Best Character Action Games on Steam

Character action games are the arcade descendants of the beat-em-up: a small toolkit of attacks, a grading system that judges how stylishly you use it, and enemies designed to punish you for mashing. What separates the great ones is depth per input rather than length — the same three buttons still surprise you forty hours in, and the real content is replaying the same fight on a harder difficulty to chase a higher rank. That makes them unusually rewarding to complete, because the hardest achievements are almost always skill checks rather than grinds. These are the ones on Steam worth learning properly.

1

Devil May Cry 5

The genre's modern benchmark, with three playable characters who each demand a completely different combat vocabulary. Its 55 achievements run all the way up to Dante Must Die and S-ranking every mission, so the list is a genuine mastery test.

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2

NieR:Automata™

PlatinumGames combat wrapped around a story that keeps changing what kind of game you are playing. Combat is more forgiving than its peers, but the multiple endings and full weapon collection make the 47-achievement list a long, strange commitment.

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3

Hi-Fi RUSH

Every attack, dodge and enemy movement locks to the soundtrack, which turns combos into rhythm sequences you feel rather than memorise. At 71 achievements it is the biggest completion here, and easily the most joyful.

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4

METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE

Built almost entirely around a free-aim cutting mechanic and a parry with no dedicated button, which makes its defence the hardest to learn in the genre. Short campaign, enormous replay value, and 60 achievements that expect you to actually understand the parry.

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5

Bayonetta

The game that set the template most of this list follows: dodge-offset combos, Witch Time on a perfect dodge, and a grading system that rewards aggression. The PC port is the definitive version of a genuinely foundational action game.

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6

NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black

A remaster of the most aggressive action game ever made, where blocking is barely an option and enemies attack from every angle at once. Harshly difficult by design, and the 38 achievements do not soften it.

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7

Stellar Blade™

A parry-focused action game with a deliberate, readable rhythm closer to a soulslike than to Devil May Cry, but with combo strings and a style meter on top. Its 45 achievements lean on exploration and side content as much as combat.

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8

Devil May Cry HD Collection

The original trilogy in one package, which is where the genre's rules were actually written. Devil May Cry 3 in particular still holds up, and with 99 achievements across three games this is the longest haul on the list.

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9

Furi

A boss rush and nothing else: ten duels that each blend character action with a bullet-hell shooter, set to a superb synth soundtrack. Only 33 achievements, but the harder difficulties turn each fight into a pattern you have to fully solve.

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Updated 2026-08-27. Every game links to its full SteamVault page with achievement stats, rarity and community completion times.