Best RPG of 2023

2023 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the strongest years our medium has seen so far, and the RPG genre is a great reflection of this. From tough-as-nails Souls-like action to classical turn-based JRPGs to open-galaxy odysseys, there’s bound to be an adventure on this list that you’ll want to embark upon sharpish. So, without further ado, we give you The Nerd Stash’s best RPGs of 2023 as chosen by our editorial team and contributors. Let’s do it!

Honorable Mention: Lords of the Fallen

Patrick Armstrong, Staff Writer: One labyrinthine world wasn’t big enough, so Lords of the Fallen gave us two. Navigating between the lands of the living and the dead with an Umbra Lamp took us to new places, literally. What could have been a one-off gimmick instead infused every aspect of this RPG with depth and interest. Under the Lamp’s baleful light, ordinary castles and villages transformed into places of nightmare. Great roleplaying games create a world worth exploring, and that’s just what LotF did. Whether you wanted to cleanse the beacons as a paladin of Radiance or fortify Adyr’s grasp on Mournstead, the game let you decide.

From its mightiest bosses to its lowliest minions, this RPG challenged us to learn and adapt with every death. A massive selection of weapons, armor, and spells allowed us to tailor our character to whatever role we envisioned. Perhaps nowhere did Lords of the Fallen offer us more choice than in our selection of path. With its meticulously interconnected levels, LotF trusted us to find our own way, even if it proved more difficult than it might have otherwise. It let us play whatever role we wanted, even if that meant wading into battle against Pieta with nothing but a bucket in hand.

Whether we explored solo or with the help of a friend, Lords of the Fallen entranced us. We spoke with Molhu at Skyrest Bridge. We waded through the stinking swamps for a showdown against the Hushed Saint. We Soulflayed Vestiges to learn the true nature of the world. The more we played, the more we appreciated the things that make this RPG unique. Though glitches, crashes, and stuttering frames held the game back from perfection, they didn’t stop us from having fun. Mournstead is a terrible place, but we can’t wait to go back.

Fourth Place: Sea of Stars

Julio LaPine, Freelance Writer: Every year, we have epic adventures in the RPG genre, and one of the ones worth mentioning in 2023 is undoubtedly Sea of Stars. After their acclaimed game, The Messenger, Sabotage Studio decided to venture into the genre of roleplaying games, and the result was an adventure full of heart, a fun combat system, memorable characters, and a journey full of nostalgia that reminded us of titles like Chrono Trigger.

While it may not be seen as the most innovative game at first, it has a lot of things that fans of old and new will love. What we liked most was the dynamic combat, which, despite being turn-based, is more interactive than in many modern action games. With a weakness system similar to Persona and player inputs akin to Xenosaga, it delivers fun mechanics without making the combat so overwhelming for many.

In addition, the game has an epic story reminiscent of games like Final Fantasy. It’s full of magical moments of loss and plot twists that take you from a fantasy setting to a world full of technology worthy of any good JRPG-inspired game. While it wasn’t the best of the year, it was among the most memorable.

Third Place: Octopath Traveler 2

Nat Collazo, Freelance Writer: Octopath Traveler 2 is one of the most visually stunning RPGs that’s come out of 2023. Published and developed by Square Enix, you take on the role of eight main characters, each with their own storyline and special abilities while also serving as the game’s playable classes: dancer, merchant, warrior, scholar, thief, cleric, apothecary, and hunter. Both the cast of characters and settings differ from the first installment, making it easy for new players to jump right in. However, though the story differs, the game retains the turn-based gameplay style from the first game for returning fans. 

As the story progresses, the world of Solistia opens up, revealing the different abilities these characters can take advantage of in the newly introduced day and night cycles. The day and night cycles provide different objectives for players to experience and different path actions for each character. For example, the thief Throne can steal from NPCs during the day and ambush them at night while the merchant Partitio can purchase items from NPCs during the day and hire them at night. You’re also not locked to a single character and are free to switch between them and further their stories as you wish.

Characters have their storylines, but they can also intersect via main and side objectives. Although you’re essentially playing through eight different stories, there is a single, overarching story going on. Without spoiling too much, you’ll want to get all the characters to meet and interact with one another before finishing up their main stories. We also got really involved in all the sidequests you can do since the world and music are just so easy to lose yourself in. Be prepared to spend hundreds of hours without realizing it.

Runner-Up: Starfield

Dylan Chaundy, Editor: Judging by the year’s busy release docket, Bethesda’s epic space-faring RPG is undisputedly the most eagerly anticipated of all the titles on the list. From the pedigree of the studio to the game’s boundary-pushing ambition, Starfield was earmarked as something truly unique and special.

Now that we’ve finally spent countless hours exploring the cosmos and unraveling the mystery at the heart of the galaxy, it’s safe to say that Starfield was an adventure worth embarking on. With some of the best written quests the studio has ever produced, combined with the tried-and-tested sense of discovery that the developer is so renowned for, this colossal interstellar RPG is veritably overflowing with meaningful content to keep you pressing forward.

While it may not have been perfect, with a few niggling bugs and one too many load screens, the vast scale and sheer amount of things to do kept us grinning as we pinballed between myriad planets and galaxies, each with their own distinct flora, fauna, environments, and quests. In short, Starfield may not have been the best RPG of the year, but it was definitely one of the most memorable.

Winner: Baldur’s Gate 3

Dylan Chaundy, Editor: Seemingly out of nowhere, Larian Studios stormed onto the scene and flipped the entire CRPG script. Indeed, the studio behind the Divinity series took up the mantle left by BioWare — the team responsible for the first duo of Baldur’s Gate titles — and proceeded to craft their very own magnum opus, inspired by the fifth edition ruleset of the iconic tabletop classic, Dungeons & Dragons.

Blending believably endearing characters and exemplary writing with strategic turn-based combat and a genuine feeling of roleplaying freedom, the epic fantasy adventure is chock-full with meaningful choices, excellent quests, and enough branching storylines to give David Cage a migraine.

But what makes Baldur’s Gate 3 so distinctly special is just how engrossing every single part of its 100+ hour journey is. Yes, the land of Faerun is so densely packed with enough twists, turns, and a-ha moments that you’ll never feel like you’ve stumbled onto some unwanted filler. Instead, this is an unforgettable video game experience to savour and to relish, which is why it’s won our award for best RPG of 2023. Congratulations, Larian Studios!