Best RPG From Each Year Of The PS3's Life

Best RPG From Each Year Of The PS3’s Life

• RPG genre grew in popularity during PS3’s lifespan, offering classic games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Oblivion, and Fallout 3.
• Mass Effect entries like ME2 and ME3 improved on the original with engaging stories, gameplay, and well-written characters.
• PS3’s final years saw gems like Demon’s Souls, Skyrim, and Dark Souls 2, showcasing the console’s lasting impact on RPG gaming.

Today, the RPG genre is massive, and most big releases feature some kind of RPG progression mechanic or another. But that wasn’t always so. It was once considered a niche genre (at least outside of Japan).

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It can be argued that the rise in popularity of the RPG coincided with the lifespan of the PS3. This long-lived console was home to some of the biggest and most successful RPGs in gaming history. The console may have eventually run out of steam, but up until that point, each year was full of great games. Of course, choosing the “best” RPGS is a matter of personal opinion, so to avoid personal bias, the following RPGs were chosen for their Metacritic scores and the impact they had on the gaming landscape.

2006 – Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Metascore – 78

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Platform(s)Wii, PSP, PS3, PS4, PS2, Xbox (Original), Xbox 360, PC, Game Boy Advance, Xbox OneReleasedOctober 24, 2006Developer(s)Raven SoftwareGenre(s)Action RPG

The PS3 first launched on November 17, 2006, in North America, and its launch lineup didn’t include a huge number of RPGs. While Japan got the excellent The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, the best RPG the rest of the world got that year was Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

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The game was a classic four-player top-down brawler with plenty of RPG elements sprinkled in. While nothing to look at by today’s standards, it had a unique visual style and made good use of the step-up in graphics from the PS2 to the PS3. What fans really loved, though, was the story. While, for many years, licensed comic book games had played fast and loose with accuracy, the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series was impressively faithful to the source material.

2007 – Elder Scrolls 4 – Oblivion

Metascore – 93

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Platform(s)PS3, Xbox 360, PCDeveloper(s)BethesdaGenre(s)RPGReleasedMarch 20, 2006

Skyrim may be the most successful Elder Scrolls game, but many gamers of a certain age have a soft spot for Oblivion. With its fleshed-out sandbox open world, enjoyable story, and a multitude of side quests, the game was nothing short of revolutionary when it hit consoles in 2007.

Mostly fondly remembered (its reputation remains tarnished by the horse armor microtransaction controversy), Oblivion was responsible for introducing many gamers to a whole new type of game. Its RPG systems were more complex than its successors, and its gameplay really encouraged proper role-playing. While Bethesda games aren’t known for their looks, Cyrodil could be charmingly scenic, and the Imperial City felt like a real, lived-in, and vibrant place.

2008 – Fallout 3

Metascore – 90

Fallout 3

Platform(s)PS3, Xbox 360, PCDeveloper(s)BethesdaGenre(s)Open-World, ShooterReleasedOctober 28, 2008

Being a fan of Bethesda’s games means waiting around a lot, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in the days of the PS3, nearly every year saw a new release. Fallout 3 was the first game in the series after Bethesda took over the IP from the original creators, and the design choices they made were deeply controversial among many fans. The game was still a decision-focused RPG, but they switched it up from an isometric to a first-person viewpoint with more of a focus on FPS gunplay.

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While the main story was good enough, Fallout 3 featured some of the best side quests in the series’ history. The graphics weren’t amazing, but the Washington setting was deeply atmospheric, perfectly balancing Fallout’s unique zany humor and satire with light horror elements. The RPG systems struck a balance between being fairly deep while being less intimidating than the original Fallout games. Better still, Fallout 3 has some of the best ever DLC content ever made.

2009 – Demon’s Souls

Metascore – 89

Demon’s Souls

Platform(s)PS3Developer(s)From SoftwareGenre(s)Soulslike, Action RPGReleasedOctober 6, 2009

By 2009, the PS3 was well in its stride, and the great RPGs were coming thick and fast. That year saw two particularly notable RPG releases – the much anticipated Final Fantasy XIII and the underdog Demon’s Souls. While FFXIII ended up leaving many RPG fans feeling cold, Demon’s Souls turned out to be very special indeed.

Created by THE From Software, Demon’s Souls was the game that kicked off the whole Soulslike trend. This brutally hard-action RPG was a precursor to the hugely successful Dark Souls games and featured many of the hallmarks of that series. Not only did it spawn an entire genre, but its 2020 remake was one of the PS5’s biggest releases.

2010 – Mass Effect 2

Metascore – 94

Mass Effect 2

Platform(s)PS3, Xbox 360, PCDeveloper(s)BioWareGenre(s)Third-Person Shooter, Action RPGReleasedJanuary 26, 2010

If 2009 was a good year for RPGs, 2010 was a great one. In fact, the 2010s was an amazing time for RPG fans. That year saw the releases of blockbusters like Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age Origins, and the criminally underrated Alpha Protocol. The champion for 2010, though, has to be Mass Effect 2.

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The original Mass Effect was genre-defining, but Mass Effect 2 improved on it in almost every way. The gunplay was much better, the RPG elements were toned down but more approachable, and the Mako was nowhere to be seen. What really made Mass Effect 2 special, though, was its story and rich collection of companions and side characters. Mass Effect 2 was a totally engrossing RPG experience that made it feel like every decision carried weight.

2011 – The Elder Scrolls 5 – Skyrim

Metascore – 92

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Platform(s)PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 3Developer(s)Bethesda Game StudiosGenre(s)Action, RPG, AdventureReleasedNovember 11, 2011

RPG fans and PS3 owners were once again spoiled for choice in 2011. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dragon Age II, and Dark Souls were all released that year to glowing reviews. Yet the big release of that year was none other than The Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim, a game that single-handedly changed the gaming industry forever.

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It’s easily one of the best Sandbox RPGs ever released and one of the highest-grossing games ever made – Bethesda has ported it to everything but the kitchen sink at this point. Skyrim is a simply massive game. Its map is huge and equally dense and many of its quest lines are longer than standalone AAA games. The game can also be stunningly pretty, and its simplified RPG systems welcome more casual RPG fans. Even with its infamously rough launch on PS3, it remains one of the best RPGs ever released on the console.

2012 – Mass Effect 3

Metascore – 93

Mass Effect 3

Platform(s)PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360, PCDeveloper(s)BioWareReleasedMarch 6, 2012Genre(s)Action RPG

By 2012 the PS3 was getting a bit long in the tooth, but it had one good year of RPGs left. That year saw a handful of big RPG releases, but the biggest of them was easily Mass Effect 3. The game was released to massive critical acclaim and slightly less fan acclaim (thanks to its underwhelming ending and tacked-on multiplayer).

Ignoring that infamous ending (which was later fixed by DLC), Mass Effect 3 was a brilliant RPG. It continued the series’ evolution in every way. The writing was stellar, the side quests meaningful, and the gunplay rivaled the best third-person shooters around. What always made Mass Effect special was its well-written side characters, and Mass Effect 3 pulled no punches when it came to killing off fan favorites.

2013 -The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Metascore – 86

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Platform(s)PS Vita, PS3, Switch, PS4, PCDeveloper(s)Nihon FalcomGenre(s)JRPGFranchiseThe Legend of Heroes

2013 was the year the PS4 was released, and suddenly, the PS3 became a lot less popular with developers. It did, however, give us one of the best PS3 JRPGS – The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (at least in Japan).

It’s a pretty traditional JRPG featuring a lovable cast of characters and an enjoyable turn-based battle system. Part of the wider The Legend of Heroes series, Trails of Cold Steel was the first entry to have free camera movement and 3D character models. The real draw for JRPG fans, though, was the story. The Legend of Heroes games (20 in total) have an interconnected storyline and deep lore dating back all the way to 1989. Not much of a hit outside of Japan back in 2013, the games are getting much more love in the West today.

2014 – Dark Souls 2

Metascore – 91

Dark Souls 2

Platform(s)PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, PC, Xbox OneDeveloper(s)From SoftwareGenre(s)Action RPGReleasedMarch 11, 2014

The PS3 may have limped on for two more years, but by 2014, the PS3 was already becoming a graveyard of shovelware and substandard ports. Thankfully, there were still some gems to be found, including the excellent Dark Souls II. A sequel to one of the PS3’s best action RPGs, the game had a lot to live up to.

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Dark Souls II remains the black sheep of the Souls family – some fans loved it, many found it disappointing after the breakout success of the original. Its graphics were a slight step up from the original, it was somehow even harder and there were some nice gameplay tweaks – like the introduction of dual-wielding. Like a fine wine, Dark Souls II has gotten better with age and these days it’s finally getting the respect it deserves.

2015 – Tales of Zestiria

Metascore – 72 (PS4)

Tales of Zestiria

Platform(s)PS3, PS4, PCReleasedOctober 19, 2015Developer(s)Bandai Namco StudiosGenre(s)Action, JRPG

The PS3 was still imping on in 2015, but barely. Major Western RPG releases were skipping the console, although the JRPGs remained loyal. Tales of Zestiria is an action role-playing game and the fifteenth entry in the long-running Tales series.

It was the first in the series to embrace the open-world trend and took three years to develop. Critics praised the multiple ways the game evolved upon the series’ increasingly outdated systems and loved the interactions between characters (a strong point of the series). Alongside its critical success, it also sold relatively well, selling over 1 million copies and hitting # 8 on the UK’s top sellers list the week it was released… not bad for a niche game on an aging console.

2016 – Dragon Quest Builders

Metascore – 83 (PS4)

Dragon Quest Builders

Platform(s)PS Vita, PS3, Switch, PS4, PCDeveloper(s)Square EnixGenre(s)Action RPGReleasedOctober 11, 2016

2016 was the year the PS3’s lifecycle officially came to an end, but it had one final gift for gamers – Dragon Quest Builders. The game’s core premise was incredibly clever – what happens when you mix the crafting of Minecraft with gameplay elements of Dragon Quest?

It was a lot of fun, even if the actual RPG elements were few and far between, and the building was simplified/ linear compared to Minecraft. The game was chock-full of Easter eggs for long-running Dragon Quest fans and took a fair while to complete. It’s not the best RPG ever made, but not a bad game for the PS3 to go out on.

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