Action RPGs
Where the sword swings in real time — the adventures that fused the reflexes of action with the depth of a role-playing world.
52 games in this room
▶ Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
The Tower of Druaga
ドルアーガの塔
Namco put The Tower of Druaga on the Famicom on August 6, 1985. The tower has sixty floors, and on each floor exactly on…
Read more →
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu
ワルキューレの冒険 時の鍵伝説
Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu is a 1986 Famicom action RPG in which the divine warrior Valkyrie must recover…
Read more →
Uncommon ▶ Family Computer Disk System
Esper Dream
エスパードリーム
Esper Dream (1987) is an action RPG by Konami for the Famicom Disk System, set in a fairy-tale world where a young boy w…
Read more →
Uncommon Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Getsu Fuuma Den
月風魔伝
Getsu Fuuma Den (1987) is one of Konami's most distinctive Famicom titles: a hybrid action game that blends side-scrolli…
Read more →
Uncommon Family Computer Disk System
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
悪魔城ドラキュラII 呪いの封印
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, released on the Famicom Disk System in August 1987, broke sharply from the original Castl…
Read more →
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Faxanadu
ファザナドゥ
Faxanadu takes place in and around a giant tree called the World Tree. You play a hero who comes home to the elf town of…
Read more →
Uncommon Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Dragon Buster
ドラゴンバスター
Dragon Buster is a 1987 Famicom action RPG in which the knight Clovis must rescue Princess Celes from the dragon Zambaqu…
Read more →
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
ゼルダII リンクの冒険
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a 1987 action role-playing game for the famicom, developed by Nintendo Entertainment …
Read more →
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Getsu Fūma Den
月風魔伝
Released on July 7, 1987 exclusively for the Famicom in Japan, Getsu Fūma Den is an action role-playing game that blends…
Read more →
Family Computer Disk System
Aspic: Majaou no Noroi
アスピック 魔蛇王の呪い
The player sets out to rescue a princess cursed by a wizard who intends to give her to a serpent demon named Aspic. Xtal…
Read more →
Family Computer Disk System
Silviana: Ai Ippai no Little Angel
シルヴィアーナ 愛いっぱいの冒険者
Silviana: Ai Ippai no Little Angel is a Japan-only action RPG following a girl named Silviana who journeys to find Dr. D…
Read more →
Uncommon PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys I & II
イースI・II
Yuzo Koshiro was nineteen when he wrote the music for Ys on a Japanese home computer in 1987. He had left Nihon Falcom b…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Dungeon Explorer
ダンジョンエクスプローラー
Dungeon Explorer (1989) is one of the earliest home console games to support up to five simultaneous players in cooperat…
Read more →
Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
River City Ransom
ダウンタウン熱血物語
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari — released internationally as River City Ransom — was the first entry in Technos Japan's Ku…
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Sword of Vermilion
ヴァーミリオン
Yu Suzuki spent the 1980s building deluxe arcade cabinets that moved the person sitting inside them — Space Harrier, Out…
Read more →
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Makai Hakkenden Shada
魔界八犬伝 シャダ
Makai Hakkenden Shada is an action-RPG based on Nansou Satomi Hakkenden, the longest novel in the history of Japanese li…
Read more →
Uncommon Game Boy
Final Fantasy Adventure
聖剣伝説 〜ファイナルファンタジー外伝〜
Final Fantasy Adventure is the 1991 Game Boy game that launched the entire Mana franchise — though at the time it was ma…
Read more →
Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Soul Blazer
ソウルブレイダー
The first entry in Quintet's World Trilogy — the series that would conclude with Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma — Soul …
Read more →
Uncommon Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
ランドストーカー 皇帝の財宝
Landstalker is Climax Entertainment's 1992 isometric action RPG for the Mega Drive — a precision platforming adventure i…
Read more →Game Boy
For the Frog the Bell Tolls
カエルの為に鐘は鳴る
Released in September 1992 exclusively in Japan, For the Frog the Bell Tolls is a Game Boy action RPG from Nintendo R&D1…
Read more →
Super Famicom / SNES
Secret of Mana
聖剣伝説2
Released in 1993, Secret of Mana introduced seamless real-time combat with a 'Ring Menu' system, three-player co-op via …
Read more →
Uncommon PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys
イースIV ザ・ドーン・オブ・イース
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys is the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² exclusive entry in Falcom's celebrated action RPG series — a title …
Read more →
Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Illusion of Gaia
ガイア幻想紀
Illusion of Gaia — Gaia Gensōki in Japan — is the second entry in Quintet's informal trilogy alongside Soul Blazer (1992…
Read more →
Uncommon Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Beyond Oasis
ザ・ストーリー・オブ・トア ～光を継ぐ者～
Ayano Koshiro went to see Disney's Aladdin, came home wanting to make something that felt like it, and started drawing. …
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
The Legend of Xanadu
風の伝説ザナドゥ
The Legend of Xanadu is an action RPG released for PC Engine Super CD-ROM² in February 1994. Developed and published by …
Read more →
Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Seiken Densetsu 3
聖剣伝説3
Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) is one of the finest action RPGs on the Super Famicom and among the most accomplished Japan-onl…
Read more →
Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Tales of Phantasia
テイルズ オブ ファンタジア
Tales of Phantasia (1995) is the origin of one of JRPG's most enduring franchises — the Tales series — and arrived as th…
Read more →
Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Terranigma
天地創造
The final entry in Quintet's informal World Trilogy — following Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia — Terranigma is an acti…
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Light Crusader
ライトクルセイダー
Released in May 1995, Light Crusader was the final Mega Drive game from Treasure — the studio that had already delivered…
Read more →
Sega Saturn
Shining Wisdom
シャイニング・ウィズダム
Released in August 1995, Shining Wisdom is the eighth entry in Sega's Shining series and the first developed by Camelot …
Read more →
Uncommon Sega Saturn
Guardian Heroes
ガーディアンヒーローズ
Guardian Heroes (1996) is a Sega Saturn beat 'em up and action RPG hybrid developed by Treasure — their first game on CD…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Star Ocean
スターオーシャン
Star Ocean is an action role-playing game released for the Super Famicom in 1996. It was the debut title of tri-Ace, a s…
Read more →
Uncommon PlayStation
Alundra
アランドラ
Released in 1997, Alundra is an action RPG following a young Dreamwalker who can enter and traverse the nightmares of ot…
Read more →
Rare ▶ Sega Saturn
Princess Crown
プリンセスクラウン
Princess Crown (1997) is the Sega Saturn action RPG that served as the creative origin of Vanillaware — the studio that …
Read more →
Uncommon PlayStation
Brave Fencer Musashi
ブレイヴフェンサー武蔵伝
Brave Fencer Musashi (1998) is Square's fast-paced 3D action RPG on PlayStation — a comedic adventure starring a miniatu…
Read more →
Uncommon Game Boy Color
Bomberman Quest
ボンバーマンクエスト
Bomberman Quest (1998) is an action RPG spin-off in the Bomberman series for Game Boy Color — a genre departure that see…
Read more →
PlayStation
Diablo
ディアブロ
Diablo is a PlayStation game released in 1998, developed by Climax Studios, published by Electronic Arts. It is a action…
Read more →
Rare Sega Saturn
Dungeons & Dragons Collection
ダンジョンズ＆ドラゴンズ コレクション
Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a two-disc 1999 Sega Saturn compilation released exclusively in Japan, containing Capco…
Read more →Dreamcast
Maken X
魔剣X
Maken X, released in November 1999, was director Katsura Hashino's debut as a game director at Atlus — the same director…
Read more →
PlayStation
Threads of Fate
デュープリズム
Threads of Fate — Dewprism in Japan — is a lighthearted action RPG following two protagonists with opposite personalitie…
Read more →
PlayStation
Legend of Mana
聖剣伝説 Legend of Mana
Released in July 1999, Legend of Mana is the fourth entry in Square's Mana series and the most experimental game the fra…
Read more →Nintendo 64
Hybrid Heaven
ハイブリッドヘブン
Hybrid Heaven is an action RPG developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka for Nintendo 64, released in Japan on Au…
Read more →
Uncommon PlayStation
Vagrant Story
ベイグラントストーリー
In September 1998, five people at Square sat down to design a city. One of them was a wine enthusiast partial to Bordeau…
Read more →
Dreamcast
Phantasy Star Online
ファンタシースターオンライン
Released in 2000, Phantasy Star Online was a watershed moment in gaming history: the first true online RPG on a home con…
Read more →
Uncommon Game Boy Color
Crystalis
クリスタリス
Nintendo's own studio in Redmond spent 2000 rebuilding a game SNK had let disappear; the cartridge reached North America…
Read more →
Rare Game Boy Color
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
スターオーシャン ブルースフィア
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a 2001 action RPG developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix exclusively for the Game Boy Col…
Read more →
▶ Nintendo GameCube
Tales of Symphonia
テイルズ オブ シンフォニア
Released in 2003, Tales of Symphonia became the breakout RPG of the GameCube era — introducing many Western players to t…
Read more →
Uncommon ▶ Nintendo GameCube
Custom Robo
カスタムロボ バトルレボリューション
Released in Japan on March 4, 2004, Custom Robo: Battle Revolution is the fourth entry in Noise's Custom Robo series — a…
Read more →
Game Boy Advance
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
キングダム ハーツ チェイン オブ メモリーズ
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a 2004 action rpg for the game boy advance, developed by Jupiter.…
Read more →
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Majin Eiyūden Wataru
魔神英雄伝ワタル
Majin Eiyūden Wataru is a action role-playing game for the PC Engine, from Hudson Soft. Part of Enjoy Game Japan Museum'…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
The Legend of Xanadu + Cyber Cross Set
ザ・レジェンド・オブ・ザナドゥ + サイバークロス セット
A bundle of two PC Engine games: The Legend of Xanadu (Super CD-ROM²), Falcom's first console-exclusive RPG released Feb…
Read more →Game Boy
Dragon Slayer
ドラゴンスレイヤー
Dragon Slayer came to the Game Boy in 1990 as a port of Nihon Falcom's pioneering 1984 action RPG. Designed originally b…
Read more →