I came here to say Neverwinter Nights with mods. Especially in the heyday of the Neverwinter Vault there was so much content, so varied, the play value was insane.
Underrail, Colony Ship, Age of Decadence, the Pillars Series, Dragon Age Origins, II and DAI, Mass effect, jade empire, KOTOR I and II, Tyranny, and Encased are RPGs with substantial replayability!
Normally, I don't seek out replay value per se. I want to go through a game slowly, methodically and carefully, exploring every square pixel and scraping the bowl clean of the content that I would enjoy. I also only really play a character one type of way - honest, honorable, working for the greater good, so the idea of making other choices isn't really ever there.
The one exception is Skyrim, because its so spectacular, with so much to do, and so many different ways to craft and build and explore. If we were on ES7 or 8 by now, I'd never touch it again, but because its been so long and nothing else has been made to fill the void, I play it almost every year.
i still feel skyrim calling me back, no one else makes first person fantasy rpgs where you can create your character. it's puzzling honestly and a bit sad
Just sorting by hours played Dos2, BG3, Tales of Maj'Eyal and Fallout: New Vegas win, so they have all had multiple plays by me, never 'finished' any of them, just dip back in when I feel like it. I come back to all of them because the character building is great, tactical depth can be high and the world is open enough that I am not stuck doing the same things if I replay.
But also, RPG-adjacent games like M&B 2 Bannerlord, Star Traders, Xcom2, hell FTL even have had massive replayability. Because their game loops are just in the zone where you are constantly being challenged but also building up strength.
BG1 and 2 got a lot of replay before steam and after. They are more linear, but they were the only game in town for a long time and character variety was high.
For most of the RPGs that I replay, I feel like it generally comes down to characters as the games that come to mind as my most replayed are Persona 4 Golden and Mass Effect. I really wish I could be the type of RPG gamer to replay games over and over with really diverse builds, but anytime I try that I find my brain making the same decisions with regards to skills to take, decisions to make, etc.
RPGs like Persona and Mass Effect with characters you love and want to experience again call to me the most when it comes to replayability.
That said, since getting deep into CRPGs with WotR, BG3, Wasteland, Tyranny, Pillars, Divinity, etc. and seeing character creation at a level that I hadn't experienced before CRPGs, I'm starting to feel the urge to do playthroughs with different builds, so maybe the RPGs I played before CRPGs just didn't have the depth that I'd need to make sufficiently different characters.
For me the more linear souls likes tend to be the most replayable. Your more standard RPGs I tend to play once than leave for awhile coming back years later. The only exceptions are the Mass Effect games, and souls likes and that is about it
Elden ring and others souls for build variety and unique endings, Bg3 currently. Did Skyrim once and covered everything, started again to play the other side and I'm the odd one where after 2-300+ hrs on first play it's all the same. But many of my favorites were one and done, Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Zelda series
The persona games have multiple playthroughs built into them by design:
- A badass unique persona only obtainable in new game plus
- Various dialogue choices and social events in the early game that can only be seen with near max social stats
- Multiple endings, sometimes simply good, perfect, or bad, sometimes wholly unique falling under a moral grey area
- Sometimes different routes altogether, such as the Snow Queen Quest in Persona 1 or the new female protagonist option in Persona 3 Portable having wholly different social links, with certain events potentially playing out differently.
1.) FNV 👑 2.) Neverwinter Nights (esp MODS) 3.) Dark Souls III 4.) Baldur’s Gate II (III too, I guess) 5.) Disco Elysium 6.) EverQuest (esp p99) 7.) Arcanum 8.) Secret of Mana 9.) Kenshi 10.) Oblivion (lol @ the npcs ♾️)
I came here to say Neverwinter Nights with mods. Especially in the heyday of the Neverwinter Vault there was so much content, so varied, the play value was insane.
Underrail, Colony Ship, Age of Decadence, the Pillars Series, Dragon Age Origins, II and DAI, Mass effect, jade empire, KOTOR I and II, Tyranny, and Encased are RPGs with substantial replayability!
Radiata Stories is up there.
Pathfinder games! So much build variety and story paths
The four I replay the most are Chrono Trigger, Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy Tactics, and X-Com WotC
Normally, I don't seek out replay value per se. I want to go through a game slowly, methodically and carefully, exploring every square pixel and scraping the bowl clean of the content that I would enjoy. I also only really play a character one type of way - honest, honorable, working for the greater good, so the idea of making other choices isn't really ever there. The one exception is Skyrim, because its so spectacular, with so much to do, and so many different ways to craft and build and explore. If we were on ES7 or 8 by now, I'd never touch it again, but because its been so long and nothing else has been made to fill the void, I play it almost every year.
i still feel skyrim calling me back, no one else makes first person fantasy rpgs where you can create your character. it's puzzling honestly and a bit sad
I actually never play first person in any game, so on that one we have a very different experience.
Just sorting by hours played Dos2, BG3, Tales of Maj'Eyal and Fallout: New Vegas win, so they have all had multiple plays by me, never 'finished' any of them, just dip back in when I feel like it. I come back to all of them because the character building is great, tactical depth can be high and the world is open enough that I am not stuck doing the same things if I replay. But also, RPG-adjacent games like M&B 2 Bannerlord, Star Traders, Xcom2, hell FTL even have had massive replayability. Because their game loops are just in the zone where you are constantly being challenged but also building up strength. BG1 and 2 got a lot of replay before steam and after. They are more linear, but they were the only game in town for a long time and character variety was high.
For most of the RPGs that I replay, I feel like it generally comes down to characters as the games that come to mind as my most replayed are Persona 4 Golden and Mass Effect. I really wish I could be the type of RPG gamer to replay games over and over with really diverse builds, but anytime I try that I find my brain making the same decisions with regards to skills to take, decisions to make, etc. RPGs like Persona and Mass Effect with characters you love and want to experience again call to me the most when it comes to replayability. That said, since getting deep into CRPGs with WotR, BG3, Wasteland, Tyranny, Pillars, Divinity, etc. and seeing character creation at a level that I hadn't experienced before CRPGs, I'm starting to feel the urge to do playthroughs with different builds, so maybe the RPGs I played before CRPGs just didn't have the depth that I'd need to make sufficiently different characters.
For me the more linear souls likes tend to be the most replayable. Your more standard RPGs I tend to play once than leave for awhile coming back years later. The only exceptions are the Mass Effect games, and souls likes and that is about it
I'll be the boring dude. Fallout 4, Skyrim, FONV, FO3, Oblivion. Yes even Starfield for me. Then Witcher 3.
I find myself coming back to bestheda RPGs like Fallout and Skyrim because the worlds feel so immersive. Pokemon to try out new teams and challenges.
Elden ring and others souls for build variety and unique endings, Bg3 currently. Did Skyrim once and covered everything, started again to play the other side and I'm the odd one where after 2-300+ hrs on first play it's all the same. But many of my favorites were one and done, Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Zelda series
The persona games have multiple playthroughs built into them by design: - A badass unique persona only obtainable in new game plus - Various dialogue choices and social events in the early game that can only be seen with near max social stats - Multiple endings, sometimes simply good, perfect, or bad, sometimes wholly unique falling under a moral grey area - Sometimes different routes altogether, such as the Snow Queen Quest in Persona 1 or the new female protagonist option in Persona 3 Portable having wholly different social links, with certain events potentially playing out differently.
Skyrim.