One of the best things a video game can do is inspire others. Super Mario Bros. was not the first platformer, but it certainly paved the way for other platformers of its ilk. DOOM and Wolfenstein 3D were great early starters for the first-person shooter genre. Since RPGs and RPG mechanics are in vogue right now, let’s take a look at games that were influential for the genre on specific levels.
10 Most Perfect RPGs Of All Time, Ranked
To reach peak perfection as a video game is no small feat, but these titles managed to climb there thanks to their impeccable quality.
The following RPGs may not have created these mechanics, but they certainly popularized them over time. What’s the next RPG or JRPG that will do that? It’s hard to say, but first, let’s examine all these great examples.
Diablo
Loot-Based Action RPGs
Diablo did not create the idea of loot, as RPGs always had some sort of equipment system, be it from chests or monster drops. Diablo and its sequels can at least be popularized for making the loot-based action genre more popular, especially when Diablo 2 was released.
There are direct modern games that were inspired by the Diablo series, including Path of Exile 2 or Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr. The loot-based action RPG genre also evolved with shooters, and Diablo can certainly be thanked for leading the way for games like Borderlands 4 and Destiny 2.
Pokemon Blue/Red
Monster-Catching On A Global Level
Pokemon Blue and Pokemon Red did not create the idea of befriending monsters to be companions in battle when they launched on the Game Boy in 1996, although their systems were wholly unique. Other progenitors include Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride in 1992 on the SNES, and even some early Shin Megami Tensei games can count.
That said, there is a reason why fans today call monster-catching games Pokemon clones, as the overall Pokemon franchise dominated this specific RPG sub-genre. Palworld and Wuthering Waves are two modern examples of games containing monster-catching mechanics of some variety, but there are also classics like Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and Yo-kai Watch.
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
The Birth Of The RPG Metroidvania
Firstly, Super Metroid helped establish what a good action game could be, meaning a game with one interconnected map that players would gradually progress through as they obtained new powers. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night took this idea and added RPG elements to the mix, including leveling up and an equipment system, thus paving the way for the Metroidvania genre.
Calling something a Metroidvania is shorthand for a specific type of game, although some still prefer using the search action descriptor. Some great RPG examples of Metroidvanias include Chasm, Touhou Luna Nights, and Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit In Wonder Labyrinth, along with the upcoming Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement.
Persona 3
Socially Aware Teens
Persona 3 changed the Persona series forever, thus creating the franchise for what it is known for today. This includes focusing on a group of high school students who go through a linear progression of days, choosing to hang out with friends to establish bonds just as much as they fight in turn-based battles.
10 Nearly Perfect JRPGs, Ranked
A small tweak here and there, and there’s no doubt these JRPGs could have turned into serious GOTY contenders.
While RPGs included romance options before this, and there was a whole dating sim genre with RPG elements in Japan, Persona 3 definitely made the idea more of an inspiring factor for a lot of games going forward, or at least for a Western audience. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are two big examples.
Demon’s Souls
The Soulslike Is Born
Demon’s Souls was not the first game FromSoftware created, but it is certainly the game that started a modern revolution in action RPGs: the Soulslike. Upon death, players leave their upgrade currency behind and have to retrieve it via a corpse run, and this challenging nature could be attributed to roguelikes or even MMOs with corpse runs.
That said, the Soulslike experience is very different, and FromSoftware has evolved its systems over time from Demon’s Souls to Elden Ring. Some inspired examples include the newly released Nioh 3, alongside other greats like Lies of P and The First Berserker: Khazan.
Dragon Quest 3: Seeds Of Salvation
Deeper Class Systems
Class-based systems in RPGs could all be attributed to Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop edition, as many elements were derived from its many rulebooks. For RPG video games, at least from a JRPG angle, Dragon Quest 3: Seeds of Salvation was one of the big games to include a class system, later known as Vocations.
Players could recruit party members at pubs and then evolve their classes, choosing new ones, once they reached certain heights, and this was an NES game. Final Fantasy 3 was soon to follow on the NES, which created the Job system for that series, and the idea of choosing classes in video games is so ubiquitous now, from Diablo 4 to Metaphor: ReFantazio. Overall, Dungeons & Dragons is the real hero here, but no one can discount the far-reaching franchises that Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy have had.
Chrono Trigger
Time-Traveling Combos
Chrono Trigger is one of those phenomena that is still hard to believe actually came together on the SNES, with its ideas slowly getting popular over time. It was a time-traveling RPG that included a world map with no random battles, enemies that appeared in dungeons, and characters who could team up with fellow party members to create double or triple attacks.
Sea of Stars definitely was inspired by Chrono Trigger regarding the combo system, world map, and encounter rate, while the upcoming Threads of Time looks like it is even more of an homage. Then there are other time-based RPGs like Radiant Historia and Final Fantasy 13-2.
Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars
Active Turn-Based Battles
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is another gem from the SNES era with very forward-thinking ideas that would branch off into two separate Mario-based RPG franchises: Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. In turn-based battles, players could block damage with a well-timed button press, or they could increase their attack power with an extra command as well.
10 Perfect RPGs Nobody Talks About Anymore
In a perfect world, these RPGs would be as available and as well-discussed as Skyrim, but alas, they’re barely talked about anymore.
This active turn-based combat system did not immediately take off, but it’s certainly getting more and more popular as the overall genre of turn-based RPGs is making a return. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Sea of Stars are two notable examples, with the upcoming Dosa Divas being a future example.
EarthBound
When You Know, You Know
EarthBound, or just the overall Mother series, inspired a future generation of indie creators to make weird RPGs. There’s nothing really mechanically too different about EarthBound from other RPGs besides the roulette-based HP system and the battle window, but when players jump into an EarthBound-style game, they know what to expect.
EarthBound-inspired games often have some of the weirdest characters and can often have art styles that are unconventional. Undertale, Citizens of Earth, Hermit and Pig, and even an action RPG like Eastward can all be attributed to the wild nature of EarthBound, which is practically a very niche but specific sub-genre at this point.
River City Ransom
Adding RPG Elements To Brawlers
Beat ‘em ups used to be one of the dominant genres in arcades and on consoles, but they all played the same, with players linearly going through levels from left to right. River City Ransom was different for an NES game, as players could explore the titular city in a proto 2D open-world fashion and level up their hero by dining in at restaurants.
The layout design directly inspired Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game, but since then, there have been other brawlers with RPG elements too that included more direct leveling-up systems. Castle Crashers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge are two examples. While River City Ransom wasn’t the biggest hit, its ideas were certainly picked up on slowly over time for the indie brawler scene, for sure.
8 Great Open-World RPGs That Let You Play Your Own Way, Ranked
With varying degrees of choice systems and an open world to boot, players won’t find more freeing RPGs than these.
