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What are the best Dark Fantasy games on PC?

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Jun 23, 2021

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12 Games Considered

Best Dark Fantasy games on PC	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	$19.99	Action RPG	Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
-- Dragon Age: Origins	$29.99	Tactical Role-Playing	Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, macOS
-- Dark Souls III	$59.99	Action Role-Playing	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- Path of Exile	Free	Dungeon Crawler RPG	Windows, Mac
-- Slay the Spire	$15.99	-	-

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Top Pro

Thoughtful and expansive story with well-written characters

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tells a deep and intricate story about the main character, Geralt, on his long journey to find his adoptive daughter, Ciri, who's on the run from the evil, supernatural warlords of the Wild Hunt. You spend the game following various leads on Ciri's whereabouts, meeting up with old friends, former lovers, powerful politicians, and all sorts of people from many walks of life. These characters usually want something in exchange for giving Geralt the information he wants, leading you down some unexpected and eye-opening paths as you learn more about who they are, how they met Ciri, and how she helped them grow as people, letting you form a bond with her through these thought-provoking tales. And as Geralt either helps or hurts these people himself, he inevitably impacts their lives in even more ways. Aside from the main story, there are also two great expansions: Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine, both of which offer their own amazing narratives with hours and hours of content. Hearts of Stone has you get involved with a shady, all-powerful manipulator who gives Geralt a series of seemingly impossible tasks, while Blood and Wine lets you explore the rolling hills of the wine-loving country of Touissant, with all the political intrigue surrounding the Duchess there. The Witcher 3's story has so much to offer, easily keeping you hooked for well over a hundred hours as you play and replay the base game and the excellent expansions. See More

Top Con

Some main story segments drag on for way too long

The story is generally excellent except for certain parts that seem to go on and on for hours with no end in sight. You start off looking into someone who has information on Ciri, only to get the run-around in the worst of ways, chasing down several leads for many different characters all at one time. Just when you think you're done with a series of main quests, you have to go talk to someone else, or kill some other monster, or go to some other place instead. It's really annoying and kills the pacing of the otherwise well-written narrative. See More

OrganizedCerberus's Experience

The best frp ever created - amazing storyline. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Action RPG

Top Pro

Your choices lead to morally-gray consequences and multiple different endings

There are rarely any right answers when making decisions. The situations that the story puts you in are unique and oftentimes unsettling, sometimes leaving you agonizing over which dialog option to pick during story conversations. During your first playthrough, it's isn't obvious which of your decisions are "important" and will impact plot outcomes, making you think critically about all of your choices. Most surprising are the critical decisions that determine which ending you get -- once you see your ending, you learn how organic everything is, with the game keeping track of your relationships with other characters in subtle ways. See More

Top Con

The combat can take some time to get used to

The real-time action combat with Geralt's swords and magic doesn't quite feel right. When you first try it, you might find the controls to be imprecise and a bit sluggish. You may need a few hours to get used to the way the swordplay works with parrying and dodging, on top of knowing when to use your defensive and offensive spells to take advantage of enemy weaknesses. See More

Top Pro

Memorable and meaningful side quests

The Witcher 3 sets a new standard with how well-done the side quests are. Since Geralt is a witcher, meaning he specializes in dealing with monsters with his swords and magic spells, people often go to him when they need a monster problem taken care of. Some of these problems involve people who have lost loved ones to a monster and simply want help tracking down their corpses to give them a proper send-off, or they want Geralt to take revenge by tracking down the monster and killing it. These side stories go a long way to humanize the minor characters, letting you feel their grief, hopelessness, or anger within only a few short minutes of speaking with them and getting the quest details. It's impressive that the writers manage to consistently pack so much emotion into these optional quests that you might not even choose to play through. See More

Top Pro

Fleshed-out romance options

Playing as Geralt, you have the choice to have one-night stands with ladies at certain taverns, or you can focus on his more involved romantic subplots. By this third game, Geralt has quite a long history with two competent and beautiful sorceresses: Triss Merigold, his love interest from The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, and Yennefer of Vengerberg, his old flame from the series of The Witcher novels that the games are based on. The two women also happen to be best friends, injecting some drama depending on how you go about things. Triss is really sweet, fun, and spontaneous with the way she makes the stoic Geralt smile and open up more as they get up to mischief together. On the other hand, Yennefer is strict, straightforward, and no-nonsense, not wanting to get into feelings all that much, and yet she and Geralt have such a strong bond over several years, making it feel special when Yen does occasionally let her guard down. Both of these romances intertwine well with the main story, with great optional side quests that add even more layers to whichever relationship you decide to pursue. It's also possible to try romancing both of them at the same time, but you might regret it, so choose carefully. See More

Top Pro

Vast and beautiful open world to explore

The world is gorgeous in how untainted it is, with many locations to see and visit. Full of vibrant life, the medieval-style setting is simple and understated, with wide open fields, rainy meadows, snowy mountain ranges, and modest wooden towns and cities for you to roam around on horseback or on foot. There are tons of secrets to find all over, like monster lairs to destroy for loot, treasure maps to follow, and hidden side quests in remote villages. The in-game clock keeps the skies changing with the hour as you cross from city to city, country to country, brightening the horizons with brilliant, golden sunrises in the morning and burning crimson sunsets in the evening. Everything is amazing to look at, encouraging you to wander around aimlessly just to take in the sights. See More

Top Pro

Accessible to players who are new to the Witcher series

Even though this is the third Witcher game, you can still jump right in and not feel lost. The story is generally good with the way it introduces you to the main characters without expecting you to know who they are. Geralt often reminisces with his friends from the first two games, letting you in on their history and adventures together to give you an idea of what happened in the past. And you don't have to have read the series of Witcher books, either, as the games all take place beyond the stories there. See More

Top Pro

The soundtrack is well constructed and complementary in almost all situations

While exploring, doing a quest whether it is main or side one, the music in the back always enhances your game play. When a fight starts it pumps you up by playing Slavic or Celtic beats, and on a heartbreaking scene, it slows down its pace and plays an instrumental that rings even after you close it. You won't even notice, but you start to hum Skelliege sound or Priscilla song in your daily chores. Watching the sun set over the horizon while the Kaer Morhen tune plays was one of the best moments in the game. Without the songs to complement it, the side quests or the battles would have started to feel like a chore after a while on doing side content. See More

Dragon Age: Origins

Top Pro

Well-implemented tactical combat with unique playstyles

The combat gameplay is great, featuring various playstyles and a key way for you to control the flow of battle. The different battle classes -- warrior, mage, and rogue -- have branching specializations with unique abilities. Going with a templar that branches off from the warrior class gives you an edge over enemies who use magic, while duelist rogues have more speed to strike quickly and dodge the most hits. You can also pause the game to bring up a radial menu to pick which abilities to use and specific enemies to target, meaning you can take your time in battle and not get overwhelmed by everything. Mastering your class specialization and using the radial menu to your advantage gives the combat a lot of strategic depth. See More

Top Con

Silent protagonist even though everyone else has voice acting

It's jarring that your protagonist is the only character in the game who doesn't speak. While everyone else has a voice with their dialogue, it's awkward when you pick your own dialogue options and your character says nothing. When you choose your response, there's a pause between the other person's lines that doesn't quite feel right. It would have been nice if the voice acting were consistent, with voices for everyone or no one, to keep things on the same page. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing

Top Pro

Plenty of mods available

Nexus Mods contains many mods to change just about any aspect of the game such as adding new dungeons, new companion interactions, and ways to save time like with the auto loot mod. See More

Top Con

Too easy to fix relationships with companions who dislike you

It's way too easy to smooth things over with disagreeable party members. Your companions can grow to actively dislike you if you pick certain dialogue options with them, or they can judge you harshly for certain story decisions you make. By giving them gifts, you can greatly improve their approval of you as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. None of your relationships with your companions really have any consequences when it's this simple to make them like you again after disagreements. See More

Top Pro

Your choices can give you vastly different playthroughs

The choices you make affect the gameplay and plot, opening things up for very different playthroughs. Right from the start, you pick which race and combat class you want for your protagonist -- human, elf, or dwarf -- each with their own playable origin prologue, such as a human mage with noble blood or a dwarf warrior part of the working class. Which origin you pick also has a big impact on how your companions and NPCs react to you, such as people respecting you more if you're a noble or looking down on you if you're an elf. Once you become a Grey Warden, the choices you make during the story segments determine who will join you for the final battle. You can side with the people whom you know will provide the most support in the finale against the darkspawn, but these characters might be irredeemable and reprehensible, so you might not want to help them after all. Or there may be other groups or people that you absolutely want to help, yet this comes at a great cost that negatively affects others in the world. It's a balancing act where you have to carefully take everything into consideration. All in all, your choices give you the chance to experience unique playthroughs, with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay if you want to see how each outcome plays out. See More

Top Con

Characters are partially clothed during romance scenes

The romance scenes include characters wearing their undergarments, which ends up looking weird and distracting. Full nudity isn't absolutely necessary, but it just seems off here. Having more creative camera angles to cover things up would have had a better effect without coming off as unrealistic. See More

Top Pro

Great ways to interact with companions

There are interesting ways to get to know your team members in Dragon Age: Origins. Giving them gifts, talking to them at camp, and listening to party banter are all realistic and fun. You can increase approval with your favorite characters by figuring out what types of gifts to give them, like general trinkets in the shape of a dragon, or more sentimental items with personal meaning to them like a parent's cherished locket. While resting at a camp, you can chat with anyone about what's on their mind, opening up side quests, and possibly triggering romance options. Party banter is always insightful and entertaining, with characters giving different lines depending on who you bring along. For instance, if two of your party members don't like each other, you can expect them to snipe insults or make more passive-aggressive backtalk depending on their personalities. Your companions feel like actual people you can interact with and listen to, each with their own preferences and perspectives. See More

Top Pro

Epic dark fantasy story

The story in Dragon Age: Origins is long and expansive with many different parts that are all fit together by the finale. As a Grey Warden, you specialize in killing demon-like darkspawn enemies in order to prevent them from taking over the world in a cataclysmic event known as the Blight. Even with the darkspawn threat, there are many other issues across the country of Ferelden, such as the oppression of mages and elves at the hands of humans, and several displaced dwarves who were nearly wiped out during the Blights in the past. There's plenty of political drama as well, with you and your fellow Grey Wardens caught in the middle of a betrayal at the highest level of Ferelden's monarchy. You play a big part in the culmination of the drama with the choices you make, many of which aren't just black and white. All of these threads come together nicely by the end as you fight against the darkspawn to save the country and all the people that you get to know on your journey. See More

Dark Souls III

Top Pro

Can give a great feeling of accomplishment

The Dark Souls series is known for its difficulty and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. It's filled with difficult enemies and tough boss battles, able to cause you grief on more than one occasion. However, every time you progress to the next safe spot or defeat a boss you'll often be filled with a mix of joy and relief. Beating this game will almost certainly feel like an achievement. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Extensive lore that's presented in unconventional ways

There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story. Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you. Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it. See More

Top Pro

Stunning environments

The world of Dark Souls 3 looks amazing, so you may often feel the need to stop and take in the beautiful sights. This can be the sheer size of structures, mountains, or caves. It can also be the decorations, inscriptions, or details in a room. There's always so much to look at, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in its world. See More

Top Pro

Great combat system

Dark Souls 3 is a very fast-paced game but it's not just about having quick reflexes. A lot of the combat comes down to exploiting your enemies. To do that, you have to learn their patterns and attack the moment they pause or perform a telegraphed attack. This creates a combat system, which rewards awareness and patience, and is satisfying to master, even if you don't have extraordinary reflexes. See More

Path of Exile

Top Pro

Completely free without pay to win mechanics

You can just download and install the game without any purchases. On top of that, there are no pay-to-win mechanics and the only things locked behind paywalls are cosmetic effects, pets, and additional storage space. You can easily play the game for hundreds of hours without spending a dime. See More

Top Con

Endgame can get really repetitive

It takes an exceptionally long time to get any wealth, useful items, or access to endgame bosses in this game. You endlessly farm the same maps, hoping you'll get lucky with a few good items, but that usually won't be the case, which can be really discouraging to keep playing. This is made worse by the fact that your character progression comes to a grinding halt near the upper 80s of character levels, requiring you to buy insanely expensive items to feel any progression at all. If you don't like grinding, you'll get quickly bored of Path of Exile. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

Top Pro

Hundreds of possible character builds

There's a staggering amount of builds and skills you can try out in Path of Exile. There are 7 classes, 19 subclasses, 194 active skill gems, 107 support gems, and over 1000 skill nodes on the expansive skill tree. As a result, there are hundreds of possible combinations, allowing you to spend hours theory-crafting just to create the perfect build. Even if you don't feel like planning out a build from scratch, you can just look up one of the many guides online and get straight into the action. See More

Top Con

Clunky trading system

The western PC version of Path of Exile currently requires using an external site to find deals or sifting through scam attempts in the trade chat. After you find an item you want to buy, you need to message the seller, and if they respond, enter the same area as them to make a direct trade. There is no auction house, no mail, no automated trading posts, and to sell stuff you have to buy a premium stash tab via a microtransaction. See More

Top Pro

Feels exhilarating to play

While the gameplay might feel a little slow and clunky in the beginning, it gradually picks up speed as you progress, allowing you to swiftly destroy large groups of monsters with any skills you choose. Whether you're shooting ice arrows with your bow, freezing and shattering every enemy on-screen, or if you're cleaving enemies with a massive axe, causing them to bleed and explode on death, it just feels incredibly satisfying. See More

Top Con

Very high learning curve

There's quite a lot to learn when starting to play Path of Exile. There are the mechanics, the crafting system, and the skill gem system. However, the most intimidating factor is the massive skill tree with over 1000 skill nodes, 6 classes and 19 subclasses, allowing you to create hundreds of unique builds. Unfortunately, creating a functional build is really difficult, taking hours of theorycrafting, so it might be better to stick to guides as you're starting out, unless you're fine with possibly messing up. See More

Top Pro

Great setting

Path of Exile is set in a dark fantasy world where everything is gradually becoming worse. At the foreground, you have the massive continent of Wraeclast that once was the home to a flourishing empire, but now is a place filled with the undead, evil spirits, ruins, and echoes of the past. To make matters worse, malicious entities from another dimension seek to corrupt the world and its inhabitants, giving birth to disfigured monstrosities that seek to end you. The end result is an immersive setting with dark motifs, body horror, loads of gore, and a very tense atmosphere, which is refreshing in an era dominated by family friendly content. See More

Top Con

Some aspects of the graphics look dated

While the graphics have received updates over time, a lot of the visuals still lack polish you'd see in most AAA games. Some textures are fairly low res, certain character models look weird when they have armor on, and the animations feel somewhat stiff and clunky. You probably won't notice this during active gameplay, but when you stop for a moment to look around it becomes painfully obvious. See More

Top Pro

Regularly updated

Every 4 months or so, Path of Exile has major updates, adding new interesting mechanics, skills, items, and various other content. As a result, every time you come back to Path of Exile after taking a break, it feels like a new game. See More

Slay the Spire

Top Pro

Intriguing world

Slay the Spire features a desolate land with just a massive tower called "The Spire" looming over it. No one knows why it's there, why it's inhabited by otherwordly creatures, and why heroes from far away are drawn to it. This makes progressing through the game a lot more interesting because you're gradually uncovering this mystery through the eyes of your character. See More

Top Con

Some cards can feel impractical because of randomness

There a really good cards(usually involving exhaust and poison mechanics) that don't really work by themselves, requiring you to have another card for a synergy effect. If you only have one of the cards, it can feel like dead weight that hinders your current playthrough, making it even more frustrating when you can't find a matching card because of randomness. See More

Top Pro

A great mix of genres

A roguelike that has deck building might sound weird at first, but it's a surprisingly fun concept. You can select one of classes(decks), choose a path on the spire, fight monsters using your deck, get new cards to improve your deck, and even fight bosses. There's enough strategy, depth, and randomness in all of this, which can make it really satisfying when you make a great deck, win a difficult battle, or get extremely lucky. See More

Top Con

Limited to just singeplayer

There's no multiplayer or co-op in Slay the Spire. While competitive multiplayer in a roguelite can sound absurd, co-op would've been a lot of fun, especially with a friend. See More

Top Pro

A pay to play card game

Card games usually are free to play, endlessly milking their players for money with new card releases and expansions. Slay the Spire is an exception, having only a single purchase that helps sustain its developers. This helps you to enjoy the game without worrying that your wallet is not thick enough to keep up with all the new releases. It also helps keep out trolls and heralds of the microtransaction apocalypse, which can feel really nice. See More

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Top Pro

Exciting crafting with a personalized touch

You can craft your own armor, weapons, and potions. Reagents can be found by salvaging/disenchanting unwanted equipment or finding it out in the open world via gathering skills and looting. You can use recipes, but the most fun comes from randomly mixing and matching ingredients together to customize your own craftables. Once you've forged that perfect piece of armor or weapon, you can even give it whatever you name you want. Being able to custom build and name your crafted creations adds an exciting new layer to crafting and makes it feel very personalized. See More

Top Con

Controller play on PC limited

While KB/M offers most all skills on shortcut bar, if playing with a controller, only 4 skills are available. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Action RPG

Top Pro

Excellent and downright fun arcade style combat

The arcade style, fast-paced combat is where the game truly shines. Whether you're swinging a massive battle hammer, slicing with daggers, or throwing fireballs, it's just so incredibly responsive and smooth. Hits feel powerful in your hands, and the accompanying vibrant and colorful battle animations are great to watch. Additionally, you can dodge and block actively giving it some strategic depth as you're rolling between enemies and holding up your shield to soak spells. Despite its fast-paced nature, there's no complexity weighing it down. Executing attacks and chaining combos is made super easy in just a few button presses. Enemies are auto targeted when they're in range, so you'll never miss the mark. That means you can hit an enemy in front of you, and just by attacking again, your character will spin around and hit the one behind you. It looks incredible, feels awesome, and is just straight up fun to play. The combat is easily one of the best aspects of this game. See More

Top Con

Some annoying aspects to navigation

There is no jumping in this game, making some areas annoying to navigate. Sometimes doing something simple like getting over a fence, small hill, or rock requires a long walk around it. See More

Top Pro

Encourages exploration thanks to a massive game world

The world itself is absolutely massive, featuring two whole continents. There are dozens upon dozens of locations including a few giant, fully explorable cities. You are free to travel anywhere at will on the first continent, with the second one unlocking around mid-game. From there, you are free to travel between them. Getting around is easy, since you can fast travel to any location on the map that you've previously discovered. This makes exploring and discovering new things a breeze. Going off the beaten path is often encouraged, with treasure chests, crafting reagents, out-of-the-way dungeons, small villages, and side quests everywhere. Everywhere you go, you'll be finding someone who needs your help or a new dungeon to explore. The sheer amount of content in the huge open world is incredible. See More

Top Con

Not very challenging

With the exception of a few dungeon bosses on hard mode, the difficulty level is a bit on the low side. Most enemies pose no real threat, even in large numbers. One reason for this is that it's very easy to become overpowered. Even at lower character levels, the weapons and armor you can find or craft feel disproportionately strong. See More

Top Pro

Engaging, cleverly designed skill trees

There is no such thing as a bad build in KoA:R. The skill trees are constructed so well that literally every build is viable. Due to the fact you can respec at any time, you are always free to experiment and try something new. For combat abilities, there are three main skill trees with the basic archetypes of warrior, mage, and rogue, but you are not locked into any particular tree. You can mix and match any skills from any tree to customize your own fighting style. If you want to be a sneaky rogue that carries a huge longsword or a warrior who casts spells, you can do it. In addition to battle builds, you can also choose among skills like dispelling, lockpicking, blacksmithing, persuasion, etc. These non-combat skills will dynamically effect your interactions with the world. With dispelling, for example, you'll be able to loot hidden treasure chests that are protected with magic. With persuasion, you'll be given extra dialogue options such as convincing merchants to give you discounted goods. Thanks to the flexibility and great design of the skill/ability trees, you will always be finding engaging and exciting ways to pummel your foes in combat and interact with the world. See More

Top Con

No camera zoom

You cannot zoom the camera in or out. This can be disheartening when trying to look around, especially when trying to take in the view in some of the gorgeous areas of the game world. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic and intriguing story will draw you in

You play as the "Fateless One", a character who was dead but brought back to life at the beginning of the game. With your second chance at life, you are now freed from the bonds of fate in a world controlled by destiny. During your adventures, you meet many different factions and characters, some hostile and some friendly, but most have interesting stories to tell and quests for you to complete. Oftentimes these main quests branch off into many varied and interesting side quests which will lead to even more lore. Almost everywhere you step in the game world offers a new story of a village in peril or a lost treasure waiting to be discovered. The story and lore itself are written by best selling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. All the locations and characters were thus given an intense attention to detail that makes the world a deep and interesting place. Everything is interconnected, rather than just a bunch of lore that was hastily thrown together. While it may seem overwhelming at first, once you have a few hours under your belt, it's easy to become intrigued with this world, it's dynamic characters, and plethora of mysteries. See More

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Tactical Role-Playing

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

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

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

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

Total War: Warhammer 2

Top Pro

Epic battles

The Total War series is known for its large scale battles and tactical combat, so TW:W2 is no exception. You have armies advancing and clashing in massive brawls, squadrons of archers firing in unison, mounted troops performing flanking maneuvers, and siege engines such as catapults spreading havoc in enemy ranks. What makes it a lot more interesting, however, are the fantasy elements. This includes powerful spellcasters that can summon a rain of meteors, wiping away entire armies, massive dragons that soar over the battlefield while raining fire and death upon the enemies below them, and even gigantic dinosaurs that charge into enemy ranks, throwing them into every direction. Whenever a battle unfolds, it truly feels like a spectacle of epic proportions. See More

Top Con

You'll need to buy the prequel and eventually the sequel for the full experience

While TW:W2 is a solid experience by itself, if you also own the prequel (TW:W), you get a free DLC called "Mortal Empires." It unlocks a gigantic campaign map, making all factions from both games playable. This will eventually extend to TW:W3 as well, so you'll have to spend money on three separate games to fully immerse yourself in the storied Warhammer universe. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Outstanding visuals

The world of Warhammer is brought to life by the game's excellent graphics. This includes lighting, shadow-mapping, fog effects, particle effects, terrain, structures, and everything else you see on-screen. The most noteworthy aspect, however, is the incredible attention to detail on character models and their textures, with each unit looking like a finely crafted tabletop figure. This only becomes truly apparent when you zoom in during a battle and notice that no character model looks blocky at all. From the scales on a Lizardmans back, to the stitching on a Hell-pit abomination, to even the ripped webbing of a Black Dragon's wing. Whether you're a fantasy fan or not, it's something that's very easy to notice and appreciate. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

There's a lot to learn in Total War: Warhammer 2. To start with - managing your empire, upgrading cities, diplomatic relations, recruiting soldiers, upkeep, and many other aspects that are different for each race. Then there are the battles themselves, requiring you to understand formations, positioning, terrain advantages, unit strengths and weaknesses, and even morale. The game relentlessly keeps throwing new concepts at you, which can be extremely daunting, especially if you're new to the Total War series. As a result, it might take a long time till you have a firm grasp on the game. See More

Top Pro

Campaign mode that keeps you interested

While most similar games tend to have the total domination type of campaign, requiring you to capture all cities on the game map, TW:W2 instead attempts to focus on a grand objective – taking over the Great Vortex, a swirling mass of energy. Each of the game's races have their own reasons for wanting he Great Vortex's power, but taking control of it secures your victory. As a result, the campaign retains its focus throughout, keeping it fun and engaging without becoming tedious. See More

Divine Divinity

Top Pro

Awesome dialogue

The dialogue in this game can be creepy, hilarious, deep, sad, heartfelt, it clearly had a lot of thought put into it. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-RPG

Top Pro

Great story

This game has a wonderful story that shouldn't be spoiled. See More

Top Pro

Amazing lore

As the first game in the Divinity series, this game has deep and interesting lore. See More

Top Pro

Interesting quests

Almost every quest in this game is interesting, from rescuing a young girl from a group of zombies, to investigating a haunted abbey filled with all manor of ghouls, if you are trying to get into a questline, this game will never let you down. See More

Top Pro

Deep, satisfying combat

The combat mechanics are great, from the melee combat to the devastating spells, this game is one for the books in that department. See More

Dragon Age II

Top Pro

Tons of content

There's lots of content in Dragon Age II to 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. For those looking for a game to sink 60+ hours into, this is a good choice. See More

Top Con

Too many reused environment assets

Dragon Age II was a rushed job. In the beginning, you'll take note of the dungeons you explore and the way they look. A couple of hours later, you may notice that even though you're in a different dungeon, that the walls look strangely similar to earlier locations. This ends up happening again and again, with environments copy-pasted all over the place. Considering the game was developed in such a short time, this would have been okay if it only happened in a few places here and there. It's sadly way too common. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Building relationships with companions is enjoyable

You can build relationships with your party members to get to know them better and to romance them. Improving your approval rating with characters comes down to picking certain dialog options, either to flirt with them or agree with their worldview. 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

Most of your narrative choices from Dragon Age: Origins don't matter

If you played the first Dragon Age, all of those decisions you made get watered down here. You only see the effects of some smaller things, such as who ends up on a certain throne by the end, or how you chose to defeat the final boss. Your decisions get commemorated in some ways, but it's not all that obvious or overt. Since Dragon Age II takes place with a whole new character and setting, you previous narrative decisions don't get a lot of attention. It's unfortunate in that it doesn't give the sense that your actions have an impact across the franchise. See More

Top Pro

Lots of interesting characters and lore

The characters in Dragon Age II are great, with intriguing backstories that delve into the game's lore. Your party members and other NPCs are all written quite well. There are the fan-favorites like the sassy pirate named Isabela who never minces words and is always up for a good time, and the honorable Temple Knight named Cullen who helps fight against the corruption in the city of Kirkwall where you reside. These characters are also tied to the Dragon Age history in various ways, such as having even a minor presence in the previous game, Dragon Age: Origins, and influencing the events of the story. All of the characters have layered personalities that fit with the lore surrounding them. See More

Top Con

Rushed story

The story in Dragon Age II lacks the high stakes and epic fantasy elements from its predecessor, Dragon Age: Origins. It focuses more on you as the protagonist Hawke, who is more of an everyday person that gets swept up in the conflict of the mages versus the templars in the city of Kirkwall. The narrower scope would have worked just fine if there had been more depth to the story, instead of relying on the shallow and predictable premise of the mages rising up against the templars. There are some redeeming parts, like the corruption within the templar ranks, but this only gives the player a tropey resolution toward the end. The story overall lacks nuance and depth, ending up as a big disappointment, especially if you're a fan of the first game. See More

Top Pro

Well-implemented action combat with some elements of strategy

The combat gameplay is great, featuring a few different classes and a key way for you to control the flow of battle. The different battle classes -- warrior, mage, and rogue -- all play differently, though they each offer a similar fast-paced type of action combat in real-time. You can also pause the game to bring up a radial menu to pick which abilities to use and specific enemies to target, meaning you can take your time in battle and not get overwhelmed by everything. Getting used to the speedy combat and using the radial menu to your advantage gives the combat a lot of strategic depth. 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

You can customize your protagonist Hawke

There are lots of ways to make Hawke feel like your own character. The character creator at the start of a new game lets you change all sorts of options, from your hair, to your skin color, the shape of your nose, mouth, and ears, and so much more. Or, if you prefer, you can simply stick with the default male or female Hawke. You also get to pick which class you want to be for combat, and throughout the game, the dialog options you pick determines if your Hawke is sarcastic, compassionate, or has more of a mean streak overall. You can role-play as Hawke however you want, with plenty of options to customize your looks and your combat specialties for whichever role suits you the most. See More

Top Con

The whole game is unpolished

Dragon Age II as a whole lacks quality. The visuals are muddled and janky, even for a game from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era. Even though the combat itself is fun and engaging in the way it plays, it doesn't feel fluid, and it can get repetitive, like when bandits rush at you at every turn whenever you wander Kirkwall at night. The bigger issues of the rushed story and reused assets also speak to how messy the game is. These issues could have been avoided with some extra development time to polish things up. See More

Vampyr

Top Pro

Compelling approach to choosing your victims

The role-playing elements of Vampyr are the strongest parts of the game. You're a vampire, so you need to feed on blood to survive through killing the various characters you meet. These NPCs are regular townspeople, questgivers, and so on. If you decide to get to know your target better through solving their problems and speaking with them, you earn more experience points once you finally do devour them. This also has the interesting effect of blocking off future story paths and possibly making your city less safe once certain characters are dead, giving some weight to your choices through long-lasting consequences. See More

Top Con

Combat isn't all that fluid or fun

The hack-and-slash style action combat leaves a lot to be desired. It's not terrible, but it's not good, either. When trying to lunge and attack enemies, there's a strange sensation of your attacks not quite connecting and your overall movements not really syncing up with your button inputs. It's pretty clunky and it lacks a cohesive flow, though there are some cool moments like grabbing opponents to feed off of their blood. If you don't mind how weird everything feels, you might find some enjoyment from the combat anyway. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Horror, Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Gloomy, foreboding atmosphere in London during World War I

The game's setting is very fitting for a horror story. Set in London during the years of World War I, the city is gritty, dreary, and full of despair, yet there are some bright spots, like the many flavors of characters you interact with. The time period also lines up with the outbreak of the Spanish flu, adding to how drab and creepy the city is. Buildings are run-down, the streets and alleys you pass through are dark and unsafe, and you can never be quite too sure if you can trust the people you run into. The atmosphere is really well-done here, with lots of detail and realism. See More

Top Con

Subpar character animations

The character animations in Vampyr aren't the best. The main protagonist's animations are okay, since they clearly had the most work put into them over the other NPCs. His combat moves lack weight, though, which is part of why the fighting doesn't really live up to much. For everyone else, their movements are stiff at best and wonky at worst, always looking unnatural or weird. See More

Top Pro

You get to meet plenty of different types of characters

The breadth of characters you come across adds a lot to the atmosphere and culture. Since this is in London, you meet both highborn and lowborn NPCs, with certain accents and style of clothes to match their class and status. The people you decide to help through quests have all sorts of personal histories and secrets for you to learn about, adding to the dynamic of whether or not you decide to feed on them for your own survival. Vampyr's diverse characters adds more weight and intrigue to the role-playing aspects, making the game's story much more memorable. See More

Top Con

Some performance issues

From time to time, you may run into some framerate dips and other stuttering problems. The unstable performance is made even worse by the autosaves that pop up and completely freeze the game for a few seconds. Even though these things don't happen that often, when they do occur, they're distracting enough to pull you out of the moment. They give the overall impression that the game is unpolished. See More

Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Top Pro

Dynamic enemy placements to keep the action exciting

This game always keeps you on your toes by having enemies that can appear anywhere. Whether you've just turned a corner, climbed a ladder, or destroyed a wall with a cannon, there's no telling when and where the monsters will spring a chaotic ambush. This is accomplished through an overhead AI system that watches your path and pace through the level, placing enemies dynamically wherever you tread. As a result, replaying levels often leads to wildly different experiences, preventing the action from going stale for a long time. See More

Top Con

Some of the side objectives are tedious or don't match the level theme

At times, you are asked to do some side objectives like lighting a cannon, but they don't really fit in with the overall theme of the level. In this case, you would have to search for the cannonball and then find the cannon itself. It feels like a way to inflate the play time in some cases, and some are rather boring as they detract from the otherwise fast paced action. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:First Person Action

Top Pro

Intense melee focused combat

Vermintide 2 really draws you into the action by having up close and personal encounters with monsters. You hack, slash, and skewer enemies to pieces with axe, sword, or spear, which can feel quite unnerving as opposed to throwing a fireball from a safe distance. The tension is further reinforced by the unpredictability of the enemies, since you never know from which side they'll strike. Some enemies can even sneak up in your party's blind spot, dragging away an unsuspecting member. The end result is a very intense combat experience, where you're always in the middle of the action. See More

Top Con

Some of the passive skills are uninspired

Some of the passive abilities like a small bonus to dodge feel boring as they require no input from the player, there's no animation attached to it, and the effect in-game is negligible at best. See More

Top Pro

The difficulty levels are far more than just tougher enemies

Rather than just making the enemies tougher, a lot of work went into making sure each difficulty setting adds something new to the mix. There's 4 difficulty levels total to choose from, and as you increase the difficulty, the enemies will obviously hit harder and have larger health pools, but the game goes beyond that. Item drops also become more scarce and the loot is better quality overall. On the harder difficulty levels friendly fire exists, so you can't just swing wildly. Your hits and spells will have to be timed and precise so you don't kill your friends or your AI teammates on accident. See More

Top Con

Rare enemy spawns will sometimes break your immersion

Occasionally a rare Chaos Warrior will appear seemingly out of thin air. It kind of ruins the immersion a bit when you can see an enemy literally spawn into the game world right in front of you. See More

Top Pro

Heroic Deeds give you the opportunity to replay levels in new and exciting ways

A Heroic Deed is a consumable item that lets you replay levels with specific challenges and modifiers. For example, the enemies might be tougher or more numerous, you can't use certain weapons or abilities, or you will see a new storyline play out. Upon completion, you will get bonus experience and loot, making them a way to replay levels in a rewarding new way. This adds a nice degree of replayability and keeps gameplay fresh by playing old levels in new ways. See More

Top Pro

With the crafting system, getting loot is rewarding even if you can't use it

The crafting system is flexible, allowing players to craft their own gear and weapons with the stats or bonuses they want if RNG has been unkind. If you get any loot you don't want or can't use, you can salvage it into raw crafting materials. These materials can then be used to forge new weapons, upgrade existing ones, reroll the stats and bonuses on a weapon, or give the weapon a cosmetic illusion effect. For example, if you find a weapon with a cool glowing effect but it's a downgrade for you, you can transfer the cosmetic effect to your weapon of choice. See More

Top Pro

The skill system is detailed and diverse with a bunch of different builds

Using the diverse talent system, you can pretty much make any kind of character you want to suit your playstyle. There are five different character classes, each with a series of abilities that are unlocked every 5 levels. Additionally, at levels 9 and 12, you can split off your talent tree into subclasses which opens up a whole new tree of active and passive skills - meaning each class has access to 3 distinct subspecs with 25 skills each for a whopping 75 talents to choose from. See More

Top Pro

No microtransactions

Everything is completely available and included in the cost the game. It has no microtransactions. All loot and loot boxes are earned via normal gameplay by completing levels and leveling up your character. See More

Top Pro

Weapon choice actually matters with each weapon type providing its own playstyle

Weapons have their own stats and special bonuses like critical strike based on what random stats your loot happened to roll, but what's especially interesting is the weapon type themselves vary in their physical combat capabilities like speed, damage, and swing arc. For example, swords have a wider swing arc than maces, making them better for taking out large groups of monsters. Daggers are quick and require timing to use properly. Spears are slow but have a huge arc and can knock down enemies. This adds a strategic element to play as you'll have to choose the right weapon to get the job done. See More

ArcMaze

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