The 2017 RPG Of The Year Awards

Last year was packed with great RPGs. We finally got to play the long-awaited Persona 5, Divinity: Original Sin 2 wowed PC players, and Nier saw a hell of a resurgence. Let’s not forget indie darlings like Pyre to Golf Story, which both combined sports with role-playing to great effect. The genre continues to grow, improve, and try new things. The trends still point to bigger worlds, choice-driven narratives, and genre blending as modern RPG staples, but more linear experiences such as Persona 5 and Nier: Automata show that these games are hardly going out of style. Since RPGs require huge time investments, they have the hardest job at hooking us for the full ride. Below are the games we thought did it best in a wide variety of areas.

Best Narrative: Persona 5

Playing a Persona game is like reading a good book. It gives you just enough reveals to keep turning the pages even when it feels like there’s no end in sight. Persona 5 changes things up by making your band of teenagers into the agents of change instead of the vanguard against it. In an all-too-real commentary on the world and society, you see corruption all around you. Coming together as the Phantom Thieves, you take matters into your own hands, but not everything is as it seems or works in your favor. The twists are clever and, true to the series, the game doesn’t shy away from complicated themes like freedom, identity, and pride. Persona 5 is an engaging and enjoyable ride from start to finish.

Best Action Combat System: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Nihon Falcom has made a name for itself with its flashy action-based combat, and Ys VIII certainly lives up to that legacy. Battles are fast and smooth, with plenty of strategy. From choosing the best weapon for the creature you’re battling to timing special moves, fighting never gets dull. Chaining together specials allows you to unleash a barrage of powerful attacks that are especially satisfying, particularly in big boss fights.

Best Turn-Based Combat: Divinity: Original Sin 2

Battles in Divinity: Original Sin 2 build on the first game’s already-successful formula in every way. The element-focused system allows you combine attributes like fire and water to create diverse effects, such as steam blocking an enemy’s vision. Throw in an interesting take on the turn-based tradition by having action points that factor into everything from movement to more impressive moves you can do, and you have a unique system that makes battles a blast.

Best Cast: Persona 5

A Persona game is only ever as strong as its cast, and Persona 5 is no exception. While the gameplay and story are superb, the true strength of the game is its characters. As your ragtag group of teenage misfits bond through your supernatural activities as Phantom Thieves, you slowly learn more about each of them. Every member of your criminal crew is fueled by a desire to create a better world where people – and adults, specifically – are held accountable for their actions. Watching these teenagers mature is compelling, be it through accepting the death of a loved one or through finding their own identities. A strange sense of pride can be felt in watching this cast grow up, and that's a feeling games rarely achieve.

Best Setting: Torment: Tides of Numenera

Mixing sci-fi and fantasy elements, Torment transports you to a world in the distant future in which a resurgent humanity lives at a medieval technology level amid the detritus of many fallen civilizations. Part of this journey is figuring out more about the science and other mysteries left behind. Torment constantly surprises by integrating its setting into the character arcs and quests. From a living city of mouth portals to a bar frequented by veterans of a telepathic psionic war, every new location you visit is bizarre and interesting. Torment perfectly captures the tone of one of the tabletop RPG world’s most intriguing settings of the last decade, and then puts its own twist on that deep and complex fiction.

Best Side Quests: Divinity: Original Sin 2

Rewarding and interesting side quests are hard to get right in RPGs, but Divinity: Original Sin 2 does an excellent job of providing storylines with meaningful choice alongside big rewards. From figuring out how to cross a bridge owned by business-savvy trolls to discovering the secrets of a mysterious toy maker, you have oodles of ways to handle each situation. You can kill, negotiate, or use crafty ways to skip obstacles altogether – such as simply flying past them.

Biggest Surprise: Golf Story

This charming gem came out of left field and completely won over Switch players. Golf Story's success comes from its ability to combine golfing with typical RPG mechanics, such as leveling and side quests. However, its true triumph is a hilarious script full of zany characters and great one-liners. Golf Story went from being a game on no one's radar to a must-own Switch title overnight, and rightfully so.

Click to the next page to see our picks for best character, soundtrack, and indie...

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