Dark Fantasy ARPG recommendation

So, hi, new to this forum stuff.

I've been looking for a very particular type of game, basically I wonder if there is a dark fantasy game in a European medieval setting that doesn’t hold back on a horror feel.

Now I know about games like Dark Souls and Witcher which fit in well with what I want but Dark Souls is non-linear but not open world and the Witcher games have the aesthetic there but what doesn’t help is that it’s such a “pretty” and bright game, I want a game with a gloomy ambience, (where you can almost smell death xD). The other problem is that it’s a very Nordic setting, I’m looking for the European feel.

There’s a game out there called Black Death which is extremely like what I’d like to play but while I thought it nails the ambience I’m looking for, it sadly looks a lot like a medieval DayZ and I’m not into multiplayer games, much less games that are very possibly never leaving alpha state.

I think what would be awesome would be something like an open world game based on the manga Berserk, where they don’t hold back on anything, even criticizing the church. Like imagine a game where there’s the danger of humans and even disgusting demons crawling around.

Btw I’m not into mouse based games, I’d like to do actual combat and so, basically it would be really cool if there was a game like that (let me know if there is please) and if there isn’t, how isn’t there one already??

These won't all be action games but I'll list some good games that meet your dark fantasyish rpg question, with fantasy kind of reaching towards cyberpunk as well for deus ex.

The Shadowrun series is great, I've only beat dragonfall and I'll have to play the others but they are good. I wouldn't say they are "Scary" but they make you make rather interesting and bleak decisions and it's kind of post apocalyptic. The concept is that stuff like dragons, orcs, elves, etc etc came to be at one points, however they kind of just meshed with society as well and dragons became like the big business leaders who rule the post apocalyptic world. You make decisions like is this a bad thing or good thing and other deep decisions like regarding ai and stuff like that. It's very much a tabletop style game brought to life and you'll get some fun out of the combat system as well and building your characters to your liking. I personally went with a charisma build and went shaman and mage in dragonfall. But yeah, that one is good and it's dark fantasy but not horror really.

The Banner Saga

Vampyr: You play as a vampire doctor and there is plague and stuff and you have to make hard decisions because devouring the blood out of people means you get to upgrade your character and maybe plot things but it also reduces the population and you have to help the community so you might make hard decisions for the greater good.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Shadowrun is cyberpunk meets fantasy, Banner Saga is fantasy, while this is just cyberpunk but it has a very interesting world and it's a great stealth game)

Dishonored 1 and 2

Dragon Age Origins (2 and Inquisition are meh but Origin was great)

DreadOut, this game is more fatal frame but it's a pretty cool horror game

The Evil Within is horror fantasy and it has a big emphasis on action combat

Fallout New Vegas (much better than fallout 3 and 4)

Gauntlet

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing series

LISA (Super depressing game but it's turned based)

Lucius 1 and 2

Mass Effect 1-3

Resi 4

Warhammer End Times: Vermintide (Left 4 Dead meets warhammer universe)

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 1-3 (I started with 2 and 3 comes out later this year)

I recall witcher 2 being more bleak

Darkest Dungeon

Pillars of Eternity

Grim Dawn

The Dwarves (not quite as dark though)

Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Apotheon

Eitr

Nier Automata

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls

The Technomancer (not the best game but it has cool themes)

Tyranny

Bioshock 1 and 2

Mordheim: City of the Damned

Final Fantasy: Type-0

Baldur's Gate

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Transistor

etc etc

like an open world game based on the manga Berserk

Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen

Would that fit your Berserk needs?

Has two very dark areas in the game called Bitterblack Isle, and The Everfall as well. Some of the best level design you can find in an Action RPG. Despite the game having more flaws than Dark Soul games, I've found it far more fun than the likes of Bloodborne, DkS1, DkSII. And about on par with DkSIII.

But Bloodborne is better than Dark Souls 1 and 3.

@putaspongeon: Let's not do this again, we've already had arguments in which I show the differences between DkSIII and BB, provide a ton of links that show polls and threads of one sided favor; and yet you write it off as "Nah Bloodborne still better" and you don't ever give insightful feedback for why. Other than a vague "it better" you even blindly praise its short comings like the Bell-System which is heavily mocked, and the joke stat known as Arcane.

If you personally prefer BB? That's great, it's faster, prettier and far less focused on RPG elements. But as an RPG game I and many others have evaluated BB to have far more flaws than Dark Souls III.

Another largely know fact is how broken spinning melee animations are, only second to Bloodtinge Builds. Combine the two and it breaks the game online insanely. You can't play BB for PvP without knowing the term "Spin to Win" or "Bloodtinge is OP". So it's either join the bandwagon of linear builds or get crushed. Bloodborne already lacks variety, and with these balancing issues it's not worth sticking with compared to DkSIII which has tons of builds on equal footing_

As for DkS original. . . Like you I'd also give the edge to Bloodborne, as I do think BB is a great game. And the original Dark has not aged as well as many like to think. BB at least has its competent Single Player. The limited opens for rolling really hurt DkS. Plus Pose is broken to all hell. Though not as bad as ^Bloodtinge^.

Vampire : The Masquerade - Bloodlines might just be what you need.