Whatever happened to hack-and-slash games?

Hack-and-slash games once defined what it was to be a gamer. In the olden days, if you owned a console, there was a very big chance that you were either executing crazy combos in Devil May Cry or shredding up Olympus in God of War. These were the games that transformed every battle into a spectacle and every push of a button into pure adrenaline. They didn’t concern themselves with restraint or realism; they were loud, artistic, and utterly chaotic. Hack-and-slash was more than just a genre for a period of time; it was the definition of action gaming. But somewhere along the way, that energy faded. The genre that once defined “fun combat” slowly stepped out of the spotlight. Now, we can’t help but ask, what happened to hack-and-slash games?

The glory days of hack and slash

Image Source: Gaming History 101

Way back in the 2000s and early 2010s, hack-and-slash games were everywhere. You didn’t play them for realism, you played them for absurdity. You’d start one up, string together a 100-hit combo, toss enemies around, and just laugh as the screen lit up with particle effects.

Games such as Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and Devil May Cry never required open worlds or cumbersome RPG systems. Their recipe was straightforward: quick, smooth, skill-based combat that played just as well as it looked.

That’s literally what hack and slash is all about: expression through fighting. Button-mashing was enough to get you through the first level, but true players knew the art of cancelling combos, hitting precise dodges, and making sure that S-rank style meter lit up.

Even Castlevania wanted in on the fun. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow dropped its Metroidvania roots and went all-in on cinematic, combo-heavy action. It was proof that even the classics couldn’t resist the flashy energy of the hack-and-slash era.

The fall from the mainstream

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Hack-and-slash didn’t actually die, it evolved. By the late 2010s, the action genre split in two directions: action-adventure open-worlds and Soulslike games. Both borrowed bits of hack-and-slash DNA, but neither carried the same spirit.

Titles like Assassin’s Creed, Ghost of Tsushima, and the new God of War games gave us massive worlds to explore and swords to swing, but combat became just one piece of a much bigger puzzle filled with loot, crafting, and side quests. The thrill of pure, focused combat took a backseat to exploration and progression.

You can really see it in God of War. Back in the PS2 and PS3 days, Kratos was chaos personified. You weren’t reflecting on grief or fatherhood because you were busy carving through gods, shredding monsters, and painting Olympus red. It was pure, unfiltered hack-and-slash mayhem. Every swing of those Blades of Chaos felt like fireworks.

Then came the 2018 reboot and Ragnarök, and suddenly, Kratos had changed – and so had we. The blades were still there, but now every strike felt heavier, every moment quieter. Combat became slower, more deliberate. You even had to collect flowers to get 100% completion (psst: check out our guide to collecting flowers in Ragnarök, it’ll help you).

And honestly, it’s not a bad thing. The old God of War made you feel like a god. The new ones make you feel human. But in that shift from chaos to contemplation, something else happened – the heart of hack-and-slash quietly stepped out of the spotlight.

The Soulslike Era

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Born from Demon’s Souls and perfected by Dark Souls, the genre built its identity on struggle and discovery. Every death was a lesson. Every victory felt earned. Even its storytelling was different, mysterious, fragmented, and buried in item descriptions rather than cutscenes.

By the time Elden Ring launched, Soulslike games quickly became the new standard for action games.

And now, halfway through the decade, it’s starting to feel like it’s too much. Every new game trailer promises “punishing but rewarding combat” or “deliberate, weighty fights.” If it’s got a sword, a stamina bar, or a sad hero staring into the distance, everyone instantly goes, “Oh, another Soulslike.”

Some of them are excellent. Lies of P oozes gothic style, Nioh and Wo Long mix fast-paced action with smart design, and newer ones like The First Berserker: Khazan and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers are okay. But when everyone’s chasing that same formula, it starts to blur together. The uniqueness fades, and the balance between challenge and fun gets lost.

Soulslikes made struggle the main event. Hack-and-slash made fun the reward. Somewhere along the way, we stopped swinging swords for chaos and started doing it for XP.

When hack-and-slash and Soulslike collide

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Still, not all hope is lost. Some games are finally finding the middle ground, and Black Myth: Wukong might be the best example yet. It moves with Soulslike precision, every swing feels heavy and fluid, but under that weight, it still has that old hack-and-slash heart. Those stylish staff combos and transformation attacks, just like the hack and slash of old? That’s what we’re missing.

It’s proof that the two philosophies can coexist. You can have challenge and flair, discipline and chaos. Games like Nioh, Star Wars: Jedi series, and Khazan already flirt with that balance, and upcoming titles might just perfect it.

Is hack and slash dead?

Not even close – it just grew up, kind of like we did. Back then, we wanted chaos. We wanted to mash buttons, break combos, and feel like gods tearing through endless waves of enemies. But as we got older, so did games. They started asking us to slow down, to think, to earn our victories instead of just basking in them.

Soulslikes gave it weight and patience. Open-world games gave it scope and story, and indies brought it creativity and heart. In fact, there are a lot of new and upcoming hack-and-slash games we should look out for:

Notable new and upcoming hack-and-slash games

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Remaster
• Ninja Gaiden 4 (October 2025)
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword (upcoming)
• Lost Soul Aside
• Hades II
• Stellar Blade
• Cereza and the Lost Demon
• Hell is Us
• Tides of Annihilation (upcoming)

So, yeah, hack-and-slash isn’t really gone. You can still feel its DNA in Hades II’s crisp combat, Stellar Blade’s cinematic flair, and Black Myth: Wukong’s staff-spinning chaos. The genre that used to make us feel unstoppable is still here, it just makes us earn that feeling now.

As long as there are players who crave style over suffering and chaos over caution, hack-and-slash will keep swinging, louder, faster, and forever unbalanced.

Featured Image Source: YouTube