Role-playing video game
Typically action RPGs feature each player directly controlling a single character in real time, and feature a strong focus on combat and action with plot and character interaction kept to a minimum. Early action RPGs tended to follow the template set by 1980s Nihon Falcom titles such as the "Dragon Slayer" and "Ys" series, which feature hack and slash combat where the player character's movements and actions are controlled directly, using a keyboard or game controller, rather than using menus. This formula was refined by the action-adventure game, "The Legend of Zelda" (1986), which set the template used by many subsequent action RPGs, including innovations such as an open world, nonlinear gameplay, battery backup saving, and an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. The game was largely responsible for the surge of action-oriented RPGs released since the late 1980s, both in Japan and North America. "The Legend of Zelda" series would continue to exert an influence on the transition of both console and computer RPGs from stat-heavy, turn-based combat towards real-time action combat in the following decades.
List of The Legend of Zelda media
"The Legend of Zelda" is a video game series created by game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is developed and published by Nintendo. The series debuted in Japan with "The Legend of Zelda" (known in Japan as "The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu") on February 21, 1986, and was later released in North America (August 22, 1987) and Europe (November 27, 1987). "The Legend of Zelda" video games have been developed exclusively for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds, dating from the Family Computer Disk System to the current generation of video game consoles. Spin-off titles, however, have been released on non-Nintendo systems. The franchise consists of 27 video games, including original titles, ports, and remakes. Over 52 million copies have been sold since the release of the first game. The franchise also includes a cartoon adaptation, multiple comic book adaptations, and soundtracks.