I guess I view the fantastical stuff in BB like it is in Darklands. Where its meant to be what people in the 15th century thought was real.
It's way way different. BB's world was created from the ground up as an environment for a game that was mostly about combat. Darklands was created to put you in the shoes of people in medieval Germany. The entire magic system in Darklands is praying to saints and you can go to the library and look up any saint in Darklands and there's a story in itself that fits right into the game. You can look up the author of any alchemical formula in Darklands, it's a real person with a story.
So BB is arguably more polished and balanced at combat, but Darklands opens you up to a way more interesting world because it's the real world.