Best Western RPG that lets you play your way

RPGs are about doing things the way you want. Choices and consequences. The more options you have, the more nuance you have, and the more you get to shape your character and your story to be exactly how you want it to be. Classic TTRPGs are a great place to look for inspiration for that, and how it translated into games like Baldur's Gate 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 was masterful. These games really let you be who you want to be.

Now, if you're looking for more Western RPGs that give you tons of freedom and different options to choose from when deciding the exact course of your adventure, look no further. These games come with tons of choices and tons of role-playing opportunities. Each playthrough will feel a little (or a lot) different.

Deus Ex

Immersive sims are the definition of freedom

Deus Ex is not just an RPG, but a representative of an elusive video game niche that doesn't get enough love: immersive sims. These games are known for the freedom they give players by allowing them to use several different methods and paths to resolve a conflict or progress through a level.

IN Dexus Exyou always have a choice. You can sneak in by sneaking past everyone, using back doors, and hacking to create a stealth path. Or, if you love run-and-gun games, you can just rush in like a barbarian and kill everyone despite a blaring alarm. Be a silver tongue that convinces people and use non-lethal weapons, or deal with it with your fists, the choice is yours, and Deus Ex is easily one of the finest examples of that freedom. We're also in for a treat, as the game is getting a remaster in 2026 and will hopefully rekindle people's love for immersive sims.

Baldur's Gate 3

The sheer number of options and paths is astounding

Larian Studios made sure to pack Baldur's Gate 3 to the brim, and the abundance of different paths, choices and outcomes you can experience in the game is proof of that. In the first act alone, you can do a lot with the inhabitants of Druid Grove. Want to protect them fully? Kill everyone in the Goblin Camp. Want to enlist their help instead and lure Minthara in for an epic battle at the front gates? Double cross her as she marches her forces to the Druid Grove. Or, if you're a truly evil Dark Urge, you might have no interest in keeping the people of the Grove alive and join Minthara's campaign against them.

All of these choices roll into the rest of the story, further adding substance and color to your unique run. If you choose to destroy the Grove, the people at the Last Light Inn will have a different view of you. You build your own character, your own story, not just in character creation, but through the choices and methods you use in each individual mission.

Fallout: New Vegas

The game asks, what kind of courier are you?

Fallout: New Vegas' charm is the abundance of role-playing options and nuances found in all aspects of the game. Just your choice of skills will open up new paths for you to choose, truly allowing you to become the courier you envision. For example, you can use the medicine, science, and repair skills to help someone in unexpected ways and gain access to more dialogue with them. On the other hand, low intelligence gives your character more, well, character, but you can be locked out of certain things.

There is also management of factions, quests and karma. You can talk your way out of trouble, kill anyone who gets in your way, or even be the rat playing both sides of a conflict, only to walk away as the cool, chaotic neutral villain you are. There is so much variety in it New Vegas for a game so old it's really a shame we don't have a remaster or remake of it yet, and it's not just bland freedom where you can do anything without consequences. All of your choices still feel powerful and meaningful.

Disco Elysium

Freely shape the detective and reap the rewards (or consequences)

Disco Elysium is another charming game with so many branching paths, builds and outcomes that comparing playthroughs with other people is one of the most fun. No two players will have the same experience as they take on the role of the amnesiac Harrier Du Bois in solving the murder of a man. With different builds that focus either on charisma, strength, your general intellect and more, you'll have different ways to resolve conflicts and interact with people and the world around you.

As you level up, unlock skills, and embrace new thoughts in the Mind Cabinet, your options become increasingly nuanced. You can be as annoying, mean, tough guy as you want to be, kick people in the stomach and tough them out. Or maybe you'd rather talk through all your problems, listen to people and empathize with them, no matter how horrible and unbearable they are. Perhaps you are so intelligent that you can easily deduce clues and details in the environment. Whichever approach you choose, there's a lot to sink your teeth into, and the summary you get at the end of what kind of cop you became makes it all worth the trip.

Cyberpunk 2077

A shade of immersive sim in a cyberpunk reality

Let's be clear here: Cyberpunk 2077 is not an immersive sim, but it has tons of missions that give you different approaches that are similar Deus Ex. Depending on your specialty and character build, you might be able to hack open a door or sneak through the back door vent that can only be reached with a double jump. Alternatively, if you're just a really tough solo or a cool guy, you can go in with your weapon drawn and scare your enemies so hard that they simply run away.

Everything is based on how many points you have in certain attributes, with body skills that translate into intimidation and cool skills that let you talk your way out of trouble. Hackers can impress another tech with their skills and get additional rewards or dialogue options and so on. How you choose to shape your V (and there are so many options from weapons to cyberware to hacking) opens up all these fun paths for you that let you explore missions from completely different angles.

Both games let you do whatever you want, but in different ways

I thought long and hard about which one Elder scrolls game to present here, and I think both Skyrim and Morrowind deserves to be highlighted for how much variety and freedom they give players. That being said, while Skyrim gives you the freedom to do absolutely anything you want and become the Archmage of the College of Winterhold, as well as the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Morrowind gives you the same choice but locks you out of other options.

One grants everything as soon as you're out of the Weekend, while the other asks you to commit to whatever path you choose. What unites them both, however, is the quality and abundance of choice. Both let you go where you want, go with who you want, but at the same time Morrowind is a little more obscure and asks you to be much more prepared, Skyrim plays into your desire for power fantasies unlike any other game. No matter what side you're on, you'll have a great time causing trouble and havoc.