What are the best CRPGs on PC?

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CRPG is short for computer role playing game and is a specific genre of gaming. It came about to describe role playing game games that were adapted from the table top pen and paper style to run on computers. The earliest of CRPG’s were game such as Altima, Wasteland and Might and Magic. Later on games such as Fallout, Baldur’s Gate and Darklands lead the genre.

Currently there is a resurgence of CRPG’s found within the current trend of successfully Kickstarted games such as Divinity: Original Sin, Shadowrun and Wasteland 2.

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Best CRPGs on PC	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
92 Pillars of Eternity	$44.99	Very Positive	RPG
-- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	$9.99	Very Positive	RPG
-- Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition	-	Mostly Positive	RPG
-- Tyranny	$44.99	Very Positive	Very Positive
-- Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition	$39.99	–	Dungeon Crawler RPG

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15 Other Games Considered

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Top Pro

Gameplay holds up well

For what is now an eleven year old game, the classic Bioware RPG game mechanics such as branching dialog and turn based battles similar to a CRPG (where the player must pause the gameplay in order to choose their commands to then un-pause in order to watch their chosen strategy play out) hold up well. See More

Top Con

Somewhat buggy

Crashes can happen while playing, while not a huge deal they can be annoying. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:RPG

Co-Op:None

Controller Support:HID (Android), No (PC)

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Top Pro

Many Mod

Can you find many mod made by the community that improuve the game See More

Top Pro

Engaging story thanks to the superb writing

Being a role playing game, KotOR has a pretty long story that the player feels connected to that luckily was written well, making for a good story that is very engaging. See More

Top Pro

Handles Star Wars license well

Seeing things like Jedi vs Sith and politics in the game that are now staples of the newer movies helps to feel as though the game fits into the cannon quite well. With so many movie license games in the past being quick cash-ins it is great to see the Star Wars license used in a manner that fits with the cannon and of high quality development. See More

Top Pro

Longevity through multiple playthroughs thanks to the sheer amount of text and choices to be found in the game

The games story is pretty deep and the text that can be found within that, tells it will take multiple playthroughs to see it all, making for not only a good reason to play many times, but creates the feeling of a very deep universe. See More

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Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Top Pro

Three new playable characters

A mage a monk and a half orc are the three new playable characters in the game which also have expanded stories over the original characters. See More

Top Con

New missions are buggy

Bugs do appear in the new missions which can easily be solved by reloading the game, but still is quite an annoyance to do so. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:RPG

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Top Pro

Enhanced resolution support with new zoom ability

The enhanced edition now supports any resolution one may have on their PC as well as has a new addition of being able to zoom in and out, making it much easier to see what is going on in the game. See More

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Tyranny

Top Pro

Robust magic system that gives freedom of choice to the player

The magic system allows any character to use magic as long as they have enough of the correct attribute. In addition to this, all of the magic is made up of different elements allowing you to customize spells and discover new ways of destroying your enemy. See More

Top Con

The ending may not be satisfying

The ending is abrupt and dissatisfying, as it ends on a cliffhanger. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

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Top Pro

Has a different approach to a story with you playing as the villain

Top Pro

Skills increase as you use them, which customizes the game towards your playstyle

After allocating basic stats, you can make a character into anything. Currently one of the most powerful builds is a 2-handed weapon wielding mage in light armor. See More

Top Pro

Consequences that go way beyond typical lip service to your actions.

Typical of Obsidian Entertainment to be the only RPG developer that truly understands how to use video games as storytelling medium. See More

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Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition

Top Pro

Highly interactive environments that contain rewards and consequences to ones actions

Divinity: Original Sin has a high level of interactivity within the games environment. This ranges from NPC interactions, elemental spells that can douse fires, to a cornucopia of in-world items that can be stolen. Most actions in the game have consequences as well; for example, you will lose reputation in a town, when caught stealing. There is often a price to pay for behaving badly and getting caught, but a great thrill when getting away with nefarious deeds. See More

Top Con

Doesn't take itself seriously enough

While I don't mind if a game doesn't take itself too seriously, here it often just feels extremely forced almost like the game is trying to be a parody when it's clearly not. Even my D&D group back when we were 15 could do a lot better when it came to creating believable funny dialog. Fortunately the Early Access version of it's successor looks to be a lot better on that account. See More

Specs

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

Co-Op:2 Player Local / Online

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Top Pro

Morality based gameplay that actually impacts the game

Users will be confronted with moral choices during their quests. These choices can effect future parts of the game, which makes for a more realistic and immersive story. See More

Top Con

Garbage UI/Inventory/Camera

What's more fun than micro-managing your inventory? How about micro-managing the spell bars and camera too? That's what. Be careful where you click, you might accidentally move instead of attack and waste your precious AP and lose your flank bonus! Have fun reloading... hope you saved ;) See More

Top Pro

Self-deprecating humor allows the game to stay lighthearted despite many serious overtones

The writing in the game is often entertaining and humorous as the game does not take itself too seriously. There are quite a few inside jokes to be found for this type of genre game as well as may situations that lighten the mood, such as talking pets that hand out light-hearted quests. See More

Top Con

Mechanics take a lot of trial and error

There is a basic tutorial, but it is very limited and does not explain some of the finer aspects of the game. Much of the title relies on using spells, in and out of combat. Want to get into a locked door, you can burn it down. Want to save a burning ship, cast a rain spell over it. While this may seem like an intuitive mechanic, it does take a bit to get used to it and and solve situations through this manner as none of this is explained as to being able to be done. See More

Top Pro

Highly interactive world

Divinity: Original Sin has a highly interactive world. This ranges from NPC interactions, elemental spells that can affect the environment, to a cornucopia of in-world items and objects that can taken or moved. There are so many things you can do, it's very easy to immerse yourself and have a great time. See More

Top Con

Dull lore and game world

Top Con

Building a working party may take several tries

Depending on what one want to achieve in the game with their party and what jobs and powers they want each to have it may take several restarts in order to get a good balance. This will take time and can be an inconvenience as none of this is spelled out in the game whatsoever. See More

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Wasteland 2

Top Pro

Successful heir to the original game

Though not the pretties game to look at, the art style and direction make for a game that resembles the original quite successfully. More modern looks could have easily detracted from the game and its terroir. See More

Top Con

Gameplay feels a bit rigid

While there are a few points where a p[layer can choose to use unintended actions, more often than not a set skill has to be used on set items in order to interact with them. Sadly this leaves little room for experimental gameplay or use of imagination to try for unintended circumstances. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

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Top Pro

Large party size

The game starts out with four user created or pre-made characters that then allows 3 more to be added later in the game for a total of seven. The large party size allows for plenty of player choice and customization of their team, in order to fit anyones play style or particular play scenarios. See More

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Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

Top Pro

New NPCs to choose from

There are two or three new NPCs your PC encounters, and can add one or more to your adventuring party. See More

Top Con

Modded original can offer better experience

Depending on if one want to go through the trouble, but modding the original game can offer a better experience over this enhanced edition. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

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Top Pro

Plays like original with more portraits available for PCs and the Black Pits arena combat module

Plays just like the original game with the same hidden treasures. When creating PCs, you have more available portraits to choose from. Black Pits Arena combat module is awesome, but gets really deadly in the later rounds. See More

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Dragon Age: Inquisition

Top Pro

Lots of interesting characters and lore

The characters in Dragon Age: Inquisition are great, with intriguing backstories that delve into the game's lore. Early on, you meet a couple of once-high-ranking members of the Templar Order, like Cullen, who isn't a playable character, but serves as your military adviser instead. He previously fought back against the corruption in the templar ranks, and now wants to help you on your journey to unite an army against evil forces. Another interesting character is the elf named Solas, a playable mage who knows a lot of information about the world. He acts as your guide, providing you with intriguing lore about the places you visit, like the Fade, a mystical realm filled with spirits and demons. Even though he seems one-note in his role as a dispenser of information, has some hidden depth to him that may end up surprising you. All of the characters have layered personalities that fit with the lore surrounding them. See More

Top Con

Generic villain drags the story down

The main villain, Corypheus, is so bland and unremarkable that he worsens the entire story. He's a darkspawn, a type of demon enemy in the Dragon Age lore, hell-bent on bringing ruin to the world for reasons that aren't all that compelling. He doesn't have much of a personality beyond his evil tendencies, turning him into more of a caricature. If you've seen any old generic Hollywood movie with an evil villain, then you know all there is to see with Corypheus. He's such a safe and boring villain that he bogs down the narrative, making most of the twists and turns predictable and uneventful. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Tactical Role-Playing

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Top Pro

Tons of content

There's lots of content in Dragon Age: Inquisition that can keep you playing for a long time. The game offers a very long main story, with even more side quests and hidden areas that can take many hours to complete. The main story has plenty of branching decisions that affect how your playthrough turns out, encouraging you to play the game twice or more to see the different outcomes. Exploring the open world for the epic dragon slaying side quests is a great challenge with cool-looking fights and amazing loot. For those looking for a game to sink 60+ hours into, this is a good choice. See More

Top Con

Stiff and repetitive character animations during cutscenes

Character animations are incredibly stiff in ways that look robotic. During cutscenes, you'll see the same types of movements over and over, like a character shifting their waist back and bobbing their head to seem important or defiant, or moving their head down with their words to make a point. If there were more variation with the animations instead, then the stiff delivery might not be all that bad. See More

Top Pro

Building relationships with companions is enjoyable

There are a few neat ways you can build relationships with your party members and non-playable war advisers. These aren't limited to just romance options -- you can spend time with characters to become better friends with them, too. Improving your approval rating with characters comes down to picking certain dialog options, either to flirt with them or agree with their worldview. Doing unique side quests to help with a character's personal matters unrelated to the main story also goes a long way toward showing that you care about them, letting you see more of a character's intricate backstory and motivations. After building up enough approval, you get a special scene with your romance option or friend, and afterward you can return whenever you want to spend more time with them. It's a really good system that lets you feel like the characters are your actual comrades, helping you grow more attached to them throughout the game's long story. See More

Top Con

Forgettable multiplayer riddled with awful microtransactions

It's easy to forget that the multiplayer in this game exists. The developers basically tacked it on, taking the same single-player combat and changing it to horde mode for a multiplayer environment. It's the same type of combat over and over again with no meaningful progression. The microtransactions are abhorrent, some of them costing an arm and a leg just to get you ahead in a multiplayer that hardly anyone plays or cares about. This mode is such a blatant cash grab that you're likely better off avoiding. See More

Top Pro

The areas you discover are huge

The areas in Dragon Age: Inquisition are simply monstrous. The world is divided into separate maps that are each gigantic worlds on their own. From the sprawling hills and valleys in the Hinterlands to the expansive snowy ruins of Emprise du Lion, every level has tons of outposts, environmental challenges to solve such as leaks of hazardous gas or broken bridges, side quests to discover, and people to talk to in order to learn more about the world and the lore. All of this is amazing for people that enjoy exploring and making new discoveries. See More

Top Con

Slow combat animations

The combat animations can often be really slow. This causes problems, like when an attack's animation takes too long to finish, and you're left second guessing whether or not the attack will go off at all. You have to wait for the animations to play out, which can be troublesome if your aim is off or the enemy moves. This takes away from the combat's strategic play, leaving you open to attack while you wait for the animations to sort themselves out. See More

Top Pro

You get to feel like a commander in combat and in the story

As the Inquisitor, you're the focal point of a huge movement to wage an army against the main villain. You're in charge of a ton of things: fortifying your base of operations, scouting for intel and resources, crafting gear, managing your companions in battle, picking which story decisions are most beneficial to your cause, and more. Besides controlling your own character during the real-time combat, you can control any of your team members, which gives you access to their diverse range of skills and tools to deal with any situation. If your Inquisitor can't heal, for example, then you can switch to a character like Solas who can take care of your party's wounds on your orders. You can also pause the action by bringing up the tactical radial menu, where you take your time to assign where you want your characters to go and which enemies to focus on. Story missions revolve around picking sides during conflicts that benefit your army the most, such as siding with the templars against the mages in order to have them with you for the final battle, at the cost of possibly angering your teammates who disagree with your choices . It's up to you to decide the best course of action and deal with any possible consequences. There is a lot to keep track of, but these decisions give you plenty of agency, helping you feel like your decisions and directions matter. See More

Top Con

Overwhelming amount to do at start of game

After the prologue, you arrive to the Hinterlands: a massive level with way too much to explore. Even though it's great that the open world is so big, you pretty much get dropped off in the Hinterlands without enough direction or guidance. The game just tells you to look around and find the next story quest, which can be overwhelming in the first few hours. It would have been better if you had the chance to get eased into the expansive feel of the maps first. See More

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Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

Top Pro

Easy to google for help

Due to the game popularity many guides and help tutorials are easily found through google search, which is great as there is much one needs to learn about the game that is not available as a tutorial. See More

Top Con

Combat system is still convoluted

Certain weapons need certain stats to damage certain enemies, which is most left unexplained in game, which makes the game difficult to play at times. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

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Top Pro

Remastered RPG classic with extra content

The whole game has been remastered to play and look well on modern devices. With additions to the game like skipping dialogue or being able to finally zoom this is the definitive version. See More

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Neverwinter Nights

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Avernum: Escape From the Pit

Top Pro

Great gameplay wins out over graphics

A good example of a well priced game with a robust engine and great gameplay not requiring 3D graphics and possibly being better for that design choice. See More

HonorableYeomra's Experience

If you can get over the 2.5D ISO graphical style, then this game is excellent. Lots of gameplay choices, lots of good story without resorting to game stopping "lore dumps" Also very fast. Something about being able to see so much on a HD screen makes tactics in battle and planning ahead much more rewarding. A positive benefit of remaining sprite based. Also you will find, as the characters are less graphically detailed, there is ample room for your imagination to play a role. You aren't force fed too many specifics. The only down side is that Spiderweb Software keep releasing the same basic half a dozen games on upgraded engines. This is the third time this Avernum tale has been told in the last 15 years and to be perfectly honest the past iteration looks 75% as good and plays just as well and is a fraction of the price from sites like GOG.. That aside, a great game. See More

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Top Pro

Open, hand-crafted world

Unlike the first Pillars game, which was a linear set of explorable regions, Deadfire offers up the whole world for your adventures. You'll be exploring anywhere you want right from the beginning. The best part is, nothing is procedurally generated or random. Every map, enemy placement, and interaction is carefully hand-crafted and intentional. This allows for a more organic adventure that doesn't feel forced or suffer from bad placement. See More

Top Con

Crafting is useless

Crafted potions, traps, and bombs are very weak and ineffective in combat. It's possible to succeed in combat without them, so there's really no point in crafting or using them to begin with. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:RPG

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Top Pro

True freedom of choice in how you handle quests

Quests can be completed in multiple ways, depending on how you want to approach them. You're able to tackle quests in a multitude of interesting ways such as sheer brute force, stealth, diplomacy, and more. For example, if you need to get a key off an NPC you can either fight them, try to steal the key, or even talk them into giving to you. Depending on how you build the skills of each member of your party, the possibilities for completing quests are almost endless. See More

Top Con

Combat is too easy

Most common enemies pose little to no challenge. It's very easy to become overpowered and simply steamroll through packs of mobs. There is an option to pause the live action and ponder your next move in combat, but it's rarely ever needed or utilized, except on the highest difficulty setting. Note: At the time of this writing, the devs have promised a future patch to rebalance the combat difficulty. See More

Top Pro

It's exciting to commandeer your own pirate ship

While your ship is mainly used to explore and hop from island to island, it goes well beyond that. Seeing another ship on the seas and attacking it (or being attacked by it) in naval combat gets you to you fight to make sure your boat stays afloat. Being out on the ocean can spark a whole bunch of different random encounters with hostile forces. You can also assign your party members to various positions such as navigation, cannons, and more depending on their unique skillsets. Depending on their skills, different party members will have various benefits when assigned to different positions such as better accuracy or steering capabilities. You never know what situations you'll find yourself in or what islands you'll discover when you're traveling the high seas, making it a pretty fun and exciting experience. See More

Top Con

Questing becomes unrewarding

It's easy to become level capped about 75% into the game, making quests somewhat meaningless as you'll get no experience reward for completing them. See More

Top Pro

Strategic combat

Pausing the combat action between every swing of your sword or winding up of a spell can lead to really some really strategic play as you plan each and every move. Positioning your party or deciding what actions to take can be handled with a lot of thought behind it. Additionally, all of your units can be scripted individually to do things like attack, heal, or use a spell when certain conditions are met. This means your healers will only cast their healing spells when actually needed, or your mages will only use a devastating spell at just the right time. From start to finish, this full control over the combat helps it to feel more like an intricate puzzle beaten with brains and awareness, rather than a button mashing frenzy. See More

Top Con

Unfocused storytelling

Rather than focusing on stopping the god you set out to destroy, much of your time will be spent helping side characters and running errands for the three main factions. Most of the game is devoted to these side quests/objectives and only a handful of these have any noticeable effect on the main storyline progression. See More

Top Pro

Dynamic roleplaying opportunities

Your skills and character stats influence every dialogue choice, interaction, and even how NPCs react to you. The world around you dynamically adjusts and changes based on how you're building your character and who you choose to recruit to your party. When interacting with NPCs, you're presented with unique dialogue options or opportunities based on your skills and reputation. Perhaps one NPC that would have given you a quest doesn't trust you anymore based on an action you took previously in the game. Or maybe you're good at stealth, so you are asked to carry out a sneaky operation. If your diplomacy is high, you can even talk your way out fights or help NPCs resolve their problems without violence. Sometimes, something as simple as being a certain race or hailing from a certain place will change the way you are treated or the quests you are asked to complete. You or your party's background might even mean the difference between an NPC being a friend or foe. All of this opens to the door to some really immersive role playing opportunities where you can really feel the weight of your decisions and how you choose to flesh out your stats. See More

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Might & Magic X - Legacy

Top Pro

No prior knowledge of series necessary

Might & Magic X requires no previous knowledge of the series and is a stand alone story. Players new to the series will find everything they need to know about the game while playing. See More

Top Con

Not enough of anything here

Customization is lacking, gameplay depth is lacking, QoL improvements over the old predecessors are almost nonexistent. Even if you enjoy grinding, this game lacks personality from start to finish. Even the old M&M games had free movement outside combat. This feels like hard work. Turn-based combat is one thing, but long, boring walks in turn-based mode feel awkward and unnecessary. See More

HonorableYeomra's Experience

Very much "play by numbers". Few QoL improvements added. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

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Top Pro

Old school turn based fantasy strategy

Harkening back to the series roots, Might & Magic X is a turn based strategy game set in the fantasy world of Might & Magic. Players are only allowed very rigid movements of forward, left, right and back while trying to traverse a set path that also only transitions to those directions. See More

Top Con

UPlay

As one would expect no less from Ubisoft and their horrible UPlay DRM, many paying players have been locked out of their game experiencing crashes upon startup. See More

Top Pro

Hardcore gameplay that requires planning

Players need to design their team and micro manage their equipment in order to progress successfully in game. Food is need to even be able to rest, which means purchasing goods and managing them is a key part to the gameplay. See More

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