An open world RPG with the best roles

The main charm of RPGs is undoubtedly the freedom to define who you are as a protagonist. This doesn't just mean character customization, although that's a big part of it. It's also about the choices you make and whether or not the game even allows you to really influence the direction of your adventure. When a game looks and feels unique, with many branching paths and plenty of dialogue options that reflect your character, that's when you're playing a quality RPG.

Unfortunately, only a handful of games allow you to dive deep into roleplaying. In recent years, the focus has been on giving players a lot of content in the form of lengthy quests and main campaigns that feel the same every time you play, but there are a few games that provide exceptional opportunities through dialogue, builds, trade-offs, and freedom of choice to truly play any character you want to play. They're all mostly open-world, though some are bigger and more impressive than others, and we'll be focusing mainly on the role-playing aspect.

Best in series for roleplaying potential

The story, factions and lore of the third volume The Elder Scrolls franchise, Morrowindthey are easily its greatest asset. It draws players into the interesting world of politics between the great Dunmer Houses and with very little direction compared to other games in the series. This creates fertile ground for players to define their own path, with skills handled slightly differently than in the later entry, Skyrim. You see, unlike in Skyrimwhere it's much easier to be a jack-of-many-trades and a hero of all things, your skill selection in Morrowind is always a compromise and brings weaknesses. A low value in the skill will penalize you, while v SkyrimHaving low speech doesn't condemn you to a situation where NPCs don't like you or prevent you from progressing in a particular guild's questline.

You could argue that this is limiting, but I'd argue that it's these compromises that make the game completely unique. Your choices really matter and make you consider your build more than once as it affects everything from combat to how the world perceives you. And that's all without getting into all the other stuff Morrowind right ones that enhance the role-playing experience, such as not being seen as anything special for most of the game, and an amazingly deep lore that still has fans today. If you weren't impressed by the depth of the roleplaying Skyrim or even OblivionI highly recommend giving this one a chance despite its age and one might say punishing start.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord

Medieval simulation and sandbox at its best

If you're looking for a more solid medieval experience, but still have plenty of freedom to determine your path through the world, Mount & Blade games are where to go next. Warband is still fantastic, but we'll focus on the latest, Bannerlord. Although the campaign is a bit more restrictive, with its own story and a somewhat established protagonist, the sandbox gives you complete freedom in Calradia to do absolutely whatever you want.

Choose who you are and then set out into the world, either as a conqueror who wants to claim it all for yourself, a traveling paladin who helps those in need, or a truly evil bandit lord who brings destruction wherever they go. Gather some companions and watch what happens. There are also some nifty features to increase your role-playing potential, with the personality traits of your character and NPCs adding some depth to how you might decide how you conduct yourself in dialogue and what sort of tactics to use.

Fallout: New Vegas

Be the courier you always wanted to be

Obsidian Entertainment concept on Fallout universe is fondly remembered as one of the best in the RPG realm. Yes, it's an old title, and yes, the world is pretty limited by today's standards, so you might not have the greatest experience when it comes to exploration. However, where New Vegas September is his attention to detail in the storytelling, quests and character interactions. It all starts at the character creation screen, where your stat and skill choices will directly affect what dialogue options are available to you. Your build has a purpose, and the goal isn't just to be strong or overpowerable, but to play a specific role in the Mojave Desert.

Create a courier with low intelligence and you can play as one with some fun dialogue options. NPCs can also comment on some of your skill choices, praise your stealth, and some actions are even locked to skill checks like repairing a radio. But in addition to skills, your actions in the wasteland will decrease or increase your karma, and depending on who's on the other end of your range, certain factions will either hate you or love you. This actually makes each playthrough unique, as there is so much nuance and detail to the roleplaying in the game that it doesn't even matter how old or underdeveloped the actual exploration aspect is. New Vegas can be.

Kenshi

Define your own direction from start to finish

If you're not afraid of a game with a learning curve and punishing gameplay that preaches patience and resilience, Kenshi is simply the perfect open world RPG. It's not a traditional game by any means, as it doesn't have any quests or point you in any particular direction when you first show up. You're a nobody in a harsh world, but the great thing about playing a tabula rasa character is that you can choose exactly what your adventure will look like.

You can go anywhere and do whatever you want, within reason of course. By engaging in specific activities, you will increase your skills. For example, if he constantly beats you, you will certainly suffer, but you will become tougher as a result. You'll most likely encounter some resistance early in the game, given that you lack skills in specific areas and have no gear to speak of, but if you stick with it, you'll start to build a unique protagonist and an entire party around them. You yourself can become a raider, a common thief, a slave liberator, or be friends with one of the factions you discover along the way and spread their message across the lands as their right-hand man. essentially Kenshi It feels more like a sandbox simulation than an open world RPG, with how little direction and limitations it places on you. This means that only the sky is the limit. Anything you can imagine is probably possible to achieve in the world. Just remember that some objectives are easier to achieve than others in a game as brutal as Kenshi.

Disco Elysium

Builcrafting the kind of cop you want

Disco Elysium he doesn't shy away from dark, controversial topics. As Harrier Du Bois, a detective with a bit of a drinking problem, you have no memory of recent events, which is the perfect opportunity for players to come and define what kind of person he ends up being. With Kim by your side as a companion, the game lets you explore a small enclosed open world environment (some locations are locked to progress, it goes without saying) and tackle various side objectives while investigating a murder and trying to remember who you are. Skill checks and lengthy dialogues are what drive the story forward and also develop your options as you delve deeper into your unique gameplay.

Choices matter because they define who you are, and who you are defines what you can do. Someone with great strength might be able to take on a man like Measurehead and survive, but if not, you'll have to find a different strategy to deal with each obstacle. While many RPGs have skills for weapons and combat, Disco Elysium he has virtually no combat (technically none) and most of his progress is in the mind and personality of Harrier Du Bois. At the end of the game, you get a nice summary of what kind of cop you ended up being, which is basically a summary of all your choices and how you handled certain people and situations. It's a truly unique RPG that just has to be experienced to be fully appreciated for how deep it goes into the character's mind and how malleable every dialogue and interaction is.