by infantpipoc (Premium member)
Best RPG at VGA/X and Best Role-playing Games Awarded by TGA
The game genre known as role-playing is a fluid one. A Dragon Quest and a Skyrim can be 2 very different things, yet we agree that they are both RPG. From run on people’s imagination alone (With the help of pen and paper of course) to powered by Unreal Engine 5, the buggers come in all forms and sizes. The genre does have the tendency to give one more bang for their buck, grinding and the practice of “make a desert and call it sandbox” aside. That sure is a nice warm place to go back to now Nintendo think they can charge people for the late day SNES and “Ultra 64” software price yet again.
Since 2004, the Keighley’s under either banner has always crowned the one RPG “better than the rest” for each year. While the category victors can be seen as winners of mere popularity contests, they do reflect their times well enough. The category pretty much started when game development in Japan started its decline due to the difficulty of High-Definition assets generation. As of 2025, the “PS2 games polished for PS4/5 level hardware” approach had served them well enough for the last decade. Well, 21 years is a long period for video games, and let’s just see how times has changed.
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Best RPG Spike Video Game Awards ("VGA" for short) 2004 (Won against The Bard's Tale, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and X-Men Legends. No, the number three just is there for that one in the middle.) The game that can been as Peter Molyneux and crew’s only contribution for the then rising Xbox brand. Yours truly is certainly more familiar with the “chicken chaser” meme than the game I had never played. Suppose all those promises Molyneux made and broke alone would make the game stand out among action game built on old brand, JRPG too hard-core and licensed Diablo knock-off.
Best RPG VGA 2005 (Won against Jade Empire, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Dungeon Siege II and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords) The first 2 Spike Video Game Awards had category dedicated to MMOs. So, I guess Blizzard’s Warcraft MMO winning in the category for all sorts of RPGs was calling it a breakout hit. Though putting it up against 3 “diminished return” sequels and Bioware’s quirky experiment was just letting Blizzard mop the floor. I got to admit that I am someone subjective to addiction and luckily, I just could not get into Massive Multiplayer Online games. The quest loops, even WOW’s “unlike ‘vegetable’” quest loops are too long-winded to be entertaining for me.
Best RPG VGA 2006 (Won against Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts II and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) With Xbox 360 pulling the “getting there first” trick in 2005, the video game era of “West better than East” started the year after. VGA 2006’s Best RPG category certainly added to that narrative by letting Bethesda’s first HD release mop the ground with 3 PS2 games from Square Enix. Too bad its “horse armor” bullshit stick as well.
Best RPG VGA 2007 (Won against Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Persona 3) The first time Bioware got a blue monkey trophy. The “West better than East” narrative continued here, as this was the last time VGA nominated more than 2 games from Japan for this category. Damn shame Mass Effect series never did too well in Japan given how much its developers stole from science fiction anime of 1970s and 1980s.
Best RPG VGA 2008 (Won against Fable II, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and The World Ends with You) Bethesda brought this wasteland series to the polygonal age in the year Grand Theft Auto Four came out unfortunately enough. VGA’s Game of the Year voting committee was very Rockstar brained after all. Oh well, genre award is not nothing after all. While Todd Howard is not exactly nice, he cannot as big an asshat as Feng Ji right?
Best RPG VGA 2009 (Won against Borderlands, Demon's Souls and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story) The second time Bioware got a blue monkey trophy. This is the first Bioware game yours truly had even played. It was January, 2010 and my copy of Mass Effect was still on the way, So I played this one as a taste of Bioware RPG. My preference of science fiction over fantasy should tell you how little I care about this one by the end. Also, the first time Keighley’s missed the “We like From’s Soulsborne before it’s cool to do so” train.
Best RPG VGA 2010 (Won against Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas and Final Fantasy XIII) The third time Bioware got a blue monkey trophy for RPG and another for being Studio of the year. Yep, my favorite game of all time had the misfortune of sharing release year with Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption. So, no GOTY trophy from VGA for anything not made by Rockstar in those years.
Best RPG VGA 2011 (Won against Dark Souls, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dragon Age II) Ah, motherfucking Skyrim. Sold very well, received very well, but like Jeff Grestmann once said, it winning GOTY and genre awards probably opened up the floodgate for half-ass releases that had plagued this industry for more than a decade. Also, the second time Keighley’s missed the “We like From’s Soulsborne before it’s cool to do so” train.
Best RPG VGA 2012 (Won against Diablo III, Torchlight II and Xenoblade Chronicles) The fourth and final time Bioware got a blue monkey trophy. With this list up on the day Last of Us season 2 premiered on HBO, somehow 2013’s LOU ending and this game came to mind. The PS3 exclusive’s “shocking” ending had people talking, but to me the only reason Joel went ape shit is that Naughty Dog still needed to have some action before the credits roll. Mass Effect 3 ended with all talk and no action is daring in comparison.
Best RPG VGX 2013 (Won against Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Fire Emblem Awakening and Pokémon X/Y) The one and only VGX is a weird bird. Its Best RPG category had only nominees from Japan is likely one of such odd aspects.