With nothing worth playing on the horizon, I've been revisiting old favourites. A lot of them have been character action and hack 'n slash - a nice change from the endless stream of Soulslikes.
I've made it through OG God of War, Godhand and am onto Ninja Gaiden. Anyone have any recommendations for follow-ups?
This turned into a great reference for anyone looking for action games - thanks to all who posted. Here are a couple more I've played that didn't get mentioned for anyone interested, as well as a brief summary of those listed in the OP:
Ninja Gaiden - Regarded as having some of the best, albeit hardest combat, ever. Fast, varied movesets and high player mobility against aggressive enemies in fairly large numbers - with enough care and balance to make it work. The Sigma release on PC is perfectly playable.
Ninja Gaiden 2 - Same as the first, but dialled up to 11 - for better and worse. Less polished/balanced but about as exhilarating as an action game can be. The Sigma release is terrible. Either play it on Xbox 360, or install the NGS2 Black Mod on PC to mostly undo the damage.
Godhand - Shinji Mikami blowing off steam after making RE4. Made without much of a budget and close to zero creative/financial expectations, it's a 3D beat 'em up with tank controls. Somehow turned out to be one of the best in the genre from a purely gameplay point of view.
God of War (original series) - Kratos, before therapy. Combat is much faster than the reboot, with plenty of exploration and puzzle solving along the way as you set out to curb stomp the Greek pantheon.
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Dante's Inferno - Very loosely inspired by the epic poem. It's an edgier God of War in which Dante deus vults his way through hell.
Killer is Dead - Heavily stylized, combo orientated slasher from Grasshopper
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - 3D reboot of Castlevania. Gameplay is in line with God of War, with some boss fights taking inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus. Some nice art direction.
Otogi: Myth of Demons - Early FromSoftware fever dream with combat somewhere between Onimusha and DMC
Enclave - Fun ARPG/Hack and Slash game from Starbreeze. Bit on the janky side, but not without charm.
Kingdoms of Amalur - Light-hearted, colourful semi-linear ARPG with solid hack n slash gameplay. Designed by Ken Rolston, lead designer on Morrowind and Oblivion.
Splatterhouse (2010) - Beat 'em Up / Hack n Slash reimagining of the arcade classic.
Blades of Time - Stripperiffic hack and slash with some nice environments, fluid combat, an interesting rewind mechanic and abysmal voice acting.
Lollipop Chainsaw - Stripperiffic hack and slash from Suda51 and James Gunn. Pom-poms are your primary attack. A chainsaw is your secondary. Funny, with surprisingly good combat. Getting remastered this year.
Bloodrayne 2 - Stripperiffic vampire hack and slash. Combat is surprisingly nuanced, especially on higher difficulties.
Soul Sacrifice - Not a hack n slash, but an interesting magic oriented action RPG that went largely unnoticed as a result of being a Vita exclusive. Emulatable on PC.