Ranking of Character Action (and Character-Action Adjacent) Games
One of my most beloved niche genres alongside Souls-likes, felt the need to give them their due.
16 Games
Simply sublime. It may not have the most depth or the biggest budget, but it definitely has the most heart.
1
Probably the pinnacle of combat in the genre, only let down by rather bland environments and playing as V is a novelty that wears off after the initial playthrough.
2
The most gracefully aged of the genre for sure. Such an incredible redemption arc for both Itsuno and the series after the toilet clogging mess that was DMC2.
3
This is really only elevated by the amount of playable characters and variety therein. The core game from the original release has a ton of issues, none moreso than the copy+pasted back half.
4
This one might be subject to change since it's new and I haven't gone and redone missed content and really try out all the systems to their full extent.
5
Still one of the greatest opening sequences in video game history and some of the most draw dropping sense of scale to date. Combat isn't as deep as any Japanese developed title but is certainly visceral and meaty.
6
Yeah, I realise it's not the OG release or Black, but this is still a hell of a game. The series was definitely a different taste of character action, wherein you are expected to be more lethal and efficient over being stylish.
7
I consider the sequel an improvement if only because there's less of those bullshit vehicle and insta-death platforming segments.
8
The grand-daddy of them all and still quite a nice play even more than two decades on. The atmosphere and level design remains unmatched in the franchise thanks to them Resident Evil DNA roots going deep.
9
Maybe the most fringe example here, since Vanquish is more a Third Person Shooter than Character Action game, but there's enough of the latter's trappings and design philosophy for it to count I believe. A short but rather cool ride.
10
I was disappointed by how easy this ended up being. Maybe the original release of 2 was harder? Also the removal of all the gore makes the combat lose a lot of impact.
11
Controversial, but there's too many sections in this game that make it a chore to go back and want to play. Otherwise, it's peak character action from the originator of stylish action himself, Hideki Kamiya.
12
Pretty good mecha action game, if criminally short and could've used a few more mechanics and depth to its combat.
13
Controversially, I was not high on Automata as everyone else seemed to be. Playing as 9S was a pain, having lost a heavy attack function for some weird half-assed shoot-em-up hacking minigame was not my idea of fun. Obviously the story is the highlight, but as a character action game, it falls short of any of the genre's mainstays.
14
Honestly I didn't get too far. It was quite a novelty at the time, but I feel the game is maybe carried more by artstyle and music than anything in the gameplay department.
15
I could not get through Astral Chain. The tedious detective stuff paired with what seemed like rather underwhelming combat depth turned me off. A shame because I wanted to like it.
16
