There’s nothing like a good RPG where everything comes together. Critics and fans agree that the story, environment, acting, and gameplay all come together to deliver an incredible gaming experience.
However, critics don’t always get it right, and in the case of these overrated RPGs, I have a bone or two to pick.
That’s not to say that these games are bad; I actually enjoyed bits and pieces from some, but that doesn’t mean they were worthy of high praise. Here are 10 highly reviewed RPGs that are overrated.
10 The Elder Scrolls V: Скайрим
Arrow To The Knee
To say that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim took the gaming world by storm in 2013 is an understatement. It’s a game that broke into mainstream pop culture, offering a crossover appeal for hardcore gamers and casuals.
On the one hand, I get it; Skyrim’s approach to open-world gameplay is well done, allowing players to see and do nearly anything they’d like. The problem, though, is that Skyrim’s main narrative lacks agency.
Take its predecessor, Oblivion, which comes firing out of the gate and backs that up with the right amount of Bethesda jank and brilliant open-world gameplay. By comparison, Skyrim feels a little too refined, almost as if its gameplay loop was focus-tested to death to best appeal to its players.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things Skyrim does right, especially when it comes to quality-of-life improvements over its peers, but it’s not even the first or second-best Elder Scrolls game.
9 Звездное поле
Потерянный в космосе
I promise I’m not going to spend this entire list picking on Bethesda, especially since I’m a staunch defender of Fallout 4, so the fact that I’m starting with Skyrim and Starfield is merely a coincidence.
Yes, in terms of scope, Starfield is an incredible accomplishment that lets us live out our wildest space exploration dreams, but I’d argue that No Man’s Sky, of all things, does it better. Considering the start that game had, it’s quite an accomplishment.
For all the faults Bethesda has when crafting their games, the one thing they stick the landing on is delivering a world worth exploring, except when it comes to Starfield.
Traversing across space between procedurally generated planets doesn’t work, no matter how many times a different studio tries to make it happen. Combine that with being unable to fly from planet to planet without triggering cutscenes, and the game ultimately feels like a disjointed adventure that, ultimately, disappoints.
8 Fallout Нью-Вегас
Игра была сфальсифицирована с самого начала
If we’re talking strictly story, characters, and quality writing, then Fallout: New Vegas might be, believe it or not, underrated. People would not shut up about this game when it released, and rightfully so. From that point of view, it’s a better version of Fallout 3, and that’s a pretty good game!
Sadly, we have to judge New Vegas on its gameplay as well, and that’s where it falls short.
For as great of a job Obsidian does with its writing, its flaws have become more apparent over the years. It doesn’t have the same impact on the world that we remember, and the gameplay fails to expand or innovate beyond Fallout 3.
That’s not a shot at Obsidian. I love their games, and I feel like I’m one of the few people who thoroughly enjoyed my time in Avowed, but when it comes to New Vegas, I wish they were a little braver to try something new.
7 Final Fantasy VII Ремейк
An Extended Prologue
After years of anticipation, we finally got our hands on Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020. 30-ish hours later, we were done with the game’s opening 5 hours, ready to leave behind Midgar and start the game properly.
Then the credits rolled, and it became apparent that Square Enix is perfectly content to stretch out this remake as long as it possibly can.
It’s frustrating because the combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake is incredible, filled with memorable boss fights and a wonderful balance between its more traditional turn-based party combat and modern Soulslike action RPG gameplay.
The Hell House and Rude encounters are two shining examples of this. Sadly, to get to those moments, you have to put up with so much bloat and original story that it bogs everything down.
Every character doesn’t need an expanded backstory, and we didn’t need some meta narrative about remaking destiny or whatever. We just wanted a new way to experience the iconic RPG. Thankfully, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does an excellent job of this.
6 Последняя Фантазия XVI
The One With Ben Starr
Much was made about Square Enix developers were inspired by Game of Thrones while developing Final Fantasy XVI. I just wish they didn’t take the assignment literally and copy Game of Thrones’ dramatic drop off in quality in later seasons.
There was also a big «to do» about the game fully embracing Devil May Cry-style combat, and for all of that controversy, it worked out extraordinarily well. The boss battles are every bit of a spectacle as advertised.
The same can’t be said for the rest of the game, though. What begins as an intriguing political thriller turns into stereotypical JRPG nonsense, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes during every major cutscene during the second and third acts.
Where Final Fantasy XVI really disappoints, though, is hiding major plotlines behind optional side content. I’m already trying to force myself to finish your game. I don’t want to be forced to play more of it because I realized I missed something major.
5 Dragon Age: Инквизиция
I Didn’t Expect Some Sort Of Spanish Inquisition
The fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition even exists should be nothing short of a minor miracle. Much has been made over the years about BioWare’s struggles with the Frostbite engine, notably how it is not optimized for an RPG experience.
Following the disappointment that was Dragon Age 2, I understand the need to shift to a flashy game engine that can deliver shiny graphics and action-oriented gameplay.
In doing that, BioWare lost sight of what made Dragon Age so brilliant. Yes, Mass Effect became a better game as it also became a better shooter, but Dragon Age: Origins already had excellent gameplay worth preserving.
Its combination of hallmark BioWare storytelling in dialogue alongside tactical gameplay was a smashing success. Dragon Age should be spoken in the same vein as Baldur’s Gate 3.
Instead, we got a watered-down, mainstream Dragon Age game that doesn’t hold a candle to other iconic tactical RPGs and no amount of good reviews can change that.
4 Pokémon X & Y
Мега Покемон
One of the biggest problems with the Nintendo 3DS Pokémon games is how forgetful they are. You’d figure that, following the success of the Black & White games for the original Nintendo DS, Game Freak would be eager to keep that momentum going, taking full advantage of the new 3DS hardware.
Alas, X & Y is more of a stumble out of the gate, whereas Sun & Moon is the true winner from the 3DS generation.
Yes, the Kalos region deserves its flowers, but to go from one of the more intriguing stories in the franchise to the boring drivel that was X & Y is a major disappointment. I was hoping for more of a continued emphasis on mature storytelling, and instead, we got one gigantic step backwards.
Worst of all, the Mega Evolution gimmick feels half-baked, not reaching its full potential until later on down the road.
3 Super Mario RPG: Легенда о семи звездах
Good But Not Great
If there’s one thing the Nintendo Switch remake of Super Mario RPG showed us, it’s that the original, while enjoyable, was certainly a tad overrated.
Don’t get me wrong; this is a wonderful RPG that boasted impressive 3D graphics on the Super Nintendo hardware. Compared to the other RPGs of its era, though, it felt lacking.
One big reason is the over-simplification of the game, which feels more like a Nintendo title rather than your traditional JRPG. The difficulty is easier, the story feels more shallow, and the mechanics feel more simplified.
If anything, we have to thank the success of Super Mario RPG, which allowed Nintendo to realize there was a market to be found in the genre, helping to pave the way for superior games like Paper Mario, Golden Sun, and Mario & Luigi.
2 Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Studio Ghibli The Game
You’d figure I was the target audience for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, a fresh out of college 20-something with a degree in media production. Add in the fact that the game’s graphics actually know how to replicate the anime art style that inspired it, and you, in theory, have a winning formula.
However, Wrath of the White Witch came and went with a whimper, not a bang.
Once the appeal of the Studio Ghibli presentation wears off, you’re left with a solid RPG foundation that fails to capitalize on that momentum. For as much work went into the game’s visuals, the characters were lacking in comparison. Gameplay shows plenty of promise, but it’s also borderline tiresome.
Worst of all, nothing comes together cohesively; for everything good Wrath of the White Witch does, there’s something equally as frustrating, delivering an uneven experience that leaves you wondering what could have been.
1 Ведьмак
An Incredibly Dated Experience
The original Witcher game is nowhere near as good as the critically acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, arguably already being dated in 2007.
Calling it unintuitive is the understatement of the century; the first Witcher is a frustrating experience that’s bogged down by far too many old-school PC gaming design choices.
The biggest reason Witcher 3 succeeded was because it finally embraced much-needed quality of life updates and enhancements, delivering an immersive experience that knows how to draw you in and ignore its flaws.
The Witcher does the opposite, reminding you more of the boring grind of awful mid-2000s MMORPGs that feel less like playing a game and more like a second job.
