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.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
"The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" is an open world action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The control scheme is comparable to its predecessors: the player moves the protagonist Link in three dimensions from a third-person perspective. Link fights with a sword and shield, and can use a variety of other items and weapons. He interacts with non-player characters and objects via the action button. Like the previous games, "The Wind Waker" features a targeting system allowing Link to "lock on" and constantly face an enemy or target. A new feature is the ability to move the camera system around Link. Onscreen meters track Link's health and magic; Link can expand his health meter by finding "heart containers" and container pieces in the game.