So, having been reading around the new DMC (let's just say I'm not impressed), and getting excited for Bayonetta 2, I got to thinking about hack-and-slash games in general.
The genre really does seem to have come a long way from the Gauntlet days, especially seemingly from Japanese developers. Looking at some of the games out there now, it's amazing just how deep, complex and intricate melee combat has gotten. While first-person shooters don't play all that much differently to how they did a decade or so ago, hack-and-slash games have become this wonderful mix of combo-chaining, stance-shifting acrobatic action which, when done right, just feels so awesome to play. So I ask you, which game in the genre stands out the most to you? Which one managed to nail that feeling of melee combat done right?
I'm going to go with Ninja Gaiden Black. While the Devil May Cry games could probably be argued as having invented the 3D hack-and-slash template as we know it, NGB managed to take that template and fine tune it to an unbelievable degree.
Firstly, the controls are relatively simple, yet the combat still incredibly deep. You've got two attack buttons, a jump button, a shuriken button and a block button. And yet with nothing more than that, you're able to chain together the most devastating combos imaginable, tearing up demons with ease. And the joy of it is that you're not relying on QTEs or scripted actions to do so- every badass move that happens on screen is something you the player directly inputted on the controller. Personally, I found the likes of DMC and Bayonetta to feel a little cluttered control-wise compared to Ninja Gaiden's simple elegance.
Secondly, the way it manages to mix in Prince Of Persia style gymnastics seamlessly into the combat. I can't think of another hack-and-slash character who has the same freedom of movement that Ryu Hayabusa does. You the player are completely free to mix up your combos by running up or along a wall, flipping off to drive your sword into an enemy below, only to then jump along the heads of other enemies before grabbing one and flipping him into a wall, then finally finishing off another enemy by grabbing him and subjecting him to an Inazuma Drop. Again, none of Ryu's moves are scripted, and you can do them anytime as long as there's an adjacent wall to bounce off.
Lastly, Team Ninja really fine-tuned all the nitty gritty stuff to make sure the combat system couldn't easily be spammed. You can't use Block to move-cancel, meaning that you have to commit to every move. The fact that Ryu is so quick offsets this somewhat, but its still reassuring (in a somewhat masochistic way) that if you commit to the wrong move, there's no cheap way to back out of it. The only move that could really be spammed was the Flying Swallow, something that they addressed in the follow ups.
Honourable mention goes to Otogi: Myth Of Demons, the only hack-and-slash game to really get air combat right, as well as having the novelty of including destructible environments in a hack-and-slash game. And yes, that is as awesome as it sounds...
How about you guys? I've tried to include the most notable recent entries in the genre, but if I've missed any, please let me know.