10 Best Sci-Fi RPGs Of All Time
The best and brightest in Science Fiction gaming.
Science fiction and video games go hand-in-hand and have done so since the beginning. The great thing about space is that it's completely pitch-black, making programming backgrounds with super early video game dev equipment a no-brainer.
This developmental shortcut would eventually give way to science fiction becoming the most enduring aesthetic in video games, stretching across every single genre - from platformers to puzzle games. But there's one genre of video game that has taken the best advantage of what science fiction has to offer, and that is the RPG.
Both being genres all about getting as detailed as possible with worldbuilding and high-concept ideas, it only makes sense that RPGs would naturally gravitate towards science fiction one way or another. But while there have been a lot of great sci-fi RPGs, these ten float to the top as the very best of the best. From worldbuilding to gameplay to story, these are the 10 biggest exemplars of science fiction in the history of gaming.
10. Shadowrun: Hong Kong
One of the founding fathers of the science fiction RPG back in the Tabletop days, Shadowrun may have struggled to break into the mainstream like its contemporaries, but the games that have been made from this system have often been excellent. And Shadowrun Hong Kong is the best of the bunch.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong tells the story of a street rat being called to Hong Kong by their estranged foster father. When the meeting place turns out to be an ambush by the HKPD, the player must team up with friends old and new to find out what the hell is actually going on.
While built on the same foundation as the other Shadowrun games - Returns and Dragonfall - Hong Kong presents a version of the formula so fine-tuned and polished that the other two games pale in comparison. The grid-style cover-based combat has never been smoother and more interesting, the characters you meet on your journey are the best in the entire franchise, and the character creation and progression systems offer endless replayability.
If you love isometric CRPGs, then Shadowrun Hong Kong cannot come recommended enough.