Highlights
- Spectacle fighters are fast-paced action games focused on stylish combat and execution, often featuring a real-time grade system to rate player performance.
- These games are few and far between in both the indie and AAA space, but there are some great ones available that offer fun, fast-paced experiences.
- Each featured game in this article, such as "Soulstice," "Darksiders," and "Hi-Fi RUSH," brings its own unique elements and gameplay mechanics to the spectacle fighter genre.
Spectacle fighters, often lumped together with character-action games, are generally defined as fast-paced action games that focus on stylish combat and execution, more often than not with a real-time grade system that informs players on just how cool they are.
Games like the original God Of War franchise helped bring the genre to popularity, though God Of War doesn't necessarily contain all the elements that make spectacle fighters what they are today, and the 2018 game steered mostly clear of this style. Overall, spectacle fighters are few and far between in both the indie and AAA space, but there are a handful of great ones out there that offer some of the most fun, fast-paced experiences in games.
7 Soulstice
This hack-and-slash fighter wears its inspirations on its sleeve, taking elements from famed spectacle fighters like Devil May Cry and adding tag-fighting mechanics in which the player must control the game's protagonists, two sisters, simultaneously. This involves battling enemies with the corporeal sister, Briar, and shielding them from attacks with the ethereal Lute.
The game takes place in a dark-fantasy setting not dissimilar to games such as Dark Souls and features a variety of enemies and climactic bosses that test players' abilities well. Overall, Soulstice treads very familiar territory, but it's a well-executed spectacle fighter, and with so few of them being released, it's a welcome addition to the genre.
6 Darksiders
This first entry in the Darksiders franchise was released back in 2010 and features plenty of hack-and-slash gameplay, a violent fantasy aesthetic, and Zelda-like elements that make it stand out among the crowd.
Darksiders has players using the hyper-violent attacks of various weapons and supernatural abilities to battle a myriad of enemies and bosses. Juggling enemies is also possible in Darksiders, and while it follows a more explorative and adventure-game structure, this game is definitely worth a shot for spectacle fighter fans who have yet to play it.
5 Hi-Fi RUSH
This game from the developers of The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo was published by Bethesda Softworks and combines the combat of spectacle fighters and character action games with the mechanics of classic rhythm games to create an energetic romp.
The game's unique, colorful art style depicts a story of an aspiring rockstar going up against a mega-corporation. Players spend most of their time in Hi-Fi RUSH defeating enemies with hack-and-slash combat, sound-tracked to licensed music (or an original soundtrack when playing in the game's Streamer Mode) as they attempt to smack enemies to the beat using melee attacks and a variety of abilities.
4 Nier: Automata
Although Nier: Automata mashes together mechanics from various genres, at times feeling like a bullet-hell, at others more like an RPG, its combat is clearly influenced by the spectacle fighter genre, which isn't surprising given that it's developed by Platinum Games (the team behind Bayonetta).
Nier: Automata is a semi-open world game that takes place in a dystopian setting and tasks players with defeating hordes of antagonistic machines and overcoming a variety of climactic boss battles using a mixture of melee and ranged attacks. The game has players dodging enemy blows and performing combinations of light and heavy attacks with the help of a small bot that floats alongside them, equipped with a lock-on gun and its own abilities.
3 METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE
This non-stop, bombastic action experience doesn't take itself too seriously, leaning into the over-the-top style so much it nearly falls over, but managing to remain elegant nonetheless. METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE can be self-indulgent, and its narrative is often ridiculous, but somehow it all works.
The game's sword-fighting combat and enemies that are often several times the size of Raiden, the game's protagonist, make the action and combat feel cinematic and stylish, especially when players combine various attacks together. The game's attack combos blend seamlessly to empower players who pull them off successfully.
2 Bayonetta
This over-the-top action-adventure game released back in 2009 was developed by Platinum Games and published by SEGA to critical acclaim. Bayonetta is a hyper-stylish and fast-paced game that's completely linear and encourages players to replay sections for better ratings.
The original Bayonetta was a unique and creative AAA experience at the time, and still offers a unique experience now, over fifteen years later. The game's combat is extremely chaotic, but its tight controls help players to maneuver through it, using both ranged and melee attacks in flashy, stylish combinations. The game also features a kind of bullet-time that can be activated by dodging at just the right moment, almost like the parry system of Dark Souls games, adding an extra layer of complexity and uniqueness to this already excessive title.
1 Devil May Cry 5
The latest entry (at the time of writing) in the revered Devil May Cry franchise is arguably the best spectacle fighter in the modern day. It could be considered the best Devil May Cry game to date, and is certainly one of the best-selling in the franchise.
Devil May Cry 5 features three playable characters, each with their own powerful move-set. The game emphasizes juggling enemies to extend combos and combining different attacks and weapons to be as stylish as possible as players fight their way through the game's various encounters. Arguably one of the best things about Devil May Cry 5 is the sheer amount of variety in its gameplay, primarily in each of the characters and their weapons and attacks, that makes the game highly replayable.