Hack n' Slash games

[Rynnec]

DMC3 was my first Hack'n Slash, and I got through it just fine. Albeit, I knew a fair bit about its difficulty and whatnot.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Did you play Special Edition or the original version, first? And if you played Special Edition, did you initially play through Yellow Orb mode or Gold Orb mode? I know that the original version of the game defaulted you to Hard/Yellow Orb mode, making it ridiculously challenging for first time players.

[Rynnec]

Special Edition on Gold Orb mode. And I only knew about the difference because I watched footage of the game beforehand.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I dare you to try playing starting a new game from Hard mode in Yellow Orb mode to see how others originally experienced the game.

Actually, the funny thing is that I could probably do it without much difficulty, but that's only because I played the game so damn much. I did pass through it in Yellow Orb mode on. Normal, but I suspect doing it from scratch on Hard wouldn't be too much more difficult since it'd barely a step forward in difficulty from Normal. Hell, did you know that some people have even cleared the game doing a fresh no upgrade run on Dante Must Die mode, without using any items AND simultaneously S-ranking every mission in the game (needless to say, it's also on Yellow Orb mode). Now, that shit is insane, especially considering how I could barely clear that difficulty on Gold Orb mode with full upgrades while using plenty of items and mostly getting C and D-ranks on each mission.

[gunswordfist]

God of War 2 was my first hack 'n slash game. I think that's a really good starting point. It's easily the most well-paced and exciting entry in its respective series (IMO) and simple enough for newcomers while still being engaging. I also think Ninja Gaiden Black is fairly accessible outside of its notoriously high difficulty level. That was actually my second hack 'n slash game, and I did okay with it even then.

What are you? 12?

Anyway, I can't think of a good starting point. Bayonetta is the easiest out of all the games I'd think to suggest but I think that game could be...offputting to others.

[Foggle]

God of War 2 was my first hack 'n slash game. I think that's a really good starting point. It's easily the most well-paced and exciting entry in its respective series (IMO) and simple enough for newcomers while still being engaging. I also think Ninja Gaiden Black is fairly accessible outside of its notoriously high difficulty level. That was actually my second hack 'n slash game, and I did okay with it even then.

What are you? 12?

What? I was 13 when God of War 2 came out. I played Ninja Gaiden Black after I turned 14. Then I played DMC 1 and 3 immediately after. That was 2007.

[gunswordfist]

 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

God of War 2 was my first hack 'n slash game. I think that's a really good starting point. It's easily the most well-paced and exciting entry in its respective series (IMO) and simple enough for newcomers while still being engaging. I also think Ninja Gaiden Black is fairly accessible outside of its notoriously high difficulty level. That was actually my second hack 'n slash game, and I did okay with it even then.

What are you? 12?

What? I was 13 when God of War 2 came out. I played Ninja Gaiden Black after I turned 14. Then I played DMC 1 and 3 immediately after. That was 2007.

Unfortunately, you seem to have played most of th best that the genre had to offer, so aside from Bayonetta and MGRR, and maybe NG2, it was all downhill from there.

[Rynnec]

A new Afro Samurai game is in development

If the developers were any smart, then this would have the potential to be a great DMC/MGR-style action game, Afro Samurai more than deserves such a game.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I think it would be well-suited to a Ninja Gaiden 2 style combat system, myself. That system is all about dismembering your enemies in swift and brutal fashion (it's also my personal favorite combat system ever).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I've been googling lists of the top 10 hack n' slash games to see what the general opinion is on this genre, and I've been thoroughly disappointed by most of what I've seen so far. Most of these lists rank games that have no business being on a list of hack n' slash games in the first place, and their choice of entries for the popular franchises are beyond bizarre. I mean, I've seen lists that rank games like NG3 and DmC as the representatives of their respective franchises. And of course God of War 3 seems to be at the top of most lists because it's the conclusion of a trilogy.

We need to reach a consensus on a definitive list based on opinions from people who actually understand this genre. I'm not a huge fan of lists and such, but I feel like it's baffling at how off the lists that do exist for this genre are. I feel like its a very misunderstood genre, in that regard.

[Rynnec]

A part of that reason may be the discrepancies between what people consider a "hack'n slash". I've seen a couple of them, for instance, that list games like Brutal Legend, or Warhammer 40k Space Marine on them, even though they're not hack'n slashes the way we would define them. And there are others that lump in Musou-style games with the likes of DMC/Bayonetta/Ninja Gaiden, while those games can be fun, they're in a completely different camp from the other 3 I just mentioned, and are more in line with beat'em ups.

[gunswordfist]

Wait, Brutal Legend doesn't count? Why not? And what the fuck is a Musou?

[Rynnec]

BL may have hack'n slash elements, but it's also an RTS, and I believe the RTS-elements outweight the hack'n slash elements.

And Musou=Warriors-style games. i.e Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, Sengoku Basara, etc.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, Brutal Legend is more of a console RTS with lite hack n' slash elements.

I think that the DW and Musou games can count as hack n' slash games. They just aren't very good ones since they usually have lazy design and are pure button mashers.

I think that the games that the games that have enough elements to be considered hack n' slash games in the way that we know them, though, are stuff like Ninja Gaiden, DMC, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, God of War, Darksiders, Genji, Dante's Inferno, Ninja Blade, and so on. Not all of those games are to my liking, but they contain enough combat to be considered part of the genre, and they each follow a set of tropes, such as having different weapons and moves, mostly featuring a linear level progression, giving you currency in the game for defeating enemies, and so on.