The Witcher series - darkest universe I have ever encountered, yet still a very well-realized world. Its combination of good dialogue, detailed lore, pitch black pessimistic atmosphere, and gorgeous art design is pretty intoxicating, at least for me. Very Eastern-European/Russian sensibilities, which will make sense if you are at all into Gogol or Dostoevsky. Almost every person you meet in the world, excluding a few friends, is just an ass in one way or another.
Dragon Age - less emphasis on gritty perverseness than Witcher, but still serious faced all the time, with unsurpassable characters and dialogue. The story's not bad either. Origins' combat will engage your strategic skills or put you off, but either way there's a ton of it. Then released only a little over a year later, Dragon Age II is rather streamlined and stripped down, ratherlike Mass Effect 2 in the Dragon Age universe, with more engaging combat, but still good characters and story.
Souls - Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Demon's Souls requires less of a full on commitment, as it's split up into worlds and levels within those worlds, with a central Nexus that gives a cozy sense of unity to all these insane and very difficult levels. Dark Souls is one continuous open world with no respite except bonfires scattered around, one semi-central location but not really (Firelink Shrine) a few crazy NPCs, and annoying travel time. But still a great sense of continuity to the world, bumped up graphics, and a bit more involving than Demon's Souls. Yet certainly more stressful!
These are the biggest and best "dark" series I would direct you toward, but mostly because I don't much respect grittiness just for its own sake. They are all dark, but have so many merits besides just their tone. Though these are all fantastic games, Dragon Age is to me the weakest of all of them because it's so stuck in the past combat wise, and their whole formula is undergoing some growing pains right about now. As a result, DA Origins' combat feels pretty archaic. The Witcher 2 is based in the Polish book series, so it feels more authentic as a place, and though the first one has simplistic combat, the second one is more actiony and the most solid all around, including a very detailed and involving story and superb graphics. The Souls series is only for those who crave a challenge, as it's less RPG and more of its own unique visceral brand of action. Demon's Souls is in my top 5 games of all time, easily, and reason enough to drop $250 on a PS3 for those who appreciate it.
Mind you, the only way to play all these games is to own a PS3 and a gaming PC, which I have found is the perfect combination to play all the best stuff. Except for Forza (grr), but that's another story. But you won't get much on the Xbox in the way of exclusive RPGs, except for Fable, but last I heard that wasn't the best of the best these days anyhow.
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