The best Bethesda games ranked from questionable to exceptional

Ranking the best Bethesda games is tough when many of them shaped the modern RPG genre, but we think these are the studio’s top efforts

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Ranking the best Bethesda games is kind of a tough ask, as the studio earned its reputation as makers of some of the best RPGs around. After a checkered decade of making and publishing poorly received games such as Home Alone and Terminator 2029, Bethesda settled into a groove with its Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises. Staying in a groove usually means creative decay for most studios, but Bethesda found a way to innovate and even push the RPG genre forward in some cases – despite stripping it back in others. Most modern Bethesda games hold up surprisingly well, and even the ones that launched in a terrible state are better now.