There are a lot of genres in video games but the one that stands out the most is RPG (Role-Playing Games). Playing the best RPGs on your PS5 lets you take on the role of a character and delve into a fantasy world filled with rich experiences that make for a grand adventure. When you play as these characters, there are elements of decision-making where you’re given choices to make. Based on these choices, the story changes, which adds a lot of replayability factor to the game.
No matter the type of world the game is set in, be it a sci-fi space adventure or a game set in medieval times, RPGs are an absolute joy to play. You get to explore a diverse set of environments and meet characters that you will cherish forever. RPG games are also integrated with robust game mechanics and leveling-up systems that let you customize your characters with items you find in its world or as rewards after mission completion. When you level up, the character becomes stronger and is able to challenge harder bosses, which is the whole point of the game. Some games even offer a New Game+ mode where you can start the game all over again using the weapons and armor you collected in your previous playthrough.
Given how many great franchises are out there to play, it was extremely difficult for us to narrow it down to just 7 best RPGs for this list in 2024.
What Are the Different Kinds of RPGs?
Games come in a lot of different genres and subgenres, and RPG games, in particular, have multiple subcategories of their own. Here are just a few of them:
Action RPGs
As players, you will be controlling a single character with the main focus on real-time combat with RPG elements, allowing you to level up your characters by completing missions and collecting loot. The story and character interaction usually take a back seat. It could be a third-person RPG like The Witcher 3 and Elden Ring or a Hack ‘n Slash game like Diablo IV.
JRPG (Japanese RPGs)
Japanese RPGs are genres that originate from Japan or are influenced by Japanese culture. This is one of the most popular genres, which owes its status to games like Final Fantasy XVI, Perona 5, and NieR: Automata.
TRPGs (Tactical RPGs)
In this genre, games use a turn-based combat system, which requires careful planning and strategy executions. The game is played on a grid-based system that gives a wide view of the map, allowing players to plan their moves and positioning — for example, XCOM 2 and Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs)
MMORPG is an online multiplayer game where a large number of players play on the same map. Each player will have the ability to customize and upgrade their characters. These games can be played as a single player and go against other players on the server or played with a team. Games like World of Warcraft fall into this category.
First-person RPGs
As the name suggests, it is an RPG game that is played in the first-person perspective. You control a character, complete missions, make decisions, level up your character, and more. Cyberpunk 2077 and Borderlands are the best examples.
7 Best RPGs in 2024
BEST OVERALL
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition
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Despite being released nearly a decade ago, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains one of the best RPG games in 2024! You play as the Geralt of Rivia, who is looking for Ciri, her daughter figure. Ciri is on the run from the Wild Hunt, who wants to capture her and use her Elder powers for their benefit. CD Projekt Red has poured an incredible amount of detail into every corner of the game. Be it walking through the streets of Novigrad or sailing through the waters of Skellige, every location is packed with side quests to complete, treasures to collect, and a massive variety of monsters to slay. All of it is complemented by appropriate music that just elevates the whole experience.
As the monster slayer, you are equipped with swords (Steel for humans and Silver for monsters), a crossbow, bombs, and magic spells. You also use potions to give yourself temporary abilities and apply oils on your swords to inflict additional damage on monsters. As you level up your character, you unlock skills that make taking on a horde of enemies so much fun. There are some humorous quests, like fetching a frying pan for an old woman, and some heart-wrenching quests, like helping a baron look for his family and performing rituals to put this undead baby to rest. Its story gets even more expansive with the two DLCs — Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine. These DLCs are worth a full game all by themselves. After all these years, if you still haven’t played the game yet, then you should do it now!
BEST SOULS Rpg
Elden Ring
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Since day one of its release, Elden Ring has claimed the crown as the best souls game, not just from its developer, FromSoftware.Inc but in the genre entirely. The story takes place in the Lands Between, where you assume the role of the Tarnished, a human who is blessed with immortality and a quest to retrieve the broken pieces of the Elden Ring and become the new Elden Lord.
This RPG game has some of the most unique bosses, and they are an absolute marvel to look at. But be wary; they are also some of the hardest bosses you can find in any game. Staying true to its genre, Elden Ring does not have a difficulty level. It all depends on your character build and your understanding of game mechanics, which determine how difficult the boss fights are going to be.
The game has an incredible amount of items that you can gather to mix and match to create a character build that suits your play style. Players can either look for these items or buy them from merchants using Runes as currency. You will find these runes scattered around the open world and you can also gather them by defeating enemies. After two long years, FromSoftware Inc. released its DLC — Shadow of the Erdtree, which delivered a great expansion with even more challenging boss battles. If you’re a fan of this genre, buying this game is a no-brainer!
BEST PS5 RPG
Horizon Forbidden West
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Horizon Forbidden West is a sequel to the highly popular PS4 RPG title, Horizon Zero Dawn. The story picks up a few months after Aloy defeats Hades at Meridian and is now in search of GAIA, a powerful AI program that is capable of terraforming the planet. During her search, she discovers that she isn’t the only one who wants GAIA, and now she and her companions must achieve this task first. The game offers a massive open-world map with different terrains to explore, with every location offering a unique way of traversing. But it’s not that easy because each area is filled with dangerous machines that you have to fight your way through. These machines are based on real-life animals that are made to help GAIA terraform the planet, but if you’re around them and they become aware of you, they will attack. So you better be ready with your weapons.
To deal with these machines and the clans you come across, you’ll have a lot of armor and weapons to collect to become stronger. On your journey, you’ll meet a lot of new characters and new machines will keep popping up in the wild. After a point in the game, you can even override a Sunwing and fly on it. This allows you to traverse much faster and in style. If you don’t like to use the Fast Travel option, this is a great way to traverse as the entire map looks gorgeous from up above. If you like sci-fi and post-apocalyptic settings, Horizon Forbidden West is one of the best RPG games for PS5.
BEST JRPG
Final Fantasy XVI
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Final Fantasy XVI is the latest game in one of the longest-running franchises. The story unfolds in the world of Valisthea, a place that is blessed with Mother Crystals. Mother Crystals are magical relics that offer aether energy for magic and prosperity to prevail in the world. It is also the source of everything in the world and without it, the kingdoms will collapse. Valisthea has multiple countries that are all at war against each other to harvest this resource to save their area from Blight, an unknown phenomenon that is eating up the land.
The game starts with the main character, Clive, whose family gets attacked by the Sanbreque soldiers and suffers a devastating loss. Clive sets out on a path of revenge against those who attacked his home. Along the way, a lot of other conspiracies surface involving Eikons, the native magical beings, and rulers of other kingdoms.
The game continues its iconic and traditional RPG-style gameplay in the vast open-world structure. It has a fast-paced combat system, which is satisfying, and looks extremely stylish. Players assume the role of Clive, who uses combat techniques like melee, magic, and Eikon abilities, giving players a number of ways to play the game. Throughout the game, Clive meets a lot of new characters who help uncover the many conspiracies and also have motivations for their own. With a lot of twists and turns, the narrative is an absolute treat to play.
BEST ACTION RPG
Diablo IV
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Set in the world of Sanctuary, Diablo IV follows the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. 50 years have passed since the battle between High Heavens and Burning Hells; a lot of angels and demons perished, too. This gave the cultists a great opportunity to summon Lilith, daughter of Mephisto, to take over the land. Since this is a co-op game, you can either play solo or play with three other friends to find and kill Lilith.
Diablo IV is a demon hack-and-slash game that offers an exciting journey through various dungeons where you’ll fight hoards of demons to hone your skills and level up your characters with its expansive character-building system. This is where your main focus will be — building a character with the highest DPS to ensure you come out victorious in both PVE and PVP modes.
If you can look past its controversial live-service mechanic, this is a great hack-and-slash game to play with friends on your PS5. The game also allows you to grind for the items, which may take longer but is absolutely worth the patience. So, sharpen your blades and be ready with your ultimate abilities; you have an exhilarating experience waiting for you.
BEST fIRST-PERSON RPG
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
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After a patchy start and tons of updates from CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 quickly rose to become one of the best RPG games of all time. Set in the beautiful and futuristic world of Night City, you play as V, a gun-for-hire mercenary who takes contracts with his/her partner Jackie. V and Jackie are contracted by a fixer called Dexter Deshawn to steal a relic known as the chip of immortality. Jackie dies during the infiltration and later, V gets betrayed by Dexter. V is left for dead in a landfill but owing to the chip hidden in their head, V survives. Upon waking up, V realizes that a former military veteran and rockstar, Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), haunts them. Everything from here is an experience to witness firsthand.
At the beginning of the game, you get to choose to play as a male or female, customize how you want the character to look, and select your backstory from the three available factions. The game has a big open world with lots of quests to complete. With PS5’s powerful system, this game not only plays great with reduced load times but also looks incredible. There is no particular way to complete a mission; you can play with stealth or go in guns blazing. There are so many types of weapons you can use or even hack nearby items to either distract the enemy or blow them up — the possibility is vast. With this ultimate edition, you even get its DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty, starring Idris Elba, which is also an incredible experience with a lot of new missions to complete.
BEST OPEN-WORLD RPG
Hogwarts Legacy
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Hogwarts Legacy is based on the global phenomenon of the Harry Potter series. The events in the game take place 100 years before Harry Potter gets to Hogwarts, so there are completely new characters to meet. You play as a fifty-year student who is transferred to Hogwarts in between the term for unknown reasons. After you get attacked on your way to Hogwarts, you will set out on a dangerous quest to bring down Rockwood and his army, who have dangerous plans for you and the Wizarding World, while uncovering other secrets the world has to offer.
The game begins with character creation, where you get to create how you want your character to look. Later, you’re given a free pass to explore the entire map, which includes Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, Forbidden Forest, and so many other locations. Every location is filled with intricate details that you can’t get enough of. You get to fight trolls, goblins, spiders, and a few other enemy types. The game allows you to equip up to 16 different spells that you can use anytime during combat.
The best part is that you get access to a secret room in the Room of Requirement, where you can brew potions, grow herbs, and even build a Vivarium, a place where you pet, feed, and play with all the magical beasts that you rescue from the wild. This RPG game is an absolute dream come true for Wizarding World fans and if you’re one among us, then you shouldn’t miss Hogwarts Legacy.
What Are the Longest RPGs?
Over the years, we’ve had some really lengthy RPG games that have required players to put tens and hundreds of hours into completing them. Ultimately, the length of the games depends on how you play and if you like to go for the Platinum trophy. Games like ARK: Survival Ascended, Persona 5 Royal, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Baldur’s Gate 3 are some of the lengthiest RPG games you can play.
How We Chose the Best RPGs 2024
These RPG games were chosen by our team of gamers who have in-depth knowledge of the games and the gaming industry. They have played a wide range of games on nearly every gaming platform. These games were chosen based on their story, gameplay, RPG mechanics, open-world structure, end-game rewards, and so much more. They also researched through online forums to understand what other gamers like to play and what their favorite games are. After an incredible amount of research, the team finalized these seven games. So, when you buy one of these games, we know you’ll enjoy them.
FAQ
What is considered the best RPG of all time?
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is considered one of the best RPGs of all time.
What is the best RPG game right now?
Elden Ring is currently the best RPG to play.
What is the biggest RPG series?
Final Fantasy is one of the biggest RPG series, with 16 games to play.
Are there any good RPGs coming out?
Black Myth: Wukong is a recently released RPG developed by a Chinese game developer, Game Science, and has the potential to become the game of the year.
What is the longest-running RPG game?
Final Fantasy is one of the longest-running series with its first game releasing back in 1987.
What RPG has the best endgame?
Elden Ring has some great endgame content with hidden bosses and weapons to explore.
