aww yiss my favorite system of all time is called The Riddle of Steel

The two killer features were the combat system, which was designed by HEMA nerds to try and simulate actual duels with a helping of poker-esque "betting the odds" strategy thrown in, and the character advancement system which didn't turn around fighting monsters or getting treasure but roleplaying your character.

The first part causes combat to be really deadly and players to develop "styles" based on the moves they like the best. In one game that I was the GM, we had a player who rocked a mace and shield, and after killing one person with an upwards swing (that connected hard with their pelvis, obliterating it), decided that that was now his signature move and became known as "the groin smasher" after doing it a few more times. Enemies who knew his reputation would intentionally hold their shield low, exposing their head - but he was committed to the bit and would knock their shield out of the way in order to set up his preferred attack.

The second part really drives the story in interesting directions. Each player lays out five "spiritual attributes", which is basically things that your character would risk fighting for. This can be getting treasure or saving the innocent, but it can also be your family legacy, religious fervor, a love interest, revenge, etc. As the GM (TROS calls the GM a "Seneschal"), you take all of the plot threads that your players give you in the form of their characters' SAs, and weave them together into a character action-driven narrative - there are no miniatures or maps needed, so prep time is basically just character creation.

The result is character driven dark fantasy where the players move the story forward by making decisions and the Seneschal describes how the world reacts to those decisions. It's an utterly unique game that fosters a connection to exactly what your character is doing moment-to-moment that I haven't gotten from any other system; you don't "make an attack roll", you "swing your sword downwards-diagonally"; you don't "get a job clearing werewolves from the countryside", you "travel to the next town following a lead on the man who killed your father".

I used to be a power poster on the fan forum for this game, and I tragically watched the community go from fans of medieval treatises to "anti-woke" cryptofash nerds. The successor game to TROS was made by fans after the original publisher disappeared without a trace, and it might be an improved and cleaned up version of the game, but for some reason they filled it with sus imagery and then got mad at anyone who complained about it calling them SJWs and shit. Sucked to see.