• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

What's your favorite character action game?

Ninja Gaiden Black/Sigma.

I really like Metal Gear Rising too, but I need to play it more in the harder difficulty to see if I prefer it over Ninja Gaiden. So far I really love what I played but it seems a bit confusing, maybe I'm missing a thing or two. It's definitely my favorite action game from this gen though. I don't like DMC/Bayonetta's gameplay, the God of War haven't evolved since the PS2 days, and NG 2 and 3 are crap to me.

I'd like to give a little mention to Metroid Other M too, the game has some serious issues with level design and its shitty story and cutscenes, but the actual action scenes were very nice. Too bad the gameplay is too shallow, but it plays really nice.

Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City have some very robust fighting systems too, but these are more adventure games than action games I guess.
 
I haven't really played enough character action games to make a meaningful choice, but out of the ones I've played (the only ones I've put any significant time into are DMC4, Bayonetta, MGR:Revengeance, and Batman AA/AC), my favourite game would be DMC4, followed by MGR, followed by Bayonetta.

I'm probably going to get lynched for putting Bayonetta third, but whatever. The thing is, I played DMC4 for 150 hours, MGR for 100 hours (so far), while I only played Bayonetta for 30 hours. I got nowhere near mastering all the intricacies of its combat system, but the game just didn't really compel me that much, I don't know why. It's still a great game and I loved my time with it, but I didn't feel this urge to replay it over and over and over.
 
Bayonetta
NG2
Pandora's Tower
Vanquish
No More Heroes
Alien Soldier
One more I'm forgetting.......

P.N.03 - I love the way you make dat Booty Roll V.

EDIT: I know I listed some shooter types but some of these games deserve recognition. Especially when it comes to Action.

And I also forgot Hard Corps:Sayuri edition and Osman.... Osman > Strider.

DAMMIT LAST EDIT: WarioWorld. Piledrive the shit outta foos.

I've played too many games....
 
It WOULD be Bayo if not for the Space Harrier bullshit.

That said...well...it might be DMC3, but I'm playing through it for the first time now, and I'm only about halfway through. So I can't safely say it's that quite yet...

So I guess...maybe Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PS3-only owner here) or No More Heroes? God Hand is up there too, but I've never finished it.

If Alien Soldier counts, then that too.
 
Bayonetta. I'm not really a core fan of this type of games but Bayonetta and the character itself was awesome though.

Yup, I'm more of a casual fan of the genre but as soon as I mastered dodge canceling, Bayonetta sunk her talons to me and refused to let go. Control was flawless, combo system was pretty deep, and the level design kept on varying and introducing new challenges... hardly ever did the game succumb to the trend of "lock you in an area as you kill wave after wave of mindless enemies". Fantastic game.
 
Devil May Cry 3.

Other notables:
Bayonetta
Ninja Gaiden Black
Shinobi/Nightshade
Metal Gear Rising: Revengenace
 
Any of you guys heard of Blood Will Tell on PS2? I haven't played it yet but I gather it's sorta in line with these.

Anyway, Bayonetta then Ninja Gaiden.
 
tumblr_mfkrcnv7lM1r8s9oho1_r1_250.gif


Bayonetta, easily. Seriously no other action game can compare to this in my honest opinion. Except for may Bayonetta 2 when it comes out and if it exceeds the original.
 
Bayonetta is my number 1 choice. Controls wonderfully and it's a ton of fun to play. I was blown away when I played it the first time, I ended up replaying it like three more times within the first two weeks it came out.

After that I'd say Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition. DMC3 would probably be higher but I'm not a fan of a lot of the levels later on.

God Hand is also good but it's not my cup of tea.
 
Ninja Gaiden Black > Bayonetta > Viewtiful Joe > God of War 2 > Metal Gear Rising > God Hand > others

for the sake of simplicity, I'm not including 2d beat'em'ups like Streets of Rage 2 or Final Fight
 
I'm not 100% sure what you meant OP, but I'm going with Batman from the Arkham Games. That counts right?

If not thenNinja Gaiden it is then!
 
Bayonetta by far, though Metal Gear Rising was pretty fun while it lasted. Basically Platinum are the kings of this genre imo.
 
Devil May Cry 3. Switching weapons mid combo and the style options gave the game a lot of variety. Cutscenes are still top tier in ridiculousness.

Shout outs to Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma for the co-op mode. Only ever found two good player connections, but it was great.
 
I don't have the best name for them but I'd sooner call them 3D beat 'em ups. And it's probably Ninja Gaiden 2 or Ninja Gaiden Black.

God Hand mentions make me feel obligated to point out that Max Anarchy is hella underrated as a single player game.

Curious about the Viewtiful Joe inclusions. I've barely played VJ. Isn't it entirely 2D?
 
I'm cheating, and I don't care. I know it's not full of ridiculous combos, but Warhammer: Space Marine is what I like and want. Where it's easy and feels good to switch between weapons. Where you feel like a fucking demi god. Like, in DMC in Bayonetta in Ninja Gaiden, you're supposed to be some kind of awesome, super powered type, but you get slapped around so easily. In Space Marine, I am a giant fucking space marine and you are my bitch. You might kill me, but I'm not going to get knocked back 20 feet and do several rolls in the process.

And sprinting and shoulder tackling into a crowd felt so good.
 
Bayonetta

Ninja Gaiden Black, Devil May Cry, and Metal Gear Rising are all incredible games, but Bayonetta stands above all of them to me.
 
Easily the first Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) for me. Most other character action games it seems you can mash buttons, but NG makes you consider every button press if you hope to survive.
 
Ninja Gaiden on Xbox – there really hasn't been anything like it since. Even though the game was segmented into missions, for the most part there was still a big world to explore and the game was more tactical than any other 3rd person action game I've played, and I've played most of them.

Recently, I really enjoyed Vanquish, DmC, and Rising. I probably don't like Bayonetta as much as everyone else, but I'm really looking forward to 2.
 
New Dante, so, DmC. Bayonetta was alright, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some, I'll play through it on 360 to see if I have a better time.
 
Top Bottom