This is, without a doubt, my favorite genre. I've spent thousands of hours playing this type of game. When I get bored I move on to another game. My first ARPG is way back, in the late 70s. I doubt most people even know the games I played. Telengard and DND by Dan Lawrence (passed away in 2010). He was a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons for over 30 years at Purdue University. I spent 100s of hours on these games.

Yet, ARPG has evolved and become more intellectial. Understanding the leveiling and the strategies of classes of the game played is more important now. It is important to know every aspect of how to spend leveling points. Research is an important aspect of any gender today to be skilled. When reading forum topics it's apparent who has spent the time to learn and who hasn't. The more you know the more you appreciate the game being played. So, I wanted to write about my favorite 5 games. Understand it is dynamic, therefore changeable as I continuously delve into the genre with openmindedness and compassion..

1. Grim Dawn

The complixity of this game is astounding. It never ceases to amaze me. I spend time watching YouTube videos on how to play the game. Every class and every build is fun, played strategically. You can tell the developers are just as mesmorized by the game. They care and aim to make the most enjoyabe experience as possible. I have already played almost 800 hours and am enjoying the experience as much as when I started.

2. Diablo II

I may have spent more time on this game than Grim Dawn. I used mules to save the drops I found. At end game it is a game of drops. Of course classes are fun, but they are limited to the drops. Powerful characters are made because of drops and trading (online). Unfortunately, farming became less productive because of the external farming for profit. Still a fun game I've spent 100s of hours playing. And understanding the mechanics and % of drops is important. End game was all farming and it was stiill fun.

3. Titan Quest

A fun game with dual classes and many builds. It's fun. And still is. I find myself being drawn it this game over and over. And with Ragnorak it doesn't become stale. Fun to play different classes. Muling is a pain though because many alts are needed to organze storage. Yet, the fun of the game will guarnatee that I will return... providing the new developers are creative with creativity is at the heat of development.

4. Diablo I

Being that I already was an RPG junkie, this was a godsend at realease. Loved it then, love it now. Thank You Gog for releasing this game. It's a gem. Many of the developers have moved on from the Diable series, yet this is a classic. The fact that GOG understood this speaks volumes. And sears their name in classic games. Keep up the good work and keep on understanding the Avant-Garde of hack-n-slash.

5. Torchlight II

Many of the employees were what was left of the Diablo II crew. They love their craft and spent time with Flagshipp Studios and worked on Torchlight I. It is a game where advancing is dependent on the understanding of skills. I will spend more time on this game.

Honorable Mention: Diablo III, Torchlight I, Dungeon Seange, Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time, Dungeon Siege..

I would love to spend more time sxporing ARPGs. To me they are the most entertaining. Many MMORPGs use ARPGs as part of their game, however any ARPG, with accolades, will siphor my time from other endevours. They are just so much fun.

There are many good RPGs, I admit. It is also one of my favorite genres, as well(Both ARPGs and RPGs, both of the western and eastern varieties). :)

As for your choices:

1 Grim Dawn-I never played it but i'll look into it if/when I can if it looks good.

2. Diablo 2 - From what I played(to around the end of the middle eastern like city/town, iirc), it is good(story/cutscenes are godlike in quality/etc).

3. Titan Quest - The main game(that I played some of) is good(intro is one of my faves), but whjen I heard about all that got cut/censored due to higher ups whims I weep(Example: Higher ups said monsters couldn't be intelligent because it'd be wrong to kill intelligent enemies or have them be portrayed as intelligent).

4. Diablo 1 - I got far into this one but never finished, but it IS a classic(Classic enemies like The Butcher and Skeleton King, Wirt in general, Deckard Cain in general, the awesome music).

5. TL 2 - I only played bits of TL1, but to me while ok it's a bit too simplistic(style/play) and kiddiseish for my tastes. It has promise, though, and is worth wasting some time in.

6. Dungeon Siege - Great game(music/plot[even if cliched]/levels). The inventory limits sucked, though, and I disliked getting lost in some areas.

Sadly DS2(while it has great intro and music/plot) has a crap teleport marker checkpoint system instead of manual saves, and enemy respawns suck(imo).

7. D3 -Great cutscenes/dialog/etc(which often differ either by being randomized or by class being played). It has the same checkpoint save system I dislike, though, but I finished it just to see the end(for the classes I played so far).



Some of my own mentions/recommendations: GROM(A PC RPG about a guy in Tibet/etc trying to locate lost weapons of mystic nature from nazis/etc).

Nice list...but Diablo is in NO WAY better than Torchlight II. And I'm a Diablo fan. Nostalgia goggles aside Diablo 1 hasn't aged that well IMHO.
Other than that it's a pretty good list.

I'm guessing "Dungeon Seange" was meant to be Dungeon Siege though. So if that's the case...then why is there another Dungeon Siege at the end of that list? Or is it some unknown obscure ARPG? o_O'

PS: Diablo III sucks. LOL

Wait a minute, what about Terranigma, Secret of Mana, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and such?

I'd say the Ys games are ARPGs that are as good and/or better than any of the games on the list in the OP.

I love these games. I played them many times and I was actually thinking about replaying Soul Blazer, my favorite of the three.
Secret of Mana though... Let's say that I loved the soundtracks.

Darkstone is an underrated one IMO.

I'd put them Titan Quest, Diablo 2 and then Grim Dawn.

Grim Dawn has fucked up balance.

My top 3 would be:
1) Titan Quest
2) Grim Dawn
3) Diablo 2

Titan Quest is just perfect and I love everything about it. From the setting through gameplay to being surprisingly accurate with names/locations/myths etc. And not to forget the awesome soundtrack it has.

Grim dawn is below Titan Quest for 2 things. Scaling enemies and leveling becoming less rewarding at levels 50 and 90.

Diablo 2 is great, but not the holy grail many seem to think it is. And any game that has some sort of magic find stat on gear simply can't be at the top for me..

Several good games, I'll concede. Except Diablo3. That thing can die in a dumpster fire and nobody will miss it.

I still have to play GD to but I only hear good things about it. Damn now I'm itching to pull it up in the queue. The OP probably forgot to mention they're really into a specific subset of ARPGs of the Hack & Slash variety. (At least that is how I understand the genre breakdown. All of the games mentioned except Ocarina of Time are Hack & Slash. I guess.) Ys games are not part of this subgenre thus they' wouldn't be on the OP's radar.

As for "better" that is highly subjective isn't it? ;)
But you're right they're very good.

imo, Path of Exile is the best atm.
gl

Well, the thread title is highly declarative, as if the original post is about to declare "the fact" of the best ARPG, which it certainly doesn't. It just contains the OP's opinion, and any one and/or all of those games listed in the OP have flaws, and many solid reasons could easily be given for each of them as to why they are not the best.

Yes, saying other games are better is indeed subjective too, but no more subjective than is the thread title and the implications contained in the OP. So as the saying goes, what's good for the goose is good for gander. If the OP is able to declare what is "the best," then it follows that other posters are able to refute those assertions and make their own declarations as to what is better than those games and/or "the best."

Beat me to it, Path of Exile is by far the best ARPG at the moment.

You do have a point about the title.

Anyway I think it is silly to argue what is the best of something that is different for everyone. These things should be considered to have an implicit "IMHO".
Rather than that I just head-translate a statement like the title to "ARPGs I had the most fun with". Even because the OP probably didn't play all the ARPGs in existence so they can not assert that all of the ones they didn't play weren't somehow better.

I agree with your list and also in that order. Grim Dawn is the best of all the ARPG I have played.

@Darvond: Illusion of Gaia is great too. But it's not really an ARPG. That's more like a classical JRPG, isn't it?