Why are good RPG's so few and far between?

They don’t make the constant money of your other types of games.

These games are played once usually and they can’t sell loot boxes and DLC.

They also cost significant amounts of money to make, relative to what they draw in.

I've never played any Witcher games, but W3 is a GOAT candidate based on everything I've read.

Skyrim is tough to beat at this point, particularly if you say open world. As somewhat of a hybrid game, RDR2 is excellent as well.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker I can also highly recommend, although it is not really open world and the timer forces you through the main story.

Kingdom come deliverance is great.

Hell, the hardcore mode you die before you even get control of your character a time or two at the start simply bc you died as a kid lmao

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Their ROI blows arse

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This. For a developer, it’s all about expected rate of return verses the amount of resources needed to make it. Quality RPG’s are so much more demanding to produce than other genres, and because they’re so replayable, you might sell your game for $60, but they’re not coming back to buy it again next year like Madden or FIFA. It’s a niche market (because RPG’s tend to take a lot more time and emotional investment than other game formats for the player as well), and titles rarely catch on. The great ones like Red Dead and Skyrim catch fire, but 90% of RPGs never become household names. So, tons of time to produce, nice market, low hit rate for success, sky high consumer expectations, lack of opportunities for easy upsells, etc. You’re lucky they’re made at all outside of MMORPGS that continuously charge in order to fund new content.

Low intensity puzzle platformers, fighting games, online fps arenas, annual sports games, and looty shooters are simply too much more efficient to manufacture and market.

The expansive open-world RPG is like trying to create and market a niche musical genre that’s incredibly difficult to perform for the masses against dudes who literally slap together pre-recorded beats on their laptop and click play.

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would love to see a fourth installment, but CDPR hit that home run so far that its success will never be replicated.

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Cyberpunk 2077 went from insane hype to crickets so damn fast.

It comes down to the fact that programmers don't create interactive worlds.

Start with a basic scenario: You can choose between helping a boy recover a cat from a tree, or go slay a bunch of baddies.

Take Quest 1: You recover the cat, fight off an army of baddies (which somehow you manage to do), and the town slowly grows into a bustling metropolis.

Take Quest 2: You slay the baddies first and the town is saved. Five years later, the Dark Lord burns the town to the ground when he wages war upon the kingdom. You are otherwise occupied, dead, or unable to fight such a foe.

Nobody makes truly open world games anymore.
Nobody does a good job of building the world of a linear game.

Games as a service is killing gaming. Bethesda is a prime example and I resent the delay of ES6. (I’ll still be playing it the minute it releases though.)

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I've never played any Witcher games, but W3 is a GOAT candidate based on everything I've read.

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I actually just played through the whole game recently for the first time, including the expansions Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine

It isn't perfect gameplay wise, and is a little dated, but the story was compelling AF and the visuals are great for a game released in 2015. Definitely worth the money.

Anyone try that scarlet nexus game? GS is doing buy 2 get 1 free on used games. Was thinking about grabbing this as my free game. Its $34.99

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To be fair, Witcher 3 is arguably the best RPG ever made. No other RPGs will be that good.

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Persona 5 says hello.