Few PC game genres can match the staggering variety found in role-playing games. RPGs fall into various categories and subcategories, each with distinct gameplay styles. Japanese and Western are the big umbrella categories, which are further divided into turn-based, action, strategy, dungeon crawlers, roguelikes, and other sub-genres.
Sometimes your character wields traditional weapons, such as swords and arrows, in a medieval setting like Nihon Falcom’s Ys series. In other titles, your character carries big heat in outer space. Think Electronic Arts’ Mass Effect games. Even realistic, modern cities can serve as intriguing RPG backdrops in Disco Elysium. Regardless of the game and style, RPGs typically deliver rich narratives combined with character and/or equipment customization. That, in a nutshell, is what makes an RPG an RPG.
The role-playing game genre on PC is just as deep, if not deeper, than what you find on consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series S/X. The aforementioned Ys and Mass Effect series live on PC, as do the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Final Fantasy, and Xanadu titles. There’s a huge PC RPG library, which makes this guide essential.
Are PC RPGs Compatible With Steam Deck?
Valve’s Linux-powered Steam Deck gives you access to your expansive Steam library on a convenient, portable, and surprisingly capable device. Some of the games on this RPG list are not available on Steam, but you should definitely consider downloading those that are to your Deck. There are thousands of Steam Deck Verified and Playable games to choose from, so you are bound to find some quality RPGs to take with you on the go.
Verified games feature a green checkmark on the store page, meaning that the title is assured to run well on the Deck. Playable is denoted with a yellow button, meaning it is playable, but needs some tweaking to get it running smoothly. Please note that games requiring an online connection aren’t ideal for on-the-go play, unless you have a dedicated Wi-Fi-signal in the area.
Recommended by Our Editors
The RPGs You Need
In this game roundup, you’ll find our favorite RPGs. Each title featured here has been thoroughly reviewed by our experts, so you can rest assured that the suggestions are varied and top-notch. However, you won’t find massively multiplayer online RPGs in this piece. The sub-genre’s unique online requirement, huge raids, and multiplayer components separate it from traditional RPGs. You can check out our roundup of the best MMO games.
Set many years prior to Final Fantasy VII’s events, Crisis Core follows Zack Fair’s rise through the ranks of Shinra’s private military. Reunion is a single-player action RPG that features radical visual improvements compared to the PSP original, as well as greatly overhauled combat. You now have free-flowing combos, redesigned boss mechanics, and extensive voice work. The game has many of the silly narrative quirks and odd mission structure of Square Enix’s PSP RPGs during that era, but the snappier gameplay and new visuals certainly make up for it. Whip out your Buster Sword and learn the price of freedom.
With Dark Souls III, developer From Software returned to the Souls series after crafting the eldritch madness that is the PlayStation 4-exclusive Bloodborne. In fact, Dark Souls III borrows gameplay and design elements from Bloodborne and other From Software action-RPG titles. As a result, Dark Souls III has an action-focused flavor and gorgeous, haunting graphics.
That said, Dark Souls III has its own feel, particularly when it comes to battling monsters. The improved combat mechanics add more fighting depth, making the skirmishes more challenging and rewarding.
In a future where cybernetic augmentation is the norm, a host of medical, social, and political issues arise, which threatens to divide the known world. Play as Adam Jensen, an augmented counter-terrorist super soldier, tasked with investigating terrorist cell activity in Prague, while also playing nice with violent gangsters and militaristic cops. These tough city streets are your playground, where you sneak, hack, and fight to your objectives to uncover the truth behind the terrorist activity erupting across the world.
Adam is an incredibly versatile protagonist. He excels with firearms, as well as melee offense, but he is as stealthy as a cat when he needed. With numerous side quests to undertake, each with open-ended solutions, there is no right way to play the game or customize Adam: build a charismatic talker, computer-hacking wizard, guns-blazing war machine, or cybernetic ghost.
If you don’t think video games should have politics, don’t play Disco Elysium – The Final Cut. If you don’t think games should aspire to say something, this detective-RPG isn’t the game for you. That’s not to say the game is a manifesto. The way it cynically, yet thoughtfully, criticizes a range of ideologies reveals the game’s politics aren’t nearly as narrow you might expect.
But this isn’t wishy-washy centrism. Disco Elysium’s sympathies ultimately lie with working people and movements that center their best interests, despite asking you to play as cops on the other end of that equation. The brilliant role-playing mechanics and richly realized world would be impressive no matter the story, but Disco Elysium’s beating, thematic heart makes it the best PC game you can play at this moment in history.
This superb RPG takes you to a rich fantasy world filled with complex politics, personal stories, unique races, and rich combat. Don’t be deterred by the “2” in the title; despite taking place in the same universe as the first game, it’s set a thousand years into the future as a standalone story.
Combat is turn-based, but it features robust, nuanced mechanics. Environments play a key factor in the attacks and spells you cast, as they can hinder or radically amplify attacks. Electrical attacks react violently in the presence of water, for example. But beyond these interactions, spells and effects can react with one another as well, resulting in some devastating and fascinating combos.
Original Sin 2 also features a rich cast of characters and NPCs, with involved quest lines and interactions that can be tackled in whatever manner you see fit. This is about as RPG as you can get on PC, so be sure to check it out.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen may be an RPG, but it features action-driven gameplay not unlike Capcom’s Devil May Cry and Monster Hunter series. It draws inspiration from classic fables and myths, setting the game in a world burdened with the return of a destructive red dragon.
Dark Arisen’s combat is flashy and engaging, and the open-world environments are rich with detail, but the quest-driven plot and sparse character development weaken what would otherwise be an interesting story. The RPG leveling stalls combat, as well, so you won’t fight at your full potential until you’ve leveled your class sufficiently. These issues may turn off less patient players, but those hoping for a grand, long-lived adventure across an action-packed open world will find plenty to discover and enjoy.
FromSoftware reimagines the brutally challenging Souls formula as an open-world RPG, producing one of the developer’s most acclaimed titles to date. Elden Ring is an unforgiving action-RPG packed to the gills with unrelenting enemies, labyrinthine dungeons, and astounding character build variety. It also delivers an engrossing open world playground to explore, with impressive freedom. Your magical steed, Torrent, possesses supernatural agility, letting you move around in ways no other Souls game has allowed before. The game suffered from stuttering and frame issues at launch, and while these have not been entirely corrected to date, they have been notably improved. Nonetheless, Elden Ring is an excellent RPG to consider adding to your library.
Joke all you want about Bethesda’s bug testing, but the developer’s Elder Scrolls series has consistently pushed the RPG immersion envelope. The wonderful world design that began in 2002’s Morrowind continues in Skyrim, a title that delivers one of the most impressive action-RPG settings to date.
It’s a fine place to tell the tale of Skyrim, a land torn apart by an ongoing battle between the two leaders who want to fill a power gap. You play as a prisoner who is spared execution, and you can customize the protagonist as you see fit. It’s no challenge to set yourself up as a warrior, wizard, or pickpocketing miscreant.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is an excellent reimagining of the iconic, JRPG classic. Featuring impressive visuals, addictive combat, amazing music, high frame rates, and the Yuffie DLC, Cloud Strife’s adventures are even better on PC than on console.
Paired with a lengthy story that’s dense with optional content, there was a lot to love about the remake. Sure, it may only be a portion of the original game’s story that covers the Midgard arc, but what’s on offer here is shockingly good.
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster combines the beloved 10th installment of the main Final Fantasy line and its sequel into one package that series fans will adore. As the collection’s name implies, both turn-based RPGs have been blessed with a graphical overhaul that adds a better pixel resolution and facial animations during cutscenes. If you are a fan of these games’ original PlayStation 2 release, consider Final X/X-2 HD Remaster a must-buy bundle.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Hoyoverse’s sprawling adventure is about as flattering as games come. In 2019, Genshin Impact made a splash in the video game world with open-world, action-RPG gameplay that’s heavily inspired by Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That is not to say it’s a cheap knockoff, however. The free-to-play game features numerous unique, element-based gameplay systems, charming story beats, and multiple playable characters that set it apart from its inspiration. Genshin Impact also receives frequent story expansions and seasonal events, giving you plenty to do whenever you log back in.
With Honkai: Star Rail, Hoyoverse embraces the turn-based roots of classic RPGs. This sweeping space opera sees you pursue the dangerous Stellaron, planet-corrupting artifacts that have cropped up across the universe. Combat is a turn-based affair, and each character you recruit has two abilities and an ultimate move to unleash during a scrap. Battles are tactile and snappy, giving the game a unique action feel. Team synergy is vital, as elemental weaknesses and combos play a major role in how battles play out. Honkai: Star Rail is free to play, but features gacha elements for character recruitment, meaning you draw them from an in-game lottery. Remember to play at your leisure and not get pressured into FOMO spending.
Horizon Zero Dawn stood as one of the best PlayStation 4 exclusives, right up there with Bloodborne, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and the God of War reimagining. Now you can also enjoy its open-world, monster-slaying action on PC, thanks to this Complete Edition. This PC game contains the base game, plus The Frozen Wilds DLC (an additional area featuring more story content and collectibles). It easily holds up as a huge, dense, worthwhile adventure in the post-apocalypse.
This epic trilogy takes you on an intergalactic journey to stop an alien threat from eradicating all known life. Remastered visuals and rebalanced gameplay makes the series as accessible as it’s ever been, so if you missed the boat the first time around, the Legendary Edition is the perfect way to catch up.
The Mass Effect games are third-person shooters, with a liberal dose of space magic to spice up the action. You have various telekinetic and abilities to complement your gunplay, such as firing shockwaves from your hands or psychically lifting your target from the ground to make it easy target practice. Aside from action, you decision and dialogue choices shape how the titles unfold, often leading to significant changes between games that foster friendships and betrayals.
Even the most die hard Monster Hunter fans admit that there’s a certain level of gameplay jank that you must overlook in order to enjoy the creature-slaying series; a jankiness that has turned many people away.
With Monster Hunter World, developer Capcom overhauled animations, streamlined gameplay, and made numerous adjustments designed to appeal to core and casual audiences alike. The changes work—big-time. Tracking and battling huge, snarling beasts with a variety of crafted armor and weaponry is an absolute joy, especially while doing so with friends in multiplayer mode.
The excellent Monster Hunter Ruse impressed with its streamlined, creature-fighting systems and fresh mobility options when it debuted on Nintendo Switch. Now making the jump to PC, Rise impresses even more with its increased graphics fidelity and high frame rates. It lacks cross-save and cross-play support, but Monster Hunter Rise is the best way to play Capcom’s long-running action-RPG.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a heartwarming adventure that resurrects the wonder and chibi-world aesthetic of old-school Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles. Developed by Level-5, in collaboration with former Studio Ghibli character designer Yoshiyuki Momose and composer Joe Hisashi, Ni No Kuni II is an audio-visual treat that leads you through a world seemingly crafted from a child’s imagination. The story, one involving a boy-king who’s ousted from the throne, sees you recruiting people from neighboring lands to unite the nations.
If you’re looking for a challenging experience, you’ll probably want to skip this game. But if you’re new to RPGs, want to share this whimsical experience with young gamers, or simply seek an light adventure through a beautiful world, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a worthwhile purchase.
Nier: Automata is an action-RPG that combines Yoko Taro’s outside-the-box storytelling with Platinum Games’ excellent combat chops. You play as 2B, an android tasked with defeating a robotic menace, and assisting other androids living in Earth’s wastelands.
Automata lets you earn 2B-enhancing computer chips by completing quests, defeating enemies, or simply buying them from shops. These help you take down the mechanical monstrosities by boosting a variety of offensive or defensive skills. If you dig the world that Taro created, you’ll be happy to know that you’re rewarded for multiple playthroughs with new revelations that further flesh out the game’s story.
Nioh represents developer Team Ninja’s first action-RPG, and the game shares a few superficial similarities with From Software’s influential Dark Souls series. The player-summoning cooperative gameplay, corpse-run death system, shortcut-rich levels, and enemy-respawning checkpoints will all feel familiar to Dark Soul aficionados.
However, Nioh is very much its own beast, and is filled with highly technical action and stronger narrative elements than the Souls titles. This Complete Edition includes the original console game, as well as all of the DLC content, so newcomers have dozens of hours of action to master.
Nioh 2 is a fantastic sequel that takes challenging combat, stat-allocating RPG elements, and gear-based character builds, and frames it within a Sengoku-era story that marries real historical figures and Japanese mythology. The original game’s thrilling, technical action returns, but adds four new weapon types, yokai abilities that let you summon supernatural attacks, and an incredibly useful counterattack mechanic. If you like hardcore action and tweaking character builds, pick up Nioh 2 without hesitation.
Path of Exile is a massive, lengthy action-RPG that borrows heavily from the Diablo series, with its randomly generated dungeons and items. The click-heavy combat, serious inventory management, dark fantasy atmosphere, and monster-eradicating early missions should feel familiar to Diablo fans. Fortunately, the massive skill tree system gives you limitless potential to work towards.
Sure, you can work towards a build if you scour the community for suggestions, or you can plow through it yourself and create whatever type of warrior you want. Run through dungeons, amass gear and abilities that synergize with your build, craft what you need, then dive back into another adventure to earn more loot. Path of Exile shakes up the meta every few months, so you can enjoy a near-endless endgame.
Persona 4 was hailed as the best RPG in the franchise before the phenomenal Persona 5 came along. Arguably, it still is. Originally released at the end of the PlayStation 2’s life cycle, it received an enhanced port called Persona 4 Golden on the PlayStation Vita that eventually found a home on the PC. Persona 4 combines social-sim elements with turn-based combat, and follows a group of Japanese high school students investigating a supernatural TV channel that distorts its viewers’ psyche. Grow with your companions, keep your grades up, and the battle evil that is merging reality with the illusory TV world.
Atlus’ RPG masterpiece has gone multiplatform, finally finding a home on PC. In it, you play as Joker, a delinquent high school student who’s haunted by his criminal past. You are swept up into a supernatural adventure that takes you into Tokyo’s psyche, where the anxiety and negativity of society manifests itself as labyrinthine, demon-riddled Palaces. Juggle school, hang out with friends, and dungeon crawl as you work towards graduating, while also working to heal the destructive elements that have taken root in the populace. Relish the snappy turn-based combat, stylish presentation, and addictive music that enraptured PlayStation fans, now on your PC.
Persona 5 Royal is the definitive version of the game. Not only does this PC version include the new characters, story elements, and music, but it also comes bundled with all previously released DLC. If you like gaming on the go, Persona 5 Royal is a superb RPG to download on your Steam Deck.
At a glance, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth shares much in common with Konami’s classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The games are similar, visually and tangibly, which is great if you’re looking to fill the undead-slaying void that Konami left behind once the developer shelved the Castlevania franchise.
Wonder Labyrinth features excellent 2D visuals, tight controls, and clever element-swapping mechanics that expands the combat and exploration. The action-RPG is a bit short due to its linear progression, but it’s a satisfying Castlevania homage that tweaks the gameplay enough to feel fresh.
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (for PC) Review
In Rune Factory 4 Special, you play as an amnesiac who tries to salvage his life, while citizens from a small town named Selphia mistake him for royalty. This remastered, fantasy-based spin-off of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons farming/dating series encourages you to farm, meet a spouse, and start a family, as one does in those games. And, as expected from a RPG, you battle through dangerous, monster-filled dungeons.
The sequel to The Stick of Truth, The Fractured But Whole is a turn-based RPG filled with South Park‘s topical, highly satirical, and utterly absurd comedy. It’s a refreshing RPG, if only because the gameplay, adult language, ridiculous scenarios, and show references will keep fans of the show smiling until the end.
Fractured slips up once in a while; the superhero-themed exploration elements utilize some highly tedious menu switching and quick time event (QTE) mechanics, and the game is surprisingly buggy. However, if you can look past these issues, you’re in for an enjoyable time.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a farming simulator/RPG hybrid that looks and plays much like the classic Harvest Moon games. That’s because it is Harvest Moon. A licensing spat between publishers forced a title change in 2014, but the game’s heart and soul—ranching in a quaint town filled with quirky characters—remains the same. In fact, Friends of Mineral Town is a remake of the series’ first Game Boy Advance entry, one that boasts new graphics and a remastered soundtrack. The polygonal visuals are a bit bland, and the controls are a touch clunky, but the PC game is wholesome, farm-sim fun about building businesses and relationships.
Arise puts the Tales series back on the map, injecting fresh action and thoughtful side quests into what was becoming a stale and formulaic series.
Tales popularized action combat way back on the Super Nintendo, and Arise improves on the old formula with greatly expanded, combo-centric combat that looks and feels great. Featuring a large cast of unique playable characters, quirky story interactions, streamlined quests and progression, and more anime clichés than you can shake a stick at, Tales of Arise embraces its cheesy tropes while also elevating the series to new heights.
The core of any good role-playing game is choice, and InXile Entertainment’s Wasteland 2 wholeheartedly embraces this gameplay element. Set in an alternate universe where America and USSR exchanged nukes, Wasteland 2 lets you choose from a list of pre-made characters or create a more specialized and customized party by allocating skill points and attributes. There is no single protagonist; instead, you control a party of Desert Rangers that seeks to solve a murder mystery.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the final installment in CD Projekt Red’s action-RPG series. In Wild Hunt, Geralt of Rivia slays mythological monsters, collects bounties, and protects the child of destiny.
Developer CD Projekt Red builds upon the preceding Witcher game by introducing a ridiculously large open world filled with evil of both the monster and human varieties. Witcher 3 also greatly improves the series’ combat by streamlining alchemy and tightening crafting. The Wild Hunt’s rich narrative—one of the best stories in video game history—drives the game’s tragedy, folkloric horror, humor, and intrigue.
Nihon Falcom’s Xanadu Next is an action-RPG that features basic keyboard-and-mouse controls and PlayStation One-era visuals. The simplicity, however, isn’t detrimental to the game.
Xanadu Next makes excellent use of its uncomplicated systems to deliver a fantastic dungeon-crawling experience that’s well worth checking out. In fact, Xanadu Next’s point-and-click gameplay makes it structurally similar to Diablo, with its crypts and treasures. Still, Xanadu Next carries its own identity thanks to its interconnected, winding pathways, and excellent soundtrack.
Sega’s Yakuza franchise is the spiritual successor to two of the publisher’s beloved series: Shenmue and Streets of Rage. Like Shenmue, Yakuza lets you explore and live in a virtual Japan where you can eat authentic Japanese meals, play classic arcade games, and aid fellow citizens. Like Streets of Rage, Yakuza sees you knuckle up roving bands of street thugs.
Traditionally, the Yakuza series has successfully married both game design philosophies, but with the series featuring six mainline entries, many people wondered how the franchise would evolve. Enter Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The newest series entry takes the basic Yakuza beat-’em-up formula and gives it a welcome, Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) shake-up. Despite the genre change, the PC game is excellent.
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