Heh, I think I have that Diver Down link bookmarked since I first saw you praise it, and you've done it in a few more posts (that I know of) since then. Maybe I should actually give it a go someday... Though I think the original reason I bookmarked it was because it's not on MobyGames and I thought I'd just have a glance at it to submit it, and never did...

In that case I may have to give it a try next, after I finish POE that is. :)

Maybe this will be a good chance to practice with a controller if it's not as complex.
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Dragon Age

It is very nice to see that Diver Down caught your attention! Those who enter without expectations might be surprised. It is a JRPG made in a Western country by a fan. Not much in the way of resources, just enthusiasm, good ideas, and dedication. The gameplay is entertaining, and the story is very original. If you have ever enjoyed some JRPG, it might be worth a try.

The game tells a definite story. It does not appear to be artificially padded. There are chapters and seeing events unfolding is very rewarding. Refer to the review by Underdogs above: it is pretty fair. On a personal note, I played to the end and enjoyed every minute of it, and keep very fond memories afterwards.

So, if it works on your machine, you cannot beat the price :-) Although of course nowadays the real currency is time, more than money.

I think The Witcher series (1 to 3) has one of the best narratives in RPGs, and I love all the characters even those you suppost to hate.

My favourite fantasy setting in general is medieval Europe. I'll use the first two Warcraft games as an example. I like the other games too, but War 3 onward is closer to turn of the century. I'm keeping an eye out for some low fantasy RPGs. I'd also like to try bronze and/or iron age settings.

I've heard great things about this game. What did you enjoy most about it?

Everything? The plot, the cutscenes, the main hero, one level in particular with evil living fog it was spectacular and eerie (that's the only game I've ever seen this), the moment when you are forced to battle your own image (same, haven't seen anything like it), the whole dark atmosphere of the game world, the incredible soundtrack (it's really good in my opinion).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KONutOA3Rg

But I didn't like the magic system, you don't have true magic only "tokens" (bullets), and this game was made on UE1 so clumsy animation is present, the game is a bit hard at the beginning but it's pretty easy to get used to controls and fighting mechanics. Everyone praised Unreal 1 for its beauty but Wheel of Time had the much better level design, even the starting screen was done with great care and love. There are several factions in the game and even if you are considered to be good, one particular faction will find you evil nonetheless. It's the first FPS game I've played with Tower Defense mechanics, that mode was done specifically for multiplayer madness and a small portion of it is also present in single player campaign. The battle with mighty wizards where you have all the spells at your disposal are fun and throwing an enemy into the abyss will never gets old. And how many games are there where you have to battle the final evil, but at the same time it's possible to run away from it, that is exactly what I did, I run away and I was surprised to finish the game, the important thing was that I fulfilled my initial goal. And to think of it there is plenty of evil in that world but not truly good, everything and anything can be corrupted, especially when it comes to magic. In that light you might appreciated how truly strong and noble is the main hero.

After the game I decided to check the book series, I've read only first 3 books, it was good but I was not impressed that much. However the more fantasy books I read from other authors the more I admire the dark fantasy world of The Wheel of Time, a few moments felt like a true horror. Many people love Dragon Age games, well I was shocked to find quite a few similarities in the WoT books written decades before. I'm going to read the rest of the series someday, can't wait for the TV series by Amazon (that COVID pandemic affected the filming process) and I expect for new game announcement any day now.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'll have to see whether I can find it to play.

Yeah, I've had the first 3 books for a few years but the page count and number of books in the series is daunting! I got side-tracked by The Black Company and The First Law trilogy. Do want to read TWoT though.

Jade Empire, it mixes magic with martial arts and it even let`s you use the "Drunken Monkey" style. :-)

Have noticed that not many recent fantasy games (last 4 - 5 years) have made peoples' lists. Fight the Dragon looks quite interesting!

In my case, that'd first require playing recent games. Only post-2015 ones I have are Ember, Regions of Ruin and, if it somehow counts, The Mull Littoral. Links are to my reviews, and why they wouldn't make the list.

The gameplay is not, but the community's creativity is. ;)

I still have quite a few more recent titles in my backlog, some don't even run on my rig that well. So in my case, to some extent it's also because I'm always a couple of years behind in gaming, at least when it comes to AA and AAA games. I could add these indie games to my list though:

Unavowed (2018)
Hedon (2019)
AMID EVIL (2019)

According to Grenideer, Diver Down was done with verge. Actually, it "was started in v1, developed in v2, and released in winv2 (as well as v2)".

See the website if you feel curious.

http://www.grenideer.com/diverdown/_htm/game.htm