Elves, dwarves, and humans have been done to death in RPGs, but these games put their own twists on classic fantasy races.
Magical elves, mundane humans, tech-handy dwarves, war-obsessed orcs, and sly halflings. These fantasy races, among others, have been around in video games ever since the early coders translated their new favorite dice game, Dungeons & Dragons, into ones and zeroes.
However, some game studios have seen the wisdom in moving beyond those Tolkien-esque archetypes by putting their own spin on the formula or, in some cases, completely inventing the wheel, whether that means adding flavor to each race's appearances, backstories, lore, or even coming up with a new lineup from scratch.
After an event known as the "Unexplained Genetic Expression," the human denizens of an alternate timeline found themselves birthing children with elvish or dwarven biology (and later, orcs and trolls). As a result, Shadowrun's cybertech world is occupied by races that would fit right into a Lord of the Rings game, but here they are molded and hardened by urban life, corporate conflict, and high technology, all while mystical forces hum in the background.
What makes these races unique is their immersion into (or spiritual rejection of) the complexity of modernity and its fantastical clash with magic. For example, an elf might work as a corporate spy or street mage, while a troll could be a hired bodyguard with heavy cybernetic enhancements.
In Divinity: Original Sin 2, traditional fantasy races like elves, dwarves, and lizards are present, but each comes with unique cultural traits and quirks that set them apart from standard archetypes (barring humans, who fill the typical "adaptive medieval type" role). The elves are deeply tied to nature, but they practice an eerie, magical form of cannibalism, eating flesh to absorb the memories of the dead.
Lizards in OS2 form a dignified and complexly hierarchical society, wrapped in tradition and politics, quite different from typical "reptilian" or beastly portrayals. Dwarves, usually depicted as stoney, industrious miners with a mind for justice and equality in other games, are at home as sailors in an ocean and adept magic weavers but live in a deeply entrenched class system run by a matriarchal empress.
Kenshi introduces players to a post-apocalyptic world (or, more accurately, a post-apocalyptic moon) with non-traditional races (even for sci-fi) molded by their harsh environments. This hardcore RPG offers unconventional races like the warlike Shek, insectoid Hive, robotic Skeletons, and, of course, the standard hapless human. The only thing that each of these races has in common is their ability to lose limbs in grotesquely violent ways.
The Hive functions as a collective society with worker and warrior casts, presenting a unique take on insectoid creatures. The Shek is a warrior race with massive physical strength, resembling fantasy orcs but with a survivalist edge sharpened by a hostile desert existence. Lastly, Skeletons are ancient, seemingly immortal sentient robot frames that are resilient but haunted by the memory of past wars.
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