6 Perfect Fantasy Video Games That Nobody Remembers

Image via Namco Bandai Games Published Jul 19, 2026, 6:01 AM EDT Sign in to your Collider account Fantasy movies and TV shows are great, but the genre truly thrives in video games. The real fun comes in when players actually get to step into expansive worlds and fight off mythical beasts themselves. That level of immersion really is the key to the genre’s success, and the reason why video games have produced some of the greatest fantasy stories over the years. Of course, everyone knows the big players like World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls, and The Witcher 3. However, there are plenty of overlooked fantasy video games that failed to garner the attention they truly deserve. This is a list of six such perfect fantasy titles that somehow slipped through the cracks, but are absolutely worth rediscovering today. 1 ‘Arx Fatalis’ (2002) Image via Windows/ JoWooD Productions Arx Fatalis is one of the most underrated fantasy RPGs. The game, developed by Arkane Studios before Dishonored and Prey, takes place in a world where the sun has mysteriously disappeared. This forces humanity and every other race to abandon the surface and build a sprawling underground kingdom known as Arx. However, this uneasy coexistence among humans, goblins, trolls, dwarves, and snake women won’t last long. The game begins with the player waking up inside a goblin prison with no memory of who they are, and after escaping, they begin piecing together their forgotten past. That journey slowly expands into a bigger conflict as an ancient force known as Akbaa threatens to emerge and destroy the underground world. Arx Fatalis stays true to the rules of its genre and gives its players freedom. Every obstacle in the gameplay can be approached in multiple ways, thanks to Arx Fatalis’s brilliant rune-based magic system, where spells are cast by drawing combinations of magical symbols instead of simply selecting them from a menu. All of this feels remarkably interactive for a game released in 2002. Players can take a break from the central conflict to bake bread, fish for food, and solve plenty of side quests rather than following a single, predictable path. This makes for an immersive, rewarding experience that players can’t help but keep coming back to. 2 ‘Dark Messiah of Might and Magic’ (2006) Image via Ubisoft Dark Messiah of Might and Magic deserves to be mentioned alongside the genre's biggest first-person fantasy classics, and it’s a shame that it isn’t. The game, developed by Arkane Studios, follows a young warrior and apprentice to the wizard Phenrig Sareth, as he is sent to the city of Stonehelm to recover the legendary Skull of Shadows. The retrieval mission isn’t as simple as it seems, though, because soon enough, Phenrig embarks on a continent-spanning adventure involving necromancers, orc armies, ancient prophecies, and a growing demonic influence. Along the way, the protagonist discovers that he is far more connected to the conflict than he ever imagined and is forced to choose between embracing the darkness within him or fighting to prevent it from consuming the world. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic really shines in its combat, which still feels pretty modern almost two decades later. The game constantly rewards creativity and encourages players to think out of the box rather than just trade blows with enemies. Players actually have the freedom to develop Sareth as a warrior, rogue, or mage, with each approach offering a completely different way to tackle encounters. Few fantasy games make every fight feel this dynamic, and that's exactly why Dark Messiah of Might and Magic needs way more appreciation than it gets. Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the RingsCharacter Are You? One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide. 💍Frodo 🌿Samwise 👑Aragorn 🔥Gandalf 🏹Legolas ⚒️Gimli 👁️Sauron 🪨Gollum BEGIN YOUR QUEST → 01 You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders. AAccept it. Someone has to, and running changes nothing. BStay by the side of whoever carries it. They shouldn't go alone. CStep forward and lead. This is exactly what I was made for. DIt's mine now. I won't let anyone else have it. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis. AFollow them without hesitation. I'd rather die beside them than live without them. BRally others and forge a plan to help — strength in numbers. COffer wisdom and guidance. My counsel may save them where swords cannot. DLet them go. Only the strong survive, and sentiment is a weakness. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it. ADestroy it. Nothing good comes from power this absolute. BUse it to protect those I love — just this once. CWield it wisely. I have the will and the knowledge to do good with it. DSeize it. I have waited long enough. It belongs to me. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What does "home" mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are. AA simple, peaceful place — green hills, good food, no adventure required. BWherever the people I love are. Home is a feeling, not a place. CA kingdom I must earn before I can truly claim it as mine. DI lost it long ago. That loss is what drives everything I do. NEXT QUESTION → 05 When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not. ASurvive by any means. I'm not a fighter — but I'll do what I must. BFight for the person beside me, not for glory or honour. CLead the charge. Nothing inspires an army like a king at the front. DStrike from range, fast and precise — never let them get close. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it's knowing which questions to ask. AListen, then offer honest encouragement. Sometimes people just need belief. BGive them practical help — words are fine, but action is better. CSpeak carefully. I have seen much, and I know what counsel can cost. DTell them what they want to hear. Trust is a tool like any other. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind. ASmall and ordinary — but perhaps that's exactly why I was chosen. BDefined entirely by who I serve and love. I am nothing without them. CForged by hardship into something the world has not yet fully seen. DDiminished from what I once was — and consumed by the need to reclaim it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen. AI find peace in it — forests, rivers, open skies. Nature restores me. BI prefer the earth underfoot — stone, mines, solid and real things. CI have watched the world change for longer than most can comprehend. DNature offers hiding places, cold water, raw fish. That's enough for me. NEXT QUESTION → 09 You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character. AShow mercy. Even the most broken souls deserve a chance at redemption. BPity them — but never trust them. They made their choices. CSee them as a tool. Their knowledge or skills may still serve a purpose. DDestroy them before they can cause more harm. Mercy is a luxury we cannot afford. NEXT QUESTION → 10 When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories. AThat an ordinary person did an extraordinary thing — and came home. BThat I never abandoned the person who needed me most. CThat I was worthy of the crown — and everything it demanded. DNothing. I don't need songs. I needed it, and now it's gone. REVEAL MY FATE → The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earthThe scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people. 💍 Frodo 🌿 Samwise 👑 Aragorn 🔥 Gandalf 🏹 Legolas ⚒️ Gimli 👁️ Sauron 🪨 Gollum You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don't have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is. You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you'd do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one. You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you. You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late. Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them. You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don't do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything. You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you're not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct. You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 3 ‘Folklore’ (2007) Image via Sony Computer Entertainment Folklore is a PlayStation 3 exclusive that has to be on everyone’s radar. The fantasy action RPG follows two strangers who are mysteriously drawn to the quiet Irish village of Doolin. There’s Ellen, a young woman searching for the truth about her late mother, and Keats, a journalist who investigates paranormal phenomena. After arriving, the pair discover that the village serves as a gateway to the Netherworld, a mystical realm inhabited by spirits and creatures from Celtic folklore. Ellen and Keats travel between the two worlds as they investigate murders and speak with the dead. However, this adventure leads them to a mystery that might just define the fate of both the living and the dead. Now, the clever part of the game is that each protagonist experiences different sides of the same story, which means the full picture only comes into focus once both campaigns are complete. This helps Folklore feel more exciting than any other typical RPG fantasy game. Folklore makes brilliant use of its Celtic mythology to create a Netherworld that feels mysterious, melancholic, and unlike anything else in the genre. It also lets players build a growing arsenal of supernatural abilities that can be mixed and matched in combat. The game creates an imaginative world that draws people in and immerses them in this rich fantasy until the very end. 4 ‘Black Book’ (2020) Image via HypeTrain Digital Black Book is a truly unique fantasy game that draws from Slavic myths, rural superstitions, and centuries-old folklore to create one of the genre's most distinctive worlds. The game is set in 19th-century rural Russia and follows Vasilisa, a young woman who abandons a normal life to become a witch after her fiancé dies. Now, Vasilisa believes that the legendary Black Book has the power to grant any wish, so she sets out to break its seven seals and bring him back to life. Her journey takes her across haunted forests and isolated villages, where she helps ordinary people plagued by curses, bargains with demons known as chorts, and slowly uncovers the dangerous price of tampering with forces beyond human understanding. Black Book meticulously weaves its cultural mythology into every aspect of the game. Even the comeback revolves around an addictive deck-building system where players combine spells and demonic abilities, while the choices they make throughout the story shape Vasilisa's relationships and ultimately her fate. Every quest in Black Book feels rooted in something real rather than relying on familiar fantasy tropes. The game builds an unforgettable world from stories that many players will never have experienced before, and that alone makes it one of the greats. 5 ‘Drakan: Order of the Flame’ (1999) Image via Psygnosis/ Surreal Software Drakan: Order of the Flame delivered one of the greatest dragon-riding fantasies in gaming years before everyone else started doing it. The action-adventure game follows young warrior Rynn, whose peaceful village is destroyed by the evil sorcerer Navaros and his army of Wartoks. After her younger brother Delon is kidnapped, Rynn sets out on a rescue mission that leads her to the legendary dragon Arokh, the last surviving member of an ancient order of dragon riders. The two are bound together by a magical ritual and travel across the kingdom battling orcs, undead creatures, and powerful sorcerers, only to discover that what happened to Delon is part of a much larger plan to resurrect an ancient evil. Through all this chaos, the dynamic between Rynn and Arokh remains the most compelling part of the game. Drakan: Order of the Flame constantly switches between grounded sword-and-shield combat inside sprawling dungeons and grand aerial battles where players soar across massive landscapes, breathing fire on enemy armies and rival dragons. However, this blend of exploration, dragon flight, and action feels absolutely seamless in a way that even most modern games have failed to achieve. That probably explains why the game has such a cult following despite not being the most mainstream title out there. 6 ‘Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom’ (2010) Image via Namco Bandai Games Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is a positively charming game that one just can’t get enough of. The story is set in a once-prosperous kingdom consumed by a mysterious Darkness and follows a young thief named Tepeu, who discovers and frees the legendary Majin Teotl, a mythical beast believed to be the only one capable of restoring the land. Together, the unlikely pair set out to defeat the four Dark Generals, reclaim the Majin's lost powers, and stop the Darkness before it completely consumes the kingdom. Along the way, Tepeu and Teotl explore forgotten ruins, solve ancient puzzles, and gradually uncover the tragic history of this world that has been decaying for years. The heart of the game is the friendship between Tepeu and the gentle giant Teotl, whose growing bond is reflected in both the story and the gameplay. The two work together to solve environmental puzzles, unlock new elemental abilities, and combine their strengths to overcome obstacles neither could face alone. It may not be the most intense game on this list, but that's exactly what makes it so refreshing. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom proves that a heartfelt adventure built around friendship can be just as memorable as one built around nonstop action.