Good RPG Games to Sink Time Into

Let’s face it, sometimes, you just need a game you can lose yourself in. One which offers a world filled with unique characters, both lovable and hateable, enveloped in a story so rich that just one more hour turns into “Oops, it’s 3 am.” 

So, if you’re craving an epic time sink, here’s a list of brilliant RPGs (and RPG-adjacent adventures) you’ll want to get stuck into.

Final Fantasy Series

What to say here? Very few gamers don’t know about this series; it’s been around for a long time. Longer than I have. My first memory of Final Fantasy is getting a copy of FFVII for PC from a car boot sale, getting partway through and losing a disc, so I had to get another copy to finish. I’d probably put FFXII as my favourite (the original, not the re-release). With such long-running series, they cross all platforms and have a wide variety for everyone to enjoy, from action-packed big battles (especially FFXVI, which has some truly huge and beautiful battles) to the mid-series turn-based battles of games like FFX, which offer a slower and more strategic approach. If you like RPGs, you’d be hard pressed not to find something for you to love in this series.

Legend of Heroes: Trails Series

Now like Final Fantasy, I didn’t start at the beginning with this series. I started with Trails of Cold Steel 1, which I promptly fell in love with. It had a great mix of action, a slow ramping story (until the end where it shot up fast), some comedy and even a little odd romance. I’ve enjoyed it so much I’ve played all 4 Cold Steel games, Reverie, both Daybreak and am waiting on the next instalment with plans to go back and play the earlier games. It’s a long series which is a pretty decent time investment, but you can pick up some of the earlier games cheaply, and there’s so much depth and love put into these games, there’s a big community of fans for them.

Photo by Sam Pak on Unsplash

Tales of… Series

Now with these, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Zesteria and Berseria. They aren’t the greatest games in the Tales series, but I think they offer Tales storytelling at its finest. I loved going through Zesteria, and there was one boss I really disliked. I was so happy when I finally got to defeat it. Then I played through Berseria, came to love the characters and found out one of those characters became that boss I enjoyed defeating? That had my head shook for a little bit for sure, it isn’t often games do that. And Tales rarely interconnects many of its games. They’re an action RPG series, so if that isn’t your jam, these may not be for you, but they’re great. They have rich worlds and stories, diverse casts and a whole lot of content to discover.

Dragon Age Series

I know Dragon Age has had a little controversy recently, but I enjoyed Veilguard. It wasn’t the best game in the series; that’s still a toss-up between Dragonage 2 and Inquisition for me personally, even if Inquisition felt like it went on just a little too long. These games are beautifully crafted, especially the older games. You can tell a lot of time and love went into crafting the worlds and the characters. If you’re going for these? Go from the start and play through, because they do tell parts of different stories that often cross.

Assassin’s Creed Series

While I still put Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood as my favourite AC game of all time, I’ve really enjoyed the most recent games and their shift into full RPGs (minus Mirage, but that’s just cause I really don’t like Basim.) I had an absolute blast with Valhalla, I thought Eivor being able to be stealthy and run in swinging was a blast. Something I feel like Shadows lost with splitting its protagonists. Both Odyssey and Origins were so well crafted and really fun to run through. I’d absolutely recommend the whole series to anyone looking to play, but if you’re looking for more traditional RPG (gear, levels, skill trees etc), then definitely start from Origins.

Batman: Arkham Series

I loved playing through the Arkham series for the first time, with Arkham City being my favourite because of how sprawling the city was and how alive the city felt. In Arkham Asylum? I had so much fun just stringing up bad guys and piling them up without the others noticing, it was silly, but just a whole ton of amusement that I took several pictures. I feel like Arkham Knight goes downhill a little with its storytelling compared to the other games, but it’s still a really great game that I’d recommend giving a go. 

Persona Series

Now I love Persona. I haven’t played them all, but I’ve played Persona 5 more times than I can count. Both the original P5 and the Persona 5 Royal upgrade (which I’d obviously suggest choosing these days for the extra content). I recently played the Persona 3 remaster as well and thoroughly enjoyed that. They do cover heavy topics and usually involve some loss, even hitting on some real-world events sometimes. This is a series where you can start anywhere since the games don’t interlink and still feel like you’re getting a full experience.

Photo by Fredrick Tendong on Unsplash

Life is Strange Series

I loved the early Life is Strange games. The original, before the storm. I admittedly didn’t connect as heavily with Life is Strange 2, but I’ve never experienced anything similar to the way the main characters have felt, so I think that’s kind of natural. True Colours was a visually stunning story that I’ve enjoyed playing through more than once. If you like slow and thought-provoking mysteries, this series is a must.

The Legend of Zelda Series

Like Final Fantasy, you’d be hard pressed not to find a gamer who hasn’t heard of this series. My first game was Ocarina of Time, and I still think about it from time to time. I also recently played through Tears of the Kingdom. Both are very different games, and both are very well crafted, telling really beautiful stories. I can’t say I enjoyed the breakable weapons that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom had, but I did get used to them after a while, at least. The worlds are vast and they offer so much to discover, each game being so different from the last. 

Digimon Story games

Digimon games are still kicking (I’m really looking forward to Time Stranger later this year), and they’ve effectively been split into two types. Digimon World style games like Next Order, which continues the Tamagotchi style gameplay of raising Digimon from eggs and exploring the world. I enjoy them, but I prefer the story games. The story games are where I think Digimon really shines, taking a more Pokémon-esque approach of allowing you to collect and raise multiple Digimon, choose their digivolution paths. They offer richer stories, slower and more strategic gameplay, plus you can grab both Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory in a collection for even more fun.

Final Thoughts

No matter if you are looking to chase chocobos, unmask assassins, or befriend digital monsters, these games are perfect to get stuck into. So clear your diary (or don’t, who needs sleep anyway?), grab a cuppa, and dive headfirst into these worlds.

What’s your favourite time-sinking RPG? Drop a comment and let’s swap recommendations! I’m always on the lookout for my next game to try out!

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