A problem i find in the occasional modern rpg is that unique items are often too easy to find and are often done so by either random drops or in a chest on your way to a greater goal.
Another traditional method of acquiring them is through boss fights. Yes ok, fighting a particularly powerful foe should yield its rewards, but for those items, these legendary artifacts that have changed the course of that games history, they should be secretive, they should not be found simply as a drop to a boss you had to kill anyway.
Dragon Age has the same problem, some of the most powerful items there ar