Action RPGs and Hack and Slash: From Diablo to Monster Hunter

An action RPG is a role-playing game in which you fight by moving your character directly in real time, instead of waiting for turns or picking commands from a menu. In Korea the term is often used alongside "hack and slash," especially for games like Diablo, where you sweep through crowds of enemies from an isometric view and pick up the items they drop.

In this post, we look at what action RPG and hack and slash each mean, where the genre started, how it branches out, and which titles define it. We then cover what to think about when making a game in this genre and who it suits. For the overall history of RPGs, see The History of RPGs, and for the Diablo series, see our Diablo post.

Definition and Core Appeal

The action RPG combines the core elements of action games and RPGs. Because it uses real-time combat instead of turn-based or menu-driven battles, the player's reaction speed and dexterity affect the outcome. At the same time, it has RPG elements that grow a character's numbers, such as levels, stats, skill trees, and equipment.

This is also what separates it from the similar-looking "action-adventure." In an action-adventure like The Legend of Zelda, the player progresses by acquiring items and tools, but there is little RPG-style growth where you build a character and raise its stats and skills yourself. An action RPG layers this kind of progression system on top of real-time combat. Broadly speaking, MMORPGs with real-time combat also belong to the action RPG category.

The core appeal lies in two things overlapping. One is game feel: the sensation of dodging, striking, and winning with your own hands. The other is growth: the sense of your character becoming visibly stronger with better gear and skills. As your skill improves, so does your character, so you get both kinds of accomplishment at once.

What Is Hack and Slash?

"Hack and slash" originally described a style of tabletop RPG play focused on combat rather than story or dialogue. As the term moved into MUDs, MMORPGs, and computer RPGs, it came to mean "a game focused on cutting down and defeating enemies."

However, the term means different things in different genres.

• Hack and slash in RPGs: Games like Diablo, where you face large numbers of enemies from an isometric view and grow your character by collecting dropped items. In Korea, "hack and slash" usually means this kind of game.
• Hack and slash in action games: Third-person action games like Devil May Cry, God of War, and Bayonetta, where you perform flashy combos with melee weapons such as swords. In English-speaking circles these are also called "character action" games.

The two branches have almost nothing to do with each other, though some action RPGs combine elements of both. In this post, hack and slash mainly refers to the former, RPG kind.

Origins: Japan in 1984 and Diablo in 1996

The action RPG genre is generally considered to have taken shape in 1984, when Japanese developers began mixing arcade-style action into RPGs. That year, the arcade game The Tower of Druaga was a hit in Japan, and under its influence came Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer and T&E Soft's Hydlide. Hydlide is regarded as the first action RPG with a large open field. The Legend of Zelda (1986) is strictly speaking an action-adventure, but by swinging a sword with an attack button instead of ramming into enemies, and by exploring a wide world, it became a model for many later action RPGs. In 1987, Nihon Falcom's Ys series began, and in 1993 Square's Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2) added cooperative play in which multiple players could drop into the real-time combat at any time.

On PC, the turning point was Blizzard North's Diablo in 1996. It combined simple controls in which a single click moves and attacks, randomly generated dungeons and items, and online co-op through Battle.net, which launched alongside it. Diablo's influence was so great that some people use "action RPG" to mean only Diablo-style games. Diablo itself was inspired by Moria and Angband, roguelikes in the Rogue lineage. Diablo II (2000) cemented "loot farming" as a pillar of the genre with its varied classes, ladders, and deeper item system.

Subgenres and Characteristics

Soulslikes are covered in detail in a separate Soulslike post.

Landmark Titles

Other titles often cited as representative of the genre include The Witcher 3 (2015), Monster Hunter: World (2018), Genshin Impact (2020), and Elden Ring (2022). According to Wikipedia, Monster Hunter: World became the best-selling single title in Capcom's history. Dungeon Fighter Online is covered separately in our Dungeon Fighter Online post.

Design Points

1. Impact and Responsiveness

The first impression of an action RPG is how good it feels to hit things. Whether an action comes out the moment you press the button, whether struck enemies clearly react, and whether sound and screen shake are well judged all determine game feel. On the other hand, some designs, like soulslikes, make actions uncancelable to demand caution. Either way, the intent should be clear.

2. Make Growth Change Combat

If leveling up only makes numbers bigger, it quickly gets boring. Growth feels real when new skills change how you fight and gear affixes change your play style. Path of Exile's giant skill tree is an example of pushing this direction to the extreme.

3. The Reward Cycle of Loot Farming

In hack and slash games, items are the reward. If good items drop too often, they lose value; if they are too rare, motivation drops. Color-coded rarities, drop effects, and randomized affixes keep alive the hope that "something better might drop next time."

4. Economy and Monetization

In games with active item trading, the economy can easily collapse. Diablo III launched in 2012 with an auction house where items could be bought and sold for real money, but amid criticism that it undermined the fun of finding items yourself, it was shut down in 2014. A major overhaul of the item system followed, and this case became a lesson often cited when designing monetization for action RPGs.

5. Structures That Sustain Repetition

Since this is a genre where you run the same dungeons many times, devices such as random maps, difficulty tiers, and seasonal resets are needed to keep repetition fresh. Seasons have every player start again from the same line, creating a steady reason to come back.

Who It's For

• People who prefer moving and fighting directly over waiting for turns
• People who enjoy collecting good gear and completing builds
• People who want to hunt cooperatively with friends
• People who want to feel both their own skill and their character growing

On the other hand, if you prefer fighting slowly and thoughtfully, JRPGs or tactics RPGs may suit you better.

Action RPGs Today

Today the action RPG has become the broadest area within RPGs. Most large open-world games take the form of action RPGs, and free-to-play games like Genshin Impact that combine open-world action with gacha have also been hugely successful. Live-service hack and slash games like Diablo IV, which add new rules every season, have also become established.

Meanwhile, blending with roguelikes is also active. Just as Diablo was inspired by roguelikes, roguelite games like Hades are now influenced in turn by Diablo-style action RPGs. The thrill of sweeping up hordes of enemies is also carrying over into new genres such as survivors-likes. The action RPG's greatest strength is that, as long as it keeps its two pillars of real-time combat and growth, it can change into any form.

References

• Action role-playing game – Wikipedia
• Hack and slash – Wikipedia
• Diablo (video game) – Wikipedia
• Path of Exile – Wikipedia
• Monster Hunter – Wikipedia
• Role-playing video game – Wikipedia