Are we counting old-school expansions as DLC? If so, then, aside from the infamous Horse Armor, the Elder Scrolls series seriously raised the bar for what to expect from RPG add-ons. Tribunal and Bloodmoon were massive expansions that set the standard early on.
Knights of the Nine might’ve been a bit weaker, but Shivering Isles is one of the GOAT expansions and is arguably better than the base game.
Skyrim kept the momentum going with Dawnguard and Dragonborn, both of which added tons of new content.
The series is straight-up GOATed when it comes to expansions that are actually expansive: new locations packed with quests, items, monsters, spells, etc. They take already huge games and somehow make them even bigger.
Rimworld or Crusader Kings. Their DLC expands the possibilities of what can happen during a game and are entirely optional. Their existence doesn’t take anything from new players who only own the base game and you can pick and choose what you want to add to your game to expand it how you so choose.
I second Rimworld. The DLCs literally only add content, and are completely optional even if you own them. In fact, let me shill Rimworld for a second…
Never have I felt every emotion possible from playing a game. From sorrow about one of my child colonists getting gunned down trying to move a rock, to triumph watching a lone colonist single-handedly repelling a mech threat with a bolt action and a sandbag. Rage, watching one of those bastards breakdown from having to sit in a shitty chair and murdering the only doctor in the colony, then dying to the wounds sustained from said doctor shortly after.
Ate without table / 10
The following DLC From dying light was great, new area, new mechanic (driving) and expanded on the story
The Destiny and Destiny 2 expansions were great… right up until the one that removed 1/2 the game.
Pretty cliche, but The Witcher 3.
Enemy Within for XCOM Enemy Unkown was a perfect addon. New storyline, new surprises and more polish to the main game. Well worth the money
Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare was excellent.
I quite like most of the The Binding of Isaac DLC (although sometimes they’re a bit too big, to be honest).
The Vietnam DLC for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was also rather good. I didn’t get to play as much of it as I might have liked but I remember it being more than just a resin.
Bonus: Red Alert 2: Yuri’s Revenge (an expansion pack rather than DLC admittedly)
