RPGs can weave grand tapestries around relatively railroaded plots, like in JRPGs, or feature a layered, reactive story that molds itself around the decisions a player makes within its world. Whatever your preference, both takes on the role-playing genre necessitate strongly written, memorable characters with great story arcs.

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The characters can make or break a script and in Western RPGs, the importance of character development and choice should play a huge part in how the story develops when playing through the main quest. This list will recommend some of the best Western RPGs that have amazing character stories and development and are in no particular order.

7 Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity Original Sin 2 Artwork
  • Released: 2017
  • Developer: Larian Studios
  • Platform: iPadOS, macOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One (Xbox Series X/S compatible)

Divinity: Original Sin 2 stands as one of the most impressive achievements in gaming. It's a game developed by an independent studio that has more depth, freedom, and complexity than most AAA games. The world reacts accordingly around the decisions you make in the game, with characters changing and evolving in ways that are different every time. It takes us back to the time when isometric RPGs focused on their characters and stories instead of trying to look like a Hollywood blockbuster.

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You can customize and create your characters before starting the game and build your warrior or mage from scratch. Or there is a selection of premade characters in the game to choose from with their own interesting backstories. However, it's the way the characters can change and evolve based on decisions you make that makes the character development in Divinity Original Sin 2 so good.

6 Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age Origins - Promo Screenshot of Leliana's Song DLC
  • Released: 2009
  • Developer: BioWare
  • Platform: macOS, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, Backward Compatible with Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

After leaving the Dungeons & Dragons franchise behind following the epic Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, BioWare moved on to create a new fantasy RPG franchise with Dragon Age. Coming from such a character-driven series as Baldur's Gate, the studio already knew how to build and develop a good cast of characters to keep players invested.

Dragon Age: Origins offers a good selection of characters to choose from, each with their motivations and origin stories. The overarching story of Dragon Age is excellent and the world-building is superb, but it's the characters that make players return to this epic over and over again despite its age.

5 Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

revan from star wars knights of the old republic
  • Released: 2003
  • Developer: BioWare
  • Platform: Android, macOS, PC, Switch, and Xbox. Also, backward Compatible With Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

Almost 20 years later and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic is still heralded as the greatest Star Wars game of all time. Coming out around the same time as the prequel trilogy, Star Wars fans often felt that outside of the original movies, Knights had a better script and more involved character development.

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Knight of the Old Republic is set 4000 years before the events of the movies and features The Sith as a gigantic armada of dark warriors instead of being restricted to two, as in the films. The story is outstanding, but the character interactions and alliances formed based on your decisions set KotR apart from many other RPGs. There is an epic twist that surrounds the lead character, in addition to betrayals and friendships that depend on the decisions that you make during the adventure. Knights of the Old Republic still holds up well by today's standards, as seen with its latest Switch port. There's a full remake developed by Aspyr on the way for the PC and PS5, but whether it lives up to the original remains to be seen.

4 The Mass Effect Trilogy

Mass Effect 3 Female Shepard artwork posing in front of Earth while Reapers attack
  • Released: 2007-2012 and 2021(Legendary Edition)
  • Developer: BioWare
  • Platform: Android, iOS, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Also, backward compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S

With exception to the Xenosaga Trilogy on PS2, there weren't many games that offered epic science fiction space opera RPGs for gamers to sink their teeth into. However, BioWare's Mass Effect saga more than filled that void back in 2007. Viewed as something of a spiritual successor to BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect is more sci-fi than fantasy. However, the lore and world-building created by the developer can capture the imagination in a way that rivals any franchise.

Part of what makes the Mass Effect series so good is the supporting cast of characters. Of course, Shepard is a fantastic protagonist. But the character interactions and alliances forged in the game are what make the series so great. Even the flawed but underrated Mass Effect: Andromeda had an excellent cast of characters that carried the story. It's the original trilogy, however, that stands as one of the best character-driven RPGs of all time.

3 The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings

The Witcher 2 Triss Geralt and Vernon Roche
  • Released: 2011
  • Developer: CD Projekt Red
  • Platform: Linux, OS X, PC, and Xbox 360. Also, backward compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S

It was The Witcher 3 that made the series a hit with mainstream fans. And as amazing as the sequel is, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings holds up well in so many areas. It set a benchmark for video game adaptations by bringing the characters from Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels to life.

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Geralt is iconic as a protagonist, but it's the supporting cast being just as well-developed as Geralt that brings the game to life. It's not an open-world game like the sequel, but each town and location feels lived in thanks to the depth of the NPCs and their backstories. Every character that Geralt encounters feels important to its world and how the protagonist develops as a character. It's over ten years old and still looks beautiful by today's standards. But like any other medium, a great story with brilliant characters transcends its age.

2 Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows Of Amn

Baldurs Gate Minsc and Boo
  • Released: 2000
  • Developer: BioWare
  • Platform: Android, iPad, iPhone, Linux, OS X, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Also, backward compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Before achieving major success with Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, BioWare was making its mark with the Baldur's Gate series. Set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Baldur's Gate offers the kind of tabletop RPG freedom that's only been matched by Larian's Divinity: Original Sin 2. It's fitting that Larian Studios is currently developing Baldur's Gate 3, with the game currently in Early Access for the PC.

The first Baldur's Gate holds up extremely well. But its more polished sequel, Shadows of Amn, takes everything from the story to its character development several steps further. The ways that the characters and world develop around you based on the decisions you make is only matched by Original Sin — a title that was released 16 years later. It has an amazing cast of memorable characters, and there are alliances, betrayals, and disagreements that will arise based on your decisions. Baldur's Gate 2 is an old-school RPG, but the design and writing are timeless.

1 The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

A wide angle shot from The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine of Geralt and some soldiers riding towards Beauclair
  • Released: 2015
  • Developer: CD Projekt Red
  • Platform: PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Also, backward compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S version set for 2022.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is the third and final entry in the mainline series, and it adopts a stunning open-world setting instead of the self-contained towns and hub areas of its predecessors. The setting, inspired by Polish folklore, takes on a distinct character of its own as the books are brought to life for you to explore at your own pace.

However, just like The Witcher 2, and the spin-off Thronebreaker, the game is brought to life by its amazing characters. Whether it's Geralt's companions or the variety of NPCs you will meet in the world, they are fully fleshed out and realistic in their interactions. The decisions you make as Geralt can have a lasting impact on later quests and interactions, making the characters just as important as the setting.

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