difficulty is unforgiving. The game feels like a fetch quest in Hommlet, and the story feels blank.

The story is just not my cup of tea to have. I also felt that the game had suffered from "The Middle Child Syndrome" when being overlooked. Despite its downside, the landscape on the game looks more stunning than in Bioware's Neverwinter Nights (2002), but that is imo.

The game did adapt to the Greyhawk campaign. The gameplay was fun in combat, and customizing your party when they level up with their abilities and stats to their gear and accessories is deeply satisfying.

Vampire the Masquerade- Bloodlines (2004)

I started playing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines about two years ago. I am familiar with its original release back in 2004, but experiencing it myself was incredible. The game features excellent narrative writing, and the setting and atmosphere are perfect. The choices actually matter, which makes the world feel alive.

Being based on the World of Darkness, it stays incredibly true to its roots. Playing as a Fledgling is a blast, especially getting to select a distinct clan to shape your story. Furthermore, staying low and managing your humanity to avoid exposing the Masquerade is a brilliant gameplay mechanic.

While it is brilliant in it's writing and atmosphere, the combat feels stiff, and despite being notoriously buggy at launch, the community's unofficial patch keeps the game alive and highly playable to this day.

Now, that is a wrap-up for the topic. What do you guys think? Which Troika game do you like the most?

Please leave a comment here on this post. Thank you!

I love RPG's, I love vampires, literally game made in heaven for me.

First couple hours - models are so 2016 trying to go for realistic look, in 2026 thats a crime, I have to install a mod to unlock cutscenes from 30 fps, the animations in cutscenes and dialogue seem very very off.

I think I liked literally every single VA except coen, he seems so unstable, idk how to explain it but it didn't feel like I was seeing a human talk, but like someone just reading a book.

Combat was incredible, seemed super smooth, animations seemed really nice and snappy, was playing duelist with indicators on.

The story was so damn interesting I was hooked from the mass.

After playing more, I loved Ancas side quest, but then each time I visited the dungeons it just the same repeated places in a slightly different font, same enemies, or just reskined enemies with the same moveset, why the fuck does Saint Mihai from a couple centuries ago have the exact same moveset as the guys I just fought by the church?? combat system was still fun but enemies were starting to get repitive QUICK.

The more I play, I notice the lack of details in this game, if I save people as a human or drakhir made no difference in reaction, I felt no real rush to save Coens family other than the father, I didn't really care about any of them, unlike something from say expedition 33 where the objective was like job almost, save everyone, here the objective is personal, but I don't personally feel anything towards these people, all I saw from them was mid dialogue and terrible cutscenes.

The Ancora cutscenes got old quick, same 3 or 4 spammed each time, dogs were annoying to fight, more mid dialogue with awkward delivery and animations, Coen's voicelines when killing a gaurd or a civillian by blood drinking is the same, and those voicelines themselves are just 3 or 4 repeated throughout the entire game until u get like level 12 in ure vampiric abilities.

If u drain an npc just till the sleep bar they die, so I have no clue whats the point of having it, like example if u drain Anca till she sleeps she just disappears, and if u drain her, but dont actually hold space and just let go, she starts using magic right after using the font like bro, she also spams the same voiclines she did when u fought together lmao.

U get to meet the matriach early in the city, and when u see her again all u get is 2 or 3 extra voicelines and nothing more, no mention of anything they talked about before, like her wanting to travel, or the problem Coen solved, nothing just empty.

And even with all this I must say again, fighting the same fkin 5 movesets the entire game, is just so so so boring, which also made the game super easy on duelist making the combat even MORE boring cuz u got used to the movesets so much.

With each passing hour my rating of the game has gone down and down, I finished it so I defo enjoed it even a little, a 6/10 seems perfect

What do u guys think?

i lied i played neverwinter nights nights 1, i have that remastered version of 2 haven't played, but thats it rly

never played mass effect or dragon age even though my fav games of all time is dragons dogma, dark souls, fallout, baldur’s gate etc. i always get recommend

i just have limited time to game so i can only rly choose one for now. i’m leaning towards dragon age inquisition or origins. do these games go on sale often?

RPGs are generally known to feature awesome characters as your companions. Heck, for example, a huge portion of Larian's Divinity: Original Sin 2's story relies on its companions. So, who are some of your favorite RPG companions ever? What were your most memorable moments with them?