Hack'n'Slash as a Genre

The Hack ‘n’ Slash genre is defined as “specifically implying a focus on real-time combat with hand-to-hand weapons as opposed to guns or fists” by Wikipedia. That covers a pretty broad definition. With this loose definition, it tends to sound like every game that includes melee combat is a Hack ‘n’ Slash, and to a degree it is. Genres like these, much like first-person shooters, tend to explain the gameplay mechanic more than the play itself. While you can physically jump in many games, you wouldn’t necessarily call them all platformers. So, while you can hack and slash in many games, the first image that comes to mind when you think of certain games like Dark Souls is not Hack’n’Slash, but rather an action-adventure. So, what is a Hack’n’Slash?

By this humble developer's definition, a classic Hack’n’Slash trope contains two things. One is that it tends to be the player versus hordes of enemies that are easily underpowered compared to the player. Two is how over-the-top grandiose the player’s character fights. This is everywhere from the abilities they use themselves to the animation of how they are executed. Games like Pearl Abyss’s Black Desert Online (excluding the MMO elements) and Capcom’s Devil May Cry 3 are great examples of these.

Hordes of Enemies

While each game’s definition of “hordes” might be a bit different, from the thousands that need to be killed per quest in BDO to the room with a dozen or so enemies in DMC, the idea is still the same. The player’s character tends to look no more impressive than the enemy (if not less so), yet they are able to take them out in droves. The damage these enemies deal tends to be relatively inconsequential in small doses, with the challenge coming from getting overwhelmed.

Much of the gameplay in a Hack’n’Slash is the rhythm the player gets into. While a skilled player may make it look like the character is unstoppable and that it is triflingly easy, this is because of the careful balance in the enemy's strength to the players. One false move during the onslaught can cause the player to falter, which in turn sets them off of their pattern and forces them to either retreat or lose. This is where the abilities come into play.

Beautiful Carnage

More than just beating up enemies, a good Hack’n’Slash makes it thrilling to do so. If the player’s standard swing destroyed all monsters in its wake, the game would start to feel very dry. Even if the enemies were a balanced and challenging fight, it wouldn’t feel like the player was powerful. Instead, they need plenty of flashy abilities to choose from. This is especially important for progressing through the game, as the enemies need to improve along with the player. Once the player starts fighting bigger and badder adversaries, they want to feel like they have become powerful enough to take them on.

This is why the abilities need to look good, and progressively cause more destruction. In DMC, even though the enemies are less abundant, the amount of hacking and slashing the player can extol on even a single enemy feels chaotic and powerful. Unleashing these flashy skills on lower level enemies the player used to struggle with shows them just how powerful they have become. What was once using their opponent as a skateboard to slide around the room shooting enemies has become a hail of fire and explosions. Both are an instant kill, but one is much more terrifying to behold.

Great Examples

This is what makes Devil May Cry 3 so memorable. From the second the game begins, the player already has a good handful of abilities that feel powerful. These pathetic and slow foes look like hideous monstrosities that any other player couldn’t possibly defeat, but not you. You, the player, are able to tear through them easily, and it only gets easier. The more the player hones their skill, the better they are at butchering everything with ease.

But all of a sudden, enemies aren’t as easy as they used to be. Now, boss fights require all the skills they were using like child’s play just to survive. Zipping around the room is not just something the player can do, but what they have to. This level of progression makes the player feel that it is their responsibility to keep up with the pace of the game. They have always been a force of destruction, and they don’t want to lose that feeling. They must master their new abilities so they can continue to be a badass.

Not So Great Examples

Unfortunately, flashy skills and hordes of enemies are not a magic recipe for a good Hack’n’Slash. The combat in Black Desert Online feels satisfying for the first few levels, but it starts to become very clear how repetitive it will become as the player levels. The enemies almost never become a threat, and the abilities are so much flash that they hardly have substance. Worse yet, many of their quests are to kill literal thousands of them, meaning the player is forced to run in a small circle (cough abandoned iron mines cough) over and over killing the exact same enemies for hours with the same abilities. What was once exciting and flashy has become frustrating and dull.

That isn’t to say the combat system is broken. For an MMO, being able to literally dodge enemy attacks by moving out of their way is a great way to break up the old trope that every MMO needs to be a turn-based game. The best representation of the game’s combat lies in their boss fights, as they often require coordinated attacks with plenty of other players and make the player rely on all of their abilities. It is easy to easily brush off miserable grinding just because it's an MMO, but they have shown they know how to use their engaging combat system appropriately, and hopefully, with each new update we will continue to see improvements.

Overall

While my definition may not hold up with everyone else, I think Hack’n’Slash is a unique genre that deserves to be recognized for what it is. If we were to categorize every game that has a sword as a Hack’n’Slash, players who enjoy the unique elements of games that share similarities like BDO and DMC would be forced to come up with another word to find those. Even games like Diablo III are considered Hack’n’Slash by a quick Google search, yet if you wanted DMC gameplay you wouldn’t turn to a dungeon-crawler like Diablo. Likewise, if you loved Diablo, you’d be very confused when booting up DMC for the first time.

Many games can incorporate both, such as Kingdom Hearts being mostly an action-adventure title, yet the combat itself is very Hack’n’Slash like. This is a great distinction because it shows that one does not necessarily equal the other, even if it can. Dozens of great games like Dynasty Warriors, Drakengard, and even God of War have very similar tropes that will hopefully have a chance to live on with their own identities, and I’m excited to see where the genre goes.