The essentials: the ones you can't miss
If you're only going to play one, make it from this list. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the phenomenon of the moment: a French turn-based RPG, gorgeous and heartbreaking, that won Game of the Year at The Game Awards ahead of titans with far bigger budgets. Beside it, Baldur's Gate 3 is still the peak of tabletop role-play turned video game: near-total freedom, memorable companions and the feeling that the game answers any crazy idea you have —in fact we gave it its own coverage—.
And if action is more your thing than turns, Elden Ring is the soulslike that opened the genre up to everyone: a brutal, fascinating open world that its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, only made bigger. These three aren't just good games, they're the kind you remember for years.
Open world: to live a whole other life
Some RPGs are worth more for inhabiting them than for their stats. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still the benchmark for all of them, with side quests that have more soul than many games' main campaigns, and a saga that still isn't done. Cyberpunk 2077, after a horrible launch and years of patches, is today one of the best open worlds out there, especially with its Phantom Liberty expansion.
And for anyone who wants realism to the bone, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II drops you into a medieval Bohemia so believable it's almost intimidating: no dragons, no magic, just a historical world that reacts to everything you do. It was one of 2025's greats and lost Game of the Year by a whisker.
JRPGs: Japanese role-playing is at its peak
Japanese role-playing is living a golden age, and three games prove it. Metaphor: ReFantazio, from the Persona team, is a political and philosophical fantasy with one of the most elegant combat systems ever made. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a huge spectacle that reimagines a classic with heart and ambition in equal measure.
And if you want the one that hooks you like a show you can't stop watching, Persona 5 Royal is still the perfect way into the genre: stylish, enormous and addictive, the kind that quietly rearranges your sleep schedule.
Choice-driven RPGs: the ones you play with your head
And then there's the role-play that's about reading, thinking and choosing. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a tactical playground where almost anything you imagine works, and in co-op it's pure good chaos. Disco Elysium is, more than a game, a playable noir novel: you don't fire a single shot, but every conversation is a minefield and your own mind is the worst enemy.
These are games that ask for patience and reward anyone who leans in, direct heirs of the classic CRPGs. If you come from shooters and want to switch gears, this is where the genre shows what it can do once it forgets about action.
So, where do I start?
If you've never touched the genre and want love at first sight, start with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is also short by RPG standards. If you want the total masterpiece and have a hundred hours ahead of you, Baldur's Gate 3 or The Witcher 3. If Japanese ones are your thing, Persona 5 Royal. And if you want a game that really makes you think, Disco Elysium.
The lovely thing about the RPG is that it's almost a house move: you go live somewhere else for a while, with its people and its problems. Choose your destination well, because you'll spend a lot of hours there. Which world are you moving into first?
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