Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader is an Action RPG by Interplay / Reflexive Entertainment set in Renaissance Europe with magic. Conflict ensues between the Inquisition and the Wielders, who disagree on magic. Uses the SPECIAL stat allocation system with an in-depth faction system, relatively open world, and plenty of stuff to slash, club, spear, shoot, and zap.

Notable for an advanced case of Executive Meddling - for the first hour or two of gameplay, it's an entertaining RPG with branching plotlines, moral decisions, lots of factions to align with, interesting NPCs and altered history to explore. Then they ran out of time, and the rest of the game is just maps filled with monsters for you to slog through endlessly.

Is now available on Good Old Games here - http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/lionheart_legacy_of_the_crusader


 * Anachronism Stew: The ages (and locations) of several historical figures were fudged to get them into the game.
 * Our Goblins Are Wickeder: Here they're cannibal samurai who take pride in terrible poetry
 * The Hashshashin: They appear as villains.
 * The Magic Comes Back: About ten thousand years ago a spell was cast to eliminate all magic and fantastic beasts. Then, during the crusades of Richard the Lionhearted, a counterspell was cast after the execution of 3000 Arab prisoners, releasing all manner of nasties into the world.