This article is terribly flawed. The first line is correct: "Action-adventure games are video games that combine elements of the adventure game genre with various action elements." However, the Zelda series is not that by any means! That one is actually an action RPG. Other examples of the action RPG genre are: Soulblazer, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma, the Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana) series, Crusader of Centy, Beyond Oasis, and the Monster World series.
What, then, is an action adventure? Prince of Persia is the very definition of the genre, with Out of this World, Flashback, Heart of the Alien, and Blackthorne as other good examples. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.195.88.155 ( talk) 13:37, 6 February 2005 (UTC)
The Legend of Zelda games are not Action RPGs. The games are frequently mis-labelled as RPGs. RPGs contain elements of character development (which is usually tied to having multiple playable characters of customizable characters), specific characters skills and skill development which usually implements stats. Diablo is an Action RPG. Zelda is not. Yes, you collect items, but you do that in Adventure games as well. Ever played any of the old Sierra or LucasArts Adventure games? I ask you to find one element of Zelda that places it in the RPG category. -- Denkriston 22:38, 7 November 2005 (UTC)
Prince of Persia is the very definition of the genre.
I always thought PoP games were platformers, mixed up with action sequences(sword fights) which kept becoming more and more prominent in its sequels. — Preceding
unsigned comment added by
62.195.68.42 (
talk)
13:04, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
RPG stands for "role playing game". It has NOTHING to do with "leveling up". It means you're playing in the ROLE of a character, and in the case of Legend of Zelda, you're always playing in the role of Link. Yeah, it could be argued most games (even FPS) are RPGs (assuming you don't switch characters), but in the Zelda games, you play the (fictional) history role of Link. These days, people have become accustomed to seeing certain elements (like leveling up) as being associated with a particular genre, so they've excluded a number of Zelda games. Traditionalist gamers, however, hold to Zelda games as RPGs, and such games generally are defined as having the overhead-view camera. It's all opinion anyways. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.221.136.208 ( talk) 18:39, 14 June 2019 (UTC)
The article Non-linear exploration is an attempt to describe this genre, I propose it be deleted (the expression is much too general, covers all non-linear games really) and relevant material merged to this one. Please take a look at it.
Arru 08:34, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
In the UK, this type of game is generally called an arcade adventure and, as you can see, an article describing said style has been created. I would suggest that these two articles are merged with both "action adventure" and "arcade adventure" links going to the merged article and both names being mentioned
- Zagrebo 12:09, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
I love it Sir.temed ( talk) 00:51, 4 July 2017 (UTC)
I think the Tomb Raider series (beginning 1996) should be included rather than the most reason TR game -- Zagrebo 10:35, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
I have found two prominent articles based on the adventure genre and it's spawning of the action-adventure genre plus its difficulties to define and it's difficulties to categorise they can be found here: http://www.justadventure.com/articles/ActionAdventures/AA.shtm and here: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/8461/advfrm.html. I have found other discussions of the topic however they come straight off archived message boards which, I don't think would we can cite as a referal, I'm not even sure if the two links and referals I have put in are even good enough for this article but it's a start. RBlowes 13:58, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
I think Metroidvania/Castletroid genre requires its own article. With more detailed explaination of the term, examples from Metroid and Castlevania, and other games which have been said to fit the genre, such as Chibi-robo. What oher games are there in the genre? Where did the term come from? etc. What do you think? -- 84.92.62.165 10:56, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
Just some general suggestions-
Hope it helps. ( Guyinblack25 talk 15:41, 4 February 2009 (UTC))
Overall, considering 3 independent scholarly reviews come to the conclusion that males prefer action-adventure games, I think that's important enough to mention. じん ない 05:56, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
Okay, so I added some initial text to the History section. The reference I used, http://www.justadventure.com/ , has been brought up and accepted in several FACs before ( 1, 2, 3, 4). I only added information from the first paragraph of the reference, so if anyone wants to, feel free to add the rest of the reference. Gary King ( talk) 18:35, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
Many sources on the list are invalid and pure POV, there is NO professional definition about the "genre", there is no definition at all — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.69.57.250 ( talk) 21:47, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
This just can't be true. If we think of genres as a taxonomy (and it seems pretty obvious we do) then the same genre can't be a subgenre of two main genres. In this case, Platform-adventure games and Isometric platform games are mentioned as subgenres of Action-adventure on this page but also as subgenres of platformers on that page. If platformers and action-adventures are on the same level of the taxonomy-tree this should not be possible. We have to decide what main genre they belong too. I'd say the "Isometric platform game" is actually two genres. "Isometric platformers" and "Isometric Action-Adventure". An example of the former would be "Whizz", an example of the latter "Head over Heels" or "Solstice".. One is a subgenre of platformers, one a subgenre of action-adventures. Platform-adventure games (aka Metroidvania/Castleroid) are difficult to nail down but I'd tend to put them into platformers. It's a similar case to the Puzzle Platformer. Like them platform-adventure games have the underlying structure of a platformers but with a slower pace, more exploration and usually a more substantial narrative. Actually, I think there might be a good argument to split this genre up to. To me Metroid is completely different to Prince of Persia. Maybe divide them into platform-adventure and "cinematic platformer". —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Janbt (
talk •
contribs)
16:08, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Zelda is definately not a sandbox game. It does have linear gameplay. A story line is always linear. I hate seeing anything with a storyline defined as a non-linear game, especially if the storyline is not hidden in any way. --CrusaderDeleters 5:43 PM, 19 March 2012 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.97.161.129 ( talk) 21:44, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
I agree, Zelda is in no way a sandbox game. It is, to some extent, an open-world game, but not sandbox. However, not all games with story lines are "completely" linear. Yes, at some point they begin and end, so there is always some sort of pre-defined flow of events. However, there are many games which have multiple endings, multiple choices, and multiple paths the player can take to reach various ends. I suppose it really depends on how narrow of a definition of "linear" and "non-linear" you use.
See my statements below for a full response to classification of games. Corey Edwards ( talk) 05:11, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
I propose this article be rewritten rather than being deleted. Many persons feel there is not enough information to support this article. However, I believe the article is critical for defining certain types of video games. Unfortunately, there is not always a clear cut decision when categorizing something into a genre. For instance, The Legend of Zelda is certainly not a sandbox game. It does contain adventure elements coupled some some action, and a few RPG elements. You can purchase items and "talk" to characters in different places. However, there is no level-up system, no gaining new moves (aside from power-ups), and no party concept. Metroid has adventure elements, action elements, and platform elements, but most people, in my experience, wouldn't classify it as a platformer, because that term is far too narrow to describe such a game.
I believe the article would be best served with a disclaimer stating that a definitive answer to what an action-adventure game is, is hard to come by. Therefore, the contents of the article are written with the belief that it is a "general consensus" of gamers and developers.
“Not everything in life is cut and dry. One must be soft and moldable so that one may move as life moves him.”
Corey Edwards ( talk) 05:07, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
Arguably much of the innovation in this genre took place in Europe (specifically in the UK), from Jet Set Willy (1984) and Knight Lore (1984) and Fairlight (1985) to later games like Another World (1991). Indeed, if there's any one genre that we could claim was pioneered in Europe it would be action advenutres. Mikami, Kojima and Ueda have even said on the record that Another World was a major influence on their work. 216.165.95.70 ( talk) 16:26, 17 February 2015 (UTC)
How come there is no mention of Arcade Adventure in the article?
- ZhuLien 12:00, 4 November 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 27.32.141.11 ( talk)
I have 2 major problems with how this part of the article is written:
"Alone in the Dark (1992) used 3D graphics, which would later be popularized by Resident Evil (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996). Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001)."
"used 3D graphics, which would later be popularized by Resident Evil and Tomb Raider" ..uh... the way this is written suggests that these two were the pioneers and sole games to popularize 3D graphics, which just isn't true. They were innovative in the scope of 3D, but it's not as if they were the first. Tomb Raider is especially odd considering that other than being in the broad genre of 'action adventure' this article is writing about, it's in no way relevant to Alone in the Dark. It should be written "Alone in the Dark used 3D graphics in combination with pre-rendered backgrounds, which would later be popularized by Resident Evil" --that technique is very specific to Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil, and the latter DID popularize the use of that and would lead to several other games using pre-rendered backgrounds/3D graphics during the playstation era.
Secondly, "Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre" is just blatantly incorrect. If you go to the article hyperlinked, it lists 'Sweet Home' and 'Alone in the Dark' as predecessors to it and those games are now commonly referred to as survival horror. It should be rewritten to say that it popularized or invented the term survival horror, saying it created it is misleading. Caidren ( talk) 15:50, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
It seem like there is confusion if Immersive Sims are action adventure or pure adventure. Can we get some proper sources on this please?
Vinay84 ( talk) 21:34, 2 December 2022 (UTC)
It should be mentioned, methinks. - Joaquin89uy ( talk) 09:47, 9 July 2023 (UTC)