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.
Platform game
"Knight Lore", an isometric sequel to "Sabre Wulf", helped to establish the conventions of early isometric platformers. This formula would be repeated in later games like "Head Over Heels", and "Monster Max". These games were generally heavily focused on exploring indoor environments, usually a series of small rooms connected by doors, and have distinct adventure and puzzle elements. Japanese developers blended this gameplay style with that of Japanese action-adventure games like "The Legend of Zelda" to create games like "Land Stalker" and "Light Crusader". While these games are more generally classified as action adventures, they are also isometric platformers and an evolution of earlier conventions in the genre. This influence would later travel to Europe with Adeline Software's sprawling epic "Little Big Adventure", which blended RPG, adventure, and isometric platforming elements.