Are Action RPGs Dull?

[Meatpies]

I first cut my teeth on RPGs with games like Diablo;
A game which filled me with imagination and an incurable addiction to descend to the next level of the catacombs.
However, now being a bit older and having played many more ARPGs I become more and more jaded of the genre.
Incessant clicking, is this what the genre boils down to? the click and loot formula?
Rarely is there skill or tactics involved. Unless chugging potions is some kind of skill.
Is there more to this genre than it's repeated simplicity?

 

[Micmu]

Are Action RPGs Dull?

Yes.

Is there more to this genre than it's repeated simplicity?

No.

 

[Mastermind]

I first cut my teeth on RPGs with games like Diablo;
A game which filled me with imagination and an incurable addiction to descend to the next level of the catacombs.
However, now being a bit older and having played many more ARPGs I become more and more jaded of the genre.
Incessant clicking, is this what the genre boils down to? the click and loot formula?
Rarely is there skill or tactics involved. Unless chugging potions is some kind of skill.
Is there more to this genre than it's repeated simplicity?

Genre declined like everything else. It's not just aRPGs.

 

[felipepepe]

Some of them are great co-op games, I had tons of fun with my brother playing games like Champions of Norrath.

 

[Ebonsword]

Give Dragon's Dogma a try.

Combat requires good understanding of your abilities as well as the monsters'. You will get curb-stomped without that (at least until you out-level everything and start one-shotting stuff).

And the game has a fantastic sense of exploration which is missing from games like Kingdoms of Amalur.

 

[Lancehead]

aRPGs are better in first or third person perspective. Gothic's and Morrowind's of the world.

 

[Brayko]

Some are actually quite good. Can't think of any right off the top of my head though. Commence jokes!

 

[Xavier0889]

If the story and the setting are good, then I can forgive the boring overpowered clickfest of combat tactics these games often have. That's why I like Gothic, I love to smoke weed in the hippie camp maaaaan

 

[Meatpies]

Give Dragon's Dogma a try.

Combat requires good understanding of your abilities as well as the monsters'. You will get curb-stomped without that (at least until you out-level everything and start one-shotting stuff).

And the game has a fantastic sense of exploration which is missing from games like Kingdoms of Amalur.

Dragon's Dogma is damn good. I've put it on hold for awhile due to a rumor of an incoming PC port.

 

[Jaesun]

Action RPG's are the cancer that should be purged from the Earth.

 

[Average Manatee]

Diablo is what I would call a H&S, not really an aRPG. aRPG would be stuff along the lines of Mass Effect/Gothic/The Witcher.

 

[Jasede]

If you consider Dark Souls an action RPG then no, they're not dull, don't require potion chugging and are indeed extremely worth playing.
H&S games like Diablo, though, are really more something to do when you're young or to coop with a few friends and some beer. If you're looking for depth, look elsewhere. Though the Codex likes Paths of the Exile, so you could give that a go.

 

[Zed]

If I ever feel the need for VISCERAL KOMBAT with FAST NO-BRAINS LEVELING and THINK-ON-YOUR-FEET TACTICS... I'll play dota2.
But for singleplayer ARPGs... The last ARPG I really enjoyed was Risen. There were a couple of evening where I enjoyed Diablo 3 too but I was drunk then.

 

[Machocruz]

Dragon Slayer is said to be the first ARPG. Being a Japanese invention, it was merely an arcade game with stats and inventory. Japan were/are better at arcade melee action, and a controller plays to those strengths more than pointing and clicking. Mouse and keyboard are superior in many ways, but not that kind of action. Diablo and the like are doing it wrong. The input method is not satisfying for evasion, jumping, or all around quick, twitch movement imo. Games like Ys: Oath in Felghana, Dark Souls, or Secret of Mana absolutely smoke Diablo in this regard. On the other hand, Blade of Darkness, which is not a rpg, smokes Diablo and most other melee games, although not as twitchy as your Jap action games.

 

[DalekFlay]

I find Diablo style games very, very boring. I don't care about loot, so they offer very little.

That said action RPGs like Gothic are great, if we simply mean reflex-based combat.

 

[Statik]

I find Diablo style games very, very boring. I don't care about loot, so they offer very little.

That said action RPGs like Gothic are great, if we simply mean reflex-based combat.

Same here. Sure, Diablo was entertaining when I was 8 years old, but now I can't force myself to give even the tiniest imaginable fraction of a fuck about the H&S formula of killing monsters to get loot to kill more powerful monsters to get better loot, making the whole genre the definition of banalshitboring for me.

 

[Captain Shrek]

NO they aren't. They are just a separate genre. Gothic, Dark Messiah, Deus Ex and SS2 offer exciting gameplay.

 

[Bony]

Gothic, Dark Messiah

shit games. Gothic is for 13 year old unwashed 3rd world masses.

 

[Statik]

Gothic, Dark Messiah, Deus Ex and SS2 offer exciting gameplay.

They do, but the guy was talking about Diablo & clones, which brings us to the fact that a more appropriate title for the thread would be "Are H&S games dull?".

 

[Captain Shrek]

Gothic, Dark Messiah, Deus Ex and SS2 offer exciting gameplay.

They do, but the guy was talking about Diablo & clones, which brings us to the fact that a more appropriate title for the thread would be "Are H&S games dull?".

Yeah. more clear specification as Click to real time attack.

 

[spectre]

Try some roguelikes, they are by no means dull and require lots of thought and strategy.

Bad Diablo clones, yes they are dull.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Well, first Diablo was the best h'n's and then that genre instantly went to shit so I know where OP is coming from. As for other such games worth playing?

I remember Hexplore being fun, but this might be just my nostalgia speaking.
Dungeon Siege 2 was fun for a while because it had quite a few things that most other h'n's games don't.
Titan Quest had a pretty cool class system for such game complete with subclassing allowing for many interesting combos, the gameplay unfortunately was a standard borefest.

None of the above games are must plays though.

 

[agentorange]

Depends on the combat/story of course, but I generally think the more random loot oriented ones are pointless timesinks, too similar to MMOs but without the interesting social aspects.

 

[Gord]

Are Action RPGs Dull?

Taste depends on a mood. There is no ideal game, that stays entertaining for ever. If you played lots of ARPGs, it is only natural you feel tired of the genre. Why limit yourself to an exclusive type of a game, if you can have both? There is a time for classic point n' click adventure game and there is a time for ARPG H&S.

 

[Ebonsword]

If we're talking about hack'n'slash games specificlly, instad of ARPGs in general, then the two Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games are actually surprisingly fun--but only if you're playing co-op. Single player just gets tedious.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance, though, I found to be pretty fun even single-player. It probably helps to be a bit of a Marvel fan, however.