Summary
Today, the RPG genre is massive, and most big releases feature some kind of RPG progression mechanic or another. But that wasn’t always so. It was once considered a niche genre (at least outside of Japan).
It can be argued that the rise in popularity of the RPG coincided with the lifespan of the PS3. This long-lived console was home to some of the biggest and most successful RPGs in gaming history. The console may have eventually run out of steam, but up until that point,each year was full of great games. Of course, choosing the “best” RPGS is a matter of personal opinion, so to avoid personal bias, the following RPGs were chosen for their Metacritic scores and the impact they had on the gaming landscape.
The PS3 first launched on June 27, 2025, in North America, and its launch lineup didn’t include a huge number of RPGs. While Japan got the excellentThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, the best RPG the rest of the world got that year wasMarvel Ultimate Alliance.
The game was a classic four-player top-down brawler with plenty of RPG elements sprinkled in. While nothing to look at by today’s standards, it had a unique visual style and made good use of the step-up in graphics from the PS2 to the PS3. What fans really loved, though, was the story. While, for many years, licensed comic book games had played fast and loose with accuracy, theMarvel Ultimate Allianceseries was impressively faithfulto the source material.
Skyrimmay be the most successfulElder Scrollsgame, but many gamers of a certain age have a soft spot forOblivion. With its fleshed-out sandbox open world, enjoyable story, and a multitude of side quests, the game was nothing short of revolutionary when it hit consoles in 2007.
Mostly fondly remembered (its reputation remains tarnished by the horse armor microtransaction controversy),Oblivionwas responsible for introducing many gamers to a whole new type of game. Its RPG systems were more complex than its successors, and its gameplay really encouraged proper role-playing. While Bethesda games aren’t known for their looks, Cyrodil could be charmingly scenic, and the Imperial City felt like a real, lived-in, and vibrant place.
Being a fan of Bethesda’s games means waiting around a lot, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in the days of the PS3, nearly every year saw a new release.Fallout 3was the first game in the series after Bethesda took over the IP from the original creators, and the design choices they made were deeply controversial among many fans. The game was still a decision-focused RPG, but they switched it up from an isometric to a first-person viewpoint with more of a focus on FPS gunplay.
While the main story was good enough,Fallout 3featured some of the best side quests in the series' history. The graphics weren’t amazing, but the Washington setting was deeply atmospheric, perfectly balancingFallout’s unique zany humor and satire with light horror elements. The RPG systems struck a balance between being fairly deep while being less intimidating than the original Fallout games. Better still,Fallout 3has some of thebest ever DLC contentever made.
By 2009, the PS3 was well in its stride, and the great RPGs were coming thick and fast. That year saw two particularly notable RPG releases - the much anticipatedFinal Fantasy XIIIand the underdogDemon’s Souls. While FFXIII ended up leaving many RPG fans feeling cold, Demon’s Souls turned out to be very special indeed.
Created by THE From Software,Demon’s Soulswas the game that kicked off the whole Soulslike trend. This brutally hard-action RPG was a precursor to the hugely successfulDark Soulsgames and featured many of the hallmarks of that series. Not only did it spawn an entire genre, but its 2020 remake was one of the PS5’s biggest releases.
If 2009 was a good year for RPGs, 2010 was a great one. In fact, the2010s was an amazing time for RPG fans. That year saw the releases of blockbusters likeFallout: New Vegas,Dragon Age Origins, and the criminally underratedAlpha Protocol. The champion for 2010, though, has to beMass Effect 2.
The originalMass Effectwas genre-defining, butMass Effect 2improved on it in almost every way. The gunplay was much better, the RPG elements were toned down but more approachable, and the Mako was nowhere to be seen. What really madeMass Effect 2special, though, was its story and rich collection of companions and side characters.Mass Effect 2was a totally engrossing RPG experience that made it feel like every decision carried weight.
RPG fans and PS3 owners were once again spoiled for choice in 2011.Deus Ex: Human Revolution,Dragon Age II,andDark Soulswere all released that year to glowing reviews. Yet the big release of that year was none other thanThe Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim, a game that single-handedly changed the gaming industry forever.
It’s easily one of thebest Sandbox RPGs ever releasedand one of the highest-grossing games ever made - Bethesda has ported it to everything but the kitchen sink at this point.Skyrimis a simply massive game. Its map is huge and equally dense and many of its quest lines are longer than standalone AAA games. The game can also be stunningly pretty, and its simplified RPG systems welcome more casual RPG fans. Even with its infamously rough launch on PS3, it remains one of the best RPGs ever released on the console.
By 2012 the PS3 was getting a bit long in the tooth, but it had one good year of RPGs left. That year saw a handful of big RPG releases, but the biggest of them was easilyMass Effect 3. The game was released to massive critical acclaim and slightly less fan acclaim (thanks to its underwhelming ending and tacked-on multiplayer).
Ignoring that infamous ending (which was later fixed by DLC),Mass Effect 3was a brilliant RPG. It continued the series' evolution in every way. The writing was stellar, the side quests meaningful, and the gunplay rivaled the best third-person shooters around. What always madeMass Effectspecial was itswell-written side characters, andMass Effect 3pulled no punches when it came to killing off fan favorites.
2013 was the year the PS4 was released, and suddenly, the PS3 became a lot less popular with developers. It did, however, give usone of the best PS3 JRPGS-The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel(at least in Japan).
It’s a pretty traditional JRPG featuring a lovable cast of characters and an enjoyable turn-based battle system. Part of the widerThe Legend of Heroesseries,Trails of Cold Steelwas the first entry to have free camera movement and 3D character models. The real draw for JRPG fans, though, was the story.The Legend of Heroesgames (20 in total) have an interconnected storyline and deep lore dating back all the way to 1989. Not much of a hit outside of Japan back in 2013, the games are getting much more love in the West today.
The PS3 may have limped on for two more years, but by 2014, the PS3 was already becoming a graveyard of shovelware and substandard ports. Thankfully, there were still some gems to be found, including the excellentDark Souls II. A sequel to one of the PS3’s best action RPGs, the game had a lot to live up to.
Dark Souls IIremains the black sheep of the Souls family - some fans loved it, many found it disappointing after the breakout success of the original. Its graphics were a slight step up from the original, it was somehow even harder and there were some nice gameplay tweaks - like the introduction of dual-wielding. Like a fine wine,Dark Souls IIhas gotten better with age and these days it’s finally getting the respect it deserves.
The PS3 was still imping on in 2015, but barely. Major Western RPG releases were skipping the console, although the JRPGs remained loyal.Tales of Zestiriais an action role-playing game and the fifteenth entry in the long-running Tales series.
It was the first in the series to embrace the open-world trend and took three years to develop. Critics praised the multiple ways the game evolved upon the series' increasingly outdated systems and loved the interactions between characters (a strong point of the series). Alongside its critical success, it also sold relatively well, selling over 1 million copies and hitting # 8 on the UK’s top sellers list the week it was released… not bad for a niche game on an aging console.
