Best Western RPGs To Play First

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 29, 2025 23 Views 12 Min Read
Best Western RPGs To Play First



Summary

  • Skyrim by Bethesda is an accessible entry point into WRPGs with its world, mechanics, and quality-of-life features.
  • Gothic may seem daunting, but beneath its rough exterior lies a deep and immersive role-playing experience.
  • Cyberpunk 2077, despite a rough start, is now newbie-friendly with basic RPG elements and a compelling story.

Western RPGs are a challenging genre to get into. The evolution of video games, coupled with ever-expanding technological capabilities, has allowed WRPGs to become increasingly complex and detailed. That’s good news for fans of the genre, for whom role-playing is second nature. But it’s daunting for newcomers to get into.

Garnet from Final Fantasy 9, Pikachu from Pokemon, and Isaac from Golden Sun

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As with any genre of video games, getting into western RPGs requires patience. That said, there are some WRPGs that are more accessible than others due to their simplicity, high quality or compact presentation of role-playing mechanics. Here are some of the best ones for you to dip your toes into the genre.

Skyrim: Imperials and Stormcloaks gathered in a small sqaure.

Developed and published by genre stalwart Bethesda, Skyrim is a game that needs no introduction. The amount hype this game generated leading up to its 2011 launch may never be recreated. To this day, the game remains one of the best entry points into the WRPG genre.

Skyrim has a beautiful world that’s made easy to navigate through the game’s quality-of-life features like fast travel and map symbols. It has all the quintessential features of a WRPG – stealth, melee combat, magic and character progression – in one large but compact package. Newcomers would be well served by playing through Skyrim before moving on to Morrowind and Oblivion.

7

Gothic

A character pets an angry-looking dog in Gothic.

Compared to modern WRPGs, Gothic is a trial by fire. Its unfriendly opening section, primitive graphics and stiff combat are enough to turn away impatient newcomers. Yet beneath the initial jank lies one of the deepest and most enjoyable role-playing experiences on the market.

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It can be easy to forget these characters aren’t real people.

While Gothic’s controls seem unintuitive at first, they are so deftly organized that once you’re used to them you can play the game with one hand. The world that seemed ugly and dire at first soon becomes immersive and beautiful, with creatures and humans having AI that far outpaces some later RPGs.

6

Cyberpunk 2077

Panam Palmer talking to V while driving in Cyberpunk 2077.

Despite a disastrous launch that saw many writing off CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 managed to make a comeback thanks to several patches and a well-received promotional anime by Trigger. The game is now good: so good, in fact, that even newbies can enjoy it.

Thanks to its relatively basic RPG elements and focus on dialogue choices rather than micromanagement, Cyberpunk 2077 is easy to grasp if you have some experience with first-person shooters and open-world games. The story is also compelling enough to keep you hooked as you figure out the role-playing mechanics.

5

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Bastila Shan looks to the right in a field on Dantooine in Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic.

Role-playing video games were initially made so that you could have the Dungeons & Dragons experience by yourself. While the genre has expanded since then and become virtually unrecognizable from its roots, games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic are a good reminder of where it all started.

The game runs on D&D rules and is set in the Star Wars universe, making it appealing to fans of either property, regardless of whether they’re familiar with western RPGs. It is also not overly complex, having only three classes and subclasses and intuitive character progression.

4

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt with Tor Lara on his back in Witcher 3.

Although it may not seem like a good idea to jump into the third game in a series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a perfectly enjoyable experience even if you haven’t played the first two titles. The story stands on its own for the most part, while any discrepancies can be filled out with just a few Google searches.

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The game’s depiction of nature alone makes it an experience worth having, and there’s an easy difficulty setting if the combat proves too challenging. The Witcher 3 is far more accessible than its two predecessors; you’d best leave those for when you’re well-versed in the genre.

3

Mass Effect

Female Shepard in Mass Effect.

Cover-based third-person shooters were all the rage in the mid-2000s, and Mass Effect took full advantage of the simpler genre’s popularity. The game presents itself mostly as an action title, but has the storytelling chops and progression mechanics of an RPG.

The dialogue choices and auto-leveling make Mass Effect an ideal game for familiarizing yourself with WPRGs, while the story is engaging enough for you to play through the entire trilogy. If you enjoy sci-fi, Mass Effect is an essential title in your WRPG line-up.

2

Fallout: New Vegas

The Lone Wanderer in the desert aiming the Lever Action Shotgun in Fallout New Vegas.

One of the best-loved entries in the Fallout series, New Vegas is deep enough for fans to immerse themselves in, but intuitive enough for newcomers to have a good time. Although its stat and inventory management might seem overwhelming at first, the game features a host of quality-of-life features to make it more welcoming.

The VATS targeting system allows you to enjoy the combat even if first-person shooters are not your thing, while the faction system is explained through quick, non-intrusive tutorials. If the game’s retro-futuristic aesthetic doesn’t keep it fresh, its active modding community will.

1

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, a character standing in a bar with an aquarium in the background.

Launched in 2004, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines represents how a dedicated fanbase can save even an unfinished game. While initially very buggy, the game has been fixed over the years by passionate RPG fans determined to make it the experience that Troika Games envisioned. The patched version is now available on GOG.

In its completed state, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is the best entry point into western role-playing games. It is a quintessential WRPG, with a gorgeously gloomy aesthetic, several classes to choose from and each playthrough being substantially different. Your choices actually affect the story, and the game isn’t very long, allowing you to familiarize yourself with another WRPG staple: alternative endings.

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