What are the best Action RPG games on Steam?

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May 18, 2019

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The 2 must play gamesWhy?

Best Action RPG games on Steam	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
92 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	$39.99	Overwhelmingly Positive	Action RPG
91 Torchlight II	$19.99	Very Positive	Dungeon Crawler RPG
-- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	$14.99	-	Action Role-Playing
-- Bastion	$14.99	-	Action RPG
-- Titan Quest	$19.99	Mixed	Action Role-Playing, Hack-and-Slash

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Torchlight II

Top Pro

Well implemented and fun action-RPG combat

Torchlight 2 has all the typical RPG mechanics such as classes, loot, skill trees etc. However all the little touches and details come together to make playing the game really fun and a great balance between depth/complexity and being able to get started killing hordes of monsters. Killing monsters is very satisfying and the loot system keeps things very interesting without feeling like you're just grinding for better items. See More

Top Con

Damage damage damage, boring

This game is all about damage damage damage. No special abilities, no dodging enemies, no strategy, no creativity, no uniqueness in the characters, it's either you do the damage or the monster does. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Top Pro

Huge variety of mods

Bethesda Softworks has upheld a tradition of releasing their internal content-creation tools to the public since Morrowind (2002). Many modders transition to new Bethesda games as they are released, bringing their experience with them and helping newcomers through forums and wikis. As a result, Skyrim's mod selection is outstanding in both variety and quality. See More

Top Con

Combat is too simple

Fights within the game don't have very many options. "Headshots" don't matter, and most combat options in the game are poorly balanced. Few examples: Doesn't really matter if you go mace, sword or axe, fire, ice or lightning, or even two handed vs dual wielding. The options mostly add flavor to your character and little else. Despite the fact that you might have ranged attacks, dragons are impossible to hit while in the air, so you end up fighting them similarly to a melee character. "Twincasting" the first healing spell is actually worse than just casting it once in each hand. Illusion magic becomes useless at later levels, since the spells don't do anything if the enemy is too high level and enemies scale to your level. Enemies are too stupid to make hiding a bad thing. The worst one is leveling as an Alteration mage, which gives you access to the Dragonskin spell, granting maximum armor for 30 seconds and has a 5 second cast time. Or you could just go Heavy Armor, level that up (so it weighs nothing) and have maximum armor ALWAYS without ever having to cast an Alteration spell before combat ever again. Combat comes down to how you leveled, not how you play. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Still play this game after all these years, and never had any serious issues with it under Windows 7 and Windows 10. Also installing via Steam on a new PC without DVD drive went very smoothly, even my save games were copied. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Beautiful art style

Bastion has a hand-painted art style that is very colorful and unique. See More

Top Con

Too short, replay value is lacking

One of the shortest action RPGs played, with around 7 hours of playtime in total, and very little reason to return once beaten. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Replayability through different classes

There are a plethora of classes that open up upon leveling to the second level, once one is chosen the others will be gone for that game session. This means that a different playthrough will be needed to explore what all the different classes offer, making for quite a lot of playtime. See More

Top Con

Save anywhere does not save character placement

This means that there will be some retreading of areas once a save is loaded as the character will not be in the same place as where they were left off. This will waste time and can be frustrating having to do this every time a game is loaded. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mixed

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Hack-and-Slash

Co-Op:2-6 Player Online

Top Pro

Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds

Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities. Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities. Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want. See More

Top Con

Reading lore breaks gameplay flow

The bits of lore you collect in the world of Cairn will require you to stop what you're doing, use the lore item from your inventory, and then read them in order for it to be added to your journal. This can be flow breaking to a lot of players who are low in patience. See More

Ray Stone's Experience

You've been waiting for Diablo 3 but got an isometric camera wow clone without build variety? Well, the wait is over, Grim Dawn is everything a diabloesque ARPG should be. Great variety of build, class combinations, gear and enhancement options - you can literally build anything you like. Tanky death knight with frost auras and undead allies, life leaching pet master, dashing dual-wielding duelist, death beam caster, melee aoe battlemage, fire-and-forget poisonmancer, WWI era sniper with landmines - any fantasy you have can be made real with some effort. It does not mean that every build is viable, but learning how far you can go to then tweak it a bit more is as fun as ever. Also, dual wielding handguns. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Completely free without pay to win mechanics

You can just download and install the game without any purchases. On top of that, there are no pay-to-win mechanics and the only things locked behind paywalls are cosmetic effects, pets, and additional storage space. You can easily play the game for hundreds of hours without spending a dime. See More

Top Con

Some aspects of the graphics look dated

While the graphics have received updates over time, a lot of the visuals still lack polish you'd see in most AAA games. Some textures are fairly low res, certain character models look weird when they have armor on, and the animations feel somewhat stiff and clunky. You probably won't notice this during active gameplay, but when you stop for a moment to look around it becomes painfully obvious. See More

Razvan N.'s Experience

This is hands down the only real alternative to the now evidently failing Diablo series. In case you don't have phones, but still have PC's you can play this game and enjoy a gritty adventure with as much or as little customization to your character as you want ( cookie cutter builds from the internet or just go wild on your own - this is seriously underrated btw) What's truly amazing is that each league and patch brings about all the goodies from the last ones, and more cool stuff on top, making the experience more interesting each time you roll a league. I've been supporting the game since Closed Beta and I think it's really shining now, and the current active playerbase of almost 200k players goes a long way to prove this. See More

Specs

The western PC version of Path of Exile currently requires using an external site to find deals or sifting through scam attempts in the trade chat. After you find an item you want to buy, you need to message the seller, and if they respond, enter the same area as them to make a direct trade. There is no auction house, no mail, no automated trading posts, and to sell stuff you have to buy a premium stash tab via a microtransaction. See More

Top Pro

Hundreds of possible character builds

There's a staggering amount of builds and skills you can try out in Path of Exile. There are 7 classes, 19 subclasses, 194 active skill gems, 107 support gems, and over 1000 skill nodes on the expansive skill tree. As a result, there are hundreds of possible combinations, allowing you to spend hours theory-crafting just to create the perfect build. Even if you don't feel like planning out a build from scratch, you can just look up one of the many guides online and get straight into the action. See More

Top Con

Updating client problem

There's no offline installer. See More

Top Pro

As good as Diablo

Top Con

Too rigid playing style

You have to play this game according to the game's requirement, there is no way to play it the way you want to, which makes all the customization in your character build totally useless. You must follow the build how the game wants you to and if you can't, you DIE. See More

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Gauntlet

Top Con

Very repetitive gameplay

With a few exceptions, the gameplay and strategy is the same for the entire game. Very little progression or new abilities. "Potions" don't do anything until you can buy abilities. Game gets easier, not harder. (New colosseum mode adds some end game challenge.) See More

Top Pro

Bosses offer good bit of diversity to the gameplay

Different bosses means different tactics need to be used to defeat them. This creates a good change of pace from the regular hack and slash type gameplay. See More

Specs

Genre:Dungeon Crawler RPG, Hack n' Slash

Co-Op:4 Player Online / 4 Player Couch

Controller Support:Full

See All Specs

Top Con

Wizard is complicated to use

The wizard character is complicated to use as he has nine spells but only two button combinations available to use them. This makes the character difficult to use which results in not may people wanting to play with the character. For online matches this means there are quite a few three player games as no one wants to take on using the fourth character, the Wizard. See More

Top Pro

Easily played on a sofa

Gauntlet offers full controller support that actually works quite well for an action RPG. This makes for a good game to play on a Steam Machine or other living room gaming PC. See More

Top Con

Locked camera

The camera is locked in a single position, something that creates confusion while playing a busy area as the camera does not stay focused on the players character. While a locked camera made sense back in the Arcade or on home consoles where one screen was used, for online multiplayer it really does not make much sense. See More

Top Pro

Four-player local and online co-op

Gauntlet has support for local and online four-player co-op. See More

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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Top Pro

Awesome combat/hunting gameplay

The combat in Dragon's Dogma is very fast and intense. You can string together combos with swords, axes, and daggers, launch/throw enemies, shoot arrows with a bow in quick succession, and even dodge/block enemy attacks. Even the spells look absolutely amazing and feel really powerful. For example, when you cast an ice spell called Gicel, massive spears of ice will weave forth to skewer enemies. It looks like something you'd only see bosses use in other video games, making it feel that much more empowering. The enemies also play a large part in making the gameplay feel great. It will start out simple with you fighting bandits and packs of wolves on your travels, which will gradually turn into you taking on massive mythical beasts such as manticores, gryphons, cyclops, and even dragons. While in other games you'd probably just beat on their ankles until they fold onto themselves, Dragon's Dogma has a really cool grappling system that allows you to grab onto enemies and even throw them (if they're light enough). For example, if a dragon makes the mistake of lowering its tail into your reach as it rains down fire and death from up above, you can just grab onto it and climb on the dragon's back. This turns into a very intense sequence of you trying to not fall off before you drive your sword into the dragon's neck. It's the type of mechanic that makes you feel like the heroes written about in storybooks, which immensely adds to the fun and immersion. See More

Top Con

Limited fast travel options can be tedious

Top Con

Can be difficult to figure out what to do

With no dialog it can be difficult to figure out what to do and where to go. There is no hand holding here, which is a bit of a throwback to games back in the 90s, but still can be frustrating when stuck and having no idea what to do next. This can be exacerbated by the fact that certain basses need you to be equipped with a certain upgrade in order to defeat them. Since there is no explanation of what this upgrade is, it can easily be missed leaving the player dying over and over again at the hands of certain bosses. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Great combat system

The combat in Dark Souls 3 asks you to understand how each enemy moves, what are the weak spots in those movements and exploit them. To exploit enemy moves, you'll have to know how your equipped weapon behaves as they have wildly different behaviors and timings. There are different kinds of melee and ranged weapons as well as spells. You'll have to choose the right tool for the job. Additionally, positioning in a fight is important as attacking from behind will be more effective than attacking from the front. All elements combined, DS3 offers a deep combat system that's satisfying to master. See More

Top Con

It's hard

You should try avoiding the trap of great review scores since most of them fail to mention the difficulty. It's simply put - hard. A lot of the combat requires quick reflexes, good mechanics, and the mental fortitude to carry on after failing for hours. If you're new to the Souls-like genre or simply want to enjoy a relaxing evening playing a video game, you most likely won't enjoy Dark Souls III. See More

CooperativeCalleis's Experience

VERY DIFFICULT, but very rewarding to play highly recommend for someone who won't go insane through failure after failure. See More

There are a lot of bonfires (where the player can save) scattered around the game. This makes it easy to save before death, which is a big help for many, due to how difficult the game can be. See More

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Transistor

Top Pro

Slow and deliberate fighting with reward/risk mechanics

Each enemy encounter needs to be calculated and precisely timed, as any mistake will most likely mean death. An added level of complexity to this equation is enemies that can be ignored but will then gang up on the player once a boss is beaten. This creates a risk/reward scenario that the player needs to weigh with a lot of thought. See More

Top Con

Difficulty that requires a lot of time and patience

To be honest, difficult is a nice way of putting it, this game can destroy ones will to live. It is not even worth counting how many times one dies, as it will be in the hundreds if not thousands. Only through patience and sure determination will many reach the ending of the game. So much time is needed in order to replay many areas and bosses over and over in order to learn the exact timing and what moves to use that not many people can spare it. This is not a game for casual players, that is for sure. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Good romance subplots

The romance subplots in Mass Effect 2 are great. Playing as male Shepard, you can romance most of your female squadmates, while female Shepard can romance most of the male squadmates. If you romanced someone in the first Mass Effect, then that story continues here in Mass Effect 2. There are certain consequences for being unfaithful where your partner will confront you or the person you're cheating with in a heated showdown. Sticking with one person for the whole game rewards you with a romantic scene near the end of the story. A lot of care and attention went into these subplots, giving you the chance to see each of the characters in a new light. See More

Top Con

The main enemies, the Collectors, feel misplaced in the trilogy

The Mass Effect trilogy's story is about stopping the Reapers -- ancient, unknowable beings who destroy all life -- but this gets interrupted in Mass Effect 2 by the Collectors who are more like minions of the Reapers. The Collectors are dangerous because they harvest humans, though this is not as important as the Reapers who seek to end all life in the galaxy in Mass Effect 3. It would have made sense for Mass Effect 2 to focus on the Reapers instead of the Collectors, since they're more of a secondary problem. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

Top Pro

A well-told, dark story based on a book series of the same name

The whole series is based of off a book series of the same name, so there is a lot of good influence to be found, in particular The Witcher 2 is a deep story that has much to do with politics and moral choices. Definitely one of the better stories found in a modern RPG. See More

Top Con

User interface can be confusing

While some ares of the UI make sense a lot of it is pretty convoluted which makes playing the game frustrating at times. Basically it is one of those games that if you put it down for any gap in time you will forget a lot of the controls. See More

Specs

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Top Pro

Character connections make for a compelling experience

Shadow of War uses the Nemesis system to create a more immersive and alive-feeling world. Thanks to it, orc leaders have names, ranks, titles, tribes they belong to, and most importantly, connections to other orc leaders. For example, an orc leader might be at war with another orc leader. This conflict won't end until one of them dies. There are also orcs that are considered blood brothers, having unwavering loyalty to each other. Because of this, don't be too surprised if you ever get betrayed by one of your followers that's trying to do right by his blood brother. Additionally, the leaders you fight will also develop connections with you. Orcs that you've killed or spared, may come back with scars, recalling your previous encounter and vowing to exact vengeance. Orcs that you've escaped from will mock you for being a chicken, and so forth. The gradual creation of this web of connections is very enjoyable and sometimes even more compelling than the game's main story. See More

Top Con

Can get repetitive

The overall gameplay formula doesn't change much over the course of the game. You fight orcs, take over strongholds, upgrade your character, and collect blips on the world map. After a while it can start feeling like a grind, especially during long play sessions. This is made worse in the final stretch of the game where you have to fight through 20 consecutive stronghold battles without any story segments or exposition. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Pro

Satisfying combat

Shadow of War gives one of the better feeling combat systems in recent times, allowing you to be either stealthy or go for direct confrontations. If you choose to be stealthy, you can skewer unsuspecting orcs from behind with your dagger, drop onto them from a building while impaling them with your sword, or just pierce them from afar with your bow. If you choose a direct confrontation, it's a really quick-paced and brutal showdown against your enemies with your chosen melee weapon. You weave combos against enemies, dodging, parrying, and countering enemy attacks, which ends in a devastating finishing move, resulting in a mutilated or decapitated orc. Whichever method you choose, the combat flows really well and you always feel like a force to be reckoned with. See More

Top Con

Unskippable cutscenes disrupt the flow of the gameplay

Every time an orc leader enters the screen, there is an unskippable cutscene where he rambles a bit, focusing the camera on him and halting combat until the cutscene ends. This usually happens as you're fighting another enemy, potentially disrupting your rhythm, which can be really frustrating, especially if mess up your combo or take an unnecessary hit after the cutscene. See More

Top Pro

Addictive gear collection fuels your thirst for orc blood

As you kill orc leaders, they'll drop random quality gear items, ranging from common rarity every-orc weapons/armor to legendary rarity artifacts with unique names. Each item serves to improve your character, providing various stat increases and damage bonuses. You can also upgrade gear with gems or via challenges that usually involve killing orcs, bolstering your strength even further. On top of that, there are set bonuses for legendary items, giving you special abilities such as your hits applying explosive poison on regular enemies. It's very exciting seeing what gear piece an orc leader will drop once you lob his head off, causing you to constantly seek out new victims. See More

Top Pro

You can lead an orc army and expand your own dominion

As part of the Nemesis system, you can recruit orc leaders after you've bested them in combat. Each one has his own unique strengths and weaknesses, so making the best possible army for conquering enemy territories might take a while. For example, an orc leader can be completely immune to ranged attacks, but can take increased damage from explosions. You should take such an orc leader on assaults against fortresses filled with archers but be wary of the slightest hints of any bombs. Once you've finished building a sizeable force, you can assault a fortresses. If you succeed in the assault, you'll take over a territory, allowing you to install your own orc leader as the ruler. With enough effort you'll gradually take over Mordor and its surrounding lands. Shadow of War makes you feel like a recruiter, general, and a ruler, which is very empowering and a lot of fun. See More

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Top Pro

Gigantic openworld

Deviating from the previous two games Wild Hunt now has open world environments that are so large and detailed it can be intimidating. In comparison to other open-world games such as Skyrim the open World in The Witcher 3 is 3.5 time larger, in comparison the GTA5 The Witcher 3 is 1.5 times larger. See More

Top Con

Story feels like a chore

Most quests feel like a chore in that it is basically fetch quests in exchange for information to advance the story. While this is often a mechanic found in games to keep the gameplay long it does get tiresome. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Action RPG

The 2 must play gamesWhy?

My Recommendation for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

My Recommendation for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Gigantic openworld

Story feels like a chore

Immersive story

Attention to detail in almost every facet of the game

Lots of random side quests

Side quests are as good as the main quests

Choices matter

Convenient ways to get around the massive world

Accessible to players who are new to the Witcher series

Vast and beautiful open world to explore

Thoughtful and expansive story with well-written characters

My Recommendation for Torchlight II

My Recommendation for Torchlight II

Well implemented and fun action-RPG combat

Damage damage damage, boring

Elaborate loot system

Lacking in story

Works on different OS's: Linux/Mac/Win

Limited respec system

Varied level design

Well implemented co-op

Incentive to replay due to limited respec system

46 Other Games Considered

My Recommendation for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

My Recommendation for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Huge variety of mods

Combat is too simple

The longest-running RPG-FPS franchise, with world lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

Buggy and crash prone

Moral choices that can affect gameplay

Immersion can be broken due to game limitations

Total freedom in how you choose to play through the world's different factions

Unrestrictive skill-based RPG system

Massive sandbox to explore at your own pace

My Recommendation for Bastion

My Recommendation for Bastion

Beautiful art style

Too short, replay value is lacking

Innovative narration

Combat is mundane

Incredible soundtrack

Story could be better

Fun varied gameplay

A unique way of storytelling

Great story

My Recommendation for Titan Quest

My Recommendation for Titan Quest

Replayability through different classes

Save anywhere does not save character placement

Robust dual class system

Tons of customization

Holds up incredibly well

Very Diablo 2-like

Engaging story as the game is inspired by Greek mythology

You can choose the speed you want to play at

My Recommendation for Grim Dawn

My Recommendation for Grim Dawn

Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds

Reading lore breaks gameplay flow

Great homage to old school ARPGs

Multiplayer Lag

Exploration

No procedurally generated maps

Story rich

Complex theorycrafting

Drop-in co-op (online and local)

Only some builds are fun

Multiple boring playthroughs to level up

My Recommendation for Path of Exile

My Recommendation for Path of Exile

Completely free without pay to win mechanics

Some aspects of the graphics look dated

Regularly updated

Very high learning curve

Feels exhilarating to play

Endgame can get really repetitive

Great setting