For the longest time, my wife and I had “our game.” We spent countless nights grinding away for loot, slaying demons, and questing into the early morning hours in Diablo 3. Time and time again, it was the one title we could return to without worry about boredom or stale gameplay loops. But like many of you, I wanted more. More loot. More demons to slay. I wanted to find the best ARPGs (action role-playing games) filled to the brim with loot!
Path of Exile
Can you really handcraft a list of the best ARPGs on the market without mentioning the behemoth that is free-to-play Path of Exile?
Unfortunately, the sheer scale of its character and class progression is what keeps so many ARPG fans from fully enjoying Path of Exile. This is, hands down, one of the most complex games in the genre. I’m not kidding when I tell you there are 276 unique active skill gems and 178 support skill gems for a total of 454 skills in the game to unlock. But that’s not all. The game also features a staggering 1325 passive skills!
Developer Grinding Gear Games remains one of those developers who have adoringly crafted a love letter to the RPG community. They release regular free expansions, zero pay-to-win DLC via the in-game store, and interact with fans regularly.
I urge you to take a night, or even a weekend, and dive into Path of Exile. Take some time – at your own pace – to learn the intricacies of the game, its skill system, and more, and you’ll find yourself rewarded with a lifelong game.
Grim Dawn
With two major expansions under its belt, and the main storyline spanning countless hours of loot-filled gameplay, Grim Dawn holds a place on many ARPG fans’ most played games list. It’s an exceptionally fun romp through a world filled to bursting with unique monster designs, including a few Lovecraftian horrors in the Ashes of Malmouth expansion, a metric fuckton of loot to discover, and expansive build possibilities with its dual class system.
According to the developer, the game features over 20,000 possible magical affix combinations for items. Seriously, you have a ton of build and item diversity here to explore across multiple playthroughs.
Even better is, the game supports up to four players. I had a lot of fun wasting gross monstrosities across the world with my wife on many a night.
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
I have to say, despite the mixed reception, plague of bugs, lost progress, and, according to the community, a lack of communication by the developer, I’ve had a ton of fun with Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.
Thanks to the Cryengine, Wolcen stands firmly in first place for one of the most beautiful ARPGs on this list, though graphics are not everything.
In terms of loot, character progression, story and writing, and gameplay, Wolcen holds up extremely well. I’m not generally a fan of a voiced protagonist in a role-playing game but I’m enjoying myself in a world filled with witchcraft, demons, and human inquisitors standing strong.
For its modest price tag, it’s not uncommon for players to invest tens, if not hundreds, of hours into the game.
Last Epoch
I only recently discovered Last Epoch, but the concept, gameplay, skill system, and class choices won me over almost instantaneously. Even better is, the combat is glorious. Seriously, every hit from a sword and every spell cast from my fingertips feels powerful and hits hard.
Currently boasting 15 Mastery Classes, over 100 skill trees, countless lootable items, endless replayability, and yes, even time travel, Last Epoch offers quite a bit of content for an Early Access ARPG.
From what I’ve gathered in my limited game time, the developer listens to feedback and updates the game regularly, with a new multiplayer mode, dungeons, class reworks, various performance improvements, and trade mechanics coming shortly.
If you want to join an expansive ARPG community with a lot of room for improvement and growth, I can safely recommend Last Epoch.
My only gripe is the lack of a pause function within the offline single-player mode.
Warhammer 40,0000: Inquisitor – Martyr
It took a few attempts before Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr clicked. I’m a huge fan of the Warhammer franchise, especially its insurmountable breadth of lore across both the science fiction and fantasy worlds, though. So, I stuck with it. I kept playing, and it clicked. And now, I can safely add it to my list of best ARPGs out now!
You might think the idea of using automatic firearms in an ARPG sounds bland or janky, and you’d be right to some extent, but it’s also a lot of fun to slay xenomorphs by the droves.
You can play as one of three backgrounds in the main game: Assassin, Psyker, and Crusader. Each one plays vastly different from its counterparts, and that allows for multiple unique playthroughs.
Furthermore, the game is enhanced via an expansion, which includes a new playable class, and a lot of DLC that – get this – you can unlock using in-game currency instead of real money.
It routinely goes on sale, including all DLC, for under $20. If you want a cheap, long-lasting action-RPG with tons of loot, crafting, and an expansive world to explore and destroy.
Your Best ARPGs?
There you have it, five available games that I would easily consider among the best ARPGs on the market today, and all of them for relatively cheap for the amount of content you receive.
Which one is your favorite?