15 Best Isometric ARPGs to Play in 2025 — From Classics to New Hits

by Nitemare / Articles, Lists / 05 Aug 2025

There’s a part of our brain—that ancient, reptilian core—that cares for one thing: making the numbers go up. It’s the part that ignites when a monster explodes into a shower of gold and an outrageously named sword!! The Action RPG is not a genre; it’s a primal loop, a hypnotic rhythm of click, kill, loot, repeat… It is the bedrock of PC gaming at its best.

Ranking them?… That’s a bloodsport. It’s an open invitation to forum arguments that will rage for a thousand years!! But with decades of classics already canonized and a new generation of titans finally upon us, the time has come to redraw the map. To stake a claim.

And so, here it is. The final, fiercely debated, and completely correct list of the best isometric ARPGs ever to grace a screen.

15. Diablo

The original. The alpha. To play Diablo today is to perform an archaeological dig into the genre’s very soul—and it remains stunning. It is slow and methodical compared to its descendants. This isn’t a power fantasy, not really… It’s a horror game where you just happen to find loot. Every step down into the cathedral is laden with portent, the sound design is a masterclass in building tension, and the sudden, screen-shaking arrival of The Butcher—his chilling, blood-curdling bellow of “Ahh, fresh meat!!”—is a formative trauma for an entire generation. A timeless, grotesque classic.

14. Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem

Oh, Wolcen… The beautiful mess that could have been. After one of the rockiest launches in recent memory, Wolcen has settled into its role as the genre’s supermodel: all flash and all style. Built with CryEngine, it’s drop-dead gorgeous, a whirlwind of particle effects and screen-thumping finishers. The classless system is a genuinely slick idea, even if the complete package never quite coalesced into the giant-killer it promised to be. It’s a flawed gem, to be sure, but what a spectacular-looking one!!

13. Divine Divinity

Don’t let the title—or its initial Diablo-clone appearance—fool you. Divine Divinity is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It may look and play like an ARPG, but at its heart, it’s a sprawling, open-ended CRPG… The world is deeply interactive. You can pickpocket, steal, and complete quests in a dozen different ways. If you feel like it, you can drag a bed across the entire map!! The combat delivers that same satisfying click, but the sheer depth and freedom of the world around it make this a unique and unforgettable beast.

12. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut

In a genre often lacking personality, Van Helsing is a treasure!! It’s a cult classic dripping with a brilliant gothic-steampunk atmosphere—imagine Transylvania by way of Nikola Tesla. Your true MVP, however, is your ghostly sidekick, the long-suffering and snarky Lady Katarina. Her endless wisecracks, combined with her genuinely useful combat roles, make her one of gaming’s all-time best companions. This is proof that a character-driven ARPG can deliver!!

11. Torchlight II

While Diablo 3 stumbled through its launch, Torchlight II swaggered in like a cool indie band everyone immediately fell in love with. It was fast, colorful, and relentlessly fun!! The art style is a beautiful, painterly treat, the classes are a joy, and it gave us one of the greatest quality-of-life features ever: a pet that runs back to town to sell your junk!! It was, and still is, the comfort food of the ARPG genre.

10. Lost Ark

If you’ve ever thought, “I enjoy ARPGs, but I wish they were more like an anime directed by Michael Bay,” then Lost Ark is your game!! This Korean MMO-ARPG is an unfiltered, unapologetic spectacle. The combat is a rampage of devastation, with screen-shattering abilities that make you feel less like a hero and more like a human catastrophe. Admittedly, the MMO-style endgame grind isn’t for everyone… But the journey there—the raw, pulse-pounding thrill of its combat—earns it a solid, explosive spot on this list.

9. Titan Quest Anniversary Edition

Before its glorious modern revival, there was the original: a bright, sunny respite from the gothic crypts that dominated the genre. Swapping demons for gorgons and skeletons for satyrs, Titan Quest was a breath of fresh Mediterranean air. Its enduring legacy is the brilliant Mastery system, which lets you meld any two skill trees to create a custom hero. It was revolutionary then, and it’s still ingenious now!! A vibrant, beautiful loot-fest.

8. Hades

Okay, okay—it’s a roguelite. We know. But its heart beats with the blood of an ARPG. The action in Hades is simply sublime… incredibly fast, fluid, and responsive, with a dash mechanic that should be studied in game design schools for the next century. The progression loop—grabbing Boons from the bickering gods to create insane new builds on the fly—scratches that same loot-finding itch. But it’s the story, seamlessly woven into the die-and-retry loop, that elevates it into the pantheon of all-time great action games.

7. Grim Dawn

This is the ultimate indie darling!! The brainchild of Titan Quest veterans, Grim Dawn is what happens when a small, passionate team makes its dream ARPG. It’s a theorycrafter’s nirvana. The dual-class system is fantastic, but when you layer on the Devotion system—a massive celestial map of passive skills—the build combinations explode into near-infinity!! Dark, deep, and packed with secrets, it is definitive proof that you don’t need a billion-dollar budget to create an undisputed masterpiece.

6. Titan Quest 2 (Launched in Early Access — August 2025)

It finally arrived!! After nearly two decades of waiting, the gods answered our prayers. Arriving in Early Access on August 1st, 2025, Titan Quest 2 is the real deal. With Grimlore Games at the helm, the mythic epic has been reimagined. The Unreal Engine 5 graphics are stunning, combat is heavier and more visceral, and the classic Mastery system returns… rebuilt for a new generation. Initial impressions are blindingly positive—an epic, promising return to Olympus that will only improve with player feedback.

5. Last Epoch

For too long, the ARPG landscape was a choice between Diablo‘s polish and Path of Exile’s complexity… Then, Last Epoch arrived and built a perfect bridge between them. Its stroke of genius is the skill specialization system, where every single ability gets its own intricate progression tree. This adds incredible depth in a way that feels exciting, not overwhelming!! Add a world-class crafting system and a rock-solid endgame, and you have the new people’s champion of the genre.

4. Diablo IV

The king has reclaimed his blood-soaked throne!! With Diablo IV, Blizzard returned the series to its gothic, grimdark roots, and the result is a world that is both achingly desolate and breathtakingly beautiful. The action sets a new gold standard for game feel; every slam, spell, and explosion is a kinetic masterpiece. While its live-service endgame is still finding its footing… the core campaign is a dark, cinematic, and impossibly refined AAA experience. The simple act of killing demons in Sanctuary has set a new benchmark for the genre.

3. Diablo II: Resurrected

The blueprint. The Mona Lisa… The game they’ll be imitating for the next 50 years. To many, Diablo II is simply flawless!! The Resurrected remaster is a miracle, lovingly preserving the timeless game loop and chilling atmosphere while wrapping it all in a gorgeous modern engine you can toggle at will. It is simultaneously a flawless museum artifact and an infinitely, compulsively playable masterpiece.

2. Path of Exile

For over a decade, Grinding Gear Games hasn’t been developing a game; it has been constructing an online world. Path of Exile is less a game and more a hobby—a magnificent, all-consuming obsession. Its infamous passive skill tree isn’t just a progression system; it’s a statement, offering a degree of build flexibility so vast it’s staggering!! With a game-changing new league every few months and the fairest free-to-play model on the planet, PoE is a living, breathing giant that has rightfully earned its title as the king of complexity.

1. Path of Exile 2 (The New Reign)

We saw the demos. We held our breath… And somehow, GGG delivered something that surpassed the impossible hype. Path of Exile 2 isn’t a sequel; it’s a revolution built from the ground up. It marries the legendary complexity of the original with a new engine, a grittier story, and a combat system that is deliberate, visceral, and unholy fun!! The overhauled gem system and 19 new Ascendancy classes open up an entire new universe of theorycrafting. It retains the soul of the original while catapulting the gameplay into a new era. This is it. This is the new gold standard. All hail the new king!

Nitemare

I am a gamer by day and by night. I started out writing game reviews for small online forums as a hobby way back in 2005. Since then, I have grown my knowledge for writing and gaming to continue my journey into something more.

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