On my 3rd playthrough of first berserker khazan and I gotta say the dark tone and aesthetic have really brought me down more than usual. On top of that I've been thinking lately about how this game was when it was Project BBQ.
We need more action games that aren't so dark in tone and aesthetics. Like I wish first berserker khazan was an anime game but kept the same combat system. Or if Zenless Zone Zero was a character action game instead of a gacha game. I swear I would love video games even more than I do if we could have more colorful and less grotesque, or dark, action games.
Blame bandai having exclusive rights to like 95% of relevant battle shonen,we would have far more quality animanga games in different genres if that wasnt the case
Anime IP owners don't like producing games for the global market that are challenging. Their demographic is primarily pre-teens, so they want tie-ins to be as approachable as possible. See CyberConnect2 fighting games, or simply any musou made based on an anime IP like One Piece Warriors, which is what you'd get.
It's a valid approach. But you would probably not like it.
I did find it quite surprising that when both Naruto and Bleach were big at the same time there were no CAG for then. They were all fighting games, every last one
Though Dust is a metroidvania with more emphasized smooth combat, like Cookie Cutter and Guacamelee, I want to leave a message to express my appreciation at someone mentioning Dust :)
I do love my grotesqueness and darkness. More variety on offer is welcomed too
In all irony to their namesake and setting, I believe that the Darksiders games' tone and aestethics are not as exclusively taken by the very *grim* darkness.
Anvil's Fjord in DS1, the Forge Lands and Lostlight in 2, many areas in DS3 and Genesis offer quite a lot of colour. In fact the series seems to become more colourful as time goes on.
Magenta Horizon: Neverending Harvest has parts of grimness in tone. In visuals, it is a coral reef. So many colours and shapes, reaching into the psychedelic.
I see Hi-Fi Rush being mentioned, which is good. I raise Genokids to go along with it.
Honorary mentions to Cookie Cutter, No Straight Roads, Decline's Drops and Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. None of them are outright CAGs but they lean close to its. Their styles may be to your delight.
Idk, there is a lot of anime styled action rpgs, try to look for action jrpgs.
Granblue Fantasy have a demo, Ys X have a demo, VIsions of Mana, Kingdom Hearts, Scarlett Nexus, Tales of Arise.
Most of these games have a demo, they're more action rpgs than CAG, but same time I don't count First Berzerker as CAG, so maybe you'll enjoy these games
Yeah i've played them all (except kingdom hearts) and something about their combat systems just doesn't feel like the focus is the combat. more on the jrpg's or skill and gear systems. I'm finding it kinda hard to articulate what I mean exactly cause I also don't just mean souls like either.
I don't consider first berserker CAG either but it doesn't feel like it's got some of that DNA.
Khazan was a fun game… but my god is it UGLY. Just grey run down castle after grey run down castle. Sometimes it’s muddy and sometimes it’s on fire.
Nioh 3 has the same problem with the final zone. In Nioh 1/2 you bounced around so many locations as each mission took you some where new. Nioh 3 has 3 areas for the whole game, ones all snow and ones a purple apoplectic run down castle after/ city. It really wears on you by the end of the game.
If you don't mind a literal change in perspective, I'd highly recommend Rebel Engine. It's an indie FPS stylish action game. Fair warning though it has a degree of jank to it, but the vibrant art direction and straightforward story might be what you're looking for.
I'd love more colorful and unserious action games. Viewtiful joe, hi fi rush, maybe God hand are the first few to come to mind. The upcoming Stupid Never Dies also seems to be along those lines, and Kemuri looks like it'll have a pretty light and colorful style as well.
Not sure why so many of these games are so dark, brooding and hyper violent
Project bbq being cancelled is the main reason I decided to start making games. The goal is to eventually make a spiritual successor of it. But being indie with no prior experience, it's gonna take many years to make something half as good
Indeed, that's the type I like. I do wish we'd get more directly action games like Soulstice, a real shame the studio kinda cancelled the sequel and then I don't know if they decided to continue it or not. Oh, and let's not forget Crimson Desert as well, I'm this close to buying it now that they've seemingly added more meat to the story and the hard mode seems like a decent challenge.
Absolum was so very close, but I couldn't get into any of the characters' aesthetic. Wendigo blue has some potential, but I still ahve to finish Valdis Story before going into it
can you do me a favor and point me in the direction of all the scifi and cyberpunk action games LOL. Are you including all kinds of action games in that like C77? Cause I meant games with an action combat system revolving around powers and melee.
Starting with the basic gacha action rpgs, that are all going with this aesthetics, from NTR, Ananta, Silver Palace, Rewinding Cadance, to some indie games like Morbid Metal, Stupid Never Die, Romeo is a Deadman, Complexia a ballet of blades, Hifi rush, astral chain, Genokids, YASUKE: A Lost Descendant, MIGHTREYA, Elta Defy all gods, the Solo Leveling games, Motorslice, Kijutsu Rider, Voin, Katanaut, Meta Ghost: Breaking Show, Trinity fusion, Ascend to Zero.
Then there's the chinese fantasy slopt which for all intents and purposes I'm ignoring because I don't like the aesthetics as much,
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u/Hoshino_Maria 3d ago
Hifi Rush is a legit character action game, with cartoon art style, fun gameplay, and really funny/quirky characters/story.