[Mr. Vega]

I'm going to put this up because occasionally on other forums I see polls like "What was the best [insert genre] of it's generation?" I think that ranking games by their generation is stupid, and not just cause it's a console-centric question (and as we all know, console fans suck). Grouping things by their generation implies that games are getting better and better over time. That's true only in regards to graphic and sound design, and even then mostly in a technical and not artistic sense. I won't deny there have been some truly great RPGs from the past three or four years, but has there been any period of RPG development as productive as the last three years of the 90s?

So instead I'm asking what's the best RPG of the entire decade, which in my opinion is a much more juicy and worthwhile question. I'm mixing western RPGs and JRPGs because I can, and because I think at the very highest level of quality you can make comparisons. Both tell stories and create game-worlds in essentially similar ways.

The list has been made according to my biases and prejudices, which exclude every Square game after they stopped caring about craftsmanship in pursuit of the almighty dollar, as well as all other JRPGs other than the ones listed (IMHO, their time has come and gone. RIP 1991-2001.), all other Bioware games (I thought NWN1 was utter crap and I've been suspicious of Bioware ever since), as well as games like Bioshock (which is an LGS-style atmospheric FPS with role-playing elements and not vice versa). Feel free to demand others be put on the poll if you feel that they rise to the level of the ones on the list.

C'mon, lets have a good debate. This is a fertile field for enjoyable discussion to someone who loves gaming. Back in the old days of HLP a thread like this would have been a classic. I'm dying for a fun debate here. Pretty please?

Oh, and my vote? FFX and CC are great, but the answer for me has to be KOTOR II, even though a plodding, cerebral mess of game like that doesn't have anything remotely like the broad appeal of a game like Morrowind, which would be my second choice.

[Turambar]

KotOR 1 for me.  2 was too unfinished, and i thought the story was a lot weaker.  A lot of the other ones were good, but KotOR is the best RPG.  Mass Effect was an entertaining RPShooter, and Oblivion was fun too, and Dragon Age was pretty great, but nothing beats those great moments, like when you get the Sandrals and Matales to all murder each other, and when you get Zalbaar to kill Mission and Carth runs away like a little *****.

[Pred the Penguin]

Haven't played KoTOR I yet, so I'll go for Mass Effect.

[Colonol Dekker]

Chrono cross was pants.
 
FFX!
Rikku, Lulu, and Bahamut!

[zookeeper]

I've only played 4 games on that list so I wouldn't know, but Arcanum was surely the most enjoyable RPG of the decade for me.

[BloodEagle]

I don't think you can count Oblivion as an RPG. [/said this a million times, before]

[JCDNWarrior]

Interestingly, however, that Oblivion's at the top right now.

I believe Oblivion turns into a beautiful RPG once mods are applied. Huge fan of modded Oblivion here.

Still, I voted for Morrowind; Even though it may be outdated now, and while many are on a close 2nd place for me, I believe this fits.


...Actually... If Planescape:Torment was in the list, THAT's the game i'd vote for number 1. Morrowind is 2nd for me, so that's my pick there.

[Dark Knight]

Mass Effect (1 & 2) are probably my favourite computer games of all time, Dragonage coming in near the top too BUT! Baldur's Gate II is probably the best D&D rpg ever made, although as I kept my character through BGI, and on to ToB I tend to consider all three as a single game.

[karajorma]

Of those I've played (Baldur's Gates, Dragon Age) I have to give it to Dragon Age. Only game besides Freespace II I've ever been tempted to heavily mod just to get more excitement out of it.

Baldur's Gate II seriously annoyed me at the start and its hideous railroad plot killed a lot of the enjoyment for me. The first one was a lot better in my opinion because although technically inferior it didn't feel the need to lead the player around by the nose.

[The E]

Voted for DA:O.

But, I have to take issue with the exclusion of Final Fantasy XII. That one was, in my opinion, much, much better than FFX in all respects. Excluding it from this List just because you didn't like it smacks of rampant Fan Dumb-ism.

[Scooby_Doo]

Another vote for morrowind... Oblivion even with mods still lacks he soul that morrowind has.

[Vidmaster]

Baldur's Gate 2. Still better than Dragon Age and KOTOR combined.

[ShadowGorrath]

This one:



But if you meant games, then it's KOTOR I, since it's the only one I played. But I think you're missing a few other RPGs.

[headdie]

I hit KOTOR as i have not been able to finish Baldur's Gate II which in many ways both engine and story plays better

[Demitri]

KOTOR 1 all the way baby!!!!

[phatosealpha]

Morrowind is on the list and Fallout 3 isn't?  If you're going to put Bethesda games on that list, put their best one.

[BloodEagle]

Morrowind is on the list and Fallout 3 isn't?  If you're going to put Bethesda games on that list, put their best one.

Daggerfall? 

[Thaeris]

I think you needed to put in an "Other" option - my favorite RPGs are nothing like the ones you listed above.

Avernum for the win! 

[Sushi]

NWN 1 should have been on there too. The main campaign is mediocre, the expansions are pretty good, but what really shines about it is how easy it was for people to create epic-good custom campaigns. If you count user-created content, IMO it's the clear winner.

If we're talking just about games I actually played, and just what you get in the box, then KOTOR 1 for sure. Admittedly, I haven't played most on the list though.

The problem with this sort of poll is that it gets inherently biased towards what people have actually played...

[Snail]

This one:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Rpg-7.jpg

Umm. Best RPG of the decade. The RPG-7 was released in 1961.