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Fantasy isn’t always my genre of choice, but a lot of times there’s some thematic overlap with horror. Whether it’s horrific monsters, evil old gods, or black magic rituals, there’s a lot of darkness that’s embedded in many of the settings that any horror fan can enjoy.
The past few years have seen a ton of great dark fantasy games, big and small, so here’s some of my recommendations to check out.
Obsidian has always been great at weaving interesting RPG tales with all sorts of different styles and tones. Tyranny, Pillars of Eternity, Outer Worlds, and Fallout: New Vegas (which is one of my favorites in the series) were all developed by them, so it’s no surprise that their newest RPG is great.
Set in the world of Pillars of Eternity, you play an envoy sent to the Living Lands to investigate a mysterious plague in Avowed. This Dreamscourge is described as a disease of the soul, causing weird fungal growths on their body as they turn into mindless beasts. While the Living Lands are more brightly colored than most dark fantasy, the strange mushrooms spread across the wilderness to remind you of the rot that’s eating away at the creatures affected by the plague. Playing out alongside your mission is a strange mystery about your character, who is what’s called a ‘godlike,’ and a voice they begin hearing in their head.
The gameplay in Avowed feels familiar to people who have played games like Skyrim or Fallout, but with years of refinement on the formula. Instead of a large open world, the game is separated into smaller discrete zones that you’ll travel between as you unravel a web of political intrigue. These smaller areas allow things to feel more handcrafted and dense, ensuring that there’s something interesting around every corner as you’re exploring the Living Lands.
One of the things that sets the game apart from others in the genre is the combat, which has taken great lengths to feel very tactile and exciting. The dual wielding combat system allows you to swap between a pair of loadouts, giving you plenty of options in battle. I’ve been constantly swapping between an axe and shield combo and the more range-focused pairing of spellbook and pistol. I’m about 10 hours into the game right now, and I’m finding myself equally drawn in by the main plot and constantly seeking out the fleshed out and intriguing side quests. Despite the smaller scale open world, there’s always several different things you can be doing, which makes the world feel alive and compelling.
When you think of fantasy RPGs, you think of long sweeping epics like Baldur’s Gate III or Final Fantasy VII, but Felvidek tells a story within the genre that’s only about three to four hours. Set in 15th century Slovakia, it casts the player as an alcoholic knight named Pavol who is initially trying to win back his wife but gets caught up in surreal horrors that are hidden among the people. It’s a strange game with weird characters and sharp dialog laced with jet black humor. Combat is a traditional turn-based JRPG-style where you see the action happen in first person. Enemies are static images, and all attacks are displayed with crude animations of swords swinging or spellbooks opening, making for a visually unique experience that has an identity all its own.
The map itself is very small, sending you back and forth to various villages and castles to figure out what’s going on, and it’s all presented in a gorgeous hand painted pixel art style. I feel like I’m missing some historical context by not being very familiar with that era and region of the world, but the writing in the game is strong enough that you’re able to roll with it pretty easily. You’re never really leveling up or improving your character outside of equipment, but there’s no random encounters, making all fights feel meaningful both in gameplay and narrative. There’s not as much roleplaying in this game in terms of character expressivity, but the vibe of the story presented is one that feels so unique in the world of video games.
So many other developers have borrowed from FromSoft’s Dark Souls formula that it’s become its own subgenre (this whole list could be comprised of FromSoft’s games and imitators), but Lunacid goes back further in their catalog and aims to emulate the feel of their early dungeon crawlers like King’s Field and Shadow Tower. One of my favorite things FromSoft does is create wonderful spaces that are a joy to explore, filled with meaningful secrets, and Lunacid does that exceptionally well. Your created character has been cast into the Great Well and goes out in search of the Old One, sending them through strange locations on their quest.
The game plays out in first person, using a combination of melee and ranged combat to deal with the many bizarre creatures you come across. While the melee combat can feel a bit clunky, spellcasting helps add decent variety to the battles, while also adding a ton of flavor to the world. Many spells are common things like fireballs and lightning bolts, but some of them are strange incantations that have more specific uses, or no use at all. One of my favorites was Lithomancy, which gives life to inanimate objects, but unfortunately the only thing the living objects can do is scream and shake. All of it is presented in a moody low-poly art style, making everything feel more abstract and mysterious. Two things I value in a video game are exploration and vibes, and Lunacid could write a textbook on both.
I was a big fan of Persona 5, which combined contemporary high school drama with nightmare dungeons where you invaded haunted mindscapes, and the new game from the team, Metaphor Re:Fantazio, utilizes the same gameplay formula in an all-new fantasy setting. Set in a world where the assassination of a king leaves the throne empty, starting a battle for the crown that can only be solved by the will of the people, Metaphor grabs you right from the start. As with many traditional fantasy settings, there’s several different races across the lands, and the tensions between those groups weave an interesting web of drama to play out over the sixty to one hundred hour campaign.
The devs have further streamlined the already smooth turn-based battle formula from Persona, allowing you to take out smaller enemies without ever going into the battle screen if you’re quick enough. There are really rich systems involving how you spend your time each day, from dungeon delving, to side quests, to improving your character.
The real reason it ends up on this list is the monstrous enemies the game calls “humans.” In the first dungeon you explore, a group of soldiers charge ahead of you and get murdered instantly by one of these humans. When you find it, you see a horrifying beast with too many limbs, wings growing out of its head, and wrapped in vines. It’s truly a terrifying sight to see, clearly inspired by the works of painter Hieronymus Bosch, and every time you run into a new human it’s an exhilarating moment. Metaphor is epic in every sense of the word, while still making sure to take the time to drill down into the characters, making for a satisfying narrative on all fronts.
Skald: Against the Black Priory
One of the main reasons I wanted to put this list together was because of how much I’ve been enjoying my time with Skald: Against the Black Priory. It’s a retro-style, both in visuals and gameplay, party-based RPG with a hefty dose of Lovecraftian horror. After your ship is destroyed by an unspeakable sea beast, you explore a dangerous island to rescue a woman you’ve been hired to track down. While this may all sound like very basic stuff, there’s some great worldbuilding going on in Skald that’s backed up my excellent writing. Some of the little sidequests I stumbled upon were just as memorable as the main story, sending me on a search for lost children in an underground cave full of strange mold or on a quest to find a dagger that drove someone mad beneath a lighthouse.
All this is rendered in a gorgeous pixel art that’s reminiscent of old 80s CRPGs, with chunky pixels and a color palette inspired by the Commodore 64. While old school games like this tend to be harsh with their difficulty, there’s tons of options in Skald to customize the challenge for whatever type of experience you want. The stats and combat feel like a streamlined version of classic tabletop roleplaying games like D&D, right down to a pair of dice that’s rolled on screen during skill checks. The cast of characters you meet all provide twists on iconic classes, and their personality is sketched out just as much as their battle utility. Every single choice in the game contributes to the wonderful dark fantasy mood of the game, making for one of the most cohesive examples of the genre in recent memory.
As I said, fantasy isn’t my area of expertise, so if you have any other recommendations for awesome games in the genre for horror fans (yes, I know I need to play Baldur’s Gate III), shout them out in the comments section below.
