TOP 30 MOST AMAZING Action RPGs That Are Worth Your Time [2023 Edition]

With more games adapting role-playing game elements, narrowing down a pure role-playing experience can be challenging. The same applies to action RPGs, which utilize upgrades, level-ups and loot while embracing faster-paced combat.
Whether it's a hack-and-slash title with epic boss storylines and boss fights, games that emphasize difficulty and exploration, or shooters which offer choice and build variety, there are all kinds of action RPGs out there. Given the genre's history, how many are worth playing, let alone investing dozens of hours and repeat playthroughs?
Check out our list of top 30 action RPGs as of 2023. It could be a story-focused affair or the pursuit of better loot for min-maxing your character, but these are all worth checking out.

[@shahwiqarshahin2130]

0:27 - Fallout 3 1:01 - Dying Light 2 1:25 - Bastion 1:52 - X-Men Legends 2: Rise Of Apocalypse 2:28 - Weird West 2:53 - Transistor 3:28 - Diablo 4 4:00 - Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order 4:41 - YS9: Monstrum Nox 4:54 - Borderlands 2 5:18 - System Shock 2 5:45 - Dead Island 2 6:22 - Remnant 2 6:55 - Pokemon Legends: Arceus 7:22 - Lords of the Fallen 7:47 - Tom Clancy's: The Division 2 8:14 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne 8:54 - Hogwarts Legacy 9:14 - Lies of P 9:49 - Demon's Souls 10:18 - Nioh 2 10:50 - Mass Effect 2 11:18 - Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 11:48 - Starfield 12:10 - Cyberpunk 2077 12:44 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 13:09 - Dark Souls 3 13:39 - Final Fantasy 16 14:13 - Horizon: Forbidden West 14:42 - Elden Ring 15:06 - Bloodborne

[@ryangavant8551]

Thank you.

[@shahwiqarshahin2130]

​@@ryangavant8551You're welcome.

[@ilosuner]

my man thanks this is community service :)

[@craftedtunesentertainment5569]

A legend is born. Thanks mate 🙏

[@blackmesacake5361]

I cant wait to hop back into Cyberpunk after the update, i really gotta play Elden Ring too!

[@NepaliGamer]

dragons dogma?

[@landonewts]

The Horizon games, especially Forbidden West and the Burning Shores DLC, are among my very favorite games of all time, everything about them is incredible. HFW is right up there with Mass Effect Legendary and Fallout 4 for me. And I am currently enjoying the hell out of Starfield, especially combat and side quests that genuinely surprise and reward me.

[@danquaza9275]

I gotta agree. Zero Dawn is my absolute favorite PS4 game. Something about it just hit me just right. Forbidden West was also fantastic, just didn’t reallyyyy hit the same feeling for me. But overall between the two of them, they are absolutely must play games

[@scottie2hottyringer299]

I mostly agree Loved zero dawn, was blown away by the expansion. Then Forbidden West I can’t even describe. But I sadly was very left down by the burning shores, it just didn’t feel as good or epic as the frozen wilds was. I Agree tho that it’s still up there with ME (horizon VR is our Andromeda 😂)

[@tariqroberson8496]

Can we have a real conversation about the story of hfw horizon zero dawn is some of my favorite story telling in gaming that world building and mystery is everything but I feel like hfw story anyway was a let down in so many ways

[@danquaza9275]

@@tariqroberson8496agreed, Zero Dawn hooked me from the second I turned it on, Forbidden West felt almost forced. I will say that the world felt fantastic, like truly exploring the West and seeing all the vistas and machines was truly amazing. But the whole package felt a bit weaker overall. Still though, it’s worth playing if someone has played Zero Dawn just to get the whole story and have more machine goodness

[@tariqroberson8496]

@@danquaza9275 I just feel like the zenith’s were an un welcomed edition I think they should have kept all the enemies as ai continued that way even find a way to implement the ai we met in the frozen wilds dlc and still make use of vast silver and they even could have still worked in nemesis idk I just feel like the far zenith and extra clone just muddied the whole story I still love to work and gameplay but I was looking forward to the story more than anything

[@Robodob0]

Dragon's Dogma is much, MUCH better than at least half of the list. Also, i think most would agree that Ys 8 is better than 9. I love Bastion and Transistor, but Bastion is pretty light on the RPG side and Transistor felt more like a crpg with a pause mechanic fpr assigning skills like Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic. One i would consider that took the world by storm, is Vampire Survivors, and by extension, Halls of Torment. Despite being called bullet-heavens, arguably have decent and deep roguelike rpg elements in them. That said, Hades says hi too. But fairly enough, i guess roguelikes can just have their own list. Also, the MH franchise is my favorite franchise of all time, but ive never considered them to be a part of the RPG genre simply because character growth caps out too early and player skill just takes over. All other games still offer character growth til the final parts of the game. MH just gives more equipment that can be swapped out at any time in between hunts. It's an action game more than anything RPG going on with it.

[@dirtmike6258]

100% right ... dragon's dogma should easily be in the top 10

[@Rapunzel879]

The fact that the Mass Effect trilogy isn't mentioned here in full is criminal.

[@istofar560]

It's Gamingbolt

[@bbbazzinga]

But you've got FXVI and horizon so, yeah... I don't think we need to say much more

[@hollowbodymusic5673]

Starfield above Mass Effect 2? 🤪

[@abhistorm]

Why are you the only channel that does not put timestamps?

[@bobbydazzle6075]

Not really that big of a deal. Instead of complaining you should put in the work to make your own channel and put time stamps on your videos. Problem solved! 👍

[@KingKevAFF]

They probably don’t want people skipping around the video, it’s helpful for the viewer but it messes up the watch time for the creator

[@DREDD-209]

Maybe so people actually watch the video.

[@BrownSnorlax]

Just watch the video or move on lmao

[@nomanbroman3556]

Not putting timestamps is probably as lazy as your desire to skip the full video...

[@creativeusername1129]

i’m not saying starfield is a bad game but y’all put it on every “best of” list.

[@alexandercoull220]

Nice list, half of these game are on my backlog. Hopefully ill get round to playing them someday. Lol

[@cdkeycientertainment2050]

Hello, our isometric hack and slash game named Compass of Destiny: Istanbul, which is currently in early access, will be released as a full version on December 14, 2023. We would be happy if you include it on your channel. Thank you.

[@truepatriot3768]

Transistor was such an amazing game , wish it was little longer 😍😍😍😍😍 but I'll put it in turn based Rpg list instead of action

[@firstclaw1]

Some of these games are extremely light on the RPG side. What kind o list is this? And then two more major points of critique: Fallout 3 is ok, but then again where is Fallout New Vegas!? Mass Effect 2... Excuse me, but you should update your database and mention Mass Effect Legendary Edition instead. (ME2 is included there of course.)

[@stevenbrown4001]

Half of these aren’t even RPG’s lol.

[@jeanpauldelachaumette2409]

Hell Yeah! I couldn't agree more with the number 1 pick. In fact I'm just about to hunt some beasties right now. It's the game I would say is a reason to get a Playstation 4.

[@shayspott3]

Where can you buy X-men legends tho what system

[@stratuvarious8547]

If only Bloodborne would get a PC port, then life would be perfect.

[@ulyssesgonzalez2068]

This list should have been called "my fav soulsborne games"

[@wolf4640]

Wow, seeing Ultimate Alliance 3 in this list made my day ❤.

[@peter5731]

Only NS it sad i don‘have NS

[@ryangerlach5956]

God of war Ragnarok?

[@ht-rm4uu]

Not really an rpg. More action adventure with a few rpg elements

[@dennisdavidov782]

For FPS-RPG hybrids Deus Ex 1/Human Revolution should be here (over Dying Light 2, System Shock 2, Fallout 3 and Starfield).

[@Must_gamer_7]

Unrated: 1. Kingdoms of amalur 2. Dragons dogma 3. Ghost of Tsushima 4. Tales of arise

[@YesNo-yl6ws]

Yeah kingdoms of Amalur is amazing

[@dougsteele5387]

I'm going to have to play Kingdoms, heard good things, I'm just afraid because of the age it's going to play crappy?

[@rezonxthepiggert9647]

Its Cyberpunk and baldur's gate for me!

[@Avatar93700]

Whoever made this list, is a big fan of souls like games 😄

[@Chris-yr9vw]

Best genre on Earth.

[@The-Vitruvian-Man]

I'm not the biggest Assassins Creed fan, but I'd put Odyssey in the top 15 or so. Dark Souls 1 should have been on the list as well, within the top 10.

[@anayosmith9505]

I love mass effect trilogy also cyberpunk 2077 is my favorite

[@ht-rm4uu]

Also why are there so many souls games on here ?? They’re all pretty much the same . Plus no mass effect? Yet you included starfield ? What about Outerworlds? Kingdoms of amaalur? Dragons dogma ? Dragon age ? New vegas ?

[@curtisallen4294]

i wont touch it until they implement WASD movement. the point and click movement in action combat just doesnt feel good to me

[@androsapiens]

the video was a weird background sound kind off annoying , otherwise good games

[@sensoeirensen]

Nioh 2 is one of the best games ever made. Only 0.01% of all players reach the real endgame in NG+++++ WoTN.

[@Boss_Fight_Wiki_muki_twitch]

Soulsbournes and souls-likes are great and all but System Shock 2 will prolly be the greatest ARPG i've ever played

[@Lisimojoel]

God of War (2018 or Rag) needs to be on this list if Dead Island 2 is on this list. First Horizon Zero Dawn was better.

[@quickstep101]

Its almost criminal that warframe is not om the list or atleast an honorable mention...

[@sane_man87]

Where can you play x men legends now?

[@ajs7771]

It's a sin Kingdom Hearts isn't on this list

[@KapitanPazur1]

But a sorry excuse to be called RPG game "final fantasy 16" is on this list lmao

[@ageup7493]

How could you forget Dragons Dogma? 🤦‍♂

[@TioSalsaTV]

Its pretty clear that they have no idea what to talk about some of these games

[@heisenbugx]

Pokémon is a jrpg, not an action rpg wtf

[@cosmincoco3679]

ign posted in 4 at 5 am 33h to gta ,wich would mean in 6 more than 24h than at 5 pm posted 22h wich would mean in 5 at 3pm!

[@cygnusdarth7726]

No Dragon's Dogma or Kingdoms of Amalur? And any Deus Ex game? Human Revolution is easy in top 10 sci-fi rpg Fps.

[@narsagok]

I love Bloodborne but I don't think it's better than Elden Ring

[@user-bh6uw8vd6n]

You just don't know what sekiro is

[@TheBlueDeath123]

Ghost of Tsushima and Dragons Dogma are better than half the games on this list

[@BigHomieSenpai]

Bro just threw out every action rpg he could think of. The Division is pure mid

[@adriangawlik9171]

ahahaha fallout 3 instead of new vegas, diablo 4 in place on lets say hades, and how bout god of war, nah hogward legacy is better. what a joke of a ranking xd

[@ht-rm4uu]

Dead island 2 and star field are “worth our time “??? Next joke

[@haniespanieldollis]

Generation Zero should get more love than it does

[@MeeSanFrancisco]

Are you people even gamers?

[@xayayia]

No dragon age, only the witcher 3 from whole series, no dragons dogma, ok this list trash

[@YesNo-yl6ws]

Yeah it’s an awful list

[@fulgenzio1973]

Yet another meaningless ranking.

[@Free_speech_is_dead]

Im sorry, but Skyrim was crap when it was released and its still crap today.

[@fannste94]

Most of these games are boring 😕

[@Gary_M]

WAY too many tedious Souls and "Souls-like" games on this list.