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Leynos said:
No. DMC invented the genre. DMC. Ninja Gaiden. Bayonetta. They have complex combo systems, and the game ranks you after every encounter/stage. D-SSS in DMC. Bronze-Platinum in Bayonetta. Karma points in NG. I almost don't put the No More Heroes series on the list as the combat is fairly simple, but it does have a ranking system. Hi Fi Rush is another in the genre with the added Rythm mechanic but the games structure follows DMC progression. The entire point of these games is to kill everything you see while maintaining a combo and getting your highest rank/grade. Stylish action is a subgenre of action/hack n slash/beat em up. Same umbrella but it's a very specific type of game that fits in. |
I would say those are a sub genre of what the OP is about otherwise old style God of War games and Stellar Blade would be out. Stylish character action you are talking about.for character action, You just need a set character, sword like or melee weapons, progression is unlock based through exploration or killing enemies and no RPG stats, skill unlocks with a wide range of skills tied to weapons (God of war series) or can be equipped or are used by combos and finally combos and dodging as the core gameplay or as Sekiro has done, rythymic back and forth parrying with skills in-between. Sekiro and Neir Automata is about the firurthest from the genre I would go but they have to be included, in Skeiros case cause it hits so many of those aspects apart from traditional vombos even if it tends more towards a souls like skill system with a little too much choose in prosthetics but God Of War also has choice in weapons so it gets iffy. Nier Automata has many genres woven in and an almost JRPG feel but the strongest among them is the core skill based action. Or perhaps Sekiro is it's own new genre entirely.
It's getting hard to define action games in general as more take parts of the subgenres to stand out or merge Soulsborne defining features into the games like Stellar Blade which is a frankenstein of all other genres or Black Myth Wu Kong which has auto combos but I'd still accept it. Hell, some RPG's are becoming more like the genre I mention in the OP and I'd completely accept someone adding in FF16 to their list cause that's what it is, an open world DMC game with the impression of an RPG lightly veiled over it. However, indeed I would not accept Batman game or some of the other mentioned by Kaunisto, they have combos and dodging and that's about it for comparison but I can see where the confusion lies and I can completely see why people would add the New God of Wars or soulsbone and some othet titles to the list even though they heavily steer towards being being RPGs.
Last edited by LegitHyperbole - on 01 March 2025
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