Windows Appstorm: The 26 best role playing games ever

There's no doubt that role-playing games (RPGs) are some of the best video games around, but with so much choice, which ones should you be playing? We’ve rounded up the 26 best RPG games. (Also check out our new piece: The 39 best ever first-person shooter games.) See also: The 18 best role-playing games for iPhone and iPad

Now read our controversial: 18 Worst Video games ever

26: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has two primary playable factions with character customisation, quests full of Warhammer lore, characters of various races who are comprised of a number of archetypes, and career paths to specialise in a craft of some sort. See also Fifa 13 release date, features and screenshots

With an already established fan-base of the Games Workshop's tabletop game, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning provides its players with a dark and humorous experience that penalises unfair advantages between higher and lower level players in Realm vs Realm combat. Visit PS4 release date, specs and rumour round-up.

We especially enjoy capturing Victory Points in the Player vs Player gameplay which involves random PvP encounters, objective-based encounters, and other campaigns and scenarios. See also GTA 5 release date, features, maps and rumours.

25: Kingdom Hearts II

Square and Disney did more than merely prove that they could pump out a decent RPG. They gave life to a grand, genre-changing experience featuring classic tales, heroes and villains from our childhood.

Kingdom Hearts had a lot to live up to in its second act, and Kingdom Hearts II completely blew us away. Only a year had passed for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but the worlds were bigger, the Keyblades were badder, and the entire scope of the battle between the Heartless, the Nobodys, and Organization XIII had grown to epic proportions.

All we can do now is wait for the magic to return in Kingdom Hearts III, but at the very least, we'll get to revisit the series in the PS2 remake of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories this winter.

24: Grandia

The story of a young adventurer named Justin featured incredible music, an epic story, unique characters brought to life with superb voice acting, and a combat system unlike any other before it.

This game's name was Grandia.

The world of Grandia was unlike anything gamers had seen before on the PlayStation, with large and colourful 3D cities and dungeons, filled with treasure, people, and monsters alike. While some RPGs had combat systems that would let you lazily hammer on a single button, Grandia refreshed the entire concept of turn-based battles by having every character and enemy attack each other at the same time.

What really drove the game was how you timed your magic and melee moves - in the best cases, you could pre-empt your foes entirely with nary a scratch on your party. When you made your way to so-called 'End of the World', Grandia's story reached a new height, and more surprise still laid in wait for eager adventurers.