Just to add to the topic, not sure if it counts as one of the best as it is so new but the recently released Solasta: Crown of the Magister is looking pretty good:  D&D 5e rules, single player (which seems rare these days) and not a subscription service, rather an actual one time purchase on GOG as well as Steam if people aren't a big fan of the platform.

So far, the reviews on Steam look very positive and it looks pretty close to the tabletop counterpart in mechanics.
Early access but looks pretty polished.

I'll stick with the Gold Box stuff but for players with decent computers, it might be quite fun to enjoy modern graphics.

One of my old favorites:  SSI's Wizard's Crown.  It would make such a nice tabletop counterpart for the combat.

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Ultima V was better than Ultima IV. The simple idea that every virtue taken to the extreme became a vice made it (the concept, BTW, came from the philosophy of St. Augustine).

Planescape: Torment is my all-time great. After finishing it I went to my FLGS and bought everything Planescape for AD&D 2E. No one wanted the stuff so I bought the four base boxes for a bunch of peanuts. I used the setting heavily in my next campaign.

Ultima Online remains, AFAIK, the only MMORPG where you role-played. It was an addictive alternate life in a fantasy world, with friendships, love stories, raids and even, once, a bank robbery. The creation of instances ruined the original MMORPG concept forever.

Skyrim heavy modded is the best open world out there.

Guild Wars 1 & 2 were not RPGs in a strict sense but they were a ton of fun and excitement. GW1 also introduced the "Buy the game, pay once" model in mainstream MMORPGS.

Fallout: New Vegas: No surprises here - they took Fallout 3 and gave it to the original creators of F1&2.

I would absolutely suggest ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) to anyone who likes Dungeons and Dragons as well as Caves of Qud to anyone who likes Gamma World. They're both amazing Roguelikes where you can really feel yourself get into the spirit of your character.

Quest for Glory (particularly the first one originally called Hero's Quest). It's Sierra's fantasy RPG series, and I think the first one or two were pretty darn decent and entertaining. I have even borrowed a thing or two for my tabletop RPGs

I'm an old fellow...

Spent most of the 1980's playing the Ultima Series... IV being the first one i played, followed by III,II,I,V,VI,VII in that order... the less said about VIII and IX the better i suppose (IV and VII are my favorites of the series), they still run in DOSbox and i still play them from time to time.  And i'd even
still recommend them!! 

Plenty of agonizing fun with the old Gold Box games... but they're a mess to play without the materials the games themselves used to come with.

Also liked the Zork and Enchanter series (as well as Planetfall and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), the Wizardry series, and wasted all too much time
playing around with EA's Adventure Construction Set (Back when EA was an excellent software company... hard to remember that these days.)  Along
with a HOST of old C64 RPG games, Bard's Tale and Phantasie being the few whose names i still remember (or still own)

A few computers later... Baldur's Gate I and II, Icewind Dale (The first, in particular i really liked)... and i played the lot of 'em to death over the years.
Planescape: Torment, and the Fallout games as well (I liked all of them up to and including New Vegas) all of 'em are worth playing.

I've spent the requisite time on the Elder Scrolls series, from Daggerfall on up, i'm sure they've been mentioned but they're worth a play as well.

If you have an old playstation console... The Suikoden series (if i remember right) used to be on the store there and it's one of my favorite old games
that never gets much attention.  And one of the only games i really miss playing.  One of these days i hope to see it on PC...  Hope springs eternal.

Even though they're not really RPGs, I think Freedom Force (and its excellent sequel, Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich) have enough good characterization in them that they would appeal to most roleplayers, if those players have an interest in Silver and Bronze Age comic book superheroes.  To this day I have a deep and abiding love for those characters, to the point where my affection for old childhood heroes like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four is no greater than it became for the Freedom Force.  Years after it came out, a real comic book miniseries featuring the characters was published, and I bought every one of them.

Deus ex, original. You can get patches, grsaphic updates, etc,  hut the original deus ex despite being 22 years old is still a game for people with brains, not just reflexes.

Quote from: Sanson on December 12, 2021, 11:06:49 PM
I'm an old fellow...

Spent most of the 1980's playing the Ultima Series... IV being the first one i played, followed by III,II,I,V,VI,VII in that order... the less said about VIII and IX the better i suppose (IV and VII are my favorites of the series), they still run in DOSbox and i still play them from time to time.  And i'd even
still recommend them!! 

You forget "Martian Dreams" (steampunk) and "The Savage Empire" (the lost valley with dinosaurs) based on Ultima VI engine. I still have them in the original boxes. Savage Empire inspired a whole GURPS campaign.

If you like rogue-likes and sci-fi, Approaching Infinity is a good one.  The developer is very active and is always producing new content.  Since it is low tech and turn based, it will even run on my potato of a laptop that I use when I'm babysitting or taking the lovely wife to the casino.

The best PC RPG ever has to be Planescape: Torment.

Honorable Mentions:
Baldur's Gate I/II
Fallout I/II
Ultima VII
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
KOTOR1

Quote from: Lancer on September 07, 2022, 02:17:24 PM
The best PC RPG ever has to be Planescape: Torment.

Honorable Mentions:
Baldur's Gate I/II
Fallout I/II
Ultima VII
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
KOTOR1

Also, if you can get over the graphics, the games by indie developer, Spiderweb Software, are quite amazing.

I'm old-school, but I love Sega's Phantasy Star series, especially PS 2.

I think it's a stalker

I'll contribute.

Final Fantasy VI to X.

Shin Megami Tensei III to V.

Persona 1 to 5.

Xenogears.

Xenosaga.

Xenoblade.

Final Fantasy Tactics.

Just because they don't seem to have already come up, From Software's entire output of fantasy games over the last decade-and-a-half are all worthwhile for the tabletop role-player. The King's Field series and Demon's Souls are a bit difficult to get a hold of these days (unless you have a PS5 for Demon's Souls), but those and the more easily accessible Dark Souls games, Bloodborne, and (to a lesser extent) Elden Ring, are gold mines for monster, environment and item ideas. And also absolute masterclasses in worldbuilding and dungeon design. They're also extremely good action-RPGs, of course.

As a more outside-the-box recommendation, I want to mention OgreBattle 64: A Person of Lordly Caliber. A pretty solid fantasy politics story, and to my mind the gold standard for the criminally underrepresented Strategy-RPG genre. N64 cartridges are hard to get these days, but you can emulate it pretty easily.