With Ninja Gaiden 4 on the horizon, a lot of gamers (myself included) expressed a great deal of excitement. Not is the excitement due to the return of a great franchise although it’s a plus. It also due to it being one of the few major character action games to release recently when most developers decide to go the soulslike route when making a new action game.

So what exactly is a character action game? It’s a type of action game that focuses on the expansive skills and move sets of a particular character. The games are often fast paced and flashy with simple to grasp yet very in depth combat systems when made well in contrast to the typically more slower paced approach of soulslike games.

If Ninja Gaiden 4 proves successful, perhaps it could get other devs to reconsider this genre. Could we see interest in franchises such as Devil May Cry returning? If we’re lucky even see a future God of War game go back to something resembling the style. Admittedly, the recent games aren’t really souls likes but they aren’t character action in the same way either.

In the meantime however, the genre has had a few underrated gems scattered between here and there. I’ll highlight a few that I think are very much worth checking out. Maybe grab 1 or 2 before Ninja Gaiden 4 launches this October.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time

A couple years after it’s conclusive season ended, Samurai Jack did get a pretty solid game. Battle Through Time sees Jack thrown into a time loop by Aku during the events of the final season where past, present and future don’t exist. As such, friends and enemies that Jack has encountered throughout his journey are encountered.

The game plays similarly to Ninja Gaiden. This is unsurprising since series director Tomonobu Itagaki served as an advisor. Overall it’s a fun and decently challenging hack and slash game that I think fans of both the genre as well as the series should give a look. Especially since you never know how long a licensed game’s shelf life will last. There’s even some cool things that fans of the franchise are sure to love if they play through to completion.

Gori: Cuddly Carnage

Combining game play that’s like a mix of Devil May Cry and Jet Set Radio is just the beginning for this next entry. With an aesthetic that resembles a post apocalyptic Happy Tree Friends, Gori : Cuddly Carnage is definitely a contender for the most out there action game around. The game sees you controlling a bipedal cat named Gori as he rides around on his best friend, a sentient hoverboard named F.R.A.N.K. Of course F.R.A.N.K. also happens to have built in chainsaws, swords, rocket launchers etc.

The two of them fight against an army of murderous experimental Toys that have pretty much wiped out humanity while in search of Gori’s creator, the professor. We at GSC absolutely loved the game, scoring it a 9.5. To top it off, two of us had it listed among our best indie titles of 2024.

Featuring fun game play, a great sense of humor and an unexpectedly solid story, Gori : Cuddly Carnage is a game I recommend to anyone looking for a good hack and slash title.

No Straight Roads

Before Hi-Fi Rush caught a lot of gamers by surprise with its rhythm based hack and slash game play, another game by the name of No Straight Roads also adopted a similar theme. The game sees you play as two aspiring rock stars, MayDay and Zuke who try to start a musical uprising.

Similar to Hi-Fi rush, the game rewards you for performing hits on a beat. It’s worth noting that both characters attack differently as well. Mayday is more of a heavy hitter and fights with an electric guitar. Zuke is a drummer who gets more hits in his combos as he performs the beats correctly.

What sets it apart from Hi-Fi rush as well as other games in the genre is that the game has a focus on co-op play. The game also has some of the best boss designs I’ve seen in the genre 

The bosses are each modeled after a different style of music such as a spaced themed electronica DJ or a child prodigy who is a master at classical music. Each has their own beats to fight to making for a unique and fun set of bosses. The game currently has a sequel in development so now’s a better time than any to give it a go.

No More Heroes 3

While No More Heroes isn’t exactly an unknown franchise, it’s one that a lot of gamers may not have checked out recently. It was a rare case of a pretty violent series that was locked to Nintendo platforms. While the first two games were eventually made available on PC, the third game is the only one to be fully multiplatform.

The games action mixes sword play using various beam katanas with kickboxing and pro wrestling moves. The games are competent hack n slash games on their own. What makes them so compelling overall are their characters, particularly series protagonist Travis Touchdown who might be among the most underrated protagonists overall. All coupled with stories that have a great blend of comedy as well as pretty dramatic moments.

If you have a switch or PC I do recommend trying the first two games. Desperate Struggle is within my top 10 games on the Wii in particular. However, the series overall doesn’t care too much about continuity, even poking fun at it at times. So with 3 being the most widely available it’s the one I’m recommending picking up.

These are just a few

There are others out there that even I haven’t touched myself such as Soulstice or haven’t finished like Sifu. While it’s great that one of the pioneers of the genre is returning, there’s still other great games to check out. Ninka Gaiden 4 comes out this October so there’s still time to try one of the above games. Or try another game that didn’t make this list just yet. And who knows, with one of the heavy hitters coming back, maybe some of the great indie devs that made well received soulslikes like Lies of P or Another Crabs Treasure may try their hand at an older style action game.

What did we miss on this list? Let us know in the comments down below.