Role-playing games have become one of the most popular genres for titles to explore, with the story-driven and combat-heavy focus of most RPGs making them huge draws. Players love either playing as a custom character or stepping into the shoes of a pre-defined one as they explore a vast world, interact with interesting characters, and battle against tough enemies who serve as a major thorn on their side every step of the way.
A big part of most hardcore RPGs is a class system where players need to follow a pre-ordained path that governs the skills, attributes, and weaknesses they enjoy. Most of these classes can be pretty rigid, and force players down certain paths, but other games do a great job of removing the limitations of this system, using a class to slowly nudge players toward a particular playstyle that they can always veer away from if they wish.
7 Dark Souls
Dark Souls is one of the greatest action RPGs ever made, with the combat system, incredible lore, and awe-inspiring boss fights really doing a great job of hyping this title up for the masses. It can be a really intimidating game to get into, especially when players are asked to level up without any knowledge of what the stats do.
It doesn't help that players also have to select a class without knowing how they actually function... but this is a decision that most players shouldn't fret over. After all, Dark Souls allows players to invest in different stats regardless of the build they've pursued. Later games in the series even allow players to respect their character if the stats they've invested in don't suit their fancy anymore.
6 Divinity: Original Sin 2
The recent resurgence of CRPGs has been quite great to witness, with Divinity: Original Sin 2 being the best modern title in this genre for many fans. Combat in this game is tense and tactical, with the physical and magical armor stats governing what attacks should be used on a particular character.
Players can definitely opt for certain classes to make pursuing a build easier in the short run. However, if players want to pursue a different route, then it's just a matter of learning different abilities and investing in other avenues instead. If players find this task to be somewhat irritating, then the Lady o' War harbors a mirror that can be used to respec every recruitable character as well!
5 Final Fantasy 5
Final Fantasy 5 may be a little lean in the story department, but most players would forgive this title from the very moment they get to mess around with the job system in this game. Players start out as a freelancer before getting a wealth of jobs that can be equipped by any character at any time, which is quite innovative indeed.
Each job has levels that can be attained with sufficient ABP. It takes a while, but party members can slowly learn abilities from their jobs permanently, turning the Freelancer class from the weakest one early on into the most powerful job simply because it has access to all the abilities Bartz and his friends have learned over the course of the game!
4 Bloodborne
Being another Soulsborne game, it's easy to see why Bloodborne would have a flexible class system. Once again, players get to choose from various backgrounds early on, but the changes they make have no bearing in the long term as long as players are wary about where they invest their Blood Echoes later on.
While players may start out with a build that's perfect for Strength weapons, there's no reason why they can shift their focus and opt for other specific builds, or even a Quality one if that suits their fancy. It's this freedom in Bloodborne that makes the nightmarish denizens of this never-ending dream somewhat easier to deal with.
3 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Skyrim is a game that took over the world by storm, showing what an open-world RPG could really achieve with a massive and detailed open world that truly boggles the imagination. This strong first impression has been further improved by immense mod support that has continued to keep the title relevant to this day.
Players gain proficiency in skills by using them over the course of their adventure in the Nordic lands, which makes for a simple and effective way to build a character. The Dragonborn can always try out other skills if need be, making their adventure a dynamic and interesting one where classes can change in a jiffy if players wish.
2 Bravely Default
Bravely Default is a game that wears its classic inspirations on its sleeve, taking players through a familiar yet exciting journey as they rise from humble beginnings to destroy nefarious beings who threaten to violently destroy their world.
The game's job system is pretty flexible, allowing characters to use whatever job they want as long as they fulfill their skill requirements. This, coupled with the tactical combat system, adds a lot of depth to the gameplay systems of Bravely Default and makes them a lot of fun to use.
1 Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas is a game where character builds matter quite a bit. Everything from a player's competency to the skill checks they can pass is determined by the points they have invested in the Courier.
As a result, the class of a player is totally dependent on the choices a player makes every time they level up. This is why repeated playthroughs of Fallout: New Vegas are so much fun — players can genuinely experience a completely different game if they decide to invest totally different skills in another game.