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The best action RPGs for iPads

The best action RPGs for iPads

Highlights

  • Cat Quest 2
    offers a unique, casual fantasy adventure on the iPad with charming characters and inviting world design.
  • Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
    brings vivid, gory imagery and a gripping narrative to the iPad, with deep roots in the tabletop gaming world.
  • Diablo Immortal
    brings full-fledged hack-and-slash action and deep backstories to the iPad and appeals to both casual and experienced gamers.



The name may seem limiting, but as far as gameplay goes, Action role-playing games come in many different shapes and sizes. Whether players are slashing their way through oceans of enemies or methodically trudging past a particularly difficult boss, the genre can humble some of the best of us.

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However, if casual or experienced players want to take it a little slower and happen to find a iPadan ARPG might be just the thing for you. Yes, at first glance it might seem like the graphics capabilities of a tablet could hinder a game, but if you look a little deeper, gamers will no doubt find games that overcome these small limitations. Below are some of them the best ARPGs playable on the iPad.


5 Cat Quest 2

Metascore: N/A

Two cats in swimsuits standing by a river


Cat Quest II

Approved
24 September 2019

developer
The Gentlebros

Genre(s)
Adventure, Action RPG

What makes this action RPG for iPads so great?

  • Unique presentation of his world.
  • Relaxed adventure gameplay.

Cat Quest 2 The aesthetic is essentially as if the entire game takes place on a world map, with a fair amount of dungeon crawling thrown in for good measure. The player character designs, in the form of cats and dogs, are adorable, which is in stark contrast to the game’s story, which involves a lot of political intrigue.

The game offers some decent equipment and stat management features that make traveling through its inviting world worthwhile. Players looking for a casual fantasy adventure will find what they’re looking for here, while those looking for incredibly deep systems should probably look elsewhere.

4 Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

Metascore: N/A

Elf sorceress attacks enemies with lightning


Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

Approved
December 2, 2001

Genre(s)
Action RPG, Hack and Slash

What makes this action RPG for iPads so great?

  • A narrative style that translates well to the board game.
  • Vivid and bloody images to enjoy.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is a quest of enormous proportions from the perspective of a group of unlikely heroes, similar to the Dungeons and Dragons stories from which it comes. The simple action RPG nature of the game makes for deceptively simple combat, which also made a later port to iOS a no-brainer.

As the player goes about their quest, many monstrous enemies attack them at once, and their kills leave piles of carcasses everywhere the party goes, brought to life on an iPad screen. Then there’s the inventory management, which requires players to dig through shop menus and constantly replenish gold. All in all, the game is such that it has stood the test of time, as has its port to iOS nearly two decades after its initial release.


3 Diablo Immortal

Metascore: 67

Diablo Immortal gameplay

Diablo Immortal

Approved
June 2, 2022

Genre(s)
Action RPG

What makes this action RPG for iPads so great?

  • Fully equiped Diablo Game.
  • Complements the franchise’s deep, overarching lore.

Diablo Real Estate does a great job of bringing the frenetic, loot-focused hack-and-slash combat the series is known for to a smaller scale. Just like its bigger brothers on PC and consoles, the game lets players choose a character from a handful of classic Diablo classes to take on hordes of ghouls, monsters, and demonic spawn with their weapon of choice.


2:13

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The game offers everything from PVP to PVE battles, making it even better with other Diablo games. In this way, it can easily be called a must-have for fans of the series, especially as it adds a lot of lore that fans of this universe shouldn’t miss.

2 Final Fantasy XV: The Complete Series

Metascore: 79

Sitting by the campfire

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, iOS

Approved: 07.02.2018

Developer: Square Enix, SummerTimeStudio

Genre(s): Action role-playing game, action adventure

What makes this action RPG for iPads so great?

  • A compressed but still epic story.
  • The same fun real-time combat as the console version.

As divisive as Final Fantasy 15 Is, Pocket edition cuts out everything superfluous and leaves the epic story of the original game exactly as it was. As a bonus, and in line with many other mobile games, the world of Eos is presented in a super cute way.


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Although smaller, a lot of fun changes at the Final Fantasy Formula that 15 introduced, such as the transition to real-time combat or the skirmish between Noctis and the gang, are still present here. That’s all I’m saying, Pocket edition is simply a much more digestible version of one of the more underrated parts of this long-running franchise.

1 Genshin Influence

Metascore: 82

Klee Genshin Impact Trailer still

Genshin Influence

Approved
28 September 2020

What makes this action RPG for iPads so great?

  • Addictive gacha mechanics.
  • Beautifully rendered attacks and environments.

Genshin Effects took the world by storm and made gacha a worldwide phenomenon. Luckily, the game that comes with this addictive feature is entertaining and keeps giving players new things to do and see through ongoing updates. Things like new, incredibly detailed areas in the open world to explore, as well as more characters to unlock and new challenges to take on.


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In fact, the fight is probably the most fulfilling part of the Genshin Impact, as each character has their own unique personality, which is primarily shown in the way they dispatch their enemies. Their different elemental affinities also play a large role in their effectiveness in certain combat situations. This means that whether players are slicing through a slime with their blade or blowing away an automaton in a spectacular display of particle effects (which are rendered exceptionally well on a tablet screen), there’s something here for everyone.

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