Ever since the first Devil May Cry released and essentially redefined the 3D action game genre as we knew it at the time, the moniker of "character-action" has been thrown around whenever seemingly appropriate. If it was Devil May Cry that birthed this modern take on 3D action brawlers, then it would stand to reason to place games like Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising, etc. firmly in the character-action camp given that DMC served as a clear inspiration for their design. For other action games that aren't so DMC-esque in their emphasis on quickly and stylishly dealing with groups of enemies or tough bosses, the character-action label starts to become a little harder to apply confidently. For the purposes of this thread, however, let's all just assume that we're talking about games that are designed around a central character taking on hordes of enemies with a robust and dynamic combat system available to the player.
While this sub-genre of action games is heavily associated with 3D gaming, I'd like to talk about the rarer examples of 2D games that feature this type of combo-heavy, character-driven combat. I'm partly making this thread to highlight the first game that comes to mind for this topic, but I'm also making it to field suggestions for games of this ilk that I've potentially missed out on over the years.
The game with the best 2D combat that I've played to date has to be Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir.
While the original Odin Sphere on PS2 had satisfying but somewhat repetitive stamina-based action-RPG combat mechanics, its phenomenal remake Leifthrasir features easily the most fun and flashy 2D combat I've ever had the joy of playing with. While the game's default Normal difficulty is far too easy, playing on Harder difficulties allows the game's robust combat to really shine. It really has it all: skill trees, crazy triple-digit combos, juggling, i-frames, moves that stagger, moves that stun, trips, launchers, guard-breaks, air juggles, air slams, etc. The list goes on and on, and you can string everything together using custom command that you can assign to each characters' ever-growing set of moves/skills. You can even assign Street Fighter-esque motion commands (e.g. quarter-circle forward) to skills, further cementing the similarities to a deep fighting game.
Leifthrasir is really unique in that it delivers character-action combat on a 2D plane in addition to action-RPG elements like item usage, spells, cooking/alchemy, etc. Vanillaware games tend to be somewhat repetitive by design (and by virtue of reusing assets liberally), but Leifthrasir seems to have struck the best balance of all of their work to date in dulling that feeling of repetition by simply making the core gameplay so consistently satisfying and fun.
If I had to name a runner-up for this category, I'd go with the original Viewtiful Joe on GameCube. Capcom was really on a roll with action games during that era, and VJ was them demonstrating their combat design prowess on a 2D plane.
While this sub-genre of action games is heavily associated with 3D gaming, I'd like to talk about the rarer examples of 2D games that feature this type of combo-heavy, character-driven combat. I'm partly making this thread to highlight the first game that comes to mind for this topic, but I'm also making it to field suggestions for games of this ilk that I've potentially missed out on over the years.
The game with the best 2D combat that I've played to date has to be Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir.
While the original Odin Sphere on PS2 had satisfying but somewhat repetitive stamina-based action-RPG combat mechanics, its phenomenal remake Leifthrasir features easily the most fun and flashy 2D combat I've ever had the joy of playing with. While the game's default Normal difficulty is far too easy, playing on Harder difficulties allows the game's robust combat to really shine. It really has it all: skill trees, crazy triple-digit combos, juggling, i-frames, moves that stagger, moves that stun, trips, launchers, guard-breaks, air juggles, air slams, etc. The list goes on and on, and you can string everything together using custom command that you can assign to each characters' ever-growing set of moves/skills. You can even assign Street Fighter-esque motion commands (e.g. quarter-circle forward) to skills, further cementing the similarities to a deep fighting game.
Leifthrasir is really unique in that it delivers character-action combat on a 2D plane in addition to action-RPG elements like item usage, spells, cooking/alchemy, etc. Vanillaware games tend to be somewhat repetitive by design (and by virtue of reusing assets liberally), but Leifthrasir seems to have struck the best balance of all of their work to date in dulling that feeling of repetition by simply making the core gameplay so consistently satisfying and fun.
If I had to name a runner-up for this category, I'd go with the original Viewtiful Joe on GameCube. Capcom was really on a roll with action games during that era, and VJ was them demonstrating their combat design prowess on a 2D plane.
