Summary
- RPGs like Dark Souls, The Witcher 3, and Baldur's Gate 3 offer deep, immersive lore for fans to uncover.
- Lore in these games is crucial, guiding player choices and adding richness to the world.
- Texts like item descriptions, journals, and in-game books are key sources of lore in these RPGs.
Certain video game genres tend to become associated with particular storytelling trademarks, and no genre is more guilty of this than the RPG. Many of these titles take place in grand, sprawling worlds, rich with original lore. Each society, character, and monster has its own story, and many RPGs will go out of their way to tell fans all about them.
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Learning the lore of the world in an RPG can be a deeply rewarding task for interested fans. Discovering in-game writing or consulting a glossary can help players get immersed in their world, and maybe even start to anticipate some of the consequences of the decisions they're making. These RPGs have a vast wealth of readable lore waiting to be discovered by curious fans.
10 Darkest Dungeon
A Legacy Of Sin
Darkest Dungeon
- Released
- January 19, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
The overwhelmingly grim world of Darkest Dungeon is full of horrifying eldritch monsters and cursed wretches intent on plunging all of humanity into darkness. As the heir of the titular doomed estate, the player must fight an uphill battle to stem the tide of evil by any means necessary.
While exploring the game's many ruins and dungeons, players will often find letters and journals left behind by adventurers who came and perished before. These tidbits expand the bloody history of the estate while also providing hints on how to gain the upper hand against certain monsters.
9 Dark Souls 3
Tracking The Decline
Dark Souls 3
- Released
- March 24, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
The Dark Souls trilogy has always had an unconventional approach to storytelling. Instead of relying on dialogue and cutscenes to establish the story, these games lean hard on environmental storytelling, letting level and boss design weave a powerful tale of downfall and tragedy without bogging fans down in too many semantics.
However, there's still a massive amount of lore to be uncovered. The most common delivery method for worldbuilding in the Dark Souls games is through item descriptions; these blurbs will often impart vital tidbits about the history of the world. Dark Souls 3, as the culmination of the decaying cycle that forms the basis of the games, has some of the juiciest bits of lore waiting to be discovered, letting players know why the Age of Fire is about to die, possibly forever.
8 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Filling Out The Library
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
The Elder Scrolls series takes place in a vast and complex fantasy world, with a long and intricate history of gods and warfare. While each game's plot is largely self-contained, they also build on the rich history of what came before. There are few better ways that Skyrim players can feel more immersed in this rich, living world than through its vast library of books.
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There are more than 300 books scattered throughout the world of Skyrim. These range from fictional stories set on the planet of Nirn to in-lore histories written about the world's long and storied past. The speculative nature of many of these histories, as well as the fact that some of them openly contradict each other, makes Skyrim feel like it takes place in a living world, and it helps players feel like they could truly make history themselves.
7 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
From Books To Life
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
The original Witcher novels created a rich fantasy realm, with creatures and adventures inspired by established folklore with a decidedly grim dark fantasy twist. The Witcher 3 gives fans a chance to step into this rich and complex world for themselves and learn about the various political figures and monsters that populate it.
The Witcher 3 has an extensive lore glossary so that fans can stay on top of what's going on in the world around them, and so they can truly understand the monsters that they're hunting. Of course, fans who really want to read more Witcher lore also have a full series of fantasy novels to turn to in order to fully immerse themselves in this realm.
6 Baldur's Gate 3
Remembering The Forgotten Realms
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Baldur's Gate 3, like its predecessors, is set in the Forgotten Realms, one of the foremost settings in the rich history of Dungeons & Dragons. Ever since it was created by Ed Greenwood in the 60s, the Forgotten Realms has played host to countless novels, video games, and, of course, D&D campaigns.
Baldur's Gate 3 pays worthy homage to this time-honored realm. Players can find more than a thousand books throughout the game, each of which contains lore about the world or the characters that fans will find themselves interacting with. Some of these books trigger new quests and opportunities for adventure, but most of them simply flesh out this intricate and well-established fantasy realm.
5 Dragon Age: Origins
The Beginning Of A Saga
Dragon Age: Origins
- Released
- November 3, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
- Genre(s)
- RPG
BioWare's illustrious fantasy franchise began in 2009 with Dragon Age: Origins, which served as an introduction to the world of Thedas and the existential threat posed by the monstrous Darkspawn. In addition to these sinister threats, players must also contend with the societal problems plaguing the realm, namely the conflict between mages and the Chantry that seeks to control them.
This complex and multilayered dark fantasy world is described and explained by an extensive codex that the player will build up throughout their adventure. The codex has entries on characters, creatures, culture, history, and even religion, making sure diligent players are never out of the loop as they journey to rescue the land of Ferelden.
4 Avowed
An Eoran Adventure
Avowed
- Released
- February 18, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
Avowed shares its setting with the two prior Pillars of Eternity games, both weighty RPGs in their own right. This means that Obsidian's fantasy RPG franchise has built up quite a bit of lore. Luckily for prospective Avowed players, the game has a clever system to keep them grounded and informed about the state of the world.
In addition to the traditional fantasy codex, relevant lore entries can be referenced in the middle of dialogue with NPCs. Certain key phrases will be highlighted, allowing fans to cross-reference the lore index with the push of a button. This means players are never lost when it comes to lore, even when they're in the middle of a conversation.
3 Metaphor: ReFantazio
Literary Parallels
Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Released
- October 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
Metaphor: ReFantazio is much more of a high fantasy experience than Atlus' typical RPGs. The fictional realm of Euchronia is full of exotic fantasy peoples and terrifying eldritch monsters. The way society functions in this realm parallels many of the problems that plague the real world, a strange connection that makes more sense the deeper fans get into this mysterious game.
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However, in spite of the game's overt connection to the real world, the realm of Euchronia still has a lot of lore for players to uncover. The world's long and mysterious history can be pieced together by players with the help of the game's thorough lore glossary, which gives info on characters, realms, and monsters as they progress.
2 Elden Ring
The Mysteries Of The Lands Between
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
FromSoftware's shift to open-world for Elden Ring changed a lot about the Soulsborne formula, but not the developer's esoteric approach to lore and worldbuilding. Fans will still have to rely on environmental storytelling and cryptic dialogue to piece together the story of The Lands Between, but if they really want to delve into the history of the realm, they can also read up on their item descriptions.
With countless weapons, armor pieces, and consumable items scattered throughout the vast open world, players have a lot of secrets to uncover. Piecing together the story of what happened to the many gods and heroes of this dark fantasy realm across several bits of flavor text is an engrossing way to engage with the game's world, leading to a more archaeological approach to lore than most games can manage.
1 Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
A Galaxy Of Lore
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
- Released
- May 14, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
BioWare's illustrious trilogy of space RPGs presents a thrilling tale of galactic warfare, with impactful moments taking place on a massive scale and an interpersonal one. The Milky Way galaxy as it exists in Mass Effect is a turbulent and complicated one, fraught with conflict and rivalry, and Commander Shepard must somehow unite these disparate peoples in order to save them from the apocalyptic Reapers.
Players are aided in this great task by the trilogy's extensive lore codex. This encyclopedia goes into exhaustive detail on not only the major alien species and their societies, but the socioeconomic history of the galaxy, specific military units within the armies of certain governments, and even specific forms of technology used by ships and soldiers throughout the galaxy. If the lore of Mass Effect appeals to a player, it's very easy for them to become an expert.
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