Typically, classical adventure games have situational problems for the player to explore and solve to complete a storyline, involving little to no action.
Classical action games, on the other hand, have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenges the player's reflexes and eye-hand coordination.
[5] Popular examples of action-adventure games include The Legend of Zelda, God of War,[4] and Tomb Raider series.
[17][18][19] Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania; such games are sometimes referred to as "search action",[20] and are generally based on two-dimensional platformers.
[26] While motion-based, often reflexive, actions are required,[5] the gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items, exploration of and interaction with one's environment, often including an overworld connecting areas of importance, and puzzle-solving).
While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye, side-scrolling, first-person, third-person, over-the-shoulder, or even a 3/4 isometric view.
[citation needed] Due to the action-adventure subgenre's broad and inclusive nature, it causes some players to have difficulty finishing a particular game.
[29] Brett Weiss cites Atari's Superman (1979) as an action-adventure game,[30] with Retro Gamer crediting it as the "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area".
[42][43] While noting some similarities to Adventure, IGN argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) by Nintendo "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles, an action component, a monetary system, and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points.
[36] Games like Brain Breaker (1985), Xanadu (1985), Metroid (1986) and Vampire Killer (1986) combined a side-scrolling platformer format with adventure exploration, creating the Metroidvania platform-adventure subgenre.
Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001).