The Best RPGs Set In The Dark Ages

The sheer variety of RPGs on the market means that, when players are looking for a brand-new game to sink their teeth into, they are literally spoiled for choice. For many avid gamers, franchises or individual releases with historical content are the most enticing, as not only are they ensconced in the culture and way of life of the time, but they expand their knowledge base too.

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Role-playing games set in the Dark Ages, otherwise referred to as The Middle Ages or the Medieval Era, are rich in culture, drama and, most of all, engaging and enticing narratives. The following are some fantastic RPGs firmly set within the Dark Ages, ranked according to character depth, action, and open-world accessibility.

7

Darkest Dungeon 2

Find Courage Amidst Chaos

Tactical

Strategy

Roguelite

Dungeon Crawler

Released

May 8, 2023

ESRB

Teen // Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence, Use of Alcohol

The Darkest Dungeon series deals with the underbelly of different periods through time, but the Dark Ages setting of Darkest Dungeon 2 is by far the most impactful. A roguelike journey for the dammed, there is danger around quite literally every corner of the core adventure of this game.

The randomized nature of the game adds a whole new level of tension, with every character having at least one connection to the underworld, and all of them fighting for survival. Frankly, this game is a grim take on what life was truly like for the rogues, criminals, and poor people living on the dirty streets at the time. It is also an intensely challenging and incredibly demoralizing roguelike, but the rewards are worth the struggle. Darkest Dungeon 2 is not, therefore, at all for the faint-of-heart.

6

The Valiant

The Ultimate Call To Arms

Set simultaneously in the Middle East and Europe in the middle of the thirteenth century, The Valiant charts the incredible journey of the protagonist, Theoderich von Akenburg.

Utilizing squad-based real-time strategy gaming, The Valiant allows the player to fully control how, when, and even why Akenburg leads his squads into missions. There is a huge array of armor and weapons to play around with in this game, all geared towards the greater good of vindication and victory. The Valiant can be enjoyed as a single-player game, or in both competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes.

5

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Battlelands Of Bohemia

RPG

Action-Adventure

Open-World

Systems

Released

February 4, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a story-driven thriller of an RPG and, what’s more, the huge open world and exploration potential are truly staggering. Set in the middle of the 15th Century, the game is set in the Kingdom of Bohemia. In real life, this area is now the country known as the Czech Republic.

The sequel to the epic Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is more than double the size of its predecessor in terms of both open-world span and the number of characters with fleshed-out backstories. During the Dark Ages, towards the end of the period, Kutna Hora used to be the second-largest city in Bohemia. Henry, the protagonist, is a blacksmith’s son who is pressured into leading a dangerous and potentially fatal resistance against the usurper king, King Sigismund. Henry also has some personal unresolved issues with Sigismund, making this as much Henry’s story as it is Bohemia’s.

4

Pentiment

When Free Will Meets Fate

Released

November 15, 2022

ESRB

m

The Dark Ages were so-called due to the notable, and almost immediate, decline of anything considered developmental in terms of humanity’s progression; namely science and culture. Pentiment explores the everyday lives of people who were living in these times and charts the struggles they had as their country simultaneously faced a political and religious shift.

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Pentiment‘s protagonist is Andreas Maler, a truly talented artist who is living in Bavaria (Federal Republic of Germany) and struggling to be who he truly is. The true beauty of this game lies in how much of an impact every single decision the player makes has on the community as a whole, as Maler becomes more and more embroiled in a Medieval mess.

3

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord

A Fight For Life On The Battlefield

Systems

Released

October 25, 2022

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Violence

The period of history in Europe known as the Dark Ages was rich in conflict, and one of the best action RPGs to demonstrate this is Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. The much-anticipated sequel to the original game allows players to customize their character in painstaking detail, before heading out to win on the Calradian battlefields.

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Based in a Medieval fictional world, the protagonist is the commander and chief fighter of their own clan and is plunged into a fight for their own, and their clan’s, lives. The graphics and visuals, especially during huge battle scenes, are seriously impressive, and for players who want to feel like they are actually living and surviving in the Dark Ages, this game is for them.

2

Fear & Hunger

Escape The Monsters In The Mind

Released

December 11, 2018

ESRB

Adults Only

As players will deduce from the title, Fear & Hunger is a roguelike dungeon crawler like no other. Set in the Dark Ages, this game mixes authentic elements of the time with more modern concepts, with both components coming together to create something truly unique and truly creepy.

Players can choose between four characters as their protagonist, and they will encounter everything from eerie puzzles to unsettling monsters, and also a host of invisible and unnerving emotional demons. The atmosphere of this game has not been successfully recreated and, for fans of history and dungeon crawlers, Fear & Hunger is definitely for them.

1

Crusader Kings 3

Lead The People Through The Dark Ages

Systems

Released

September 1, 2020

ESRB

T for Teens: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes

In a game acting as almost a predecessor to Game of Thrones, the powerful Crusader Kings 3 offers a choice from a range of noble, yet troubled, houses and asks players to lead them to greatness. Crusader Kings 3 is set in either 1066 (the year of the Battle of Hastings), or else 867, and boasts a sprawling map of Europe in the Dark Ages. This game also explores the impact of the time period on Northern Africa too.

The history and lore behind Crusader Kings 3 truly has to be seen to be believed, and clearly the game developers spent years engaging in meticulous research. Even though the role of the lead character can depend on who players choose to embody, as the real William the Conqueror invaded in 1066, most fans assume that it is him.

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