Curated playlist

Role-playing video games

SaGaSaGa began in 1989 with the first role-playing game on a handheld console.
Final Fantasy Legend IIA smashed goddess statue scatters 77 magical stones across linked worlds in Final Fantasy Legend II.
Suikoden TacticsSuikoden Tactics is both a prequel and a sequel to Suikoden IV. The 2005 PlayStation 2 game uses two time periods.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant WingsFinal Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings began with no Final Fantasy XII link. Vaan and Penelo were added later.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred HeroesEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes passed $500,000 on Kickstarter in just three to four hours.
Gensō Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no TokiGensō Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki sends three heroes back a hundred years. A monster wakes every century.
Suikoden IVIn Suikoden IV, a cursed rune jumps to the nearest person when its bearer dies. It slowly drains its bearer's life.
Final Fantasy IV: The After YearsFinal Fantasy IV: The After Years was a role-playing game released to mobile phones in monthly installments.
Final Fantasy Mystic QuestIn Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, players see enemies coming and choose whether to fight.
Final Fantasy Legend IIIFinal Fantasy Legend III began in Japan as SaGa 3, planned as the last game in its series.
Final Fantasy VJapan asked Square not to release Final Fantasy V on a school day.
Fallout 3Fallout 3 is a 2008 action role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios, and it begins with a 19-year-old leaving the shelter where they grew up. Vault 101 is a high-tech fallout shelter, built for survivors of a nuclear war fought 200…
Pokémon (video game series)The Pokémon video game series has sold more than 515 million units worldwide. That makes it the fourth best-selling video game franchise, behind only the Mario franchise, Call of Duty, and Tetris. It started in 1996, when Pocket Monsters…
Role-playing video gameFinal Fantasy VII arrived in 1997 with a record-breaking budget of around $45 million.
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VIIDirge of Cerberus was a shooter built around a hero once locked in a coffin. It arrived in 2006 for PlayStation 2.
Final Fantasy IIIFinal Fantasy III's developers followed a programmer to Sacramento after his work visa expired.
The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimA modder made Falskaar for Skyrim as a job application to Bethesda. Bungie hired him instead.
Fallout (video game)Fallout, the 1997 role-playing game from Interplay Productions, opens with a narrator voiced by the actor Ron Perlman. In 2026 he recalled that the job paid "40 dollars and a sandwich." It is a modest origin for a game that players and…
Final Fantasy IXFinal Fantasy IX deliberately turned backward to medieval castles and minstrels.
Final Fantasy VII RemakeFinal Fantasy VII Remake's reveal sent Square Enix's stock to its highest point since November 2008.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD RemasterThe Final Fantasy X remaster added an audio drama that darkened the happy ending. Its writer has a sequel plot ready.
The Last StoryThe Last Story began as science fiction until Nintendo rejected the story outright.
Stardew ValleyStardew Valley had sold more than 50 million copies by February 2026, and one person made it. That person is Eric Barone, who works under the name ConcernedApe. After college he could not find a job in the games industry and ended up…
The Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionPete Hines, Bethesda's vice president of public relations and marketing, once described the mood before The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion arrived with a wry line. He said: "People were expecting the game to cure blindness and heal the sick."…
Final Fantasy III (2006 video game)Final Fantasy III sold 500,000 copies in its first week in Japan in 2006. It had never been sold outside Japan.
Final Fantasy Tactics AdvanceFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance was first planned for the PlayStation 2. It ended up on the Game Boy Advance.
Final Fantasy X-2Final Fantasy X-2 built its costume-changing battles from magical girl anime and Charlie's Angels.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIIn Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning has thirteen days to save the world.
Destiny 2Destiny 2 is a shooter made by Bungie, and in June 2026 it receives what is billed as its final update, called Monument of Triumph. That update ends active development. The servers will stay on, though. Bungie confirmed that the game will…
DeltaruneDeltarune began as a fever dream. In 2011, while Toby Fox was in college, he saw the ending of a video game in his sleep and resolved to build it. The result is an episodic role-playing game from the American indie developer, set in a…
Honkai: Star RailHonkai: Star Rail, a free-to-play role-playing game from the Shanghai studio miHoYo, had 22.98 million people in mainland China pre-register before it opened its doors. Another 10 million signed up from outside the mainland. That is an…
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic sold 250,000 copies in its first four days on the Xbox. That made it the fastest-selling game the console had seen up to that point. The figure is striking for a game that did not feature a single…
Final Fantasy XFinal Fantasy X shipped in Japan in 2001 and sold more than 2.14 million units on its first day alone, including 1.4 to 1.5 million pre-orders. A million copies moved within hours of release. Square had expected modest returns from a…
Final Fantasy XIIFinal Fantasy XII lets players program their characters to fight on their own. It drew on American football plays.
Suikoden VIn Suikoden V, the Prince's trusted aunt betrays him at the moment he could end the war.
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2Belgium's anti-gambling law forced Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 to shut down there.
Pokémon Red, Blue, and YellowPokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow began as a pitch that Nintendo's own staff could not make sense of. In 1990, the game developer Satoshi Tajiri described his concept to them, and the response was skepticism. They judged his ideas too…
Destiny (video game)Destiny, an online shooter from the studio Bungie, took in more than 325 million US dollars at retail in its first five days. That made it the biggest launch of a new franchise ever. It arrived on the 9th of September 2014 for PlayStation…
Baldur's Gate 3Wizards of the Coast first turned down Larian Studios' bid to make Baldur's Gate 3 in 2014.
Final Fantasy IVFinal Fantasy IV began with a Formula One race. Hiroyuki Ito saw cars pass at different speeds and got an idea.
Final Fantasy VIFinal Fantasy VI lets its hero fail to save the world. The story's second half is called the World of Ruin.
Final Fantasy XIIn 2025, so many new players joined Final Fantasy XI that the server Asura closed to new characters.
Final Fantasy XIVSquare Enix rebuilt Final Fantasy XIV from scratch while the failed original kept running.
Final Fantasy XIV (2010 video game)One flowerpot in Final Fantasy XIV used as much detail as a whole player character.
Vagrant StoryVagrant Story, a 2000 PlayStation game, had no shops at all. Players built their own gear in workshops instead.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic begins with a character waking aboard a doomed Republic capital ship, with no memory of who they are. The setting lies four thousand years before the Star Wars films. This one amnesiac premise…
Vampire: The Masquerade – BloodlinesVampire: The Masquerade , Bloodlines sold 72,000 copies in its initial release and earned roughly 3.4 million dollars. That is the entire commercial story of a 2004 action role-playing game from Troika Games, published by Activision for…
Pokémon Scarlet and VioletPokémon Scarlet and Violet are role-playing games from the studio Game Freak, built for the Nintendo Switch and released on the 18th of November 2022. The story starts at a school. Players enroll at Naranja Academy in Scarlet or Uva…
Chrono TriggerChrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing game that Square developed and published for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It began with a research trip. In October 1992, three veteran creators traveled to the United States to study…
Pokémon Diamond and PearlPokémon Diamond and Pearl, a pair of role-playing games for the Nintendo DS, helped players complete more than 10 million Pokémon trades over Wi-Fi. Game Freak developed them for the Nintendo DS and released them in 2006, the 10th…