Top Tier
Lost Mines of Phandelver:
It's hard to pick a good module for beginners to get what D&D is, but this one nails it to a t. Starts as a railroad but quickly becomes a sandbox, yet remains focused enough for everyone to stay on target. Really nothing to complain about here, because it does what it's meant to do perfectly.
Curse of Strahd:
Not only is this module recreating the original, it adds some pretty great additional material as well. It really encapsulates gothic horror and all of its tropes, but somehow feels original as well. With the titular villain grounding this module, you really can't go wrong.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh:
These may be recreations of old modules, but they really are given room to grow here. With enough ties to keep them linked, these really have their own unique flair of "horror on the edge of the sea," that is less trope-filled than either Cthulhu or Ravenloft, these modules do a great job of defining a small town's scope to minute detail. Smaller scope, no less fun.
Tomb of Annihilation:
The only flaw here is that a jungle hexcrawl isn't for everybody. Apart from that, this isn't just a great module with several stellar locations, it's practically a tutorial for running games in jungle settings. Capped off with a gauntlet dungeon that is both original and an homage, it's got a little something for everyone.
Descent into Avernus:
This adventure takes people from one classic city to the unexplainable horror of hell, and it does it well. With enough new rules to keep veterans entertained, and a massive sandbox of different options, any party will find themselves enjoying crafting their own unique experience before their final confrontation with an Archdevil.
Middle Tier
Storm King's Thunder:
A great module that encapsulates the classic giants of D&D to the modern style of adventures, but it has some flaws. The introduction is rough and generic, and this adventure will inevitably be compared to the many giant-centric adventures before it. That said, it's fun when in the right DM's hands.
Tyranny of Dragons:
We all now the problems this story has in its first half, and they are many. But each location does have its uses, this modules biggest problem is getting PCs from location to location. If a DM can figure that out, the rest of this adventure thrives in its titanic battle between dragons, just as its cover proclaims.
Out of the Abyss:
A brilliant introduction to the darkness of the underdark, but it does seem to suffer from biting off more than it can chew. By combining massive elements like Demon Lords to the politics of drow, one wonders if this adventure would do better by scaling back the extra-planar villains to let the PCs explore this setting more deeply.
Dragon Heist:
Although not as strong of an introduction to D&D as Lost Mines of Phandelver, this module still provides enough tools for a skilled DM to pull together something fun and unique in a city environment. In the hands of a weaker DM this book will suffer, but the villains and modular style provides more use than one would first assume.
Low Tier
Princes of the Apocalypse:
This adventure struggles to escape it's homage from the Temple of Elemental Evil. Although it has interesting villains (the four cult leaders), this module often feels more like the writers were checking off boxes rather than creating something truly unique. It's hard to find a reason to play this module instead of ones in the middle tier.
Tales from the Yawning Portal:
I'm not saying these modules aren't good (they are), but it's a rare group that will want to do all of the dungeons in a row. Add that to there being little original here, and mostly being conversions with (admittedly good) new art, and you may wonder why it's not better to just play the original as printed.
Dungeon of the Mad Mage:
It is a rare group of PCs willing to spend a year or more in a dungeon that has little overarching story. It harkens back to the origins of dungeon crawling, but most players have moved on from that playstyle, and for that reason is the least usable of 5e's modules.
