Table of Contents Show
The gameplay of hack and slash video games features combat with melee-based weapons like blades or swords. Some feature several projectile-based weapons as secondary weapons. Below are some of the best hack ‘n’ slay video games that you should try.
Hades
Hades is a hack-and-slash roguelike action dungeon crawler game that was developed and published by the American studio Supergiant Games. In the game, players assume the role of Zagreus, who is the Underworld prince. Zagreus wants to escape the realm so that he can get away from Hades, his father. He wants to reach mount Olympus, and other Olympians support his quest. As such, they grant him gifts that will help him fight the creatures protecting the exit from the Underworld. Hades features 4 locales of the underworld (biomes): the Temple of Styx, Elysium, Asphodel, and Tartarus.
Castle Crashers
Nioh 2 is a hack-and-slash ARPG developed by Kou Shibusawa and Team Ninja. It’s a sequel and prequel to the 2017 game Nioh. You can create a playable character who used to be a yōkai spirit. You are equipped with a range of weapons, such as kusarigama and odachi, and you will earn new skills as you progress in the game. When you defeat a hostile yōkai, they can drop a Soul Core, which allows you to transform into a yōkai when you are deposited in a shrine. The game features a three-player co-op multiplayer mode.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Played in a third-person perspective, this hack-and-slash action-adventure game was developed by Kojima and MercurySteam. The publisher of this game is Konami. The game follows the story of Gabriel Belmont as he tries to defeat the Lords of Shadow, malevolent order, and resurrect his spouse. Players control Belmont in 3D environments while he’s using melee skills to defeat foes and solves puzzles to progress through the game. The combat features Combat Cross, which you can use to perform up to 40 unlockable combos.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, an action-adventure game with hack-and-slash elements, was developed by the American studio Monolith Productions. The publisher of this game is the American company Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It takes place between the events that occurred in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. In the game, the player takes control of Talion, a Gondorian Ranger who teams up with the ghost of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor to punish the people who killed their loved ones. The player can engage in melee combat in the game. They can also use wraith powers to fight and manipulate enemies.
DmC: Devil May Cry
Developed by Ninja Theory and published by the Japanese company Capcom, this action-adventure H&S allows the player to control Dante as he uses his weaponry and powers to fight enemies and navigate the dangerous Limbo. Dante performs combos in the game by shooting with his twin pistols and attacking enemies with his sword. The series feature new modifiers to Dante’s moveset called Devil and Angel Mode. Dante’s sword attack will change to the Osiris when the game is in Angel mode. Osiris is a speedy scythe-type weapon. Devil mode, on the other hand, uses Arbiter, a slower but more powerful ax.
Astral Chain
Set in 2078 in a dystopian future Earth, Astral Chain is an action-adventure H&S game that was developed by the Japanese studio PlatinumGames. The publisher of the video game is Nintendo. The game focuses on the events of Neuron, a special police task force tasked with protecting remnants of humanity from creatures and aberrations that have invaded the planet. Neuron officers can summon a tethered familiar named Legion who is bound by Astral Chain. Legions come in different forms, each sporting unique abilities used for combat and puzzle-solving.
Torchlight II
Released on February 2, 2015, Torchlight II is an ARPG dungeon crawler hack-and-slash game that was developed and published by Runic Games. It’s the sequel to the 2009 game Torchlight, and it features P2P multiplayer support as well as extended modding capabilities. Like its predecessor, the game has randomly generated dungeons that you can explore and different types of monsters that you can fight for the experience. You can customize the character’s appearance, including their hair color, hairstyle, face, and gender. There are four playable character classes in the game, each having three skill trees for players to choose from that enable customization within each class.
Heavenly Sword
This action-adventure game has some heavy hack-and-slash gameplay. Heavenly Sword was developed by the British video game studio Ninja Theory and published by SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment). Niko is the main character in this game, but there is also a second character called Kai. The game features QTE (quick time events) for exploration and certain battles.
Titan Quest
Titan Quest, an ARPG hack-and-slash game, was developed by Iron Lore Entertainment. The player controls an avatar, and they can choose their tunic color, name, and gender. The game is set in ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Silk Road that leads through Asia. The player will navigate this three-dimensional world through a third-person view. A Fog of War effect covers the environment, which blacks out environments that the player hasn’t yet explored on the minimap.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Playable from a first-person perspective, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an action game with hack-and-slash elements. The game was published and developed by Fatshark. The player must fight cooperatively against the Chaos army as well as a race of rat-men called the Skaven. There are five different playable characters in the game, which are divided into a total of 15 different careers. Each career has unique abilities and skills.
