Oblivion is my favorite Elder Scrolls. I actually played it again recently and thought it held up pretty well. I'm a sucker for wandering lush bucolic landscapes though.

I got Cyberpunk in December and KCD2 in February. At this point I’m convinced I’ve spoiled the entire RPG genre for myself for the next decade. I can’t imagine playing 2 great games back to back like that again.

Just finished Disco Elysium few days ago, watched the credits roll from start to finish to see all the great people working on it, such a great game…now I am sad for what happened to them, I didnt know that

What had happened to the people in ZAUM (or what was once that studio), is a tragedy, and a huge shame. I'm not even a cRPG/dnd person, but that game has singlehandedly opened my eyes to a whole new world. It's easily in my top10 games of all time, and I wish we could get another one eventually

The freedom that Morrowind gives you has never been matched by other Bethesda titles. I think the only path that's blocked to the player is joining the Sixth House, but at least you can kill Vivec before confronting Dagoth Ur

I can't speak for Daggerfall's freedom as I haven't really delved into it, but I know it has 6 different endings depending on which faction you ally with.

The Thaumaturge and Clair Obscur both look pretty weird

Indeed, as the article writes

Even Skyrim—certainly a weird, ambitious, and janky RPG in its own right—refined and streamlined the formula set by Morrowind and Oblivion, rather than expanding on their eccentricities, and that trend only continued in the studio's following games.

List some RPGs that are better and lets discuss.

Are you serious? Do you need help understanding the definitions of ambitious, weird, and unexpected?

Do you need a run down of all generic clones of games bioware and bethesda have released in recent times?

I've had cyberpunk since launch and the only thing that has improved is stability. The game is still a hodgepodge of half baked RPG systems, most of which aren't even necessary to interact with. No amount of polish can change the fact that it's a turd underneath.

CP2077's story is nice but short (for an RPG these days) but the meat is in the world and side missions.

I've heard people take that approach with Starfield and still be very disappointed. If it's space you want and are ok with creating your own story, Elite Dangerous is getting a pretty big revival

Yes! BG3 and KC2 devs made amazing games but for some reason decided to have them take place in the most generic, boring medieval/fantasy setting.

I want a pirate RPG, or sci-fi, heck even a hardcore Mario CRPG.

A very fair point, but alas… for better or worse, the bar has indeed been raised, and last month only proved that. February 2025 saw the release of a new RPG from one of the most beloved studios in the genre, Obsidian Entertainment. Avowed is modest by design, but nonetheless it's polished, accessible, and visually impressive, with a rich story from some of the best writers in the business—and the backing of Microsoft, one of the most influential and well-resourced videogame publishers of all time.