# Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash - Genre: Digital genre - Date: 1984 (The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Slayer, Hydlide) - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/action-rpg/ > Swing the sword yourself: the real-time RPG that began in Japan in 1984, went global with Diablo's click-and-loot, and splits into hack-and-slash, loot chaser and soulslike. **Why it matters:** The action RPG fused arcade immediacy with role-playing progression and became the mainstream shape of the video game RPG, from Zelda-like adventures to Diablo's loot economy to Elden Ring. ## Quick answers **What is Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash?** Swing the sword yourself: the real-time RPG that began in Japan in 1984, went global with Diablo's click-and-loot, and splits into hack-and-slash, loot chaser and soulslike. **What are the hallmarks of Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash?** Real-time combat decided partly by the player's reflexes and positioning; Character statistics, levels and gear that still shape every blow; Direct control of one hero, sometimes with companions or co-op partners; In the Diablo line, a compulsive loop of kill, loot and upgrade; Randomized item drops with tiers of rarity; Online or local cooperative play as a core pleasure. **When did Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash emerge?** 1984 (The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Slayer, Hydlide). **What are the key works of Action RPGs & Hack-and-Slash?** Dragon Slayer, Hydlide, The Legend of Zelda, Gauntlet, Secret of Mana, Diablo, Diablo II and Path of Exile. ## What it is An action RPG gives you the sword arm. Instead of choosing "Attack" from a menu and watching dice resolve, you press the button, time the swing, dodge the counterblow. Yet the numbers never go away. [Experience points](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/experience-points/), levels, stats and equipment decide how hard the swing lands and how much punishment you can take. That double nature is the genre's definition: the player's skill and the character's growth both count. It is a broad tent. It covers the overhead sword adventure, the isometric click-and-loot "Diablo-like," the third-person open world, and the [Soulslikes](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/soulslike/). ## Origins The genre was born in Japan in 1984. Namco's arcade game *The Tower of Druaga* (June 1984) mixed maze combat with hidden treasures and puzzles. [Nihon Falcom](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/nihon-falcom/)'s [*Dragon Slayer*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragon-slayer/) (September 1984, PC-8801) threw out command menus for real-time fighting in a dungeon, and it is often called the first action RPG. T&E Soft's [*Hydlide*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/hydlide/) (December 1984) added an open overworld and a health bar that refilled when the hero rested. Falcom's *Ys* (1987) followed. In the arcades, Atari's [*Gauntlet*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/gauntlet/) (1985) turned the [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/) into four players at one cabinet. [Nintendo](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/nintendo/)'s [*The Legend of Zelda*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-legend-of-zelda/) (1986), by [Shigeru Miyamoto](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/shigeru-miyamoto/) and Takashi Tezuka, gave the hero a dedicated attack button instead of the bump-to-fight of *Hydlide* and *Dragon Slayer*, and a battery to save progress. Strictly it is an action-adventure, without experience levels, but it became the template for a generation. Its sequel, *Zelda II* (1987), added levels outright. ## Evolution Through the early 1990s, action RPGs thrived on consoles, where gamepads suited real-time play. [Square](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/square/)'s [*Secret of Mana*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/secret-of-mana/) (1993) added a pausable ring menu and let friends drop in cooperatively. On computers, purists in *Computer Gaming World* complained about "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" combat creeping into their RPGs. [Blizzard](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/blizzard-entertainment/)'s [*Diablo*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/diablo/) (1996) ended the argument on PC. [David Brevik](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/david-brevik/) had designed a turn-based [Roguelikes](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/roguelike/). Blizzard asked for real time, and the result was a click-driven descent through randomized dungeons, with color-coded [Loot & loot tables](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/loot/) and free online play on Battle.net. [*Diablo II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/diablo-ii/) (2000) added skill trees and a trading economy, and it defined the "loot chase" for twenty years. Its heirs include *Titan Quest* (2006), *Torchlight* (2009), Grinding Gear Games' free-to-play [*Path of Exile*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/path-of-exile/) (2013), and *Diablo IV* (2023). On consoles, *Kingdom Hearts* (2002) and Capcom's *Monster Hunter* series carried the form in other directions. Online play reshaped the genre as much as combat did. Battle.net launched alongside *Diablo* in January 1997 and gave strangers a free place to meet and descend together. Sega's *Phantasy Star Online* (2000) brought that instanced, cooperative formula to consoles. The loot economy that grew around these games was powerful enough to cause trouble. *Diablo III* (2012) launched with a real-money auction house, and Blizzard closed it in 2014 after players felt it had hollowed out the thrill of finding gear. Capcom's cooperative hunting game *Monster Hunter: World* (2018) became the best-selling title in that company's history. In 2009 [FromSoftware](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/fromsoftware/) released [*Demon's Souls*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/demons-souls/). Its spiritual successor [*Dark Souls*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dark-souls/) (2011) made deliberate, punishing, stamina-based combat a movement of its own, the [Soulslikes](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/soulslike/). [Hidetaka Miyazaki](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/hidetaka-miyazaki/)'s [*Elden Ring*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/elden-ring/) (2022) married that combat to an open world and sold 30 million copies by April 2025. Meanwhile, series that had been turn-based, including *Final Fantasy* with *Final Fantasy XVI* (2023), moved to action combat. ## How to tell it apart **Action RPG vs. hack-and-slash.** "Hack and slash" has two meanings, and they are largely unrelated. In tabletop and RPG circles it began as a mild insult for play that is all combat and no story; Jean Wells and Kim Mohan's 1980 *Dragon* article used the phrase that way. PC players later applied it to Diablo-likes, where killing and looting are the point. In action-game criticism, "hack-and-slash" means melee-weapon brawlers such as *Devil May Cry* (2001) or *God of War*. Those games have combos and style ratings but little persistent character building. An action RPG always has the RPG layer: stats and gear that change what you can do. **Action RPG vs. soulslike.** The soulslike is a sub-genre with a specific signature: sparse checkpoints, enemies that respawn when you rest, experience currency dropped on death and recoverable once, stamina-limited combat, and story told through item descriptions. Every soulslike is an action RPG. Most action RPGs, from *Secret of Mana* to *Diablo*, are nothing like one. **Action RPG vs. action-adventure.** In *The Legend of Zelda*, the hero improves mainly through new tools and a few extra hearts. An action RPG adds numeric advancement and build choices. **Action RPG vs. [CRPG](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/computer-rpg/) and [JRPG](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/japanese-rpg/).** Those traditions historically resolved combat through turns or [Real-time with pause](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/real-time-with-pause/). The action RPG hands the timing to the player. ## Where to start - [*The Legend of Zelda*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-legend-of-zelda/) (1986): the template, even if it is not strictly an RPG. - [*Secret of Mana*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/secret-of-mana/) (1993): the 16-bit co-op classic. - [*Diablo II*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/diablo-ii/) (2000): the loot chase perfected. - [*Path of Exile*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/path-of-exile/) (2013): the Diablo-like at its most intricate. - [*Dark Souls*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dark-souls/) (2011) and [*Elden Ring*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/elden-ring/) (2022): the soulslike branch. ## Hallmarks - Real-time combat decided partly by the player's reflexes and positioning - Character statistics, levels and gear that still shape every blow - Direct control of one hero, sometimes with companions or co-op partners - In the Diablo line, a compulsive loop of kill, loot and upgrade - Randomized item drops with tiers of rarity - Online or local cooperative play as a core pleasure ## Facts - 'Hack and slash' began as tabletop slang. A 1980 Dragon article by Jean Wells and Kim Mohan hoped for 'more than hacking and slashing' in D&D. - Falcom's Dragon Slayer, released for the PC-8801 in September 1984, is often called the first action RPG. - Hydlide (December 1984) reportedly sold 2 million copies in Japan and let health regenerate when the hero stood still. - Diablo was designed as a turn-based game. David Brevik converted it to real time over a single weekend. - Diablo II sold more than a million copies in its first two weeks, a Guinness record at the time for a computer game. - Secret of Mana (1993) let a second and third player drop in and out of the adventure at any time. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game) - [Wikipedia: Hack and slash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_and_slash) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.