Editing Role-playing video game (section)

===Action RPGs===
{{main|Action role-playing game}}
{{see also|Looter shooter|Soulslike}}
[[File:Freedroidrpg basic gameplay.ogv|thumb|right|Video showing typical gameplay of an isometric point-and-click action RPG]]

Typically action RPGs feature each player directly controlling a single character in real-time, and feature a strong focus on combat and action with plot and character interaction kept to a minimum. Early action RPGs tended to follow the template set by 1980s [[Nihon Falcom]] titles such as the ''[[Dragon Slayer (series)|Dragon Slayer]]'' and ''[[Ys (series)|Ys]]'' series, which feature [[hack and slash]] combat where the [[player character]]'s movements and actions are controlled directly, using a [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]] or [[game controller]], rather than using menus.<ref name="kat_hackandslash">{{cite web|last=Bailey |first=Kat |title=Hack and Slash: What Makes a Good Action RPG? |publisher=IGN Entertainment Games |website=1UP.com |date=May 18, 2010 |url=http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9030743 |access-date=July 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110629035402/http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9030743 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 }}</ref> This formula was refined by the [[action-adventure game]], ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' (1986), which set the template used by many subsequent action RPGs, including innovations such as an [[open world]], [[nonlinear gameplay]], battery backup [[Saved game|saving]],<ref>{{cite web |title=15 Most Influential Games of All Time: The Legend of Zelda |website=GameSpot |publisher=CNET Networks, Inc. |url=http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/15influential/p9_01.html |access-date=January 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010511222143/http://gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/15influential/p9_01.html |archive-date=May 11, 2001}}</ref> and an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen.<ref name=Dragon-Slayer>{{cite web|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dragonslayer/dragonslayer.htm |title=Hardcore Gaming 101: Dragon Slayer |last1=Kalata |first1=Kurt |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |access-date=December 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723142515/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dragonslayer/dragonslayer.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=Hydlide>{{cite web |title=Hydlide |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/hydlide.htm |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |last1=Kalata |first1=Kurt |last2=Greene |first2=Robert}}</ref> The game was largely responsible for the surge of action-oriented RPGs released since the late 1980s, both in Japan and North America.<ref name=Barton>{{Cite book |first=Matt |last=Barton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMXu61GbTqMC |title=Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games |publisher=[[A K Peters, Ltd.]] |year=2008 |access-date=2010-09-08 |isbn = 978-1-56881-411-7 | pages=182 & 212}}</ref> [[The Legend of Zelda|''The Legend of Zelda'' series]] would continue to exert an influence on the transition of both console and computer RPGs from stat-heavy, turn-based combat towards real-time action combat in the following decades.<ref>{{citation |title=Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time |first1=Bill |last1=Loguidice |first2=Matt |last2=Barton |publisher=[[Focal Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-240-81146-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC |page=317}}</ref>

A different variation of the action RPG formula was popularized by ''[[Diablo (video game)|Diablo]]'' (1996), where the majority of commands—such as moving and attacking—are executed using [[Point and click|mouse clicks]] rather than via menus, though learned spells can also be assigned to hotkeys. In many action RPGs, [[non-player character]]s serve only one purpose, be it to buy or sell items or upgrade the player's abilities, or issue them with combat-centric quests. Problems players face also often have an action-based solution, such as breaking a wooden door open with an axe rather than finding the key needed to unlock it, though some games place greater emphasis on character attributes such as a "lockpicking" skill and puzzle-solving.{{citation needed|date=October 2010}}

One common challenge in developing action RPGs is including content beyond that of killing enemies. With the sheer number of items, locations and monsters found in many such games, it can be difficult to create the needed depth to offer players a unique experience tailored to his or her beliefs, choices or actions.<ref name="kat_hackandslash"/> This is doubly true if a game makes use of randomization, as is common. One notable example of a game which went beyond this is ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'' (2000) which offered multiple solutions to problems using intricately layered story options and individually constructed environments.<ref name="kat_hackandslash"/> Instead of simply bashing their way through levels, players were challenged to act in character by choosing dialog options appropriately, and by using the surrounding environment intelligently. This produced an experience that was unique and tailored to each situation as opposed to one that repeated itself endlessly.<ref name="kat_hackandslash"/>

At one time, action RPGs were much more common on consoles than on computers.<ref name="barton_43"/> Though there had been attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, often in the vein of ''[[The Legend of Zelda|Zelda]]'', very few saw any success, with the 1992 game ''[[Ultima VII]]'' being one of the more successful exceptions in North America.<ref name="barton_43">{{citation |title=Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time |first1=Bill |last1=Loguidice |first2=Matt |last2=Barton |publisher=[[Focal Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-240-81146-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_bFdsP9L7oC |page=43}}</ref> On the PC, ''Diablo''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s effect on the market was significant: it had many imitators and its style of combat went on to be used by many games that came after. For many years afterwards, games that closely mimicked the ''Diablo'' formula were referred to as "''Diablo'' clones".<ref name="barton_1571_08diablo">{{Harvnb|Barton|2007c|p=8|Ref=barton_1571}}</ref> Three of the four titles in the series were still sold together as part of the ''Diablo Battle Chest'' over a decade after ''Diablo''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s release. Other examples of action RPGs for the PC include ''[[Dungeon Siege]]'', ''[[Sacred (video game)|Sacred]]'', ''[[Torchlight]]'' and ''[[Hellgate: London]]''—the last of which was developed by a team headed by former Blizzard employees, some of whom had participated in the creation of the ''Diablo'' series.<ref name="barton_1571_08diablo" /><ref name="blues_flagshippress">{{cite web |date=November 22, 2003 |title=Flagship Studios Opens with a Splash |url=http://www.bluesnews.com/a/686 |access-date=July 16, 2008 |publisher=Flagship Studios |publication-place=[[San Francisco]]}}</ref> Like ''Diablo'' and ''Rogue'' before it, ''Torchlight'' and ''Hellgate: London'' made use of [[procedural generation]] to generate game levels.<ref>{{cite web |last=Donlan |first=Christian |title=Torchlight PC Hands On |publisher=Gamer Network |website=Eurogamer |date=September 14, 2009 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/torchlight-hands-on |access-date=January 12, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Andy |title=By the Numbers: The Lost Art of Procedural Generation |website=TheGameReviews.com |date=December 29, 2009 |url=http://www.thegamereviews.com/article-1642-by-the-numbers-the-lost-art-of-procedural-generation.html |access-date=December 19, 2015}}</ref>

Also included within this subgenre are role-playing shooters—games that incorporate elements of role-playing games and [[shooter game]]s (including [[First-person shooter|first-person]] and [[Third-person shooter|third-person]]). Recent examples include the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series,<ref name="kat_hackandslash"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Remo |first=Chris |title=Analysis: Mass Effect 2's Surprising Genre Experiment |publisher=UBM Tech |website=Gamasutra |date=January 29, 2010 |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26955/Analysis_Mass_Effect_2s_Surprising_Genre_Experiment.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131015713/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26955/Analysis_Mass_Effect_2s_Surprising_Genre_Experiment.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 January 2010 |access-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', ''[[Borderlands (video game)|Borderlands 2]]'' and ''[[The 3rd Birthday]]''.