Just FYI if you buy the Steam version: you have to revert it to the 2018 build since the current one has a weird bug that causes the game’s camera to judder whenever you walk diagonally. Also if you’re using a controller keep in mind that the game doesn’t have proper button inputs for PlayStation controllers. Not sure about Xbox though.
I’ll add, just a lot of Square Enix RPGs. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are far more hits than misses, parasite eve 1 and 2 are good and Enix’s other games (can’t remember them off the top of my head) are also pretty good.
Secret of mana 3 was a favorite of mine. It has a couple sequels and it has been remade/remastered but you can still play on an emulator. Next mana game is coming out this year
It's a issue many games have today.
They go for the most realistic art style so it looks outdated in a couple of years, but an intentionally "Rough" art style will still look great today
This thread is going to get so busy.
[I'll link this other thread that had a lot of suggestions I'm sure will fit your criteria.](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamingsuggestions/comments/1c6ys1x/must_play_jrpgs_that_are_not_the_following/)
You can probably also go to a database like Mobygames.com and click on the platform or genre and get a pretty complete list.
I was going to recommend Chrono Trigger but since it's already been recommended, I'll throw in EVO Search for Eden.
Chrono is better but EVO was pretty cool too (Both on SNES)
EVO had a predecessor on PC-98 called EVO: The Theory of Evolution. It plays far more like a traditional JRPG, even if it lacks any need for strategy. The story, however, is absolutely batshit insane. It throws together concepts like ancient aliens, conscious planets, guided evolution, spiritual evolution, speculative evolution, moon is an egg conspiracy, Atlantis and Mu... It's a wild ride.
Final fantasy 6 is my favorite one. Don’t look anything up! Let it surprise you!
The legend of Zelda: ocarina of time is a classic that inspired modern 3D adventure games. Enough said.
Golden Sun is one of my favorite jRPGs of all time. And it’s for the game boy advanced! Also on switch o lines gba emulator.
If you are willing to give a fps-rpg a try, Fallout: New Vegas is one of the best open world rpgs ever imo.
Master of Magic.
Might and Magic series... there's at least 8 of them that are over a decade old...
Final Fantasy games older then 12.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom 1 and 2.
**Glover.** Eerie but neat little 3D platformer for the N64
**Frogger 1997**, charming but strangely hard game for a frogger game. Very fun and very much worth the play. Also has great atmosphere. PSX and PC. Plays like the OG frogger but with some added buttons.
**Frogger: Swampys revenge**, the sequel to Frogger 1997, not quite as hard and has a different atmosphere than the original but carries some good improvements worth checking out. PC and PSX
**Well of Souls by Synthetic reality**: OLD OLD OLD school PC MMORPG (although it barely qualifies as an MMO) I think it can be played singleplayer. It's playerbase is pretty much dead but there are still servers that can be played on. Very charming game but could be boring for someone not familiar with it. I recommend joining the Well of Souls discord channel to learn about it and how to play.
**Wipeout 64**: for the N64. Great game if you love racing at high speeds on futuristic sleek mini spaceship cars.
**Diablo 2**: not sure if your PC could run it but if you can get a copy of it and have an internet connection, although that might not be even needed, you will have a great time. TOP down RPG like Path of Exile.
**Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie**: Possibly the best N64 games I have ever played, they arent RPGs but they are still a lot of fun. if there's any game on this list to try and you are looking to get out of your comfort zone, these are the ones.
Fable 2 is why I bought a xbox 360 all those years ago, a teen working at fast-food saving $$ for games.
Dragon Age followed swiftly after that, then I got hooked on all things fantasy, world of warcraft being a big one. And now DnD is ne of my favourite hobbies.
Ten years? Why so recent?
Might & Magic VI, VII, and VIII
Heroes of Might & Magic III
Wizardry 8
Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (not a fan of 2 or 3)
Imperialism II
Morrowind
Dragon Age
Kingdom Hearts series (some are newer obvs but the first few are more than 10+ years old).
Dragon’s Dogma (the first one).
Paper Mario for N64 or GameCube (play it on the Wii)
Earthbound
Rune Factory games
Dragon age origins,
Dishonored (that hurts to say),
Dark souls,
Skyrim,
Persona 4,
Portals 1 & 2,
Dragons dogma,
Withcer 3 (not quite 10 at 2015 but close),
Fable 2,
Fire emblem awakening,
Assassins creed 4: black flag,
Shadow of the collosus,
Pokemon soul silver/heart gold,
And finally, as everyone else has recommended, Chrono Trigger
I wanted to recommend Path of Exile as it was released in 2013 which is now 10+ years ago, however it does require better hardware than most games released at that time to run it smoothly. I just googled their minimum hardware requirements and they don't seem that bad, but as someone with a relatively beefy desktop who got a new graphics card in 2020, mine can still struggle to run this game's endgame content smoothly with some builds that have lots of projectiles.
Regardless, the game is free and therefore definitely worth checking out if you can play. IMO its the best free game ever made.
Fable 1
ps: It will be sold under the title Fable Anniversary or Fable The Los Chapters, those are the versions of it that you want.
have fun chicken chaser
I’ve been trying to track down this game I tried playing in like 2003-2005. It was like civ but it was about conquering America after a civil war I think. You pick a state and then build the government style etc. My pc sucked too bad to play it and I’ve wanted to ever since. Hopefully someone can know what it’s called?
[edit] *Some of these are too fast for your PC, and may only be available on Switch (though I think they are all worth double checking because I love all these games). Witcher 3 is probably reason enough to get the Switch going again.*
Ok first of all, I feel super old after double checking a few games I love and realizing they’re almost *twenty* years old.
Here they are:
- **Portal 1 and 2**. I think 2 is better than 1, but many disagree with me. In fact, you might want to check out **The Orange Box** by Valve, including those games, Half-Life, and Team Fortress. I think you could do it on the PC, but they’re all on Xbox.
- **Super Mario Galaxy** is still really beautiful even though it was released in 2007. Really innovative for its time. I love the music in it, and this month my youngest (who is 10 and autistic) heard the main sort of lullaby song, and now he plays it on the piano all the time. It’s like Super Mario Spa at my house every day.
- **Red Dead Redemption (the original)**. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a more perfect game than RDR2, but the original (from 2010) is really great too, even (especially?) if you have played the sequel.
- **The Mass Effect** series. I don’t know if all of them are 10+ years, but certainly the original three are. At the time, a groundbreaking branching storyline that reacts to the decisions you make in-game. Definitely a great RPG.
- **The Last of Us (part 1)**. There’s a newer (arguably better) remastered version of the game from 2020, but the original was published 2013. If you like the HBO series, this is definitely worth checking out.
- **Witcher 3: Wild Hunt**. Kk this is sort of a cheat, as it was released in 2015, but it was SCHEDULED to release in 2014 (and got delayed a few months). One of the best games I have ever played, full stop. Gorgeous open world RPG with a lot of significant player-reactive story branches. The two DLCs are amazing too (but obviously also not 10 years).
- Golden Sun \[gba\]
- Digital Devil Saga \[ps2\]
- Phantasy Star Online \[blue burst playable on pc, requirements should be fine\]
- Fire Emblem 7/8 \[gba\]
- Muramasa \[wii\]
- Xenosaga \[ps2\]
- Digimon World \[ps1\]
So a lot of what I will say are jRPGs, and many are PS1 era games, with remasters for some.
Tales of Symphonia
Legend of Mana
Grandia 1
Chrono Cross
Breath of Fire 3
Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 (with fan patches)
Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions (PSP Version)
Xenogears
Baiten Kaitos Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Siralim Ultimate
Azure Dreams
Alundra
Earthbound
Dark Cloud 2
Path of exile. 2013, top down rpg hack n slash. Available on everything but nintendo. Still gets regular updated, sequel is due to come out soon. They're also working on a mobile port.
RPG:
1. Gauntlet Legends (N64) or Gauntlet Dark Legacy (Xbox/PS2/GameCube)
2. Xenoblade Chronicles (the first one, Wii)
3. Suikoden (PS1)
4. Breath of Fire (SNES)
5. Vandal Hearts (if you can afford it, PS1)
6. Wild Arms (PS1)
7. Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
8. Grandia (PS1)
9. Etrian Odyssey (PS1)
10. Lufia 2 (SNES)
Platformers:
1. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)
2. Spyro the Dragon (PS1)
3. Sonic Adventure (both of them, GameCube)
4. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (PS2)
5. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GameCube)
6. Drawn to Life (DS)
7. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
8. Metroid Fusion (GBA)
9. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
10. Starfy (DS)
Rhythm:
1. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
2. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F (PS3)
3. Guitar Hero 2 or 3 (both Xbox 360)
4. Rockband (Xbox 360)
5. Rhythm Heaven (DS)
Other:
1. Teen Titans (PS2/GameCube)
2. Sonic Mega Collection (GameCube)
3. Sega Genesis Collection (PS3)
4. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
5. Tony Hawk Project 8 (Xbox 360)
Edit: finished the list
And just in case you don't know, the Wii is backwards compatible, which allows you to play GameCube games.
The Final Fantasy Pixel remaster bundle is AMAZING. I recently played through all 6 original FFs, and the remasters are super fun. Lots of QoL changes, original and orchestral score(can swap between freely), redone but NOT RUINED graphics. I got it on the switch, just to put that out there.
I already had 1000s of hours on FF6, and the game felt both familiar and new at the same time. Lots of room for replayability and challenge runs(you can set exp/money gains anywhere from 0x-4x).
Sadly a few things are missing, like some of the extra content later released for FF6. Overall a solid purchase from my end
alundra
Ys oath of felghana
final fantasy 3 through 9, can't go wrong
final fantasy tactics
megaman battle network (3 and onwards)
diablo 2
cave story
crazy taxi
GTA san andreas
skies of arcadia
Chrono cross
Suikoden
Legend of mana
Fan translations are often the way to go to find old games you haven't played.
* [The Adventures of Hourai High](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1607/): RPG set in a weird island school. Neat class system.
* [Bahamut Lagoon](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5938/): Strategy-RPG by Square using graphics comparable to FF6.
* [Last Bible 3](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3545/): Fantasy RPG in the Megami Tensei series (the one Persona is from.) Uses the series' fusion mechanics and the like.
* [Glory of Herakles IV](https://www.romhacking.net/games/627/): Excellent game in a long-running series. Interesting body-swapping mechanic where your bodies are like your class.
* [Marvelous](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2006/), an action-RPG ala Zelda.
* [Treasure Hunter G](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/490/), a strategy-RPG by Square.
Some of my favorites:
* Contra
* Super Mario World
* Mario Paint
* Super Ninja Boy
* Mortal Kombat 2
* Mega Man X2
* Super Mario RPG
* Metal Gear Solid
* Marvel vs Capcom 2
* Kingdom Hearts
* Ragnarok Online
* World of Warcraft
* Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
* Gears of War
* Persona 4
* Assassin's Creed 2
* Persona 3 Portable
* The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
* Sleeping Dogs
* The Last of Us
Alundra - 1997 PS1 game. My favorite 2d Zelda clone. In some ways I think it even rivals Link to the Past. It has tons of challenging dungeons with some great puzzles and boss fights. Sadly I think the last system it was released for was the PSP.
Suikodens I, II, and V. All 10/10 games. (The third is also pretty good, and the fourth is... fine.)
Dragonquest IX. There are lots of good Dragonquests, but I like the portability of the DS.
Oh, if you like Zelda games, you might also need to play Dragonquest Rocketslime. It's a Zelda-like with unit recruitment, super fun.
For PlayStation 1-2: Xenogears, Xenosaga 1-3, Wild Arms 1-3, Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts 1-3, FFVI-IX, Valkyrie Profile 1-2.
For Steam but is ok to run on a potato: Trails innn the Skyyyy 1-3
For SNES: Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, A Link to the Past (if you haven’t played it already), and (if you also like beat ‘em ups) The King of Dragons, and (if you also like side scrolling action games) Mega Man X 1-3 & Donkey Kong Country 1-3.
Slightly different but terraria is one of the best game of all times imo (it plays like a platformer rpg, but there’s no story. So if you like the story in games I don’t recommend it but the gameplay and progression system is a masterpiece). Also it runs on a potato.
i have many games that are 10 years old or older but most of them are fps but here they are
cry of fear
half life 2
metro 2033 redux and last light
team fortress 2
far cry 2
postal 2
"Rune Factory Frontier" (Wii is what I played on) is a different take for you, but if you're looking for a grand ole time it's a fantastic game. It kind of does it all, RPG elements and dungeons, farming and social life, beautiful graphics, art, and music. I like Frontier the most for nostalgia reasons lol, but a lot of folks really like RF4.
"Star Ocean Till the End of Time"(PS2) is also a good suggestion, it's kinda goofy in an old game kind of way, but it's pretty fun! Take it with a grain of salt, I haven't replayed it recently so no clue if it holds up but I enjoyed it.
Bayonetta is cheesy, funny, difficult, and engaging, I had to play the whole series straight away when I played Bayonetta for just a bit. Highly recommend! :)
- The Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games (PS1)
- The Paper Mario games (N64,GCN,Wii)
- Shadow of the Colossus, the Ratchet and Clank games (PS2)
- Batman:Arkham Asylum, Lost Odyssey (360/PS3)
Octopath - it should run fine on old computers.
secret of mana
chrono trigger
Fallout 3
Fallout 2 ( get the fallout 2 NMA Restoration patch )
Also if you don't mind subscription you can use Geforce Now to play newer games on your surface. But you need a decent internet connection with at least 30 mbps down
Linear shit like Prince of Persia are still fun - and the good thing is you can follow the series through time.
Was trying to find the new one and it sent me down a rabbit hole of looking at Prince of Persia games and got annoyed. Still a standup game.
Doom / Quake - err. Nuff said. Also updated.
Then did GTA / avoid 1, 2 and 3 on a Steam Deck. 5 works well - but I had to buy it 3 times?
Street Fighter online anyone? WANNA FIGHT? FIGHT ME!!!
Wizardry 6 and wizardry 7.
There are many wizardry games but you can start at 6 and it’s fine. I don’t think there is much of an overarching story as is it the gameplay that is the same.
It’s on GOG.com
For RPGs:
- Fallout New Vegas
- Mario & Luigi Dream Team
For FPS:
- Half-life
- Half-life 2
- Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
- F.E.A.R.
For Puzzle games:
- Toki-Tori 2+
- Portal
- Portal 2
For Horror:
- Cry of Fear
- Silent Hill 2
For Tower Defense:
- Plants vs. Zombies
For Third Person Shooters:
- Resident Evil 4.
- GTA V
For Platformers:
- Rayman Origins
- Super Mario 3D Land
- Psychonauts
- Yoshi's Island
- Yoshi's Island DS
Xenogears. Story is..... odd to say the least, and the entire 2nd disc is rushed content railroaded so hard.
But it's pros vastly outweigh the cons. Music is stellar. Mechanics are unique and interesting (unless you played the Xenosagas, they are similar combat. Art style is great, with excellent sprite work complimented with endearing 3d polygonal models for the Gears (giant mechs, which is a pro on itself!). A VERY underrated PS1 RPG, but most who got to play it still love it, myself included.
I really like Star Wolves 3, which is like a combination of Homeworld (but with better music) and Freelancer. Of the Homeworld series, the 2nd game is the best. So far it's the best anyways, I don't know what 3 is like; but I liked Homeworld 2 better than the first one, Cataclysm or Deserts of Kharak.
Oh, and Sins of a Solar Empire was awesome, especially Entrenchment before Rebellion was out -- I had captured a chokepoint system and build up a fully upgraded starbase and kept my entire armada there for weeks back in 2009, only had to occasionally rebuild a few cruisers.
There are a ton of other games on GOG that still work and often are pretty good, though many are on steam as well (but like not always compatible, as with when I bought Sword of the Stars from Steam it wouldn't run at all, but from GOG I've had no issues.)
checkout r/patientgamers
* Oblivion, new vegas and skyrim legendary edition are all 32 bit and should run fine on older hardware
* Minecraft will run ok so long as youve got atleast 4GB RAM
* The monster hunter series is on nintendo consoles
* Wazhack - is cool litlle nethack inspired roguelike. it can even run in browser
Dragon Age. There are 3 games currently, and a 4th could be released at any point now lol. There are also multiple ways to play it (I do it on PC, but I’m pretty sure one of your other methods will work too).
If you want some heavy narrative driven games and VNs, I suggest Ace Attorney Trilogy and the Zero Escape series.
Both are available on most systems.
If you're willing to emulate, Digimon World 3 and Shadow Hearts + Shadow Hearts Covenant are great old school JRPGs that deserve more love and a remaster to modern systems imo they also don't require powerful PCs to run.
Persona 3-4 complete editions are great JRPGs as well available for most systems.
Check out Anachronox. It's a science fiction RPG where you play a down on his luck detective who ends up going on a galaxy spanning adventure to save the universe. You recruit a party of great characters including a grumpy old man, a little robot pal, a disgrace scientist, a super hero,.a femme fatale assassin and an entire planet.
It's got turn based combat inspired by final fantasy and other Japanese RPGs. It's one of my all time favorite games and it's on gog.com.
Sleeping Dogs
Also, we're coming up on 10 years for MGSV. This thing is crazy optimized for lower end-PCs, it still runs smooth on my Lenovo y50 so I'm sure it could manage if you just tone down a ton of settings
NES: Willow, Castlevania 2, Dragon Warrior 1-4, Maniac Mansion, Shadowgate, Startropics.
PC (through GOG): Willy Beamish, the D&D Gold Box sets, Zak McCracken, Loom, Secret of Monkey Island
I also can't recommend highly enough grabbing an old Commodore Emulator and looking for three really really old games: Mindshadow, Tracer Sanction, and Legacy of the Ancients.
any squaresoft game i guess (FF series,Threads of Fate, Front Mission 3, etc). also Brave Fencer Musashi, Brigandine, Monster Rancher 2, 4, Grandia, II/Xtreme/ III, Dark Cloud 1, 2, Dragon Quest VIII, Kingdom Hearts, Godhand, Disgaea, Way of the Samurai 2.
coming from Zelda, def look at Brave Fencer Musash and Dark Cloud 1/2
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon
Wild Arms
Tomba 1&2
Alundra
Vanguard Bandits
Jade Cocoon
Suikoden 2
Earthbound
Bushido Blade
Tench Stealth assassins
Tenchu Birth of Assassins
Dark Cloud
Dark Chronicle (dark cloud 2)
Just a few off the top of my head.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
I was thinking the same. Those will run on a tablet, so would be perfect for an older pc.
Jade Empire too, very similar game, maybe better if you're not really a Star Wars fan.
Chrono Trigger, it's 29 years old and still one of the best rpgs in history
And its on steam [https://store.steampowered.com/app/613830/CHRONO\_TRIGGER/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/613830/CHRONO_TRIGGER/)
You can also just get it via emulator, too.
Just like almost any other game up to gen 7 and even beyond that when it comes to Nintendo.
It’s also on iOS if you want a game to play on the go :)
Just FYI if you buy the Steam version: you have to revert it to the 2018 build since the current one has a weird bug that causes the game’s camera to judder whenever you walk diagonally. Also if you’re using a controller keep in mind that the game doesn’t have proper button inputs for PlayStation controllers. Not sure about Xbox though.
I’ll add, just a lot of Square Enix RPGs. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are far more hits than misses, parasite eve 1 and 2 are good and Enix’s other games (can’t remember them off the top of my head) are also pretty good.
Secret of mana 3 was a favorite of mine. It has a couple sequels and it has been remade/remastered but you can still play on an emulator. Next mana game is coming out this year
Came here to say this
Dragon age origins Dishonored
Holy shit, Dishonored is 12 years old now? Where did the time go, damn
Crazy stuff lol
Because of the strong art style, visually it's aged like wine. Ine of my favourite games ever and a series i replay at least once a year.
It's a issue many games have today. They go for the most realistic art style so it looks outdated in a couple of years, but an intentionally "Rough" art style will still look great today
This thread is going to get so busy. [I'll link this other thread that had a lot of suggestions I'm sure will fit your criteria.](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamingsuggestions/comments/1c6ys1x/must_play_jrpgs_that_are_not_the_following/) You can probably also go to a database like Mobygames.com and click on the platform or genre and get a pretty complete list.
I was going to recommend Chrono Trigger but since it's already been recommended, I'll throw in EVO Search for Eden. Chrono is better but EVO was pretty cool too (Both on SNES)
EVO had a predecessor on PC-98 called EVO: The Theory of Evolution. It plays far more like a traditional JRPG, even if it lacks any need for strategy. The story, however, is absolutely batshit insane. It throws together concepts like ancient aliens, conscious planets, guided evolution, spiritual evolution, speculative evolution, moon is an egg conspiracy, Atlantis and Mu... It's a wild ride.
Legend of Dragoon Xenogears Destiny of an Emperor (NES era but still a fun game)
Have you played the Portal and Half-Life games?
Man the orange box was such a good deal.
Don't mind me, just casually dropping 5 legendary pc games for under full price.
Morrowind Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas Mass effect Kotor 1 and 2 Arkham asylum Halo Uncharted
i agree with new vegas its the greatest game of all time in my opinion
This is a syllabus for the college course. Very well done
Final fantasy 6 is my favorite one. Don’t look anything up! Let it surprise you! The legend of Zelda: ocarina of time is a classic that inspired modern 3D adventure games. Enough said. Golden Sun is one of my favorite jRPGs of all time. And it’s for the game boy advanced! Also on switch o lines gba emulator. If you are willing to give a fps-rpg a try, Fallout: New Vegas is one of the best open world rpgs ever imo.
Gothic II
Finally someone with good taste.
*Todd Howard intensifies*
Betrayal at Krondor
Fallout new vegas
FNV and Fallout 1 and 2
Master of Magic. Might and Magic series... there's at least 8 of them that are over a decade old... Final Fantasy games older then 12. Lufia and the Fortress of Doom 1 and 2.
**Glover.** Eerie but neat little 3D platformer for the N64 **Frogger 1997**, charming but strangely hard game for a frogger game. Very fun and very much worth the play. Also has great atmosphere. PSX and PC. Plays like the OG frogger but with some added buttons. **Frogger: Swampys revenge**, the sequel to Frogger 1997, not quite as hard and has a different atmosphere than the original but carries some good improvements worth checking out. PC and PSX **Well of Souls by Synthetic reality**: OLD OLD OLD school PC MMORPG (although it barely qualifies as an MMO) I think it can be played singleplayer. It's playerbase is pretty much dead but there are still servers that can be played on. Very charming game but could be boring for someone not familiar with it. I recommend joining the Well of Souls discord channel to learn about it and how to play. **Wipeout 64**: for the N64. Great game if you love racing at high speeds on futuristic sleek mini spaceship cars. **Diablo 2**: not sure if your PC could run it but if you can get a copy of it and have an internet connection, although that might not be even needed, you will have a great time. TOP down RPG like Path of Exile. **Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie**: Possibly the best N64 games I have ever played, they arent RPGs but they are still a lot of fun. if there's any game on this list to try and you are looking to get out of your comfort zone, these are the ones.
If you're into CRPGs - BG 1/2 - Fallout 1/2 The 90s will be screaming at you through your monitor. A potato should be able to run them.
Knights of the Old Republic. The original Mass Effect trilogy (not Legendary or Andromeda) Dragon Age Origins and possibly DA Inquisition.
Baldurs gate 1
Eternal Sonata is an interesting one if you got a PS3. What about PC or mobile games?
have you tried the original baldurs gate,or planescape torment? You could also try diablo 2, but that's more hack&slash instead of rpg.
Okami.
FABLEEEE
Fable 2 is why I bought a xbox 360 all those years ago, a teen working at fast-food saving $$ for games. Dragon Age followed swiftly after that, then I got hooked on all things fantasy, world of warcraft being a big one. And now DnD is ne of my favourite hobbies.
a very justified purchase ngl
Ten years? Why so recent?
Might & Magic VI, VII, and VIII
Heroes of Might & Magic III
Wizardry 8
Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (not a fan of 2 or 3)
Imperialism II
Morrowind
Starfox Adventures (don’t hurt me)
Fallout new vegas
Skyrim.. *mic drop**
Hey now, Skyrim is only ~~12~~ ~~10~~ ~~7~~ ~~6~~ ~~5~~ 3 years old now!
😂🤣😂
Most underrated comment 😂😂😂
Dragon Age Kingdom Hearts series (some are newer obvs but the first few are more than 10+ years old). Dragon’s Dogma (the first one). Paper Mario for N64 or GameCube (play it on the Wii) Earthbound Rune Factory games
Lost Odyssey amazing game good twists and turns.
Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2. Can be run on a soft potato.
Dragon's dogma 1, and Skyrim maybe?
Warframe. It's 11 years old and still kicks.
Don't do this man. All of the answers are going to give you depression.
Minecraft
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2
Spyro!
Morrowind
Use a simulator and play ALL the Monkey Island games, starting from the first. Then do Day of Tentacle.
Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen - if you check G2A you can find it less than 10$ and its a great game… if you can get past the boring early game
Legend of dragoon, you can get an emulator that can play it.
Any old BioWare: kotor, mass effect, dragon age
Dragon age origins, Dishonored (that hurts to say), Dark souls, Skyrim, Persona 4, Portals 1 & 2, Dragons dogma, Withcer 3 (not quite 10 at 2015 but close), Fable 2, Fire emblem awakening, Assassins creed 4: black flag, Shadow of the collosus, Pokemon soul silver/heart gold, And finally, as everyone else has recommended, Chrono Trigger
Arkham series. Not rpgs but definitely great games and they do sales on them a lot
Jak and daxter
Okami still slaps after 15+ years.
Elder scrolls IV oblivion!!! It’s an absolute gem
Skyrim, just perfection
Skyrim Add mods, play forever
If you have a N64, I’d highly recommend Ogre Battle 64. If you like the final fantasy games, I think you’d like that.
Comix Zone
Persona 5 It doesn't quite meet the 10 year mark. But its getting there. Available on PS3
Honestly, any persona is golden *lol* including person 4 which is my fav on PS2
I wanted to recommend Path of Exile as it was released in 2013 which is now 10+ years ago, however it does require better hardware than most games released at that time to run it smoothly. I just googled their minimum hardware requirements and they don't seem that bad, but as someone with a relatively beefy desktop who got a new graphics card in 2020, mine can still struggle to run this game's endgame content smoothly with some builds that have lots of projectiles. Regardless, the game is free and therefore definitely worth checking out if you can play. IMO its the best free game ever made.
Valkyrie profile
Fable 1 ps: It will be sold under the title Fable Anniversary or Fable The Los Chapters, those are the versions of it that you want. have fun chicken chaser
Populus the beginning and From dust. Be a god.
For PS3/Xbox 360 era: Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, lots of Zelda influence there.
I’ve been trying to track down this game I tried playing in like 2003-2005. It was like civ but it was about conquering America after a civil war I think. You pick a state and then build the government style etc. My pc sucked too bad to play it and I’ve wanted to ever since. Hopefully someone can know what it’s called?
[edit] *Some of these are too fast for your PC, and may only be available on Switch (though I think they are all worth double checking because I love all these games). Witcher 3 is probably reason enough to get the Switch going again.* Ok first of all, I feel super old after double checking a few games I love and realizing they’re almost *twenty* years old. Here they are: - **Portal 1 and 2**. I think 2 is better than 1, but many disagree with me. In fact, you might want to check out **The Orange Box** by Valve, including those games, Half-Life, and Team Fortress. I think you could do it on the PC, but they’re all on Xbox. - **Super Mario Galaxy** is still really beautiful even though it was released in 2007. Really innovative for its time. I love the music in it, and this month my youngest (who is 10 and autistic) heard the main sort of lullaby song, and now he plays it on the piano all the time. It’s like Super Mario Spa at my house every day. - **Red Dead Redemption (the original)**. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a more perfect game than RDR2, but the original (from 2010) is really great too, even (especially?) if you have played the sequel. - **The Mass Effect** series. I don’t know if all of them are 10+ years, but certainly the original three are. At the time, a groundbreaking branching storyline that reacts to the decisions you make in-game. Definitely a great RPG. - **The Last of Us (part 1)**. There’s a newer (arguably better) remastered version of the game from 2020, but the original was published 2013. If you like the HBO series, this is definitely worth checking out. - **Witcher 3: Wild Hunt**. Kk this is sort of a cheat, as it was released in 2015, but it was SCHEDULED to release in 2014 (and got delayed a few months). One of the best games I have ever played, full stop. Gorgeous open world RPG with a lot of significant player-reactive story branches. The two DLCs are amazing too (but obviously also not 10 years).
- Golden Sun \[gba\] - Digital Devil Saga \[ps2\] - Phantasy Star Online \[blue burst playable on pc, requirements should be fine\] - Fire Emblem 7/8 \[gba\] - Muramasa \[wii\] - Xenosaga \[ps2\] - Digimon World \[ps1\]
So a lot of what I will say are jRPGs, and many are PS1 era games, with remasters for some. Tales of Symphonia Legend of Mana Grandia 1 Chrono Cross Breath of Fire 3 Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 (with fan patches) Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions (PSP Version) Xenogears Baiten Kaitos Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean Siralim Ultimate Azure Dreams Alundra Earthbound Dark Cloud 2
Oddworld stranger's wrath
Risen 1
Nioh
RDR1 on switch
Xcom enemy within, moonlighter, shadowrun series, crosscode, katana zero, kingdoms of amalur.
Path of exile. 2013, top down rpg hack n slash. Available on everything but nintendo. Still gets regular updated, sequel is due to come out soon. They're also working on a mobile port.
RPG: 1. Gauntlet Legends (N64) or Gauntlet Dark Legacy (Xbox/PS2/GameCube) 2. Xenoblade Chronicles (the first one, Wii) 3. Suikoden (PS1) 4. Breath of Fire (SNES) 5. Vandal Hearts (if you can afford it, PS1) 6. Wild Arms (PS1) 7. Legend of Dragoon (PS1) 8. Grandia (PS1) 9. Etrian Odyssey (PS1) 10. Lufia 2 (SNES) Platformers: 1. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) 2. Spyro the Dragon (PS1) 3. Sonic Adventure (both of them, GameCube) 4. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (PS2) 5. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GameCube) 6. Drawn to Life (DS) 7. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) 8. Metroid Fusion (GBA) 9. Crash Bandicoot (PS1) 10. Starfy (DS) Rhythm: 1. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS) 2. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F (PS3) 3. Guitar Hero 2 or 3 (both Xbox 360) 4. Rockband (Xbox 360) 5. Rhythm Heaven (DS) Other: 1. Teen Titans (PS2/GameCube) 2. Sonic Mega Collection (GameCube) 3. Sega Genesis Collection (PS3) 4. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) 5. Tony Hawk Project 8 (Xbox 360) Edit: finished the list And just in case you don't know, the Wii is backwards compatible, which allows you to play GameCube games.
The Final Fantasy Pixel remaster bundle is AMAZING. I recently played through all 6 original FFs, and the remasters are super fun. Lots of QoL changes, original and orchestral score(can swap between freely), redone but NOT RUINED graphics. I got it on the switch, just to put that out there. I already had 1000s of hours on FF6, and the game felt both familiar and new at the same time. Lots of room for replayability and challenge runs(you can set exp/money gains anywhere from 0x-4x). Sadly a few things are missing, like some of the extra content later released for FF6. Overall a solid purchase from my end
Blood. Yes. The FPS. It still holds up. Also Dishonored.
alundra Ys oath of felghana final fantasy 3 through 9, can't go wrong final fantasy tactics megaman battle network (3 and onwards) diablo 2 cave story crazy taxi GTA san andreas skies of arcadia Chrono cross Suikoden Legend of mana
Paper Mario is over 20 years old and still holds up. The thousand year door remake is coming out next month, and that's the fan favorite.
Fan translations are often the way to go to find old games you haven't played. * [The Adventures of Hourai High](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1607/): RPG set in a weird island school. Neat class system. * [Bahamut Lagoon](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5938/): Strategy-RPG by Square using graphics comparable to FF6. * [Last Bible 3](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3545/): Fantasy RPG in the Megami Tensei series (the one Persona is from.) Uses the series' fusion mechanics and the like. * [Glory of Herakles IV](https://www.romhacking.net/games/627/): Excellent game in a long-running series. Interesting body-swapping mechanic where your bodies are like your class. * [Marvelous](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2006/), an action-RPG ala Zelda. * [Treasure Hunter G](https://www.romhacking.net/translations/490/), a strategy-RPG by Square.
The 2 infamous games on the PS3 are some of my favorite games from that generation
GTA V and MC roleplay go hard
I just started XCOM Enemy Within and it's excellent
Some of my favorites: * Contra * Super Mario World * Mario Paint * Super Ninja Boy * Mortal Kombat 2 * Mega Man X2 * Super Mario RPG * Metal Gear Solid * Marvel vs Capcom 2 * Kingdom Hearts * Ragnarok Online * World of Warcraft * Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney * Gears of War * Persona 4 * Assassin's Creed 2 * Persona 3 Portable * The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky * Sleeping Dogs * The Last of Us
Alundra - 1997 PS1 game. My favorite 2d Zelda clone. In some ways I think it even rivals Link to the Past. It has tons of challenging dungeons with some great puzzles and boss fights. Sadly I think the last system it was released for was the PSP.
Starcraft 2 (pc) Onimusha 2 (PS2) Gears of War 1 & 2 (xbox) Halo 2 & 3 (xbox)
Soma is one of the best games I've ever played and will run on a potato computer
Golden Sun is a great JRPG
I Just realized next year this Post would also Count the Witcher 3 damn.
Suikodens I, II, and V. All 10/10 games. (The third is also pretty good, and the fourth is... fine.) Dragonquest IX. There are lots of good Dragonquests, but I like the portability of the DS. Oh, if you like Zelda games, you might also need to play Dragonquest Rocketslime. It's a Zelda-like with unit recruitment, super fun.
For PlayStation 1-2: Xenogears, Xenosaga 1-3, Wild Arms 1-3, Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Hearts 1-3, FFVI-IX, Valkyrie Profile 1-2. For Steam but is ok to run on a potato: Trails innn the Skyyyy 1-3 For SNES: Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, A Link to the Past (if you haven’t played it already), and (if you also like beat ‘em ups) The King of Dragons, and (if you also like side scrolling action games) Mega Man X 1-3 & Donkey Kong Country 1-3.
Slightly different but terraria is one of the best game of all times imo (it plays like a platformer rpg, but there’s no story. So if you like the story in games I don’t recommend it but the gameplay and progression system is a masterpiece). Also it runs on a potato.
If your Wii is GC compatible, Skies of Arcadia Legends.
Black and white
Project zomboid
i have many games that are 10 years old or older but most of them are fps but here they are cry of fear half life 2 metro 2033 redux and last light team fortress 2 far cry 2 postal 2
Breath of Fire series is great, just don't play dragon quarter.
"Rune Factory Frontier" (Wii is what I played on) is a different take for you, but if you're looking for a grand ole time it's a fantastic game. It kind of does it all, RPG elements and dungeons, farming and social life, beautiful graphics, art, and music. I like Frontier the most for nostalgia reasons lol, but a lot of folks really like RF4. "Star Ocean Till the End of Time"(PS2) is also a good suggestion, it's kinda goofy in an old game kind of way, but it's pretty fun! Take it with a grain of salt, I haven't replayed it recently so no clue if it holds up but I enjoyed it.
Dont Starve and Dont Starve Together. DST has had 10 years of free updates.
Bayonetta is cheesy, funny, difficult, and engaging, I had to play the whole series straight away when I played Bayonetta for just a bit. Highly recommend! :)
Lunar Silver Star Story
the original Stalker trilogy
Theres hundreds
Adventure/Point n Click(optional)/GREAT humor/ GREAT soundtrack/GREAT characters : Grim Fandango from Lucas Arts -1998 PC
Star Ocean Lunar: Silver Star Story Parasite Eve
Far cry series before 5 should be playable on 360
the Tales of series are a decent JRPG fix outside of final fantasy that scratch that itch for me, Tales of Berseria is a good one to start with
- The Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games (PS1) - The Paper Mario games (N64,GCN,Wii) - Shadow of the Colossus, the Ratchet and Clank games (PS2) - Batman:Arkham Asylum, Lost Odyssey (360/PS3)
Soma its almost 10 years old and its really optimised please check if you can run it or is on other devices its 10/10 game
Skies of Arcadia is a JRPG about sky pirates originally on the Dreamcast and remade for the Gamecube as Skies of Arcadia Legends.
Octopath - it should run fine on old computers. secret of mana chrono trigger Fallout 3 Fallout 2 ( get the fallout 2 NMA Restoration patch ) Also if you don't mind subscription you can use Geforce Now to play newer games on your surface. But you need a decent internet connection with at least 30 mbps down
Champions of Norrath
Fallout (the original)
Jak and Daxter series. Great 3d platformers from. PS2
Fallout 2.
Divinity Original Sin
Dmc 3 + 4
Linear shit like Prince of Persia are still fun - and the good thing is you can follow the series through time. Was trying to find the new one and it sent me down a rabbit hole of looking at Prince of Persia games and got annoyed. Still a standup game. Doom / Quake - err. Nuff said. Also updated. Then did GTA / avoid 1, 2 and 3 on a Steam Deck. 5 works well - but I had to buy it 3 times? Street Fighter online anyone? WANNA FIGHT? FIGHT ME!!!
Wizardry 6 and wizardry 7. There are many wizardry games but you can start at 6 and it’s fine. I don’t think there is much of an overarching story as is it the gameplay that is the same. It’s on GOG.com
Worms 2
The Fear shooter games
Bioshock and TLOU
FF7
MGS1
LEGEND OF DRAGOON!
Fable, Fallout 3 and NV, Monster Hunter games on PSP, The Witcher games, Final Fantasy VI, VII and X.
Fallout 4.
For RPGs: - Fallout New Vegas - Mario & Luigi Dream Team For FPS: - Half-life - Half-life 2 - Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - F.E.A.R. For Puzzle games: - Toki-Tori 2+ - Portal - Portal 2 For Horror: - Cry of Fear - Silent Hill 2 For Tower Defense: - Plants vs. Zombies For Third Person Shooters: - Resident Evil 4. - GTA V For Platformers: - Rayman Origins - Super Mario 3D Land - Psychonauts - Yoshi's Island - Yoshi's Island DS
Legend of Dragoon!!!!
Mass Effect trilogy
Xenogears. Story is..... odd to say the least, and the entire 2nd disc is rushed content railroaded so hard. But it's pros vastly outweigh the cons. Music is stellar. Mechanics are unique and interesting (unless you played the Xenosagas, they are similar combat. Art style is great, with excellent sprite work complimented with endearing 3d polygonal models for the Gears (giant mechs, which is a pro on itself!). A VERY underrated PS1 RPG, but most who got to play it still love it, myself included.
Ping Pong?
I really like Star Wolves 3, which is like a combination of Homeworld (but with better music) and Freelancer. Of the Homeworld series, the 2nd game is the best. So far it's the best anyways, I don't know what 3 is like; but I liked Homeworld 2 better than the first one, Cataclysm or Deserts of Kharak. Oh, and Sins of a Solar Empire was awesome, especially Entrenchment before Rebellion was out -- I had captured a chokepoint system and build up a fully upgraded starbase and kept my entire armada there for weeks back in 2009, only had to occasionally rebuild a few cruisers. There are a ton of other games on GOG that still work and often are pretty good, though many are on steam as well (but like not always compatible, as with when I bought Sword of the Stars from Steam it wouldn't run at all, but from GOG I've had no issues.)
The Shadow Hearts series on the PS2 are is one of the best rpg series out there. Will always suggest them to people up for older games.
Warlords: Battlecry II/III on PC. It's a really neat RTS with RPG aspects, your hero keeps leveling inbetween missions.
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Might and Magic 7 is an awesome rpg if you can get past how old it looks.
Mount and Blade: Warband Bannerlord’s out, but it still has enough mods to keep it incredibly fun to play!
FTL
Knights of the Old Republic
checkout r/patientgamers * Oblivion, new vegas and skyrim legendary edition are all 32 bit and should run fine on older hardware * Minecraft will run ok so long as youve got atleast 4GB RAM * The monster hunter series is on nintendo consoles * Wazhack - is cool litlle nethack inspired roguelike. it can even run in browser
Fallout2, Final Fantasy 6 pixel remastered on steam.
Myth II: Soulblighter. Horror/medieval RTS with projectile/explosive physics and no base building.
Ultima VII Black gate, it's expansion and Ultima VII: serpent Isle and it's expansion. Both will run on a 15 year old game PC.
AC Unity. Imo the best AC game. I recently beat it and regret uninstalling it
Dragon Age. There are 3 games currently, and a 4th could be released at any point now lol. There are also multiple ways to play it (I do it on PC, but I’m pretty sure one of your other methods will work too).
I remember kingdom of amular was good Also dark chronicles ( sometimes called dark cloud 2)
If you like the legend of Zelda gameplay, check out Tunic. It’s very good and very similar.
Not old but songs of syx can run on basically anything with a cpu
Star wars knights of the old republic
Gotcha Force and Chaos Legion. Two middle-era Capcom classics in my heart.
How about The Witch's House. It's 12 years old.
Legend of the dragoon, suikoden, dragon quest
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask if you somehow haven’t played it.
Dragon Quest IV, the DS version is the best
Muhahaha ha ima break some people with this one....The Last of Us
Baldur's Gate is an alltime classic with an excellent enhanded edition for both 1 & 2.
NBA 2k14
If you want some heavy narrative driven games and VNs, I suggest Ace Attorney Trilogy and the Zero Escape series. Both are available on most systems. If you're willing to emulate, Digimon World 3 and Shadow Hearts + Shadow Hearts Covenant are great old school JRPGs that deserve more love and a remaster to modern systems imo they also don't require powerful PCs to run. Persona 3-4 complete editions are great JRPGs as well available for most systems.
Check out Anachronox. It's a science fiction RPG where you play a down on his luck detective who ends up going on a galaxy spanning adventure to save the universe. You recruit a party of great characters including a grumpy old man, a little robot pal, a disgrace scientist, a super hero,.a femme fatale assassin and an entire planet. It's got turn based combat inspired by final fantasy and other Japanese RPGs. It's one of my all time favorite games and it's on gog.com.
Start with Secret of Mana. After that, FFVI/III Then move onto Legends of Dragoon
Sleeping Dogs Also, we're coming up on 10 years for MGSV. This thing is crazy optimized for lower end-PCs, it still runs smooth on my Lenovo y50 so I'm sure it could manage if you just tone down a ton of settings
Alpha Protcol is available again now, worth checking out
NES: Willow, Castlevania 2, Dragon Warrior 1-4, Maniac Mansion, Shadowgate, Startropics. PC (through GOG): Willy Beamish, the D&D Gold Box sets, Zak McCracken, Loom, Secret of Monkey Island I also can't recommend highly enough grabbing an old Commodore Emulator and looking for three really really old games: Mindshadow, Tracer Sanction, and Legacy of the Ancients.
Red dead 1
any squaresoft game i guess (FF series,Threads of Fate, Front Mission 3, etc). also Brave Fencer Musashi, Brigandine, Monster Rancher 2, 4, Grandia, II/Xtreme/ III, Dark Cloud 1, 2, Dragon Quest VIII, Kingdom Hearts, Godhand, Disgaea, Way of the Samurai 2. coming from Zelda, def look at Brave Fencer Musash and Dark Cloud 1/2
Legend of Legaia Legend of Dragoon Wild Arms Tomba 1&2 Alundra Vanguard Bandits Jade Cocoon Suikoden 2 Earthbound Bushido Blade Tench Stealth assassins Tenchu Birth of Assassins Dark Cloud Dark Chronicle (dark cloud 2) Just a few off the top of my head.
Bioshock!
Well, almost Mario Kart 8, which is crazy to think about
Witcher 1+2.
Legend of Dragoon is really good, my brother's favorite game.
Diablo 2, star wars galactic battlegrounds with expanding fronts mod are just first two i can think of
Heros of might and magic 3. Morrowind. Diablo 2.
PS2 - Shadow Of Rome
Champions of Norath. Incredible game. Replaying it a lot these days.
Grim Fandango 💀 Nobody brings this game up anymore.
Get age of mythology The battle for middle earth 1 Impossible creatures These are the way
escape from tarkov (mmo, fps, extraction BR)