There are a lot of really good role-playing games (RPGs) with some of the best inventory management systems.
Fans usually categorize them by their origins, like the great turn-based JRPGs, or the Western CRPGs, which evolved from tabletop role-playing games.
Most of these discussions generally circle around story and thematic concepts or the general gameplay mechanics that make them stand out.
Best inventory systems in RPGs
1) Deus Ex
When talking about Sci-fi Cyberpunk-themed role-playing games (RPGs), people will often point to CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 but forget the immersive sim experience revolutionised by Deus Ex.
Published by Eidos Interactive, this game is up there with some of the best Western RPGs ever released, albeit the game has aged somewhat. It is fondly remembered for the cybernetically enhanced main character JC Denton, and the narrative surrounding him.
But that simply isn’t all Deus Ex is remembered for influencing freedom of choice in first-person RPGs, with various pros such as the incredible inventory management system.
It was finite in storage, hence incentivizing players to strategize resource management. Thus, it was a key factor in the development of immersive sim as a genre.
2) Divinity: Original Sin 2
Larian Studio is one of the few modern developers who have found their place in people’s hearts for the incredible RPGs they have been crafting for the past few years. One of these is Divinity: Original Sin 2
Released in 2017, it is actually the fifth entry in the Divinity series games, and was heavily praised for modernizing the Western CRPG game designs of yesteryear.
So it also brought along with itself the other aspects of classic RPGs, including the highly immersive inventory management systems.
Divinity: Original Sin 2’s inventory may look overwhelming for someone coming into the game for the first time, as it almost looks like a point-and-click minigame where the game allows players to manage their own clutter for each individual party character.
3) Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered
This is the most recently released RPG entry in our list, but it is not a new game for a lot people. Developed by Bethesda and part of one of the most popular game franchises ever. Oblivion is an old Elder Scrolls game that is quite popular among RPG fans.
Skyrim was probably the title where the franchise peaked in popularity, and had an incredible inventory management system with a list format. But aesthetically, Oblivion had a better inventory interface that fit the game’s medieval fantasy visuals.
Oblivion Remastered deserves a spot on this list as it respects the original game in every aspect, including modernizing the same inventory design but keeping the old aesthetics in mind.
4) Baldur’s Gate 3
Another masterpiece of a game developer by Larian Studios, which was released after Divinity Original Sin 2, and is based on the Baldur’s Gate series of CRPGs. The game was released in 2023 and even won the best RPG as well as the Game of the Year award for the respective year.
Originally, the Baldur’s Gate games used to be very different, without proper turn-based combat, but they did follow the AD&D rule set. Larian Studios brought in their own flair and style of turn-based combat that was popularized by their previous games.
Along with the updated systems that Larian Studios implemented into Baldur’s Gate 3, the impressive inventory system from Divinity Original Sin 2 also returned, fully updated with more freedom for resource management.
5) Elden Ring
From Software is a name that is synonymous with some of the most highly praised games in the industry right now. Especially for inventing a whole new RPG genre termed as ‘souls like’, and one of the most popular titles developed by them in recent years was Elden Ring.
A game of the year award-winning title that took From Software’s design ideas from the Dark Souls structure to new heights with a vast and explorable open world.
But the reason to include Elden Ring in this list is to talk about the genius inventory system that the game brings with itself, being influenced by all previous From Software projects.
The specialty of the inventory management system in Elden Ring comes from the fact that, with memorization and playing the game enough, interacting with the inventory becomes second nature, as players can use it while playing the character itself.
6) Fallout 1 & 2
Moving away from a medieval fantasy setting, we take a look at another Bethesda franchise set in a grim and post-apocalyptic universe. The Fallout franchise, created by Interplay Entertainment, was originally a point-and-click isometric game much like the older CRPGs.
But after Bethesda got the rights to the games, the games were turned into first-person RPGs starting from Fallout 3.
Fallout New Vegas is widely considered the best game in the franchise by many fans, but when it comes to a really good UI system for inventory management, the praise goes to Interplay Entertainment for developing the game in the series.
Newer Fallout games are made with console controls in mind, so some of the design charm of older CRPG Fallout is lost, but those are still great games.
7) Diablo II: Resurrected
The Diablo franchise is one of the most important RPGs that influenced the dungeon crawling genre of games, as well as isometric style game design, which we still see in a lot of games to this day.
Developed by Blizzard, the game has spawned multiple sequels and even releases for the mobile platform. But only one game in the series stood the test of time, and that was the second game, Diablo 2; it even received a remastered release in 2021
It was specifically necessary to put this game in the list, as a big part of the Diablo series depends on inventory management. More often than times, players will find themselves with a full inventory in the game.
Management of the inventory is a major part of what makes Diablo addictive. The newer games streamline the system with the implementation of sections.
