I recommend many of those above, and I also recommend the following. They won't capture the cinematic or storytelling brilliance of TW3, but they have their own strengths:
Action / RPG
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Just don't judge it too harshly, as the execution is a bit flat and the game takes a while to get going...but the combat and gameworld are
amazing.)
Dragon's Dogma (A bit obtuse, probably because of the Japanese translation, but surprisingly deep and really satisfying.)
Shadow of Mordor (Mostly action, but the Nemesis system deserves a cookie
and a medal.)
Mount and Blade (But of course, everyone has already played M&B to death...right?
If not, I recommend the original
Warband.
Warband 2 is on its way, but the new releases from Telltale have a tendency to be Bethesda-levels of buggy.
With Fire and Sword is also really great, but much more slow-paced in execution.)
Classic RPG:
Divinity: Original Sin (Just
brilliant.)
Pillars of Eternity (Nothing mind-blowing, but a very cool world and excellent, complex combat.)
Serpent in the Staglands (It's really different and engaging. Combat is old-school, RNG to a fault, but like old-school, once you level up a bit, it's much more manageable.)
Hidden Gem RPGs:
The Spiderweb Games (I especially recommend
Avernum: Escape from the Pit or
Avadon: The Black Fortress to start. No frills, basic graphics...and some of the best writing in gaming. Easily on par with Bioware / CDPR storytelling.)
Balrum (An Ultima-like / Minecraft-like game that I keep coming back to. Not for everyone, but really cool.)
Legend of Grimrock (In the spirit of the old Might and Magic / Wizardry games. Very engaging, but no story to speak of, really. Just a dungeon-crawler done right.)
Just great games:
Freeman: Guerilla Warfare (In-dev game which is basically M&B in the modern era. With mortars. And artillery. And airstrikes. Feels like ArmA "lite" in practice. Really great shooting mechanics. Plus, the developers are
insane -- there's, like, an update every week.)
Starpoint Gemini 2 (The first one was a hot mess; the second one is very polished. Story is ho-hum, and frankly, I use the option to play without it. The rest of the gameplay is fantastic. It's almost the perfect marriage of
Freelancer and
Starfleet Command.)
Stonehearth (Still in-dev but very playable. It's a "casual" Dwarf Fortress done with inescapable charm. Can be buggy.)