1. Dragon Age: Origins

If BioWare could make a sci-fi RPG to surpass Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, they later showed they were capable of surpassing their own Baldur’s Gate games (which were based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules). And although Dragon Age: Origins is obviously based on Game of Thrones (and a little Lord of the Rings too), the story is as riveting as they come. Having different origin stories for your character depending on his or her class was also a nice touch, one of these set in the tower of the circle of mages was particularly memorable, but you would also want to replay the game to experience the others.

This had spectacular combat too, its tactical nuance being something Origins’ sequel Dragon Age 2 lacked. Also, a plethora of interesting quests and none of the filler of the later Dragon Age: Inquisition surely made this a winner. Sadly, the most recent game in the franchise, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, failed despite having a solid Metacritic score and it was this it seems, that sunk BioWare. But although the Canadian studio is no more, at least we’ll always have Dragon Age: Origins and their other games to enjoy.

Release date: November 2009. Available on PC, other platforms (also on Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility).