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Game » consists of 7 releases. Released Sep 10, 1984
Chester Field is a side-scrolling RPG-Adventure similar to Ys III or Zelda II. It was developed by Vic Tokai and never released outside of Japan.
The first game in the Ys series. The player controls Adol Christin who is on a quest to retrieve the six books of Ys which he will use to destroy the evil forces.
Gandhara (ガンダーラ), also known as Crusade of Gandhara Buddha (ガンダーラ仏陀の聖戦), is an action-adventure-RPG that was released by Enix in 1987, for home computers exclusively in Japan.
A young boy explores a huge overworld filled with enemies and dungeons to find and rescue Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon.
Hydlide (ハイドライド Haidoraido) is a 1984 action role-playing game developed by T&E Soft and published in 1985.
Tritorn is an action RPG developed by Sein Soft and released in 1985. It was one of the first action RPGs, improving on Dragon Slayer and Hydlide with the use of an action button to attack enemies, and one of the first Metroidvania-style games.
The Screamer is a 1985 cyberpunk-horror action RPG taking place in a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi setting. It was released by Magical Zoo, for the PC-8801 in 1985 and for the PC-9801 and X1 in 1986. An English fan translation was released in January 2015.
Dragon Buster is a dungeon-crawling, arcade platformer with RPG elements, released by Namco in 1985. It was later ported to various home systems. It featured several firsts in gaming history: the double-jump, the life meter, and the hub world map. It was also one of the first action games with RPG elements.
Released in 1984, Hydlide was the first open-world action RPG. It was the first on-foot, fully-scaled, open-world game, and introduced innovations such as a health-regeneration mechanic. It influenced the action RPG genre as well as The Legend of Zelda franchise.
One of the first action RPGs, released in 1984. It was also the first fully-scaled open-world video game.
Players climb the tower, defeat Druaga and rescue Princess Ki in this maze-style, action role-playing game. Originally released by Namco for arcades in 1984, its combination of hack & slash combat and RPG elements laid the foundations for the action RPG genre.
Kidou Senshi Gundam Part 1: Gundam Daishi ni Tatsu!! (機動戦士ガンダム PART 1 ガンダム大地に立つ!! "Mobile Suit Gundam Part 1: Gundam Stands on the Ground!!") is an adventure/shooter/RPG from 1983, based on the popular Mobile Suit Gundam anime television series.
Designed by Yoshio Kiya and released by Nihon Falcom in 1983, this was possibly the first action RPG. It introduced real-time combat, sci-fi elements, a persistent open world with day-night cycle, and survival mechanics. This was a precursor to Falcom's seminal action RPG franchise, Dragon Slayer.
A treasure-hunting maze game where Sindbad (also known as Sinbad the Sailor) must search for treasure in multi-layered, isometric-like, levels. While doing so, he must avoid enemies, which Sindbad can hold-up by digging holes or using the environment.
Released by Koei in 1982, The Dragon & Princess (ドラゴンアンドプリンセス) is the first known RPG developed in Japan. It tasks the player with finding a king's stolen treasure. It is a hybrid between the RPG, adventure and strategy genres, and laid the foundations for tactical RPGs.
An early example of what could be considered an action/RPG hybrid game.
Adventure is one of the first console Role Playing Games, and contains an early example of an "Easter Egg"
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