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Castlevania

24 Melee games like Castlevania that you should try

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Ranking compiled by Lluis Enric Mayans, Founder & Head of ContentHow this is calculatedOrdered by an attribute-similarity model, not editorial opinion.

We filtered the 50 games similar to Castlevania down to the 24 that fit the “Melee” category. MediEvil, Hogwarts Legacy and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines top the list, ranked by affinity and similarity score to Castlevania.

iRank55/ 100

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GenreRPGSubgenreAction RPGSub-subgenreThird-Person ARPG
Tags
DarkSolo
Year 1999Dev Konami

Quick answer

Within the “Melee” category, the closest game to Castlevania is MediEvil — scoring 95/100 on our similarity scale. Hogwarts Legacy and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines follow close behind.

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The best melee games like Castlevania

24 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Castlevania. Each one has been evaluated across 13 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1MediEvil
MediEvil
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkHorrorThird Person
OC68· 83
Year 1998Dev SCE Cambridge Studio · Sony Computer EntertainmentOn PlayStation 3

✓ Fits the third-person Action RPGs cluster, with deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and puzzle design

≠ Stands apart with setting medieval, while skipping exploration and discovery

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone100Setting68Visuals62
Hogwarts Legacy
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkExplorationThird Person
Steam👍 90%· 366KRAWG👍 75%· 935IGDB85· 9OC84· 176
Year 2023Dev Avalanche Software · Warner Bros. InteractivePlaytime ~30hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Fits the third-person Action RPGs cluster, with deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Where it differs: brings strong narrative focus, open world exploration and fantasy world, while skipping precision platforming

The castle is the achievement: densely built, worth exploring on its own terms, and full of small detail. Spell-chaining combat is more involved than expected. Outside it, the open world follows a familiar checklist of camps and puzzles, and the main story resolves in a rush that leaves several threads sitting unfinished.

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 24 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone70Visuals64Progression56
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkHorrorExplorationFirst PersonThird Person
Steam👍 95%· 15KRAWG👍 87%· 905MC80IGDB72· 3
Year 2004Dev Troika Games · Activision BlizzardPlaytime ~2hOn PC

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Where it differs: brings horror tension, strong narrative focus and open world exploration, while skipping puzzle design

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a story-driven action-RPG based on table-top role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, the part of the World of Darkness franchise. The game is setting a gothic urban fantasy where vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beings live secretly by humans.

Released 5 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals100Combat88Setting73Tone69
God of War II
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeThird PersonFantasy
IGDB93· 4
Year 2007Dev SCE Santa Monica Studio · Capcom

✓ Fits the third-person Action RPGs cluster, with deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and precision platforming

≠ Its own twist: fantasy world, historical setting and setting mythology, while skipping puzzle design

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting and progression.

Released 8 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Visuals62Setting0Progression0
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeMagicDarkHorrorThird Person
Steam👍 85%· 1.3K
Year 2003Dev Crystal Dynamics · Eidos InteractiveOn PC

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: strong narrative focus, fantasy world and post-apocalyptic world, while skipping puzzle design

Released 4 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone71Visuals64Setting54
Risen 3: Titan Lords
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkExplorationThird Person
Steam👍 74%· 6.4KIGDB51· 7OC60· 41
Year 2014Dev Piranha Bytes · Deep SilverOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Both are third-person Action RPGs — sharing deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: strong narrative focus, open world exploration and fantasy world, while skipping puzzle design

An old-school European RPG: three factions with genuinely different magic schools, a world that does not scale to your level, and exploration that rewards wandering into places you are not ready for. Combat is its weakest link — stiff, poorly telegraphed, and frustrating in the early hours before your character is competent at anything.

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 15 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone72Progression68Visuals64
#7The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkExplorationThird Person
Steam👍 97%· 869KRAWG👍 93%· 7.2KMC92IGDB92· 26OC93· 179
Year 2015Dev CD PROJEKT REDPlaytime ~43hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Stands apart with strong narrative focus, open world exploration and fantasy world, while skipping puzzle design

The third game in a series, it holds nothing back from the player. Open world adventures of the renowned monster slayer Geralt of Rivia are now even on a larger scale.

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 16 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Progression100Tone64Visuals64
Ninja Gaiden
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeThird PersonRanged
IGDB93· 2
Year 2004Dev Team NINJA · Tecmo

✓ Both are third-person Action RPGs — sharing deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Where it differs: brings ranged combat, while skipping puzzle design

Released 5 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Combat77Visuals62
Rise of the Argonauts
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeMagicThird PersonFantasy
Steam👍 73%· 811RAWG👍 41%· 94MC59IGDB60· 2
Year 2008Dev Liquid Entertainment · CodemastersPlaytime ~1hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Both are third-person Action RPGs — sharing deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: fantasy world, historical setting and setting mythology, while skipping puzzle design

###The role model Released in 2008, the game, is similar to another well-known representative of the genre of action-role-playing games God of War series. Developers became studio Liquid Entertainment, and the publisher company Codemasters.

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 9 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Visuals64Setting0
X-Blades
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeMagicThird PersonFantasy
Steam👍 62%· 3.2KRAWG👍 26%· 166MC54IGDB47· 3
Year 2007Dev Gaijin Entertainment · 1C CompanyPlaytime ~4hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Where it differs: brings shooter, third-person shooting and fantasy world, while skipping puzzle design

X-Blades is a hack and slash game in the fantasy setting. It follows Ayumi, a young adventurer that uses two pistol-blades. One day she was cursed and now needs to find the way to break free from it. You take on the role of Ayumi and lead her through hordes of monster towards the secrets of her world.

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 8 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Visuals62Setting0
1/1 agree it's a good matchDetails →
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeDarkThird Person
IGDB90· 2OC88· 100
Year 2004Dev Intelligent Systems · Nintendo

✓ Fits the third-person Action RPGs cluster, with deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Its own twist: turn-based strategy, combat tactical and fantasy world, while skipping action RPG combat

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Released 5 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Tone100Combat79Visuals62Setting0
Breath of Fire IV
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMagicMeleeThird PersonFantasy
Steam👍 76%· 488IGDB80· 1
Year 2000Dev CapcomOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Fits the third-person Action RPGs cluster, with deep RPG systems, adventure storytelling and combat magic

≠ Stands apart with turn-based strategy, fantasy world and setting scifi, while skipping action RPG combat

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: setting.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Visuals62Setting0
Alice: Madness Returns
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeDarkHorrorThird PersonFirst Person
Steam👍 91%· 29KRAWG👍 82%· 575MC75IGDB72· 5
Year 2011Dev Electronic ArtsPlaytime ~3hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Stands apart with horror tension, strong narrative focus and fantasy world, while skipping combat magic

This sequel to American McGee's Alice follows the protagonist, Alice Lidell, as she returns to the dark world of her subconsciousness, the nightmarish version of Lewis Carrol’s Wonderland.

Released 12 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals100Tone68Setting67Combat66
#14The Sinking City
The Sinking City
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeDarkHorrorExplorationThird Person
Steam👍 76%· 5.3KIGDB70· 15OC69· 159
Year 2019Dev Frogwares · Bigben InteractiveOn Xbox · PS4 · PC

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Its own twist: shooter, third-person shooting and horror tension, while skipping precision platforming

Released 20 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Progression100Visuals65Combat63
Dead Rising
RPGAction RPGThird-Person ARPG
SoloMeleeDarkHorrorExplorationThird Person
Steam👍 88%· 7.1KIGDB82· 5
Year 2006Dev QLOC · CapcomOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Same family of third-person Action RPGs: deep RPG systems, action RPG combat and adventure storytelling

≠ Stands apart with survival mechanics, sandbox freedom and horror tension, while skipping puzzle design

Where it drifts furthest from Castlevania: progression.

Released 7 years after Castlevania.

Genre100Game mode100Setting100Tone73Visuals64Combat63

Complete list of melee games like Castlevania

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