Melee Action Fighting without Bloat but not on Rails

I’ve only been gaming for around 3 years now and I have found out that I like action fighting games and I like open worlds but I don’t like 100+ hour games full of bloated side quests. At the same time I don’t really like extremely linear levels that make it feel like you are on rails and in an amusement park.

Looking for suggestions for games that focus around melee combat - can be action games or souls/soulslike combat but not extremely linear while at the same time not being overly bloated open world with filler side quests.

The only game I’m aware of that I think might fit the description is the Gothic 1 remake. Apparently it’s open world but not enormous.

I’m good with story driven and lots of non combat related activities as long as the are meaningful.

First person or third person both good.

Can have magic and ranged just don’t want that to be the primary focus.

Also I prefer not to play style games like Devil May Cry 5 where you are encouraged to do combos for style and not because the difficulty demands it.

Wondering how many games out there thread this needle.