RPG games and good storylines go hand-in-hand — at least, that is what the general perception is. Why wouldn't this be the case? After all, the general expectations one might have when it comes to RPGs is the allure of playing a role and getting enraptured in the story unfolding around you. Take the examples of critically acclaimed RPGs like Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy VII, Planescape Torment, Disco Elysium, or other such titles. The fact of the matter is that these games have etched their names in the annals of history mainly due to the compelling tales they've told.
Conversely, an RPG whose story isn't engrossing in the slightest will find themselves destined for failure before even hitting the shelves. This isn't even a rare occurrence, with numerous RPG titles failing to follow the basic rules of telling a compelling story. The most infamous instances of such inept RPGs that have come up over the past decade are mentioned below.
10 Kingdom Hearts 3
Speaking of games with ridiculously convoluted plotlines, how can one fail to mention the king of complicated stories — Kingdom Hearts?
Kingdom Hearts 3 takes the cake when it comes to bad stories simply because it tries to wrap up almost each and every plotline that has been mentioned in the numerous prequels, spinoffs, and other such releases. It's a ridiculous task to undertake and results in Kingdom Hearts 3 being perhaps the hardest game to understand in the entire series.
And that's saying something.
9 Final Fantasy XIII
It's impossible to talk about RPGs with horrible stories and not mention the absolute trainwreck that is Final Fantasy XIII.
The Final Fantasy series is notorious for having ridiculously complicated plots as is, but the 13th game in the franchise truly takes this concept to an entirely new level. From ridiculous jargon that no one will find it in their best interests to remember, all the way to a story that is told in the most jilted manner possible — even the most passionate defenders of Final Fantasy XIII will find themselves stumped for a response when it comes to defending the plot.
8 Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
The failure of Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning is a shame indeed. For all intents and purposes, the game should have taken off with the sheer amount of love and effort put into the title.
Unfortunately, the plot of Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning is just boring. There's no other way to describe the story. It's a shame, especially since the lore of the world deserved a better plot that would compel players to explore the universe even further.
7 Bravely Default
While it would be a bit of a stretch to expect a game titled "Bravely Default" to have an engrossing plotline, the least one could've expected was a halfway-decent story that would compel people to sit through the game, which — admittedly — did have some things going for it.
Instead, what players got was an incredibly generic plotline with little to nothing going for it. It's a story that personifies everything wrong with JRPGs, with some chapters being absolute slogs to get through. It didn't help that the character writing was also pretty subpar as well.
6 Diablo III
For all the praise that Blizzard Entertainment might receive for their stellar character writing, the opposite can be said for their horrendous plotlines. No game personifies this statement best than Diablo III, which has a story that is just the absolute worst.
It almost feels like the story is padded out just to force people to grind, and one need only look at the horrible questlines to understand this statement. There's almost no point in following this sorry excuse of a plot.
5 Bound By Flame
Spiders is one of the most infamous RPG developers out there, with GreedFall perhaps being the only title they've released that is still halfway decent. However, if GreedFall is the studio's magnum opus, then Bound By Flame is perhaps Spiders at their lowest.
The game is nothing more than a budget Witcher knockoff, with literally nothing going for it. The plot in itself is a sorry excuse for players to roam around an uninteresting world.
Do yourselves a favor and give this game the widest of berths — it's simply not worth your time or energy.
4 The 3rd Birthday
Parasite Eve is one of the best Squaresoft games to have come on on the original PlayStation, serving as an excellent experimental title that certainly attained its fair share of fans. While its sequel might be somewhat divisive in comparison, it's nothing compared to the pile of steaming garbage that is The 3rd Birthday.
This game is the sole reason why the Parasite Eve series has died out, with numerous problems that contributed to the franchise's downfall. The story is definitely one of the most egregious offenders, making most of the plots of the games on this list look almost Shakespearian by comparison.
3 Dragon's Dogma
We hate to do this to Dragon's Dogma, especially given the fact that the gameplay of this title features some of the most action-packed and innovative combat seen in a long time.
Unfortunately, the story present in this game is bland, generic, and has absolutely no hook. It's just an excuse for you to roam around the world and enjoy the excellent combat, which — while certainly a welcome experience — leaves something more to be desired.
The fact that the pawn system means that you'll never have any meaningful companions at your side also poses a major problem and takes ever more away from the overall narrative.
2 Resonance Of Fate
Another instance a game with excellent gameplay that is bogged down by a horrible story.
Resonance Of Fate's plotline is convoluted for the sake of being convoluted and answers nothing about a world that is definitely interesting at first glance.
The driving force behind the main antagonist's actions, the motivations that drive the cast, the general state of the world and technology's role in it — these are just a few of the many plot aspects that Resonance Of Fate never delves into.
1 Mass Effect: Andromeda
There was a time when Bioware used to be the king of western RPGs, releasing excellent games that any RPG aficionado would never dare to miss out on. However, over time, the affiliation in EA coupled with internal changes have resulted in Bioware becoming the laughing stock of the gaming industry.
Adding Anthem to this list felt like cheating, especially when Mass Effect: Andromeda's launch was way more disappointing. It was a slap in the face of Mass Effect fans everywhere. A series that used to be revered as the crème de la crème of excellent storylines in video games became a parody of itself.
From uninteresting companions to a storyline with the lowest of stakes — absolutely nothing in this game worked out at all.