
Role-playing games are usually one-and-done affairs where players feel exhausted yet satisfied after completing an epic journey. However, there are some great games where players will end the experience, only to start a new playthrough either instantly or somewhere down the line to see how much things can change based on their decisions.
It’s a monumental achievement when RPGs manage to keep things fresh and engaging for the long haul across multiple playthroughs. Players will love experimenting and figuring out new solutions to established problems, hopefully unlocking new pathways to make progress in the story.
A roguelike RPG with multiple endings to discover, Keep Driving is a relaxing simulation of a road trip that slowly turns into an introspective reflection of a time when people were aimless and had all the time in the world to muck around before life eventually caught up to them.
From meeting friends at a music festival to checking into rehab, players can end a playthrough in many unique ways. With each run, players unlock new cars and songs as the game slowly opens up and lets them enjoy one of the most zen video games around, with a killer soundtrack to boot.
Sunless Skies is a gargantuan game, so much so that players can spend almost a hundred hours in the game without even checking out all the zones it has to offer. These locations can always be tackled in a second playthrough after reaching the end of a quest that players assign to themselves early on.
Every playthrough feels fresh since fans always have something to look forward to in their new adventures with a different captain. This is one of the many areas Sunless Skies improved on from its predecessor, making it one of the best exploration-driven RPGs players can get their hands on.
Tyranny is one of the greatest what-ifs in video gaming. If this game had reached its full potential, then players would be talking about it in the same vein as other CRPG greats like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Disco Elysium.
As things stand, the amazing variety of options means that players will love aligning with multiple factions (or no one) across an epic adventure that suddenly ends. Thankfully, playthroughs aren’t too long, meaning that players won’t mind clocking in multiple runs and seeing how their adventure can change throughout the experience based on the choices they make.
Larian Studios was getting into its groove with the release of Divinity: Original Sin 2, which is hailed by many as one of the greatest CRPGs ever made. Players loved the sheer number of ways a playthrough could change based on the decisions they made.
This encouraged players to check out multiple playthroughs with both Origin and Custom characters to see how things could change. The number of ways a person’s run could change based on their choices ensured that Original Sin 2 would feel fresh on every playthrough, even if it could take upwards of a hundred hours.
FromSoftware’s modern action RPGs live and die by their gameplay loops, and Elden Ring is no different. The build variety is so immense that players won’t mind using different weapon types across multiple playthroughs to enjoy more varied combat scenarios.
The obtuse NPC questlines and multiple endings ensure that players will love clocking in multiple playthroughs to see what else this title has to offer. All of this culminates in helping players enjoy one of the best open-world RPGs ever made, with Elden Ring having a bunch of surprises to keep players engaged for hundreds of hours.
The incredible writing of Disco Elysium is off the charts and a huge reason why fans love this experience so much. Harrier Du Bois may be insane, but he’s also one heck of a detective who impresses everyone if players pursue every lead in sight.
However, players can also choose to take completely different paths toward their end goal, including scenarios where they don’t even investigate the body. It leads to some hilarious situations and ensures that players can enjoy a great time in each playthrough, especially if they invest in other stats.
One of the biggest RPG releases of all time that broke new ground for the genre, the sheer amount of love and dedication put into Baldur’s Gate 3 is palpable from the get-go. There’s a reason why players say that one can spend almost a thousand hours in the game and still find something different in their umpteenth playthrough.
Controlling a custom character or one of the Origin heroes is a viable way to get into this amazing title. Either way, the incredible role-playing will ensure that fans won’t get enough of what this incredible title has to offer.
Fallout: New Vegas nailed the role-playing side of things, ensuring that players could clock in a silly number of hours in this title and still find something unique to enjoy. The Courier can be molded in whatever image the player wishes, which can vary quite a bit across multiple playthroughs.
With the sheer number of permutations and combinations in this game, players will love playing a major role in the struggle for New Vegas, either betting on themselves or allying with one of the many relevant powers in the game. Either way, New Vegas‘s incredible writing ensures that every playthrough will be a fresh and engaging one.