Grimvalor

Grimvalor is an action RPG from the small studio Direlight, which showed that even one smaller team can build a combat system on mobile comparable to bigger genre benchmarks. The player controls a knight moving through a dark fantasy world, progressing through visually rich levels, fighting monsters with sword and magic, and gradually unlocking new abilities and attack combinations. Combat is fast, built around dodging, parrying, and attack timing, evoking a Metroidvania-style approach carried over to a touchscreen, complete with an elaborate skill tree that lets the player gradually tailor their fighting style to their own taste.

The controls are designed directly for fingers - a virtual joystick for movement and buttons for attack, jump, and dodge, while the game also supports a connected gamepad for players who want more precise response. Grimvalor stood out with its dark, gothic atmosphere, grim visuals, and music reinforcing the feeling of a lonely journey through a hostile world, which has made it, since its release, one of the titles proving that mobile action RPGs need not be mere derivatives of the big console templates. The hand-drawn environments and enemies have distinct silhouettes, so even in fast combat it stays clear where the threat is coming from.

It's a paid game with a one-time purchase, no ads and no gacha mechanics, which isn't a given in the mobile action RPG market. For that price it offers a complete story campaign with nothing else to buy.

Why play: For players who want a proper action RPG on mobile with solid combat and no hidden payments, ideally with a gamepad at hand.