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Fantastical world filled with immense amounts of lore, creatures, magic and mysteries. Alternative history world devastated by a nuclear war, filled with dangerous mutated creatures lurking between human settlements.
A mediaeval Europe like world mixed in with supernatural beings, monsters, magic and different races.
These are just examples of potential stories you can personally participate in the western RPG genre and there’s so, so much more!
Now let’s take a plunge deeper into the topic!
Western RPG is a type of RPG that evolved from CRPGs (Computer Role-Playing Games), which in turn were inspired by TTRPGs (Tabletop Role-Playing Games). In short, they’re games that allow players to create their own hero and engage with the world. It could be a fantasy world with magic and supernatural or a sci-fi setting in the far future or any variation of these.
More often than not, the player choices affect the gameplay and potentially the world they’re in, giving the player a chance to defeat (or join) a world ending villain.
While the final challenge or boss is usually the same, the stories that your character took part in will have different outcomes in the end game. Both for your party members and the communities/factions that you personally helped or hindered.
There’s a lot of “your choice matters” emphasis in western RPGs, it really helps the players feel like part of the world they’re exploring.
While western RPGs tend to give players a certain amount of freedom when it comes to creating a character from scratch, the best stories are tied to already existing characters with rich backstories that affect all the interactions with NPCs or companions.
Whether it’s a fresh start in an alien place or a severe case of amnesia, putting a player in the shoes of someone who is already a part of the world allows more character development and gives a chance to immerse into the world along with the protagonist.
A VERY important ingredient in the western RPG genre.
The world needs to be worth saving and it needs to be interesting enough to explore. It’s quite a challenge to create a completely new world filled with mysteries and fantastical features to populate it with.
Any title that makes a believable, lived in world to immerse the player in will be remembered fondly and keep the players engaged in any potential sequels.
After all, one story doesn’t mean another can’t take place in another kingdom or maybe even a different dimension!
Some games have branching choices that greatly affect future story plots and elements, it’s not only between a “good” or “bad” choice.
Some decisions are only available if the player meets certain requirements, follows all the clues and optional objectives or succeeds in using specific skill checks.
Other times it’s simply down to the player's own moral compass. Do you report the thief knowing full well he does it to support his family? Do you slay the sentient monster that terrorises nearby woodcutters to protect its forest from them?
It’s up to the player to make these choices and face their consequences. And it’s up to developers to make them feel believable and fit the overall story.
A true test of skill for the devs.
Combat is a very important aspect of the vast majority of games, while there are “pacifist” playthroughs, more often than not, the player will have to do some damage.
Whether it’s action or strategic, it needs to be challenging enough to be engaging and fun since it’ll probably happen quite often.
Combining that with levelling up, unlocking new abilities and cool gear requires a good amount of balancing and tweaking, usually adding the “difficulty” slider for the players just in case.
There are few titles that focus on other aspects or completely remove combat and still manage to offer really enjoyable gameplay, these are quite rare though and are called out for it.
There’s no “best games ever” list that everyone will agree with and there never will be since different people have different tastes.
Nevertheless, the games below are beloved by many and deserve to be talked about for years and years to come (and some of them have already), so let's do that!
Continuation of the previous Baldur’s Gate story set in the high fantasy world of Faerun. You control the “Baalspawn”, a progeny of the dead God of Murder, who was captured by a mysterious elven mage Irenicus to be experimented on.
Due to third party intervention and help from your childhood friend Imoen, you manage to escape your confines, only to have Imoen captured together with Irenicus and put away in a remote location.
From now on you’re free to explore the city of Athkatla and find a way to rescue your companion.
The game follows the same party mechanics as the previous one, expanding more on interactions between team members, even allowing romancing some of them if requirements are meant.
There are few returning characters to help out with your quest to hunt down Irenicus and stop his vengeful plans, while performing either good or evil deeds along the way.
Fantastic writing, great music with some occasional voice acting to add to the atmosphere, plus a challenging active-pause combat.
A hearty recommendation for all fans of the western RPG genre.
The third and definitely the best game from The Witcher trilogy.
Geralt of Rivia continues his search for Ciri and Yennefer, this time following a letter from the aforementioned sorceress, Yennefer, his lover from the time before a certain “event”.
Together with his mentor (and a father figure) Vesemir they accept a mission to hunt a nearby monster by local Nilfgaardians, in exchange for the location of the sorceress.
After its completion, Yennefer shows up and escorts them to the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Emhyr var Emreis, to locate his biological daughter, Ciri, who is also the adoptive daughter of Geralt.
From this point on the main story events are affected by players choices with some side quests and plots playing a certain importance as well.
There’s a lot of content, exploration, great music, fantastic worldbuilding and combat mechanics to enjoy.
The game is an open world with more major locations being unlocked as the story progresses, giving plenty of freedom to play Witcher in any way the player wishes to.
A must play for both the fans of the series and newcomers.
Considered to be the best game in the Bethesda Fallout universe by many.
You control the “courier” on the way to deliver a package to New Vegas but end up being ambushed by Benny and his group of hired “Great Khans”.
After a short monologue he shoots you in the head and you’re buried in the shallow grave but due to some “luck” and help from a mysterious cowboy robotron Victor, you are saved by a local doctor, Doc Mitchell.
After initial conversation which doubles as a character creation, you are then free to do anything you want.
The developers did a great job at allowing the players to follow a “beaten path” with the main quest slowly leading them to more challenging areas with plenty of side content whenever they feel they’re being railroaded towards the story too much.
At the same time you can just do whatever you please from the very first moment, the game offers a helping hand but you can absolutely disregard it completely.
There’s a lot of world building mixed with fun quests and the overall feel of the game is very similar to Fallout 2. Possibly due to the fact that the developers, Obsidian Entertainment, worked both on Fallout 2 and New Vegas.
A great recommendation for fans of the Fallout franchise. Both the Bethesda one and the classic series as well.
The third instalment of the legendary series and it definitely deserves the same praise as the previous titles did.
Set around 120 years after the events in the Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, you are captured by Illithids, a race of evil psionic beings, via Nautiloid (a dimensional travel vessel).
After being infected by an Illithid parasite, the ship is attacked by a red dragon riding Githyanki, which allows you to escape your confinement.
After meeting a few helpful companions and some close calls, you manage to safely escape the ship before it crash lands.
From this point on you can explore the area and attempt to get a cure to rid yourself of the parasite that’s supposed to turn you into Illithid.
The game lets the player explore the world freely and virtually do however they please. There are of course consequences to your choices, attacking innocents will earn you the ire of a nearby settlement, unless no one saw you do it, that is…
There’s a lot of potential alternative solutions, extra content and dialogue options to discover.
Other than that, the story is great, characters are very enjoyable and well written, music is beautiful and combat is both fun and challenging.
It’s a culmination of all other titles from Larian Studios and it really shows they’ve definitely learned a lot from their long history of game development.
Definitely play it if you haven’t yet.
Here are some other great titles that also deserve a lot of attention and are by no means inferior to the ones above, as they’re also worth playing.
The classic post-apocalyptic experience, filled with plenty of dark humour and pop culture references.
You are the Chosen One, a descendant of the original Vault Dweller from the first game and you are tasked with recovering a G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) in an attempt to stop your village from extinction.
Despite that being the main objective, you’re pretty much allowed to freely roam the world as you please, with there being a “time limit” but it’s so long that you’d have to purposefully go out of your way to actually hit it.
Plenty of enjoyable writing, world building and atmosphere to enjoy, definitely a great game to try out.
Also, check out online guides for mods and unofficial patches for maximum fun.
Gothic II follows the story of a nameless hero (our protagonist) and his attempt to return to the mainland after being imprisoned on a mining colony to support the war effort against the army of invading orcs.
After defeating a powerful demon in the first game he is saved by the necromancer Xardas from the collapsing dungeon. Unfortunately he loses all his skills and equipment in the process and is tasked by Xardas to stop the evil that begins to envelop the local island.
There’s something really fun about exploring its world and finding out ways to deal with the challenges it throws at you. It’s considered the best game from the franchise by its fanbase, so give it a try if you have a chance!
Mask of Betrayer is a continuation of the original NWN 2 campaign, your character awakens inside a cave with no memory of how he ended up inside it after defeating the main boss from the previous game (canonical non-evil ending). A cave that was meant to seal something away from the outside world…
The story itself has a much more serious tone in both the setting and the location it's taking place in, it seems to take “some” inspiration from Planescape: Torment (another great game!) and does it really well.
Since it’s a direct sequel, it’s mostly directed for players who have played the NWN 2 as it can be quite challenging for newbies. Especially if you’ve never played a Dungeons and Dragons game before.
Great story, immersive characters and deep atmosphere for all the fans of the D&D setting.
Great story, very interesting worldbuilding, well written characters and (if you’re playing definitive edition) fantastic voice acting to tie it all together.
It doesn’t follow typical RPG style, it’s focused on exploration and interacting with the world without any actual combat and it absolutely works.
Even a failed skill check can open new options and more content, it's filled with both humour and serious topics with a unique blend of a character that literally has his psyche talk inside his head to “advise” or “hinder” him.
It’s a really fun game, definitely worth a try.
With the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios, the RPG genre received a new welcome addition to the western RPG greats.
There was a severe lack of highly acclaimed games from veteran studios with only worthwhile titles being released from either indie devs or crowdfunding.
Baldur’s Gate 3 reminded everyone that western RPGs are still worth developing and there are still plenty of players more than willing to dive into fantastic worlds full of wonders and mysteries to explore and immerse themselves in.
Mostly a custom character a player can put themselves as, choices affecting the game in some way and non linear storylines to name a few.
It varies from title to tiles, but quite often the choices the player makes can offer alternative storylines, new items/companions or different endings to name a few affected gameplay elements.
If the character is believable and acts in a way that makes the player root for them, it’s easy to develop attachment to them, which in turn makes the game much more immersive and engaging.
