RPGs are all about doing things the way you want. Choices and consequences. The more options you have, the more nuance you also have, and the more you get to shape your character and your story to be exactly how you want it to look. Classic TTRPGs are an amazing place to look for inspiration for that, and how it was translated into games like Baldur's Gate 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 was masterful. These games truly do let you become whoever you want to be.
Longest Open-World Games
Even the most sophisticated gamer will be bewildered by the sheer scale of these games. These are the open-world games that take the longest to beat.
Now, if you're looking for more Western RPGs that give you a ton of freedom and different options to pick from when determining your adventure's exact course, look no further. These games come with a ton of choices and plenty of role-playing opportunities. Every playthrough is going to feel a little (or a lot) different.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Deus Ex
Immersive Sims Are The Definition of Freedom
Deus Ex is not only an RPG, but a representative of an elusive video game niche that doesn't get enough love: immersive sim. These games are known for the freedom they grant to players by allowing them to use multiple different methods and paths to solve a conflict or progress through a level.
In Dexus Ex, you always have a choice. You could go in stealthily by sneaking past everyone, using back doors, and hacking to carve out a sneaky path. Or, if you love run-and-gun gameplay, you could just rush in like a barbarian and kill everyone despite a blaring alarm. Be a silvertongue who persuades people and uses non-lethal weapons, or handle it with your fists, the choice is yours, and Deus Ex is easily one of the finest examples of that freedom. We're in for a treat, too, as the game is getting a remaster in 2026 and will hopefully reignite people's love for immersive sims.
Baldur's Gate 3
The Sheer Number Of Options And Paths Is Staggering
Larian Studios made sure to pack Baldur's Gate 3 to the brim, and the abundance of different paths, choices, and outcomes you can experience in the game is proof of it. In the first act alone, you can do a lot of things with the inhabitants of the Druid Grove. Want to protect them fully? Kill everyone in the Goblin Camp. Want to get their help instead and bait Minthara in for an epic fight by the front gates? Double-cross her when she marches her forces to the Druid Grove. Or, if you're a truly evil Dark Urge, perhaps you have no interest in keeping the people of the Grove alive and join Minthara's campaign against them.
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All of these choices ripple into the rest of the story, which further gives more substance and color to your unique run. If you choose to destroy the Grove, then the people of the Last Light Inn will have a different view of you. You build your own character, your own narrative, not just in character creation, but through the choices and methods you employ in every single quest.
Fallout: New Vegas
The Game Asks, What Kind Of A Courier Are You?
Fallout: New Vegas' charm is the abundance of roleplaying options and nuance that's sprinkled into every aspect of the game. Your choice of skills alone will open up new paths for you to pick, which truly lets you become the Courier you envision. For instance, you might use the Medicine, Science, and Repair skills to help someone in unexpected ways and access more dialogue with them. On the other hand, low Intelligence gives your character more, well, character, but you might be locked out of certain things.
There's also the handling of factions, quests, and karma. You can talk your way out of trouble, kill someone who gets in your way, or even be the rat who plays both sides of a conflict, only to walk away like the cool, chaotic neutral baddie you are. There's so much variety in New Vegas for such an old game that it's really a shame we don't have a remaster or remake of it yet, and it's not just bland freedom where you can do everything without consequences. All your choices still feel punchy and meaningful.
Disco Elysium
Freely Shape The Detective, And Reap The Rewards (Or Consequences)
Disco Elysium is another charming game with so many branching paths, builds, and outcomes that it's one of the funnest ones to compare playthroughs with other people. No two gamers are going to have the same experience as they take on the role of the amnesiac Harrier Du Bois in solving the murder of a man. With different builds that focus either on charisma, strength, your general intellect, and more, you'll have different ways to resolve conflict and interact with people and the world around you.
As you level up, unlock skills, and adopt new thoughts in the Thought Cabinet, your options become ever more nuanced. You can be just as much of an annoying, mean, tough guy as you want to be, kicking people in the guts and roughing them up. Or maybe you'd rather talk through all your problems, listen to people, and empathize with them, no matter how horrible and insufferable they are. Maybe you're so intelligent that you can deduce clues and details in the environment without much effort. Whichever approach you choose, there's plenty to sink your teeth into, and the recap you get at the end of the kind of cop you became makes it all worth the journey.
Cyberpunk 2077
A Tinge Of Immersive Sim In A Cyberpunk Reality
Let's be clear here: Cyberpunk 2077 is not an immersive sim, but it does have a ton of missions that give you different approaches akin to Deus Ex. Depending on your specialty and character build, you might be able to hack a door open or stealth your way through the back door vent that can only be reached with a double jump. Alternatively, if you're just a really tough solo or a cool guy, you could walk in with your gun drawn and intimidate your enemies so hard that they simply run away.
Everything is based on how many points you have in certain attributes, with Body skills translating into intimidation and Cool skills letting you blabber your way out of trouble. Hackers might impress a fellow techie with their knowledge and gain some additional rewards or dialogue options, and so on. How you choose to shape your V (and there are so many options from guns to cyberware to hacking) opens up all these fun pathways for you that let you explore missions from entirely different angles.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim & Morrowind
Both Games Let You Do Whatever You Want, But Differently
I thought long and hard about which Elder Scrolls game to feature here, and I think both Skyrim and Morrowind deserve to be highlighted for how much variety and freedom they grant players. That being said, while Skyrim gives you the freedom to do absolutely whatever you want and become the Archmage of the College of Winterhold, as well as the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Morrowind gives you the same choices but will lock you out of other options.
One grants everything as soon as you're out of Helgen, while the other asks you to commit to whatever path you choose. What unites both of them, however, is the quality and the abundance of choices. Both let you go anywhere you want, join whoever you'd like, but while Morrowind is a bit more obscure and asks you to be far more prepared, Skyrim plays into your desire for power fantasies unlike any other game. No matter which side you're on, you'll have a good time causing trouble and mayhem.
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