Throughout its history, the role-playing game genre has offered some of the more complex pieces of storytelling and gameplay within the medium of games. In 2020, the RPG genre hit some notable strides with some great releases. Along with the revival of the legendary JRPG Final Fantasy VII with its remake, we also saw other games lean further into the craft of letting players chart their own stories and character dynamics in games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Crusader Kings III.

In the following roundup, you can find a selection of RPGs that GameSpot has rated an 8 and above throughout 2020. This year proved to be a remarkable year for the RPG genre, and the games we've pulled together below take the familiar tenets of the genre and reincorporate them in some exciting ways.

For more on 2020's best games, including a breakdown of GameSpot's Game of the Year pick Half-Life: Alyx, be sure to check out our hub page of all the year's standout titles.