Action-role-playing games grew up in corridors. Some have wide corridors, and some have randomized corridors, but they're all corridors that lead from a starting town hub to a final boss fight. Sacred 2 doesn't stand for that. You go where you want, for as long as you want, and even when you want. Do you intend to plow through the storyline? Have at it. It won't hold you back. Digging the swamps? Stick around and farm all the side quests. Curious about those islands up north or that desert in the south? Go have a look. The main quest -- available in good or evil flavors -- serves as a guided tour through every boss and every biome, with dozens of subquests along the way.
The Koalition writes: "To be clear, this list is in regards to isometric-styled hack-and-slash action RPGs. If you've ever played a Diablo game or anything like that, then you have a pretty good idea. There are lots of games and franchises in this genre, but it also seems to be one of the most under-represented each and every gaming generation. Releases are few and far between, but each successive title seems to always garner praise and success. One of the most iconic franchises in all of gaming - Diablo - basically started the entire subgenre and it's still going strong to this day. With Diablo III finally set to release on consoles soon, I thought this was a good time to take a look back at all of the best the action RPG genre has to offer this generation."
Definitely looking forward to Diablo III on consoles. Very anxious to see what has been added and taken away from the PC version.
I enjoyed Torchlight 2 and Path of Exile should be on the list.
POE is very hard!
Dark Souls is not in the ARPG genre.
It has action of course but ARPG is something else.
Do explain sir...i've been calling them all Action RPGs up until now.
An RPG with real time combat...is what I have been calling ARPGS.
Good article. A bit sparse, it would have been nice to hear a bit more detail about each game instead of a short, basic description.
But good. I enjoyed the read.
Yeah more detail would have been better, maybe some information about *really* makes them different besides the setting and whatnot. It's tough to get too detailed and keep the list relatively brief, though.
Thanks for reading!
Author is it in that order?
If so I would pick Diablo 1,2,3 as first three. Everything else comes after.
This article was focused on only this generation of consoles as a year-range, so Diablo I & II were excluded :)
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is made by an UK-based gaming company “Ascaron.” It Is a prequel to Sacred which sets about 2000 years before the events of Sacred, the prequel has a lot more than Sacred, but does that mean Sacred 2 can top off the Diablo series or It will just stay to the “Diablo Clone” status?
Digitally Downloaded writes: "So you might be playing Diablo III. Or you might be seeing the number 37 in your nightmares right now. But either way it’s hard to deny there’s a thrill to the hack-and-slash lootfests that the original Diablo made so popular, and has been imitated so many times since.
But perhaps you have an old PC, or you stick to playing games on consoles. Well, never fear, you can still be looting along with everyone else. "
This guy is screwed in the head, the best dark ARPG/hack n slash/dungeon crawler atm is Path of Exile and the only game that looks good enough to compete with it is Grim Dawn but that is not even in close beta yet, the games those guy suggest suck big time some of them look really horrible like they r from the 90's, article fail beyond measure.
I'm quite surprised at such a good score.
Oh wait. It's 1up. It looks like they overlooked the bugs, crashes, and average graphics once again and gave yet another game a pass.
I will wait for the console version.
1UP must clearly be mad. There is no in hell this game should get an A. B at the highest. Its buggy as hell and the skill tree system kinda blows, thats not even mentioning the snore inducing repetitive combat. The graphics however rocks on the PC.
interesting. Its the PC version though. I am not sure about the console version.
Old school action RPG's that just provide hours of exploring, looting, customizing and building your character while you level up, kick ass and take names are in short order these days. People today overlook the fun factor that games like this provide because the story is not some mega production with a money filled hype train behind it. The kind of games that generally end up being overhyped, shallow hand holding affairs of the highest order.
The first one was just incredibly addictive, despite the bugs and horrible voice acting. Gamers today are often so critical of every little flaw, picking apart the framerate, or animations, ect. All the while, they forget to just have fun with the experience and ignore the imperfections like gamers used to do.
This will be the closest thing to Diablo that will be coming to consoles until the powers that be finally decree that Diabolo 3 will be coming to consoles....and thats a big if. As for myself, I am quite thankful, as I do not a have an up to date PC that will run Sacred 2, and I know I am not alone.
As far as console game comparisons, anyone else have fond memories of playing Champions of Norrath until your eyes bled last gen? How many games like that have we got this gen? Not many, right? Well, come Feb., both the PS3 and the 360 will have this gem, and it's world is larger than that of Oblivion. 6 very distinctive classes with their own items, special abilities and story, light and shadow campaigns, 4 player co-op, ect. See the possibilities here?
So what if the story is like 1up said, "a guided tour" for you to loot, level up and character build? That is the point of games like this. Good to see that 1up has not forgotten that fact, and can look beyond the imperfections in order to grade a game on what it does right....provide FUN first and foremost. Cannot wait until Feb. for the console versions.