The perspective that a game is presented in is much more than just a stylistic choice. It paints the way a game world is perceived. For isometric games, it’s about showing details in a world that otherwise wouldn’t be seen from a different angle. Action games in this style take it a step further still, allowing for a better view of everything from the arena to attacks headed the players' way.

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Naturally with this type of game, developers have taken it upon themselves to craft some of the most wicked gauntlets in gaming. Interestingly enough, some of them also might make a person want to punch a wall.

10 Ruiner

Run and Gun Through a Futuristic World

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• A cool cyberpunk aesthetic.
• Fast and furious combat.

Ruiner is a fast-paced twin-stick shooter set in a dystopian future full of hackers and evil corporations. These ideas are par for the course in a futuristic world like this.

There are no special bells or whistles to speak of in Ruiner. It’s just a tough, run-and-gun action game with 3 difficulty levels and a skill tree that can be re-organized at any time. The variety of enemies can get overwhelming, especially on hard mode, but this is one of the more forgiving games listed here.

9 Children of Morta

This Rogue-Lite is a Family Affair

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• Easy to grasp hack-and-slash combat.
• There's a playable character for every mood.

Children of Morta is a beautiful 2D hack-and-slash adventure with an awe-inspiring pixelated art style. Playing as a chosen member of the Bergson family, the player must traverse the game's procedural dungeons to save a mountain that the family calls home.

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The player picks a family member according to their playstyle and gets to work hacking and slashing. Of course, mileage may vary when it comes to a game like this, so it's best to go into it for the main purpose of taking in its stunning world.

8 Moonlighter

Find Success in Business at the Tip of a Blade

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• A fun, original premise for a game.
• The game isn't held back by a harrowing story.

Explore a procedurally generated dungeon by night and return to sell the spoils to the public by day. This addicting and truly original gameplay is what drives Moonlighter, as opposed to a traditional narrative.

There is lore to be found, explaining the state of things inside the dungeon. However, it’s very easy to ignore among all the harrowing combat rooms and boss battles. The struggle plays off, though, as the profits from each day’s item sales are used to purchase helpful items and upgrades for the next run.

7 Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition

Take On the Relentless Undead Using the Equally Deadly Environment

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• Many ways to dispatch the dead.
• Plays on a genre of horror that is timeless.

Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition has only had some updated textures and character models given to it since its original release in 2013, but that just means it’s the same ridiculously difficult twin-stick shooter it always was. Blow through tons of flesh-eaters alone or with a pal, using everything from guns to dynamite.

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The environment is meant to be exploited as well. For instance, shooting a car will set its alarm off, attracting any nearby horde. Shoot it a few more times and watch it start raining chunks. Dead Nation is perfect for anyone who can’t get enough of the gory zombie genre that has captured the hearts of so many over the years.

6 Death's Door

Magic and Dodging are the Key to Survival

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• A dark, but beautiful setting.
• Classic Metroidvania-style progression to keep each encounter challenging.

Morbid and charming in the same breath, Death’s Door is obsessed with the loss of life. In it, a bureaucratic entity that deals with the reaping of souls has secrets that the player uncovers by progressing through the three main zones of the game, Metroidvania style.

Death’s Door’s challenge comes when contending with the varied combinations of enemies and their attack patterns, as well as the game's beefy bosses who all have no health bar to speak of. The player character, Crow, has some tricks under their wing to protect themself, though, like a powerful fireball, and some well-timed dodge-rolls.

5 Tunic

An Adorable Trip Through a Hardcore World

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• A cute and deadly adventure.
• An interesting take on the dissemination of lore.

Tunic is by far the cutest entry on this list, following a nameless fox who washes up on shore and must find their way in a post-apocalyptic world. The game’s sweet façade fades rather quickly as the brutality of its enemies and bosses becomes apparent.

The name of the game is to methodically plod through the land in search of items to beef up with, while also looking for pages of the in-game instruction manual that offer tasty bits of lore and gameplay instructions when deciphered. Tunic doesn’t hold hands at all, but that’s exactly what makes it so gratifying to get through.

4 Hades

Hell Hath No Fury Like Hades

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• Well-written character interactions to enjoy between each run.
• The perfect loop to keep progression steady.

Zagreus, son of the title character, is sick of his daily life in the Underworld, and decides to take on droves of his dad’s forces in order to escape it. Death is constant, but each death brings the opportunity for more of the character interactions that developer Supergiant Games is known for.

Using boons received from various gods during each consecutive run, the player grinds their way through each floor defeating enemies, which allows the purchase of permanent upgrades to help in future runs. Regardless of how powerful a weapon is, one false move and Zagreus will be sent floating down the river Styx.

3 Exanima

Stumble Toward Death or Triumph

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• Funny movement that has an impact on each fight.
• A rewarding learning curve.

Exanima's gameplay is similar to games like Human Fall Flat, where the controlled character moves in a slow, drunken manner. Movements tend not to be pulled off exactly as imagined, and in combat one wrong move will see a trained knight rag-dolling across an arena.

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Play through story mode or create another character and join arena mode for some good ol’ gladiatorial combat. With enough practice, movements become purposeful, weapons and their specific uses become apparent, and the game becomes a bit more manageable.

2 Helldivers

Be Mindful of a Bullet's Trajectory at All Times

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• Testing different mission parameters can change a given mission.
• A fun opportunity to rage with friends.

Twin-stick shooting has never been as hectic as it is when playing Helldivers. Four players choose a loadout and a planet to land on which determines the difficulty of a run. Then, select from 3 enemy types to fight while working through objectives. Complete or fail those assigned tasks before calling in a drop-ship for a quick escape.

On higher difficulties, Helldivers is absolutely brutal, especially since friendly fire is always on. Bullets fly in every direction, so at times a buddy’s skill at handling a gun means the difference between a failstate and a clean getaway.

1 Curse Of The Dead Gods

Light Up the Arena or Give In to the Darkness

What Makes This Isometric Action Game Great?

• The use of light makes for a tough but fun dilemma.
• A risk/reward system that shines throughout the game.

Succumb to greed in Curse of the Dead Gods, a rogue-lite that sees the main character do just that while treasure-hunting through three procedural temples. This entry is tough, but if its systems are taken advantage of, runs become slightly less so.

Temple rooms are full of traps that can’t be seen in the dark. Choose to fight without lighting the room anyway to build the corruption meter, gaining curses that both help and harm during any given run. This risk/reward system helps make Curse of the Dead Gods one of the most difficult rogue-lites there on the market.

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