A subgenre of both the Action Game and Adventure Game genres, the Action-Adventure game was effectively created by such titles as The Legend of Zelda and Metroid back in the days of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. These two titles are recognised as archetypical of the genre, and since then, the Action Adventure has expanded to include games in a wide variety of thematic genres, since the jump to 3D, as well as appearing on every video game platform around. The essential traits of an action adventure are considered to include reflex-based gameplay, an action game element, combined with item collecting, environment exploration and puzzle solving, which are associated with the adventure game genre. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the Action Adventure is sometimes used as a catch all for games that do not overtly suit any one genre but still have a plot, a usage which some consider erroneous.
The action adventure is exemplified in games that have large and detailed worlds to explore, a range of options in terms of possible actions and some level of non-linearity in terms of plot, but this last aspect is often sacrificed, in whole or in part, on the altar of budgets and/or writers. This lack of large-scale non-linearity is what differentiates the Action-Adventure game from a Wide Open Sandbox, though there are other minor, but important, differences. This level of non-linearity is a characteristic the action adventure shares with the RPG, though it usually doesn't have experience points or levels — character improvments, if any, are only ever the result of gaining new items or upgrading old ones. The key here is that in an action adventure a character either has an ability or he or she doesn't; there is no measure of how good he or she is with a given ability (which is considered an RPG element).
As a rule of thumb, an Action-Adventure game is distinguished from those of closely related genres, such as Platformers, Action Games and Adventure Games by its combination of but lack of commitment to any one of these genres. It contains reflex gameplay, which adventure games do not; puzzle solving, which straight-up action games do not; and jumping puzzles, which both adventure games and action games generally do not. Action-Adventure games also seldom, if ever, have "Extra Lives" (though there may be items that stop you from dying, such as the fairies in The Legend of Zelda), with the distinction between "fairies" and extra lives being that one has an "in-game" explanation and one is completely arbitrary. As indicated by the above description, the genre is a very broad one and hard to nail: Ben Croshaw once observed that the term in some ways has become a blanket label for any game that's hard to classify.
As the plot of these games becomes less and less Excuse Plot and more and more developed, this genre has become increasingly similar to the Role-Playing Game genre. A general rule of thumb for telling them apart: In RPGs, you are in a dungeon because of the plot, whereas in Action-Adventure games, you are in a plot because of the dungeon.
Most Licensed Games not on a portable console have this type of gameplay.
See Metroidvania for a particular sub-genre.
Games
- Advent Rising
- Adventure
- Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!
- Adventures of Bouapha
- The Adventures of Robin Hood
- AeternoBlade
- Air Fortress (At least the "inside the Fortress" segments)
- Alice in Wonderland
- Alice: Madness Returns
- Alundra
- Alundra 2
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Amea
- American McGee's Alice
- American McGee's Grimm
- Anodyne
- Apotheon
- Aquaria
- Armed and Dangerous
- Ary And The Secret Of Seasons
- Assassin's Creed
- Assassin's Creed I
- Assassin's Creed II
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations
- Assassin's Creed III
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- Assassin's Creed: Unity
- Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
- Assassin's Creed: Chronicles
- Assassin's Creed Origins
- Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- Asterix and the Magic Carpet
- Asterix Operation Getafix
- Cadaver
- Castle In The Darkness
- Castle Wolfenstein
- Castlevania (prior installments were Platform Games)
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Castlevania 64
- Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
- Castlevania: Resurrection
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
- Castlevania: Chronicles of Sorrow
- Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
- Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
- Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
- Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
- Cave Story
- The Caverns Of Hammerfest
- Clash at Demonhead
- The Colony
- Combat Of Giants
- Coraline
- Creepy Castle
- Critical Mass (1995)
- Crusader of Centy
- Cubivore
- Cyber Troopers Virtual-On MARZ
- Dark Earth
- Dark Summit
- Darksiders
- Darksiders II
- Darksiders III
- Darkstone
- Deadly Creatures
- Deadly Towers
- Destroy All Humans!
- Destroy All Humans 2
- Devil May Cry
- Dm C Devil May Cry
- Dexters Laboratory Deesaster Strikes
- Disaster: Day of Crisis
- Disney Infinity series
- Distorted Travesty
- The Division
- Dizzy
- Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights
- Dragon Valor
- Dragon's Wake
- Dragon Ball: Origins
- Drakan
- Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
- Dreamfarer
- Dual Hearts
- Dust: An Elysian Tail
- Ganbare Goemon (Though spinoffs of other genres have been made)
- Ghost Hunters
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Ghostrunner
- Ghost Song: A Journey Of Hope
- Giants: Citizen Kabuto
- Giga Wrecker
- Goblet Grotto
- God of War
- Golgo 13 (For Top Secret Episode/The Mafat Conspiracy)
- Goof Troop
- The Goonies
- The Goonies II
- Gotcha Force
- Götzendiener
- Graffiti Kingdom
- Grand Chase
- Gravity Rush
- The Gray Garden
- Guacamelee!
- The Guardian Legend (also a partial Shoot 'em Up)
- Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure
- La-Mulana
- The Last of Us
- The Last Resurrection
- Legacy of Kain
- Legend of Kay
- The Legend of Spyro
- Legacy of the Wizard
- The Legend of Zelda
- The Legend of Zelda I
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- LEGO Adaptation Game
- LEGO City Undercover
- LEGO Island
- LEGO Minifigures Online
- LEGO Universe
- Lenna's Inception
- Leo & Leah (primarily an Eastern RPG, but still counts)
- Little Big Adventure 2: Twinsen's Odyssey
- Lost Isle
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Luigi's Mansion
- Lumen
- Madagascar
- Mad Father
- Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
- Majinwar
- Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
- Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
- MediEvil
- MediEvil 2
- MediEvil: Resurrection
- Mega Man Legends
- Meikyuujou Hydra (aka. Hydra Castle Labyrinth)
- Messiah
- Metroid in most of its incarnations
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Milon's Secret Castle
- Mini Ninjas
- Minit
- Mirror's Edge (Includes elements of the Platformer, First-Person Shooter, and Puzzle Game)
- Miserere
- Missleman Spy Strike 2
- Mogeko Castle
- Monkey Hero
- Moss
- Mushroom Men
- Mystik Belle
- RAIN
- Rambo
- Ratatouille
- Ratchet & Clank
- Raven's Cry
- The Red Star
- Rent A Hero (the "action" part is given by the side-scrolling real-time fights against enemies)
- Rise of the Kasai
- Rock Raiders (The PlayStation version. The PC is Real-Time Strategy)
- Rune
- Rusty
- Rygar
- Sabre Wulf
- Sanity: Aiken's Artifact
- Scurge: Hive
- Second Sight
- Secret Agent Barbie
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Shadow Complex
- Shadow Man
- Shadow of the Beast
- Shantae
- Shounen Kininden Tsumuji
- Shrek
- Silver
- The Sinking City
- Skull & Bones
- Son Of Nor
- SoulBlazer
- Space Pirates and Zombies
- Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
- Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
- SPISPOPD
- StarTropics
- Steambot Chronicles
- Super Anjelo Land 2
- Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey
- Swim, Ikachan!
- The Swords of Ditto
- Sydney Hunter
- Tail Concerto
- Tails Adventure
- Target of Desire: Episode 1
- Terracon
- Timespinner
- Titan Souls
- ToeJam & Earl (The first game is solidly one of these, with RPG Elements. The sequels are Platform Games.)
- Tomb Raider
- Too Human
- Tom Clancy's Elite Squad
- Treasure Adventure Game
- Tron 2.0
- Trover Saves the Universe
- Turgor
- The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
- Two Brothers