Thread: Low end PC game recommendations.

Sejan

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Platforms
  1. PlayStation
  2. Nintendo
I'm setting up a low end mini PC as a media/emulation box for the living room. With the kids getting older, I got tired of lugging retro games in and out of storage, and this seemed like a decent solution for retro gaming in the living Is not a powerful system by any means with running a Ryzen 5700u and its integrated gpu. On top of retro gaming, this should also be more than capable of running low end games.

I'm looking for game suggestions that I can play on this system knowing full and well that the options are limited. Overall, the system is going to be GPU bottlenecked in every way. Also, I'm looking for games that can be played primarily on a controller. I do have a wireless mini keyboard touchpad combo, but I don't intend to use it for gaming at all.

What games do you all recommend?
 
I would imagine source engine and ps3/360 era games should run fine on the system
 
Since you are wanting to use a controller, games that are also on console like the Overcooked games, Final Fantasy games, Halo MCC collection or even Halo Wars (RTS), and even the Lego games like LOTR and Star Wars would be ideal.

If you weren't using a controller I would have recommended some of the older total war games like Empire or Rome or Medieval 2 that run decently well on integrated graphics.
 
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I'm setting up a low end mini PC as a media/emulation box for the living room. With the kids getting older, I got tired of lugging retro games in and out of storage, and this seemed like a decent solution for retro gaming in the living Is not a powerful system by any means with running a Ryzen 5700u and its integrated gpu. On top of retro gaming, this should also be more than capable of running low end games.

I'm looking for game suggestions that I can play on this system knowing full and well that the options are limited. Overall, the system is going to be GPU bottlenecked in every way. Also, I'm looking for games that can be played primarily on a controller. I do have a wireless mini keyboard touchpad combo, but I don't intend to use it for gaming at all.

What games do you all recommend?

What genres do you like? I guess a ton of indie titles, rogue lites, side scrollers, shoot em ups, boomer shooter, puzzle games etc. will run without any issues on that PC. Stuff like Dave the Diver, Death's Door, DUSK, Invisible Inc, Poly Bridge 2, Cuphead...
 
What genres do you like? I guess a ton of indie titles, rogue lites, side scrollers, shoot em ups, boomer shooter, puzzle games etc. will run without any issues on that PC. Stuff like Dave the Diver, Death's Door, DUSK, Invisible Inc, Poly Bridge 2, Cuphead...

I'm a fan of most genres other than hardcore FPS and overly finicky simulation games.

Since you are wanting to use a controller, games that are also on console like the Overcooked games, Final Fantasy games, Halo MCC collection or even Halo Wars (RTS), and even the Lego games like LOTR and Star Wars would be ideal.

If you weren't using a controller I would have recommended some of the older total war games like Empire or Rome or Medieval 2 that run decently well on integrated graphics.

I have a PS5 and Switch so I've had the opportunity for a number of console games.
 
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GTA V
Stardew Valley
Vampire Survivors
Streets Of Rage 4
Sleeping Dogs
Dead Rising 1 & 2
Dirt Rally
Tekken 7 (at 720p)

Games like RDR2, Days Gone, Forza Horizon 5, Mafia 3, Tomb Raider 2013 etc. will run at 30fps at 720p low settings.
 
Enter the Gungeon
Dominions 4
Vampire Survivor
The Last Spell
Spelunky 1 or 2
Half Life / Portal franchises
Monster Train
Ultimate Chicken Horse
Minecraft
Terraria
Rogue Legacy 1 or 2
 
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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. You will get about 45 to 50 FPS at 1080p. Lock it to 30 or drop the rez and it should be playable.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance. This runs well on the Steam Deck at 800p locked at 40. The 5700U should play it at 720p at 30.

Sonic Mania

Watching this video with the 5500U, it can run a lot of things decently. Having dual channel RAM helps a lot.

 
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. You will get about 45 to 50 FPS at 1080p. Lock it to 30 or drop the rez and it should be playable.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance. This runs well on the Steam Deck at 800p locked at 40. The 5700U should play it at 720p at 30.

Sonic Mania

Watching this video with the 5500U, it can run a lot of things decently. Having dual channel RAM helps a lot.



This is why I ultimately jumped on this mini PC. AMD is putting out CPUs with surprisingly decent GPUs built in for a decent price.

For reference, my system is a AMD 5700u with 16gb ram and two 512 gb SSDs. As an emulation box, I'm running up to gamecube without any noticable hitches with the 3D systems running at a minimum of 2x internal resolution. I still haven't tried pushing it too far, but its easily everything I was looking for in a $300-350 package.

I haven't done much native gaming, but the Trails of Cold Steel series seems to run fine as well as a number of indie games that I've thrown at it.
 
Go start the "Trails in the Sky"-series of jrpgs. I recently finished the first game, now playing the 2nd one. So good. Should run on a potato, I'm playing on my T480 laptop.
 
Go start the "Trails in the Sky"-series of jrpgs. I recently finished the first game, now playing the 2nd one. So good. Should run on a potato, I'm playing on my T480 laptop.

I'm hoping to do just that. I've played the whole Cold Steel and Crossbell arcs, but only Sky 1.