The RPG genre is perhaps the most impactful genre in the history of gaming. So few games released nowadays that don't include RPG staples, whether that be character progression, looting systems, crafting, or non-linearity. With so much freedom in design comes a lot of experimentation, and it can be very hit or miss.
2019 was an alright year for the genre. We weren't hit with any generation-defining titles that will be remembered for decades, like Skyrim or The Witcher 3, but there were definitely some quality titles that may warrant a revisit down the line. Of course, there were also some not-so-quality titles that do not warrant a visit at all.
10 Worst: Anthem – 54
Anthem may only be the fifth worst RPG of the year, but it's easily the most disappointing. BioWare, the company behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, have a history of presenting games that deliver on all fronts, providing exciting stories, inspired characters and origins, and timeless gameplay experiences. Anthem delivered on... maybe two fronts?
Nobody is knocking Anthem's flying element or the visually stunning environments, but the progression through the story is just so repetitive and bland that the positives are negligible. The hours you spend playing the same old capture and fetch quests could be better allocated to literally anything else BioWare has to offer.
9 Best: Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night – 84
Certainly the best metroidvania of 2019, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night set a very high bar for itself when it was described as the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, one of the greatest games ever made, during its crowdfunding campaign. To the delight of Castlevania fans everywhere, it actually succeeded in delivering a modern experience very comparable to Symphony of the Night in quality.
The wealth of exploration, items, and enemies, paired with the satisfying and flexible combat system, make for a game that people can play to their own style and pace, with visuals that are universally beautiful. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the perfect RPG for fans of genre, but it's just as good for those who aren't.
8 Worst: Paranoia: Happiness Is Mandatory – 47
What started as a tabletop RPG from the 80's, Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory probably should have stayed that way. The game that won the "Best Roleplaying Rules" Origins Award in 1984 took a swift 180 in 2019, clocking in with the some of the worst roleplaying of the year.
The charm of tabletop RPGs is often lost in the video game adaptation, and Paranoia is no exception. The sense of improvisation needed for tabletop play is gone and instead replaced with mediocre dialogue trees, which leave few players able to play out their roles how they truly want to. The uninspired combat helped a little bit, but only in getting it removed from the store quicker.
7 Best: Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout – 84
With the exception of maybe Final Fantasy, Atelier could very well be the most overwhelming series for people to jump into, with 22 main titles to its name. The latest installment though, Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout, may be the best place to start for new players.
The first game in the series' seventh subseries, Atelier Ryza introduces some darker elements to an otherwise wholesome franchise, which definitely helps appeal it to a larger RPG audience. The slower pace of the turn-based combat isn't for everyone, but the intricate crafting system, memorable characters, and deeply impactful narrative easily backseat the action.
6 Worst: Rune II – 47
Releasing a bad sequel to a game after almost 20 years is one of the cruelest things a developer can do, and it's exactly what happened with Rune II. The launch was historically bad, with the publishers ultimately suing the developers for $100 million for their surprise closure almost immediately after the game's release, leaving the publishers to do all the support work without having been given the game's final source code.
Rune II's weak graphics, repetitive missions, and really uninspired combat left it with no chance of meeting the modern day standards of RPGs. One button to attack? One button to block? One button turns off your PC as well, and that's a better alternative to playing this.
5 Best: The Outer Worlds – 85
The Outer Worlds took the beloved format of Fallout and brought it into outer space. As a spiritual successor to New Vegas, the game delivered a simultaneously familiar and new, exciting experience to players around the world, with an inviting atmosphere in the character and world designs.
The humorous storytelling and wide array of unique missions and areas make it one of the best in the shooter RPG genre of the last decade. It took everything that New Vegas did so well, but refined and expanded on it for a more complete modern experience.
4 Worst: Decay Of Logos – 47
Decay of Logos is quite possibly the most uninspired game of the year. The relatively short campaign feels as though you're playing the same even shorter campaign ten times over. So few new elements are introduced as the game progresses; it's a repetitive, buggy mess that isn't really for anyone.
More-so than anything, Decay of Logos's glitchiness is where it suffers the most. Regular framerate drops, constantly unloading areas, random deaths, and complete crashes prove to be some of the most challenging obstacles you'll overcome in your journey. While the game delivers on nice visuals and some neat ideas, the technical issues are all that you'll remember.
3 Best: Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling – 86
Much like many of the best RPGs of 2019, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling drew heavy inspiration from another much-beloved game, Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door. The art style and combat borrow heavily from The Thousand-Year Door, but still invoke original concepts and storytelling to make for a unique experience.
While the game isn't overly innovative, it is really the only successful attempt at a good successor to Paper Mario. The equally charming, upbeat story, paired with the constant puzzle solving and platforming between combative sections, makes for a great & nostalgic playthrough from front to back.
2 Worst: Eternity: The Last Unicorn – 36
Eternity: The Last Unicorn wasn't just the worst RPG of 2019. In fact, it was the lowest rated game on Metacritic for the entire year, trumping the score of the hilariously bad launch of WWE 2K20. Yeah, let that sink in.
The game looks bad, is overloaded with generic fetch quests and bland, button-mashing combat. The world is small, relying on backtracking through familiar areas to make the game feel bigger, while offering no sense of strategy at any point. Simply walk from place to place, spam attacks, collect your item, and leave; the most dumbed down, generic bare minimum of an RPG one could imagine.
1 Best: Disco Elysium – 91
Disco Elysium is simply groundbreaking in the way it tells its story. Players control an alcoholic detective tasked with solving a murder, a very simple concept, but the path the story takes to the end is wide open for the player to choose. It's rare for a game's player choices to actually have significant impact on the story, due to the boundaries of gaming, but Disco Elysium rivals even tabletop RPGs in terms of how effectively it pulls it off.
The openness in character customization, as well as the interesting plot behind the general story make for a very enveloping experience unique to everyone. You can influence the way your character opines over topics, their alignment, and their skills by uncovering new ideas throughout the game, which presents a lot more replay-value than many modern RPGs.