Action RPGs have their battles in real time, which is fine by me. Being a twitch game fan originally, I welcomed this new sub-genre with open arms. It helped that I simply thought of action RPGs as action games with RPG elements thrown in.
It's hard to say what my very first action RPG was. I distinctly remember enjoying the first Legend of Zelda game on the NES many years ago, but whether it's really belongs to the genre is subject to debate.
The next action RPG I played was an old arcade game called Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom. I ended up investing a small fortune in that and its sequel, Shadow over Mystara. These games got me so hooked that they got me desperately wanting to play other games like them.
Perhaps one of the most notable (if not the most notable) examples of action RPGs is Blizzard Entertainment's very own Diablo series. Strangely enough, I never really got into that action RPG series, but I did get into designed by former Blizzard North employees many years later. It was a game that was supposed to have been the spiritual successor of Diablo: Hellgate: London.
If you're looking to get your feet wet in the action RPG world, you're in good company. For retro stuff, I highly recommend that you pick up the first two games in the Diablo series. (Come to think of it, maybe I should follow my own advice.) They should still be available as part of a package deal in stores these days.
The Legend of Zelda series is also a good buy, and is still going strong on the Nintendo Wii. The more daring among you may wish too Google around for Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom and Shadow of Mystara, plus an accompanying emulator. These should keep you busy until Blizzard releases Diablo III to a waiting world.
Thanks for reading my blog post for the day, and welcome to the fun, frenetic world of action RPGs.
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