Highlights

  • The RPG genre has evolved over time, with elements of RPGs often making their way into other types of games.
  • Classic RPGs from the 2000s broke barriers and set standards that modern games are still trying to catch up to.
  • Many of these RPGs, such as The Witcher and Mass Effect, introduced innovative features and storytelling that still hold up today.

RPGs have been prevalent within gaming since the dawn of the medium. They continue to evolve with the passing of time, with elements of the genre often making their way into other types of games.

The momentum from the genre's explosion in the '90s did not slow down after the new millennium arrived, with many classic RPGs coming out at the turn of the century. The following RPGs from the 2000s are not just fantastic; they broke barriers and did things that would only become the standard years later. Some might say modern games have yet to catch up to these all-time greats.

Related:RPGs That Are Surprisingly Short

Updated on September 22, by Mark Sammut: Some of the best 2000s RPGs broke new ground, setting the stage for the genre's current form. While not all of these projects have aged gracefully, that does not take anything away from their influence.

17 The Witcher

the Witcher 2007 Gerald talking to NPC
The Witcher

Platform(s)
PC
Released
October 30, 2007
Developer(s)
CD Projekt Red
How Long To Beat
36 Hours

CD Projekt Red has had some incredible ups and downs throughout its history as a developer. After the massive success of The Witcher 3, they stumbled big time with the release of Cyberpunk 2077. If gamers are still sour about them, they should perhaps look back to the company's past and try out the first Witcher game.

It is not easy to get into these days after playing the third entry in the franchise, but it showcases an ambition that would be better fulfilled later on in their catalog. Released in 2007, The Witcher introduced moral ambiguity into action RPGs when the choice was still very much between being evil and a paragon of virtue. The gameplay does not hold up, but the story is still top-notch. Fortunately, CD Projekt Red recently announced a remake of the title.

16 Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered Alicia shot at by tank
Valkyria Chronicles

Platform(s)
PC , PS3 , PS4 , Switch
Released
October 31, 2008
Developer(s)
Sega , Media Vision
How Long To Beat
30 Hours

Valkyria Chronicles introduced a unique take on the turn-based strategy genre long before it became more popular. Instead of moving characters around on a grid and having an infinite amount of time to make decisions, players moved freely on the play area for a certain distance.

If players moved in the way of enemy fire, the adversaries would automatically reign bullets on the character. The same goes for enemies walking into the player's team. With games like Mario + Rabbids introducing their own spin on the genre, it makes one wonder if Valkyria Chronicles would be more popular today if it came out ten years later. As it stands now, the series is only for the biggest fans of the niche genre.

15 Final Fantasy 10

tidus and yuna CG cutscene macalania woods
Final Fantasy 10

Platform(s)
PS2
Released
December 17, 2001
Developer(s)
Square Enix
How Long To Beat
45 Hours

In an age where players still expected very specific features from a JRPG, Final Fantasy 10 changed up the formula in a big way. The game features no world map and is surprisingly linear until the endgame where players are free to roam around more freely.

Additionally, traditional levels are replaced by the Sphere Grid which gives the party more freedom on how each character progresses. Anyone skeptical of these changes immediately had their worries put to rest when they started playing.

14 Mega Man Legends 2

roll and mega man
Mega Man Legends 2

Platform(s)
PC , PS1 , PSP
Released
October 25, 2000
Developer(s)
Capcom
How Long To Beat
11 Hours

The first Mega Man Legends made all the big steps, and the sequel is a continuation of the same mechanics. All the same, Mega Man Legends 2 is endlessly impressive for how lively the game world feels on the original PlayStation.

The side quests, dungeons, and story are all things that would only be matched by adventure games in the next generation. It is just a shame its cliffhanger ending has yet to be resolved. Mega Man Legends 3 was announced for the Nintendo 3DS, but it was ultimately canceled.

The Mega Man Legends are more action-adventure games with RPG elements than full-blown members of the latter genre.

13 Mass Effect

Mass effect one combat
Mass Effect

Platform(s)
PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC
Released
November 20, 2007
Developer(s)
BioWare
How Long To Beat
17 Hours

Released in 2007, Mass Effect was one of the more ambitious projects any studio had undertaken. The idea of a trilogy of games where players' decisions echoed throughout sequels was pretty much unheard of at the time. BioWare pulled it off, however.

Related: Final Fantasy Tactics Vs Vagrant Story - Which Is The Better Spin-Off

The Mass Effect series was in a dark place for a while after the release of Andromeda, but the trilogy's re-release and the upcoming continuation have put it back in fans' good graces. Going back to the original entry reveals some limitations that would be fixed, but it is surprisingly tight for such an old RPG.

12 Vagrant Story

A Vagrant Story gameplay
Vagrant Story

Platform(s)
PS1
Released
May 15, 2000
Developer(s)
Square
How Long To Beat
25 Hours

Square has always had graphically impressive games, and Vagrant Story represents the technological apex of what the company was able to do with the original PlayStation.

It is a dungeon crawler, opting to focus purely on combat and dungeons rather than shops and towns. With this concentrated design, it was able to do things other action games couldn't, such as including an in-depth weapon and armor crafting system.

11 Paper Mario

Paper Mario N64 front cover
Paper Mario

Platform(s)
Nintendo 64
Released
February 5, 2001
Developer(s)
Intelligent Systems
How Long To Beat
23 Hours

Fans cannot complain about never receiving a Super Mario RPG 2 if they never played Paper Mario. While not an official sequel, it is the second RPG in which the plumber starred, and it absolutely lives up to the standards of the SNES Super Mario RPG.

The writing in particular deserves praise, especially since few games had witty dialogue and humor back in 2001 (2000 in Japan). The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube is a similarly beloved Paper Mario title.

10 Deus Ex

Deus Ex Doctor
Deus Ex

Platform(s)
PC , PS2
Released
June 23, 2000
Developer(s)
Ion Storm
How Long To Beat
23 Hours

The immersion present in this cyberpunk opus was unprecedented back in 2000. Every level was an intricately detailed sandbox where players could approach a situation in any variety of ways depending on their imagination and the character's abilities.

Directed by Warren Spector, it is exactly the evolution one would have expected from the mind who brought gamers Thief and System Shock. Even after a sequel and a reboot, many consider the debut entry the best of the series.

9 Knights Of The Old Republic

Promo art featuring characters in Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Platform(s)
Xbox (Original) , iOS , Android , Switch , PC , macOS
Released
July 15, 2003
Developer(s)
BioWare
How Long To Beat
30 Hours

BioWare had already made a name for itself with the Baldur's Gate franchise and Neverwinter Nights, but Knights of the Old Republic brought this extensive RPG experience to a whole new audience thanks to its existence on consoles and the usage of the Star Wars license. Good Star Wars games already came out, but none were this expansive, making gamers truly feel like they were living in the galaxy far, far away.

Related: Open-World RPGs More Breathtaking Than Skyrim

After years of rumors, a remake of this classic RPG is finally confirmed to be in development. Details about it are currently scarce, other than timed console exclusivity on the PS5. For those interested in the original, they can play the port for iOS and the Nintendo Switch.

8 World Of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

Platform(s)
PC
Released
November 23, 2004
Developer(s)
Blizzard

MMOs were pretty niche in the 90s and hard to access. With the increased ubiquity and accessibility of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before World of Warcraft came along and swept up a large chunk of gaming culture along with it.

One could not go to a gaming website or open up a magazine without reading something new about the game in the first several years of its release. 20 years later, and WoW is still a titan in the now-crowded genre.

7 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Platform(s)
PC
Released
November 16, 2004
How Long To Beat
23 Hours
Developer
Troika Games

Some games are too ambitious for their own health. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is brimming with innovative ideas, but without fan patches, the game barely works.

This is the price one pays for trying such an ambitious 3D RPG in 2004. The character players create and their actions affect multiple aspects of the world. Hopefully, the sequel can create the same experience, only with fewer technical issues.

6 EVE Online

ccp games coronavirus player war interview
EVE Online

Platform(s)
PC
Released
May 6, 2003
Developer(s)
CCP Games

First released in 2003, EVE Online is an MMO unlike any other. Instead of using multiple servers, the game essentially takes place in a single, persistent world where gamers affect the environment and economy more heavily than almost any other game in existence.

This also means griefing is more acceptable in the cosmos. It is difficult to imagine any other game ever coming close to a similar level of depth.

5 Fable

xbox franchises on xbox series x
Fable (2004)

Platform(s)
PC , Xbox (Original) , Xbox 360
Released
September 14, 2004
Developer(s)
Big Blue Box Studios , Lionhead Studios
How Long To Beat
13 Hours

Fable is definitely not the first game to include a morality system, but it still did it long before every RPG was including them in some form.

Related: Coolest Legendary Weapons In Fable 3

The Xbox RPG is surprisingly brief for the genre, but the multiple ways to approach every quest and the way the main character changes depending on how virtuous or vicious the player makes several play-throughs almost mandatory in order to see everything it has to offer.

4 Final Fantasy 11

Final Fantasy 11 character standing up to monsters
Final Fantasy 11

Platform(s)
PC , PS2 , Xbox 360
Released
October 28, 2003
Developer(s)
Square Enix

Two years before World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 11 broke ground by not only being the first MMORPG in the franchise, but also the first to include cross-platform play. PlayStation 2 players could interact with PC players on the same server.

By today's standards, it is extremely hard to get into, but it managed to be extremely popular in its day. While still playable on PC, most have moved on to Final Fantasy 14.

3 Diablo 2

Diablo 2
Diablo 2

Platform(s)
PC , macOS
Released
June 28, 2000
Developer(s)
Blizzard
How Long To Beat
34 Hours

The dungeon crawler series from Blizzard removes most of the superfluous story and boils the genre down to combat and loot collection. Not only was it endlessly entertaining, but the game saw regular updates for years, making the long wait for Diablo III more tolerable.

Other dungeon crawlers like Borderlands would follow a similar structure. Currently, a fourth game in the franchise is in the works, though no one can tell when Diablo IV will come out. While waiting for the fourth game, there is always the remake of Diablo 2 that players can sink their teeth into.

2 Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Platform(s)
PC , Xbox (Original)
Released
May 1, 2002
Developer(s)
Bethesda Game Studios
How Long To Beat
45 Hours

The acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft was extremely surprising, but it made more sense upon deeper thought. After all, Microsoft helped bring Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind to the original Xbox.

At the time, such a grand RPG on a console was nearly unheard of, and the game itself brings the Xbox to its knees. Now, few RPGs are PC exclusives, and Morrowind helped make this a reality.

1 Demon's Souls

Loading times in the new Demons Souls remake are much faster than the original
Demon's Souls

Platform(s)
PS3
Released
October 6, 2009
Developer(s)
From Software
How Long To Beat
29 Hours

The game that put FromSoftware on the map and made Hidetaka Miyazaki a household name among gamers, Demon's Souls introduced numerous innovative ideas into modern games. The extreme difficulty and ambiguity came at a time when many big-budget games were becoming easier and more forgiving. While it certainly has its quirks and future games from the studio improved upon the style, the foundation laid by Demon's Souls is still solid, as evidenced by the recent remake by Bluepoint Games on the PlayStation 5.

Bluepoint Games, the developer of the remake, was recently purchased by Sony and is working on an original game. While this might mean no new quality remakes in the future, plenty of people are excited to see what the studio can do with an original idea.

More: Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In Demon's Souls On PS5