Over the last handful of years, top-down RPGs have made a resurgence, much to the delight of the RPG fandom. Due to not having to allocate resources to a hyperrealistic, vastly open world in a first or third-person perspective, these games are often much richer in story, character progression, and combat depth. They also typically feature a party system, giving you an engaging cast of characters to become attached to throughout your playthrough.
Whether you’re a fan of fantasy settings, post-apocalypses, or running a farm, there are a plethora of top-down RPGs to choose from onPC.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic America, the Wasteland series pioneered the post-apocalypse genre of CRPGs, and Wasteland 3 is the newest installment in the franchise. In this game, you’ll control a squad of Desert Rangers fighting to save Colorado. Or, what’s left of it.
Your desert rangers can be a wide variety of classes, using different skills as you traverse the wasteland, both in open maps and using a caravan on the world map. Along the way, you’ll also make lots of choices that affect the story, as well as other characters. If you’re aFalloutfan and want to see where some of the inspiration came from, definitely check out Wasteland 3.
The Warhammer franchise has seen a number of different video game adaptations, but this newest one from Owlcat Games is a top-down CRPG, and boy is it a blast.
Taking the role of a Rogue Trader in the Imperium, you are tasked with leading a ship, crew, and party into the unexplored and lawless planets untouched by the Imperium. With a colorful cast of companions to run with, a number of classes to choose from, and numerous choices to make throughout the game, this RPG is perfect for those wanting to get into the Warhammer universe.
As a bonus, Owlcat loves to use built-in lore modules during dialogue, which is great for learning about the universe if you are new.
When looking at Chained Echoes, one may assume it is another AAA pixel-art game developed by a big studio. However, you may be shocked to learn that this entire game was developed by a single man, Matthias Linda. This gorgeous pixelated RPG takes place in a world of monsters and mechs, a unique type of setting not often seen.
The game is a love letter to the top-down RPGs of old, and it clearly shows in the final product. With an engaging story, fast-paced combat, and a fun cast of characters to explore the beautiful world with, this is a must-have for any fan of top-down RPGs.
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the minds behind beloved classics like Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, this is a top-down CRPG set in their own universe. Pillars of Eternity harkens back to classics like Baldur’s Gate and uses a real-time with pause combat system along with a large party of companions.
Graphically, the game is nothing flashy, but for what it is going for, that isn’t important. What’s important is the writing, gameplay, and RPG elements, which the game has in spades. You will get to know your party members, use saving throws in dialogue-based event screens, and even build up an old castle.
Disco Elysium is a game that’s…really unlike any other. You will play as a detective in a water-colored world, and rather than combat, the focus is on dialogue, and within this is a limitless path of possibilities open to you as the player.
Due to this, unlike the majority of similar RPGs, the game is fully voice-acted. This really helps you immerse yourself in the experience that Disco Elysium is presenting you with, and we don’t want to say more, as this game is best experienced as blind as possible.
Stardew Valley is certainly the coziest game on this list, and it has earned this reputation. You play as a farmer who has inherited your late grandfather’s farm located in, you guessed it, Stardew Valley, and move there to begin your new life.
What follows is completely up to you. Will you focus on running your farm? Will you delve into the mines, fighting monsters and finding treasure? Or will you spend your days fishing and romancing one of the town’s many residents? The choice is yours, and before you know it, you’ll be married in the game with a full farm and 1000 hours logged.
Another game by Owlcat Games, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a top-down CRPG set in the Pathfinder universe, which is based on older editions of Dungeons & Dragons, with a few new aspects as well.
While this game has all the features you’d expect, from an engaging story to a party full of memorable companions, where Wrath of the Righteous really stands out is its class system. Of the base classes alone, you have 26 options, and then within those classes are 5+ subclassesfor each.
This gives you nearly unlimited options to choose from for your character and countless reasons to do new playthroughs, not even accounting for the Mythic Path system, which is yet another class choice further on in the game.
Chrono Trigger is a dream come true for fans of Japanese media and JRPGs. Released in 1995, It was developed by the Final Fantasy team, as well as Yuji Horii and the late Akira Toriyama, creators of Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball, respectively.
The game has been remastered and ported to PC, sporting new and improved graphics, an auto-save feature, an updated soundtrack, and more. For both old fans wanting a return to their roots and new fans wanting to experience a timeless classic, the PC version of Chrono Trigger is arguably the best way to play today.
2Divinity: Original Sin 2
Developed by Larian Studios, this top-down CRPG made waves across the scene at its release and has not lost much momentum since. Divinity: Original Sin was good, but the sequel is what put Larian on the map for the genre.
You are a Source Hunter in a colorful fantasy world, and as a twist on the usual companion system of the genre, you can choose to play as one of the Origin characters, which gives you a whole story and narrative to follow that’s separate from the main plot.
Larian also loves to make use of the environment for combat and puzzle-solving. Having trouble with a boss? Try covering the area in water and then using a lightning spell. Or perhaps surround the boss in 30 fire barrels before engaging, and light the fuse and run. The game offers so many choices for you to deal with enemies.
For anyone who is a fan of RPGs or watched the 2023 Game Awards, it might be no surprise to see Baldur’s Gate 3 at the top of our list. Another game by Larian Studios, this game is arguably their Magnum Opus. It takes everything they learned from developing Divinity one and two and applies it to a beloved CRPG series with a fresh, modern coat of paint.
Graphically, the game looks much more realistic than the more cartoonish art style of the Divinity games. It also employs the same environmental interaction but includes more like jumping, shoving, and throwing. Baldurs Gate 3 features a brilliant story, memorable characters, and a very open dialogue and choice system for solving problems, which makes it not only one of the best top-down RPGs ever made but the definitive Dungeons & Dragons video game experience.
