From the broad and varied world of spectacle fighters, all the way to old Zelda games, the hack-and-slash genre is an old and storied genre packed with a variety of experiences. However, arguably due to their often simplistic gameplay and intuitive mechanics, hack-and-slash games are often the prey of AAA studios.

These games are usually determined by their action gameplay, often focusing on melee combat and usually featuring a sword and shield. These games have players hacking apart enemies in real-time and often forgo more complex mechanics.

8 Heart&Slash - A Third-Person Roguelite Brawler

Steam User Rating: 82%

This wonderfully colorful game features stylized retro graphics and a unique robotic theme as a backdrop to its hack-and-slash combat. The game follows a roguelike structure, with combat that plays out at a breakneck pace and punishes players with permanent death, making Heart&Slash a relatively unforgiving title.

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The combat of Heart&Slash plays from the third-person perspective and combines elements of 3D brawlers and hack-and-slash games. Although the game's combat is easy to learn, Heart&Slash's variety of fun and unique weapons, as well as its varied enemy design, keeps things interesting across multiple runs.

7 Hyper Light Drifter - A Mysterious Action-Adventure In The Style Of Zelda

Steam User Rating: 93%

This action-adventure game features RPG elements and a crunchy pixel-art aesthetic with well-crafted animations that make the action feel great despite the simplicity of its graphics. Hyper Light Drifter takes clear inspiration from older The Legend Of Zelda games in its design and combat, with a focus on exploration and hack-and-slash gameplay.

Hyper Light Drifter's combat is primarily centered around slashing enemies with a sword and avoiding projectiles with a dash, though abilities and upgrades can be unlocked throughout the game that do a great job of switching up the combat.

6 Grim Dawn - A Diablo-Style Romp

Steam User Rating: 93%

This action-RPG takes inspiration from old-school Diablo with its similar hack-and-slash action, enemy design, and inventory management. Grim Dawn features an abundance of loot, a variety of spells and abilities, and even a rotatable camera that keeps the action from getting frustrating.

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Grim Dawn's combat, despite being simple on the surface, is supported by well-balanced loot and well-crafted RPG progression, and the game's abundance of skills, items, and classes make it a varied experience with high replay value.

5 Death's Door - A 3D Zelda-Inspired Adventure

Steam User Rating: 93%

This 3D action adventure game puts players in the shoes of a crow tasked with reaping the souls of the dead, presented with a brilliant visual style. Death's Door takes clear influence from old-school The Legend Of Zelda games, featuring a linear story with a focus on light exploration, RPG mechanics, and combat encounters interspersed with climactic boss battles.

Death's Door stands out for its visual presentation, but its combat system provides a solid foundation for the game, combining hack-and-slash swordplay with magic spells and ranged attacks to create dynamic combat that feels fast and fluid. Similarly to games like The Legend Of Zelda, Death's Door also features several dungeons that players can battle through, often interspersed with puzzles, to gain powerful upgrades.

4 Bastion - A Narrative Journey With Rock-Solid Combat

Steam User Rating: 95%

This 2011 game from legendary developers Supergiant Games (the team behind hit indie roguelite, Hades) is a linear game packed with style and charm. The game features talented voice work in the form of a narrator who comments on player actions and lays out the story beats throughout the game, and the game's unique art style and excellent soundtrack alone make it worth playing.

However, Bastion's hack-and-slash combat supports its narrative focus and great presentation, with a cast of distinct enemies that each provide unique combat challenges, and a broad selection of weapons for the player to choose from and upgrade. While Bastion does feature ranged weapons, there's still plenty of hacking and slashing to be done throughout the game.

3 Dead Cells - A Roguelite Metroidvania

Steam User Rating: 97%

This action-platformer combines light Metroidvania mechanics (in the form of its lightly-connected world and sense of exploration) with a roguelite structure to create a unique and action-packed experience. Dead Cells features intuitive controls and fluid platforming gameplay that makes combat feel great, and its light RPG systems and massive variety of weapons prevent it from ever getting stale.

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The Metroidvania aspects of Dead Cells shine in its branching-path progression, allowing players to take different routes through the game each run, depending on which special abilities they've permanently unlocked. While this may make Dead Cells unique, it's the fluid and varied combat that makes it fun, with a variety of weapons to find and use, as well as a dodge roll and an abundance of spells and other active items that add depth and complexity to the combat.

2 Hades - A Hack-And-Slash Roguelite

Steam User Rating: 98%

This massively popular hack-and-slash roguelite from developers Supergiant Games features a well-crafted visual style and setting that takes place in the Underworld of Greek Mythology. Players take on the role of Zagreus, the son of the titular Hades, battling their way out of the Underworld and interacting with a broad cast of characters, each of whom is brought to life through talented voice work.

The roguelite structure of the game features a steady progression system and a strong ongoing narrative that progresses run after run. Hades features a variety of ranged and melee weapons, but its intuitive, action-packed gameplay holds plenty of opportunity for hacking and slashing through enemies.

1 Mortal Sin - A Visually Unique First-Person Hack-And-Slash

Steam User Rating: 98%

This hyper-weighty first-person hack-and-slash game is particularly noticeable for its ridiculously vivid and abrasive visuals. However, Mortal Sin's first-person melee combat is a major selling point for the game, offering a heavy, satisfying combat system that's both tactile and unforgiving in its design.

Mortal Sin features a variety of unique weapons, most of which feel dramatically different to handle, which boosts the game's replay value tremendously and prevents its roguelike structure from becoming tiresome. Mortal Sin also features tons of unlockable classes that make replaying the game fun even after finishing its main content.

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