An action role-playing game (action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.
ARPG game
The games emphasize real-time combat where the player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu-based combat while still having a focus on character’s Stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities.
These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games.
Action role-playing games
Action role-playing games may also incorporate action-adventure games, which include a mission system and role-playing game mechanics, or MMORPGs with real-time combat systems.
Best Action-RPGs Games
The RPG genre has expanded into several subgenres, and these are the 10 best action RPGs that the Ranker community voted on.
Fallout: New Vegas
Like Mass Effect, the Fallout franchise has been in a poor state in recent years. Though not one of the mainline entries, Fallout 76 was the most recent major endeavor and it launched disastrously. In retrospect, fans have generally accepted Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas as the series’ best.
Diablo II
One of the major classics from the “good old days” of Blizzard by fans, Diablo II was an action-RPG hack-and-slash that was a big evolution for the subgenre at the time. The 1997 original already established a hit cult following, and the sequel built on its foundation to succeed it in virtually every way.
Mass Effect
In the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 generation of gaming, Mass Effect cemented itself as one of the best modern RPG series. The franchise has seen better days, but Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is one of the best current remastered games. With that remastered collection having recently been released, it makes the 2007 original all-the-better in 2021.
Kingdom Hearts II
As a sort of offshoot to the massive JRPG Final Fantasy games, Kingdom Hearts spawned its big successes beginning in the early 2000s. Though the games’ world can get admittedly bizarre and convoluted, it created a new story and characters that have engrossed countless fans while blending classic Square Enix properties with Disney’s.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
While Skyrim is commonly regarded as the franchise’s most iconic game, many die-hard fans agree that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was Bethesda’s best work with the series. The game has been frequently cited as among the industry’s best in general, as well as one of the best open-world action RPGs.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Even in the face of other RPGs/action RPGs, CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015 already made a strong case for being the best fantasy RPG. If The Elder Scrolls is the Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings-like high-fantasy series, then Sapkowski’s adapted The Witcher world is a dark-fantasy world that fans of Game of Thrones would feel at home with.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Square Enix’s 1997 JRPG Final Fantasy VII is an acclaimed classic that tops many gaming publications’ lists of the best games ever. Fans clamoring for a top-to-bottom remake of the PS1 original practically started in the PS2/3 generation. Even though it’s one of the best Final Fantasy stories with solid turn-based combat, other aspects aged poorly as technology advanced.
Kingdom Hearts
The franchise opener was game-changing for several reasons. Kingdom Hearts was an inventive blend of real-time combat with core RPG aspects and was published/developed by a Japanese company for mainstream consoles. Square Enix (then Squaresoft) was still primarily known for turn-based JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Ranker’s overall RPG list features several entries from Nintendo’s revered The Legend of Zelda series. Though whether any of them qualify as RPGs (let alone an action RPG) is still a contentious topic. But in terms of this subgenre, Breath of the Wild fits the action-RPG bill better than the rest. The game is arguably still the Nintendo Switch’s best title nearly four years later.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Even if its incessant re-releases have become a tired meme, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim stands as one of the overall genre’s biggest achievements. Though the game still retains the series’ wonky combat, it still holds up as fun along with its addictive gameplay loop.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a 2017 action role-playing game
developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The plot follows Aloy, a young huntress in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past. The player uses ranged weapons, a spear, and stealth to combat mechanical creatures and other enemy forces.
A skill tree provides the player with new abilities and bonuses. The player can explore the open world to discover locations and take on side quests. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2017 and Microsoft Windows in 2020.
Lost Ark
Lost Ark is a top-down 2.5D fantasy massively multiplayer online action role-playing game (MMOARPG).
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is an Action role-playing Game
developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Why is Horizon Zero Dawn so popular?
Four years on from its release in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn remains one of Playstation 4’s brightest exclusives.
Produced by the talented team over at Guerrilla Games, Horizon Zero Dawn is an epic, highly imaginative game bursting with charm and tight mechanics.
Many games boast hundreds of hours playtime with a world as big as an ocean but as deep as a puddle. These expansive titles feel more of a grind than they should. Exploration is no longer enjoyable and instead devolves into following a decreasing counter on the map while pushing forward.
When it comes to open world games that stave off this laborious ordeal, Horizon Zero Dawn is absolutely pitch-perfect. The balance between exploration and gameplay is fantastic and the only other title that comes close to this in recent years happens to be last year’s Ghost of Tsushima.
Who is Sylens?
Sylens is the deuteragonist of Horizon Zero Dawn and a returning character in Horizon Forbidden West.
He is a wandering traveller, archaeologist and researcher, and the founder of the Eclipse. He has a deep fascination with the history and technology of the Old Ones, and allies with Aloy to discover the truth behind the machines and the fate of the Old Ones.
Is Horizon Zero Dawn difficult?
There are a total of 6 Difficulty Modes in Horizon Zero Dawn that players can choose from. Difficulty can be lowered or raised at any time during a regular playthrough.
When playing a New Game+ save, difficulty settings cannot be changed. The only way to change it is to start a different NG+ save.
Role-playing shooter
Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm, Bungie’s Destiny (2014), Irem’s Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix’s third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4, and the MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft.
Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat) and melee weapons, including Cavia’s flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5’s Rogue Galaxy (2005).
The best RPG games on PC in 2022
Popular Action RPG Video Game
videogame RPGs have changed a lot over the years, with their upgrade trees and rulesets branching out into practically every other genre. Their scale and scope is massive like never before, with tech finally starting to catch up to the ambitions of developers, allowing for huge worlds and entirely new of the best RPG experiences.
- Neverwinter
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Elden Ring
- Disco Elysium
- Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Pillars of Eternity
- Wasteland 3
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Planescape: Torment
- Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
- Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
- Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong
- Deus Ex
- Diablo III
What RPG should I play on PS5?
These are the best PS5 RPG games:
- Scarlet Nexus
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Tales of Arise
- Demon’s Souls Remake
- Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
- Judgment
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
- Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
- The Nioh Collection
The Best Action-RPGs To Play If You Love Diablo
With the upcoming Diablo IV, many fans have the need to satiate their hunger for something similar.
Here are some action-rpgs like the game.
Diablo and its sequels have left a long-lasting mark on the gaming industry, and it’s no wonder. The addictive combat and looting system will drag all kinds of players to the games, and their massive replayability will keep players hooked for many years.
It’s a testament to the series that there is still a huge player base that is still active in the first three games.
- Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
- Hades
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
- Dragon’s Dogma
- Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance Series
- Darksiders: Genesis
- Vikings — Wolves of Midgard
- Demon’s Souls 2020
- Warhammer: Chaosbane
- Chronicon
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut
- Victor Vran
- Titan Quest Anniversary Edition
- Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
- Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr
- Torchlight 2
- Path of Exile
The best-selling role-playing game of all time is Pokemon Red, Green and Blue (Game Freak, 1996), with 31,380,000 units sold across its lifetime as of 09 March, 2020.
While most who have played Zero Dawn and are looking forward to Forbidden West will encourage others to start with the original game, it is not an absolute necessity.
role-playing video game, electronic game genre in which players advance through a story quest, and often many side quests, for which their character or party of characters gain experience that improves various attributes and abilities.
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