The greatest fantasy games have created a spot on our minds and hearts. We remember epic cinematics, battles, and quests and use them as references for future titles. In fact, the best of the genre can spoil our enjoyment forever. So, follow our list if you can’t find something to play after hitting a masterpiece.
Selecting The Best Fantasy Games Of All Time
Fiction relates to what’s possible but doesn’t exist or didn’t happen. It’s like seeing “alternate” stories that could have happened in real life.Fantasy revolves around the impossible. These are worlds creators imagine and create, full of magic/tech systems, races, and background lore.The fantasy umbrella is wide, but we can thank writers like Tolkien for one of the genre’s cornerstones. Of course, medieval fantasies are quite common in both movies and games, but there’s more to see.Be that as it may, we made a list after considering various factors. These are fan popularity, critic appreciation, and personal appreciation. We want games that stand out on individual elements and a whole package. These elements should be:
Memorable stories and characters. Moments, cinematics, and even dialogue from these games can remain in our memories for years. Creative or unique settings. Its world distinguishes itself from othersThe gameplay mechanics combine with the game’s setting. They feel right.The title’s performance is good, perfect, even. We don’t want excuses from AAA companies. The presentation relates the effort and heart creators put into their work. I mean what you can see and appreciate from the surface: music, visuals, art style, narration, and introductory mission.
Moreover, we’re selecting titles you can still play right now. Luckily, the greatest fantasy games are available for modern consoles as ports, remasters, or remakes. Lastly, fantasy games exist across many genres, and we’ll try to be diverse in our selection. Our goal is to add options for all preferences.
Final Fantasy X/X2 HD Remaster (and the Final Fantasy series)
Final Fantasy X and X-2 represent a definitive fantasy RPG game. However, I could have added any FF game on the list, but I found the 10th main entry to feature the highest average scores. Still, others you can try include the original FFVII, FFVI, FFVIII, FFXI, and FFXII. Both fans and critics review it as a 9/10, but I would say it’s a 10/10. It features a memorable story, characters, world, combat, and plot twists. After you play the original, questions will arise, some of which X-2 will answer… while adding others. You play as Tidus, a young man lost in a mysterious fantasy world. He becomes part of a team fighting against Sin, a beast punishing Spira for the sins of their hedonistic ancestors. The story combines amazing turn-based combat, a shared passive three between characters, gorgeous settings, and exciting music.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a signature RPG open-world sandbox. You enter a medieval fantasy world as a customizable avatar after choosing one of the many races and classes available. Then, you play in the first person through a series of main quests, side quests, and activities. The world is massive, and you can discover secrets, activities, guides, and questlines wherever you go. It is your story, although you play as a chosen warrior destined to defeat an elder dragon.Lastly, you develop your character on dozens of skill threes available. There’re no limitations on what you can do, so you can combine all kinds of character builds. For example, you can become a sneaky mage planting invisible fire and ice traps.
Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition (& the Dragon Age trilogy)
Dragon Age: Origins is a third-person action RPG in a medieval fantasy setting. You create a character across one of the three playable races (dwarves, elves, and humans), pick an “origins,” and enter the game. Then, the Ultimate Edition expands the story with its expansion, Awakening. Your “origins” and race determines your initial missions, about two hours of playtime. It will also determine many aspects of the story. See, the original Dragon Age includes a wide choices and consequences system, so what you do affects stories, factions, yourself, and your companions.Then, you play through a series of levels in semi-open spaces. You select your skills from an action bar for combat alongside three AI companions. Then, you level up, invest in various skill trees, and improve your gear until you defeat the final boss, a demon commander.
Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition (& Baldur’s Gate I)
Baldur’s Gate II is a classic, complex, and isometric 2D turn-based RPG. The Enhanced Edition is its latest version, a remaster available for console and PC. If you play it and like it, we recommend Baldur’s Gate I, also available for PC.The title allows you to customize a hero and play through a lengthy campaign, plus an expansion. There’re 11 playable classes, dozens of subclasses, hundred skills, and hundreds of choices and consequences. If you’re familiar, it follows the rules of the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.Lastly, the story is rich and relies on expansive lore. You start as a prisoner of the wizard Irenicus. He tries to steal dark powers within you. You, as the hero, may choose to wield it in many ways, both for good and evil.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild
Breath of the Wild is the highest point of the Zelda series and perhaps the best open-world game ever. It’s a fantasy, as you’re playing in Hyrule, a land full of orcs, magic, monsters, and princesses needing rescue.You play as Link in a massive world without any markers or tutorials. You have a single mission -defeat Ganondorf- but you’re to find the way around it. Your limitations are stamina, gear, and HP, all of which you improve by looting from monsters and treasures. Lastly, the title includes a big sandbox and physics system. For example, different items interact with each other in interesting ways. There’s also a weather system, plus the classic third-person Zelda combat.
Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV is perhaps the best MMORPG you can play right now. Sadly, it’s somehow expensive. You need to buy the base game and the expansions (if you want to play them) and pay a monthly fee.Still, the game boasts a gorgeous fictional land, with more character builds, lore, stories, and quests than you can imagine. And even though it’s online, the story will catch your attention, just like the best games in the saga. In essence, you become part of a struggle between rival kingdoms and help defeat the forces of chaos. The gameplay is on par with its presentation and price. Whiting a persistent world, you create a character with a race, class, and subclass. Then, play around against NPC enemies, PvPs, team-based raids, dungeons, and more. Combat is fast, complex, and relies on using the skills on your action bar.
Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III is a third-person action RPG by FromSoftware, creators of the most difficult games in the industry. This one is perhaps the toughest: you need trial, error, and effort to master its combat, but also to uncover the plot.Luckily, the story is linear. You mostly advance through dungeons and castles and defeat monsters, shades, and bosses. Enemies drop Souls, currency, and you lose Souls and your gear on death. Then, combat revolves around timing dodges, parries, skills, slashes, and ranged or magical abilities.Lastly, the plot happens in the Kingdom of Lothric. This is a dark fantasy land, a decaying setting you need to heal. Your goal is to prevent the Age of Dark from happening by rekindling the First Flame.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the latest part of the action-RPG saga. It’s one of the biggest western RPGs in the industry, and it’s the title that made CD Projekt Red such a household name. Also, it is a non-canon continuation of The Witcher book saga, a Polish medieval high fantasy.You play as Geralt Of Rivia in a fantasy open world akin to Slavic mythology. Geralt is a Witcher, a human who underwent a series of mutations to gain monster-hunting magic. The consequence is losing their emotions, as well as their allegiances to any realm.Then, the story is about finding Ciri, your surrogate daughter, and fighting against an ancient evil. You do it through a series of open-world games in the third person. And, for combat, you can block, dodge, shoot, use magic, and throw grenades.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a role-playing game with turn-based combat and Dungeons & Dragons rules. Like Baldur’s Gate, the success of your actions inside and outside of combat depends on your stats. And unlike other turn-based games, environments are highly interactive. As for stats, you gain skill points, stat points, civil ability points, and perks as you level. Additionally, you learn skills by acquiring collectibles (books). Lastly, you play with a four-player squad, and you get to customize all of the characters.However, you have your character, which could be a custom avatar or an original character. The original character has special stories and quests. As for the story, it’s about becoming a new God across four acts, a race to stop the “Void” from consuming all mortal life.
God of War
God of War (2018) is the latest entry in the hack & slash saga, and it slightly changes the formula. It’s an action adventure with semi-open levels. Compared to previous entries, you can loot collectibles to improve your gear, level up, and unlock new skills.The story follows Kratos, the Greek God of War. His days of vengeance and rage are past him, as he’s now a father. But the past catches up, and traveling with his son, Atreus, tackles both into conflict with Norse mythology gods and monsters.Aside from stellar cinematics, voice acting, and story, the gameplay is worth playing. The game is fast, violent, and difficult enough to present a challenge without deterring anyone. You have various weapons you swap for defensive, offensive, and ranged skills and combos.
Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure game with an open world, character progression, and stealth. It follows Jin Sakai, a fictional samurai in an alternate story.History books tell how the first Mongol invasion of Japan (1274) conquered and pillaged Tsushima island in weeks. You, though, will change the story. And changing the story requires leaving behind your samurai honor in favor of victory…even if your Lord disagrees.So, you roam around a gorgeous open world to hunt down the invaders and defeat Kubai Klan. Combat depends on slashes, blocks, dodges, and stealth. Moreover, you’ll unlock “Sword Stances,” which work like skill trees specific to counter different weapon types.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is an open-world action RPG. It’s a collaboration between FromSoftware and fantasy writer George R.R. Martin. The result is the “Lands in Between,” a fractured dark fantasy full of tough monsters, treacherous dungeons, and labyrinthic castles.You create a character and join a world without much direction or markers. Then, you carefully build your character with stats, gear, and spells. And depending on your combat and stats mastery, you’ll either complete the game or not.As with other Souls-like games, this title delivers timing-based combat. You roll, dodge, parry, block, and use skills. Sometimes, bosses cover the screen with lava, boulders, and beams. But they need to fall, as it’s the only way to repair the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord.
Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal is a fast-paced first-person shooter and a power fantasy. You play as the “Slayer,” a one-man army defeating an alien invasion on Earth…and on their own dimension. The “Doom Guy” goes through a series of linear missions for arena combat. It means you advance to an area, defeat many enemies, and move on to the next. And as you travel in-between arenas, you have the chance to explore to find weapons, upgrades, and collectibles.Combat relies on 10 weapons, some of them featuring modifications. You also have a flamethrower, swords, grenades, and a melee ability. Using these abilities -between jumps and dashes- will recharge your ammo, health, or armor. The result of using it altogether, alongside your acrobatics, is frenetic.
NieR: Automata
Nier: Automata is the second part of the Nier series. The saga’s story is quite complex, and it’s also separated by thousands of years. So, you can play it without losing much. Not playing it does keep you away from an outstanding gaming experience.The story follows Android 2B, a member of an Android squad tasked with retaking Earth from machines. It’s not as easy, though. First, the game is quite dynamic, constantly changing perspective and mechanics. For instance, after completing the game, you can play it again with new characters to expand the story.Its main scenario is an open-world third-person adventure. You hack, slash, and dodge. Depending on the “skills” you “install” (via chips), you may learn to parry, block, and more. The combat is not the highlight; the over-the-top story, music, characters, and scenarios take the cake.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake is the newer version of the legendary FFVII title. It doesn’t cover its entire story, though, as it only goes through the first Act, around the dystopian Midgar metropolis.Also, rather than delivering turn-based combat, you play in real-time. It’s a real-time hack & slash combat, but you can use skills, items, and chain combos with your companions. Also, you’ll level up, get better gear, and explore for extra loot and side quests.Lastly, you play as Cloud Strife, a mercenary member of the AVALANCHE group. This is an eco-terrorist group fighting against a megacorporation that’s using the planet’s life source as energy.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man is an open-world action-adventure game and a superhero fantasy. You play as the homonymous vigilante in an original story. The story is about defeating Mister Negative and other classic Marvel villains on a massive New York.Your heroic quest takes a toll on your personal life as Peter Parker. It always does, in the best PeterStories. And this is one of the best: the voice acting, cinematics, motion, and events feel like watching a stellar movie.Then, combat is fluid, acrobatic, and fun. You kick, punch, jump and use tons of tools and gadgets. Of course, your webs are your main weapon, but you have various skill trees to customize your character. More importantly, you can swing freely across the city.
Total War: Warhammer II (& Warhammer III)
Total War: Warhammer 2 is an RTS mixing the Total War formula with the expansive Warhammer lore. After many years of DLCs and patches, it boasts massive content and a tempting offer for RTS and fantasy fans.The second title adds a rework of the original game’s campaigns, plus new campaigns. There’re several races, from dwarves to high-elves and “Skaven.” On top of races, there’s a Legendary Lord of each race, each representing a different playtime with different objectives. There’s just too much.Then, the gameplay has two parts. On the board map, you construct buildings in your cities, handle diplomacy, move your armies, and meet the enemy in battle. This happens per turn, and it’s quite complex. In battle, you use your lords and soldier stacks to fight in real-time. Lastly, your lords and heroes level up.
World Of Warcraft
Even though Blizzard is not at its highest right now, we can’t deny the significance of World of Warcraft. This is their expanding MMORPG, a sequel and spin-off of their successful RTS game Warcraft III. It means there’s a never-ending conflict between the various races in Azeroth, like the undead, night elves, and orcs. WoW allows you to create characters across dozens of races and classes. Your choice determines which of the two rivaling factions you belong to. Then, you play through the specific story of your race and class by following a series of quests and main quests.Elsewhere, the game is as usual for MMORPGs…they practically invented the formula. Its unique element is the number of stories, lore, plot points, and cinematics it offers as you explore it.
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil packs the base game plus its expansion, Reaper of Souls. Together, the bundle represents one of the best dark fantasy dungeon-crawlers you can play. And it’s still fun and relevant.You create a character by choosing a class and move on through various acts. The class system is easier than in other games in the genre, which is also the appeal. You can unlock all skills, plus its mods, and try them out. Then, you build your tooltip of skills and skill mods with the ones you like the most.Lastly, the story is about defeating Diablo, the Lord of Terror. It’s similar to previous games in the series, and it retains the immense cinematic value Diablo II offers. Also, you can roll!
Monster Hunter: Rise
Monster Hunter Rise is the latest entry in the action-adventure saga. As before, you roam an open world searching for loot and glory. Both come in the same form: monsters you hunt for bounties.There’s not much of a story, but the combat is highly addictive and popular. It’s fast, crazy, and dynamic. It also relies on weapon types, as each one features its own combos, defensive, and offensive skills. You roll, dodge, and use a grappling hook.Then, the game has a unique element. See, you don’t level up, but your character still progresses. Your power, skills, and stats depend on your gear, which you loot from the monsters you slay.
