BG3 is the most complete realization of the tabletop RPG experience in a video game. Full voice acting, exceptional writing, branching story that genuinely responds to player choices, and a tactical combat system that rewards understanding rather than grinding — it represents the current state of the art for the CRPG subgenre and arguably for RPGs as a whole.

Mass Effect 2 is the finest example of the character-led RPG: the loyalty missions, each building a unique relationship with a specific companion, create emotional investment that the climactic suicide mission then spends with maximum efficiency. It is a game about people — specifically about building a team of flawed, complicated people into something that can accomplish the impossible.

Disco Elysium eliminated combat entirely and built an RPG around dialogue, skill checks, and environmental investigation. The result is one of the most literate, politically complex, and emotionally resonant games ever made. Its skill system — representing different voices within the protagonist's fractured psyche — is one of the medium's most inventive mechanical metaphors.