The world is abuzz with news about the biggest, most technically impressive games, and the RPG genres are no exception.
2023’s hit Baldur’s Gate 3 could melt many even modern PCs, and The Witcher 3, even without the next-gen update can be a little bit taxing on older machines despite already being eight years old.
This is obviously not optimal, but thankfully there are many excellent RPGs which should be quite happy running on an older or slower machine just fine.
They won’t all necessarily agree with an integrated graphics cards, should it be your only option, but many of them have system requirements low enough for it to be worth a shot anyway.
The list below features six games, each representing a different type of a role-playing game, just to provide a nice range.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Fallout 3 Game Of The Year Edition | 2009-10-13 | RPG | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | Baldurs Gate II Enhanced Edition | 2013-11-15 | RPG | Beamdog |
 | The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind Goty Edition | 2002-04-29 | RPG | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | Transistor | 2014-05-20 | Indie | Supergiant Games |
 | Alpha Protocol | 2010-05-27 | Action & Shooter | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition | 2010-09-29 | RPG | BioWare |
 | Two Worlds Epic Edition | 2009-04-30 | RPG | Reality Pump Studios |
 | Dark Messiah Of Might Magic | 2006-10-25 | Fighting | Arkane Studios |
 | Risen | 2009-10-30 | RPG | Piranha Bytes |
 | Risen 2 Dark Waters Gold Edition | 2012-04-26 | Adventure | Piranha Bytes |
 | Risen 3 Complete Edition | 2014-08-13 | RPG | Piranha Bytes |
 | Jade Empire Special Edition | 2007-02-27 | Action & Shooter | BioWare Corporation |
 | Arcanum Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura | 2001-08-22 | RPG | Troika Games |
 | Planescape Torment Enhanced Edition | 2017-04-11 | Strategy | Beamdog |
 | Mass Effect Legendary Edition | 2021-05-14 | Action RPG | BioWare |
 | Mass Effect Collection | 2008-05-28 | RPG | BioWare |
 | Shadowrun Returns | 2013-07-25 | Adventure | Harebrained Schemes |
 | Shadowrun Dragonfall Directors Cut | 2014-09-18 | Adventure | Harebrained Schemes |
 | Legend Of Grimrock | 2012-04-11 | Adventure | Almost Human Games |
 | Torchlight II | 2012-10-02 | Adventure | Runic Games |
cRPG: Planescape: Torment
| Release date: | 2017-04-11 |
| Genre: | Strategy |
| Developer: | Beamdog |
Planescape: Torment is a time-honored classic, which has helped define what a story-driven cRPGs should feel like for decades after release.
It puts you in the role of The Nameless One, a heavily scarred man awakening on a slab in a gran mortuary using zombies to do menial work. Amnesiac and seemingly immortal, the journey ahead of you will span weird cities and other planes of the multiverse.
Torment is mostly text-based, with tons of conversations and narration, so it isn’t necessarily the game for your if you’re seeking thrilling action or tactical challenges. However, if you’re really into character-driven story, nuanced choices, and deliciously weird settings, you absolutely shouldn’t ignore this one. It’s the conceptual grandparent of 2019’s instantly classic Disco Elysium.
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Open world RPG: Risen
| Release date: | 2009-10-30 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Piranha Bytes |
2009’s Risen is a spiritual successor to the Gothic series, Gothic 2 especially.
You wake up stranded after a shipwreck, on a beach of an island that’s about to become very important to the world. But before that, you’ll need to establish yourself as a major player, ally yourself to one of the factions, and explore the island’s many nook and crannies for gold, gear, and experience. You’ll need all three.
Almost the entire island is technically available to you from the beginning, but in a true Piranha Bytes fashion there’s no level scaling to keep you alive and it will take time, money for you to get stronger. The game has a bit of expected Piranha Bytes “jank”, but it isn’t difficult to get used to, and when you do, both exploration and combat will reveal themselves to be very satisfying.
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Action RPG: Mass Effect trilogy
| Release date: | 2012-11-06 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | BioWare |
While the original Mass Effect still holds to a more RPG roots, ME2 and 3 embrace the fast-paced third-person action in addition to the cinematic conversations and weighty choices which can bite you in the butt in the following game.
Indeed, some decisions from ME1 can and will impact your ME3 campaign in big and small ways, giving the series a large multiple playthrough potential.
ME games are set nearly 200 years in the future, with humanity still being relatively new to the galactic community of different species. You’re playing as Commander Shepard, a veteran soldier who, through unpleasant series of events, becomes the first human agent of the galactic government. What follows are several crises only Shepard is in position to solve, for better or worse.
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Turn-based RPG: Shadowrun Returns / Dragonfall / Hong Kong
| Release date: | 2013-07-25 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Harebrained Schemes |
We’re bundling three games here, because technically two of them started as side campaigns for Shadowrun Returns before being turned into stand-alone productions.
The games are based on the Shadowrun tabletop RPG, and adapt both the setting and its systems quite well. Each game tells a different story, with different crews operating in different places in the world.
They are full-on RPGs, with meaningful choices, crew to build relations with, and plenty of side stories woven around the central plot. They also feature a tactical, detailed, turn-based combat powered by action points. Shadowrun features a classless progression system which lets you distribute points however you want, but there are also pre-made class templates if you want to start playing quickly.
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Dungeon crawl: Legend of Grimrock
| Release date: | 2012-04-11 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Almost Human Games |
The Legend of Grimrock is a modern version of an RPG subgenre which used to be much more popular in the old days.
They used to be called dungeon crawlers, and revolved around exploring complex… well, dungeons, solving puzzles, fighting monsters, and trying to keep your small party alive against traps and other dangers.
It’s not a plot-driven game, unlike most other entries on the list, but if you’re interested in truly old-school kind of RPG. You’ll be going through a massive, and conveniently grid-based, Grimrock Dungeons, dealing with challenges one step at a time. Soon your party of convicts will start gaining levels, getting more powerful, and better suited to become the first people ever to emerge from it alive.
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Hack’n’slash: Torchlight II
| Release date: | 2012-10-02 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Runic Games |
Perhaps you’d like to play something more action-packed, but, but dislike the first- or third-person perspective.
In this case, the hack’n’slash genre is your friend. In this case, we’re recommending Torchlight II, a 2012 action RPG which hides excellent gameplay and mechanical depth under a friendly, somewhat cartoonish aesthetic and the unquestionably cute presence of a helpful pet.
Torchlight 2 features four classes, Berserker, Embermage, Engineer, and Outlander, and even features a six-player online co-op, so you could delve dungeons and confront hordes together with friends. It might not have the dark fantasy style of Diablo, but it carries its gameplay ideas with pride. And, we reiterate, it has pets, which you can feed special fish to enhance their abilities.
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It’s “RPG” not “RTX”
RPGs, both digital and tabletop ones, are held up by the stories they enable, and the mechanics they provide, not by visual spectacle and big cinematics. These things are nice, of course, but some of the best RPGs were mostly text and some sprites or simple sprites. As a result, having an older machine doesn’t mean you’re barred from having fun with the genre, far from it!
Hopefully this quickfire list of low-spec-friendly RPGs provided you at least with ideas, if not the next few games to try out. If you’re keen to keep looking, the vast catalog of digital offers on our Marketplace is sure to have just the thing that ignites your interest.