Best On-Budget Obscure Action Games

2 weeks ago 7

Ronald Goncalves is a contributor at DualShockers and a Venezuelan political scientist and economist who seeks to express his passion for video games through the always subjective interpretation of the interactive experience. With more than 10 years of experience in the sector, hundreds of articles written, and even more video games analyzed, he has studied the medium so much that he feels like he has seen it all. Fortunately, he has always been proved wrong. He loves Bloodborne and Berserk above all else, although he admits that Disco Elysium and the works of Yoshiaki Kawajiri are also his weaknesses.

At the same time, he is a professor of Political Science at the Fermín Toro University of Venezuela, he runs a YouTube channel where he intends to replicate the teaching exercise but in relation to our environment and he manifests himself on Twitch as a justification to talk about Dark Souls while he does something productive: teach that the video game is more than what is believed about it.

Last year brought us incredible games across the board, but the department that quite possibly had the most gems was the action genre.

10 Best Action Adventure Games With High Replay Value

These are the best action adventure games with high replay value.

Because of that, I spent a good part of 2025 looking into numerous of these creations, motivating myself to dig deeper and deeper to capitalize on the momentum, and the result was astounding.

From a low-poly game made in Mexico that lasts half an hour to a Berserk simulator with the most vibrant color palette in video game history, it was 12 months of dedicated searching that yielded better returns than I expected.

Therefore, it would be selfish of me to keep all these great, hostile creations a secret, so I invite you to discover these ten best on-budget obscure action games.

10 Juice Galaxy

A Feverish Dream Made by Ragdoll Physics

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November 22, 2023

Fishlicka

J4D3D LLC

Since a friend gifted me numerous shovelware games, I decided to show my reluctant gratitude by playing them all in one day, but I accidentally stumbled upon a true jewel: Juice Galaxy.

Despite being in early access, this psychedelic physics-based indie game is as hilarious as it is addictive, given its RPG-style progression and world strongly encourages you to explore everything to become the pulpiest substance in the universe.

Flying attacks at hundreds of kilometers per hour, swords whose size you can increase until they're as tall as a building, visual effects straight out of a psychotropic trip, nightmarish enemy designs, dozens of secrets…

Juice Galaxy is a strange title, but it takes the core of action games to the extreme: fighting for the sheer joy of it. Running at full speed and summoning meteors directed towards cartoon enemies three times your size is fantastic, and I'm not ranking it higher only because it's not in its final version.

9 The Bar Souls

A Minimalist Boss Rush

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November 5, 2025

Falling From Mountain

I've played a handful of boss rush games in my life. Even though I love fighting overpowered enemies, The Bar Souls came along and awakened me from my inaction regarding my unspoken love for the genre.

In just a couple of hours, this minimalist pixelated game gave me an adrenaline rush that many high-production-value games, with five times the content and length, can't achieve, which fully explains the sensations it's capable of generating.

Despite its limited number of encounters, exploring its decayed universe is a pleasure, thanks to both the glorious soundtrack and the challenges it presents, each one more difficult than the last, with the uncertainty of not knowing what tools you'll have to deal with it.

In this sense, the game has an interesting system where your weapon changes every time you die, so you can't feel comfortable until you've mastered everything and explored all the upgrades.

If you're looking for a deep title, you won't find much here, but if you're looking for unadulterated action with a touch of contemplation between fights, The Bar Souls is tremendous.

8 Defenders of Ekron

An Underrated Shoot 'Em Up

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Developer(s)

Publisher(s)

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August 7, 2018

In Vitro Games

PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Those who are fans of mecha anime will be well-versed in both the type of action typically seen in them and the fantasy of eventually piloting one, which is precisely what Defenders of Ekron offers.

Despite its top-down perspective, combined with retro sections that magnificently recall the legendary Ikaruga, it's a highly immersive creation thanks to its fluid action, alternating between multiple weapons and melee attacks to make each fight a delight.

However, the true strength lies in its bosses, each more demanding and visually stunning than the last, requiring a level of concentration and mastery of rhythm so satisfying that I'm genuinely surprised so few people talk about it.

While you're flying, dodging, parrying, and shooting, three hours of your life will slip by without you even noticing, because Defenders of Ekron mesmerizes you with both its remarkable audiovisual effects and its highly refined gameplay.

7 Arashi Gaiden

Ninja Tactics

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July 14, 2025

Statera Studio, Wired Dreams Studio

Nuntius Games, Vsoo Games

PC, Nintendo Switch

When you think of action games, it's normal to think of real-time titles with a breakneck, relentless pace, but Arashi Gaiden proves that pausing now and then is perfectly fine too.

Linear Action Adventure Games With No Bloat

As an unconventional turn-based game, divided into grids like Into the Breach but unfolding at breakneck speed and without menus, it strikes a balance between acceleration and tactics that feels truly refreshing.

Each scenario is a puzzle, though solving them isn't just cognitive but also technical, as you have to decide on the fly which powers to activate, which grids to move to, what environmental damage to withstand or avoid, and other judgments that vary in pace and priority.

It's like a chess game but with ninjas and supernatural abilities where multiple players take turns simultaneously, which allows Arashi Gaiden to be a fierce action extravaganza that knows exactly when to stop.

6 It Comes In Waves

Reflecting on Scarcity

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April 5, 2023

Antonio Freyre

Merlino Games

While action games commonly focus more on their mechanics than anything else, there are alternatives like It Comes In Waves that, unusually, focus on something often overlooked within the genre: atmosphere.

It's still a classic third-person shooter reminiscent of Mass Effect gameplay dressed up with a Star Wars skin from the PlayStation era, but while action is the primary means, it's not the end goal.

Instead, it's a focused campaign that doesn't lend itself to replayability, during which we explore a deserted planet teeming with scavengers who, like us, are trying to survive. To do so, they need water, a vital element of the gameplay loop, but so do we.

Although there are no morality systems or any indicators whatsoever, the environment skillfully places you in situations where you feel unmotivated to fight, but you end up fighting anyway because there aren't enough resources for everyone, and your journey must be completed.

After half an hour, you'll be able to sheathe your gun, though you won't stop thinking about what you saw. It's among the few action games that have genuinely left me thinking, and it achieves this with such a short runtime that I really have to commend it.

5 CODE Bunny

Concatenated Destruction

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December 19, 2024

Team Seventh Star

Nuntius Games, Vsoo Games

There's something fascinating about the ability of certain pixel art developers to create combat and movement mechanics that feel fluid and perfectly digestible, which is why I feel compelled to mention CODE Bunny.

It's not just because the way you chain together encounters with each enemy is divine, thanks to special attacks that propel you toward each one, but because it all happens in a quick sequence that, for a change, is completely legible.

It's not only visually phenomenal, but it also combines 2D speed with frenetic combat to create levels you can finish in seconds, almost feeling the wind in your face from how fast you're moving despite sitting in front of a screen.

Furthermore, it features two entirely different playable characters who help tell a magnetic anti-imperialist story with several plot twists, so CODE Bunny is not only a superb action game, but also an interesting critique of colonialism.

4 Dark Sword: The Light of Ainn

Banger Boss Fights, Banger Songs

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February 22, 2025

MrDoth

Precisely because of what I mentioned when I included The Bar Souls, I never thought I'd put two boss rush titles on the same list, but here I am to bestow my praise upon Dark Sword: The Light of Ainn.

Unlike its counterpart on this list, this game is dark and unsettling, with a color palette limited to white, black, and red to create an oppressive atmosphere where there are only two things: colossal beings that want to destroy you and a great deal of unease.

You never know where to go, you don't know what you have to do, nor do you know how to solve each problem, because the game simply drops you on an island where you must defeat demonic beings that, let me tell you, are anything but easy.

However, it is for these very reasons that Dark Sword: Light of Ainn feels masterful, as it is a brutal adventure that will delight all of us who enjoy a series of well-designed bosses. Add to that the dynamic combat and its unnecessarily potent soundtrack, and you get a more than robust result for action lovers.

3 Princess Pomu and the 5 Moons

Mega Man's Heir is a Metroidvania

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June 26, 2025

Pixel Dominus

PC, Nintendo Switch

After years without touching anything remotely resembling Mega Man, I never would have imagined that a Metroidvania about cosmic dogs and a frustrated painter princess would bring me back to the franchise, though this is precisely what Princess Pomu and the 5 Moons did.

Understanding this title is as easy as acknowledging its Metroidvania structure, which provides everything you need to know on a superficial level: movement upgrades, interconnected levels that unlock gradually, backtracking, bosses…

10 Best Action Games With High Replay Value

The only thing better than excessive violence is excessive violence in multiple playthroughs.

Overall, it's not a title that breaks with the genre's conventions but rather elevates them through a solid understanding of its foundations and, especially, a magnificent inclusion of a combo and shooting system that truly energizes the entire experience.

With numerous weapons and powers and a story that addresses the frustrations of being an artist in harsh environments that hinder pursuing passions outside of responsibilities, the game is as ambitious as it is refreshing because it attempts novel concepts and manages to execute them successfully.

Furthermore, it has a moral decision system integrated into the combat that took me completely by surprise, forcing me to witness a devastating and unexpected ending that made me applaud Princess Pomu and the 5 Moons for their boldness.

2 Mortal Sin

Lots of Psychedelic Blood

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August 29, 2025

Nikola Todorovic

Given that the roguelike genre has become one of my favorites in the last couple of years, I'm always on the lookout for hidden and unusual representatives, though I could never have imagined finding something like Mortal Sin.

As such, it's the closest I've seen in the video game industry to realizing the fantasy of being Guts from Berserk, wielding giant weapons to literally dismember demons depending on where you strike.

Besides, it's played in first person, a particularly unusual genre for melee experiences where the focus is on large-scale combat rather than individual duels, which adds a unique twist to a game where you revel in unholy blood with pure, unholy pleasure.

Thanks to the game's numerous classes and multiple, highly challenging levels, you can spend dozens of hours familiarizing yourself with each class's combos and the intricacies of each stage, finding an inexplicable joy when you finally acquire that weapon you know will allow you to obliterate entire armies with a single swing.

Will you get a headache from all the bloody cuts and that highly stylized, intensely vibrant color palette? Undoubtedly, but if that's the sacrifice you have to make to enjoy Mortal Sin, it's worth it.

1 Hell Clock

Diablo Meets Hades in Brazil

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July 22, 2025

Rogue Snail

Mad Mushroom

Although I'm a huge fan of Hades and Diablo, the idea of seeing both combined in a single game, especially one based on a historical Brazilian war, never crossed my mind.

However, Hell Clock proves why simply listening to the market is often a mistake, as I believe there was no other way such a unique action game could have emerged.

As one of the best experiences I had last year, it does an outstanding job of merging RPG combat and inventory mechanics with the procedural progression of roguelikes, taking you on a mystical journey into the past of a part of the Latin American country's history.

The result is a stunning innovation, not only for its superb gameplay combination, but also for the thematic, symbolic, and audiovisual shift that such a strong cultural backdrop represents, something still not very common in the video game industry.

Hell Clock is the representative of an emerging industry, one that should be considered great not out of condescension but out of astonishing merit, whose level of detail and neatness demonstrates that indies have less and less to envy in AAA games.