The Nintendo GameCube is a system that many people love, but very few actually bought it back in the day. The system came in a distant 3rd place in the 6th generation console wars, but, nonetheless, would go on to garner a hardcore following. One of the things that held the system back was its use of proprietary mini DVDs which could hold only 1.46 GB of data. By comparison, the Playstation 2 and Xbox could both use regular DVDs which could hold between 4.7 and 8.5.
One way this was reflected was in the GameCube's relative lack of role-playing games, which often required a great deal of memory. That being said, the GameCube wasn't completely lacking in the genre, and, in particular, sported a number of great action RPGs. Over time, many of these have been forgotten by the gaming community at large. However, these overlooked action RPGs on the GameCube deserve a second chance. Not all of them are necessarily good, but they are all interesting and well worth checking out.
10 Summoner: A Goddess Reborn
A port of Summoner 2 for PC and PS2, A Goddess Reborn is a fairly solid Action RPG that might not do anything terribly unique with the genre, but nonetheless does what it does well enough to be worth checking out.
Set 20 years after the events of the first Summoner game, players take control of the eponymous goddess reborn along with a group of other party members as they embark upon a quest to restore the sacred tree of Eleh. What results is a fun odyssey throughout a variety of fantasy locations.
9 Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II
A port of the innovative Sega Dreamcast titles, Phantasy Star Online was a pioneer in the realm of online gaming on consoles. The GameCube version bundled together both episodes and added the ability to play offline with up to 4 players in split-screen mode. This makes the GameCube edition by far the best version.
While somewhat grind-heavy, PSO is still a fun and addicting action RPG, especially when played with friends. Exploring the beautiful world of Ragol is an absolute joy, as is taking on the various monsters that inhabit it with friends.
8 Hunter: the Reckoning
Based on the series of table-top role-playing games set in the World of Darkness by White Wolf, Hunter: the Reckoning casts players in the role of monster hunters living in the modern world. This game is admittedly more action than RPG, with only light stat management and a heavy emphasis on hack and slash gameplay.
While not the deepest game ever made, the gameplay is nonetheless very satisfying as players mow down supernatural hoards. The story is also quite engaging despite how over the top it can be. Overall, this is a really fun game that should be played by anyone who enjoys good hack and slash games.
7 X-Men Legends
While it might not have as much renown as its sequel, the original X-Men Legends still holds its own and remains an excellent action RPG to this day. Set in the X-Men comic book universe, this game has players hacking and slashing their way through various levels fighting against the brotherhood of mutants and the GRSO.
The gameplay is very similar to that of Diablo, except that instead of swords and magic spells, its adamantium claws and optic blasts. All in all, this was a great game that helped to set a new standard for superhero action games.
6 X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse
A cult classic of the 6th console generation, X-Men Legends 2 managed to build on the foundations laid by its predecessor to create one of the best superhero games of all time. On top of that, X-Men, Rise of Apocalypse also allows players to take control of members of the brotherhood of mutants.
Mixing and matching the varied abilities of the different mutants is half the fun of this game, and the other half is the excellent hack and slash dungeon crawling gameplay. The art style can admittedly be a bit off-putting considering that characters look like off-brand versions of the actors from the X-Men movies with beefier builds. However, potential players shouldn't let that discourage them from playing this excellent action RPG.
5 Virtua Quest
Virtua Quest is something of a strange spinoff of Sega's venerable Virtua Fighter series. Players take on the role of a gamer named Sei, who must fight his way through a virtual world. To do this, he must occasionally fight the cast of the Virtua Fighter series, and, after they are defeated, he can then learn one of their signature moves.
Part of what ruins this game is its controls, which take the elaborate move sets of Virtua Fighter and condense them onto only two attack buttons. As a result, the entire game turns into something of a boring button masher with janky gameplay. Mediocre at best, Virtua Quest was panned by critics at the time. Still, this game is somewhat interesting in that there is clearly a strong vision at play, just one that fails at what it attempts to do.
4 Darkened Skye
Darkened Skye is without a doubt one of the strangest licensed games of all time. Though it might not be immediately apparent this is actually a promotional Skittles game. The player collects Skittles to cast spells and the plot involves completing the rainbow. Apparently, the game's designers had an absolute blast making this game, and it definitely shows.
The game features plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and it frequently breaks the fourth wall. The gameplay itself is unfortunately rather mediocre though, with frustrating puzzles and annoying enemy encounters. Still, this game is worth checking out for its humor and the clear sense of passion that pervades what otherwise could have been nothing more than a soulless cash grab.
3 Lost Kingdoms
Lost Kingdoms is an early game by FromSoftware before the studio hit it big with the Souls series. This game is highly unconventional for an action RPG. This is because players don't actually attack enemies directly.
Instead, the player maneuvers around in real-time while playing cards that summon demons that then attack. While not amazing, this card-based combat is actually fairly nuanced and has some hidden depth. Overall, it's a fairly decent game, albeit rather short.
2 Lost Kingdoms 2
An iterative sequel, Lost Kingdoms 2 plays largely the same as the original with small changes and refinements to the gameplay and presentation. For one thing, there are no longer random encounters, and enemies are no longer fought on a separate screen.
The gameplay is overall more polished and the card combat is deeper. The game also now has some hilariously awful voice acting during cutscenes. The game is still quite short but is nonetheless solid. A definite step up from the original.
1 Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Not many people were able to fully experience this game back in the day due to its requirement of using the Game Boy Advance to GameCube link cable. Those who did experience a rather bizarre take on a Final Fantasy game. Set in a world plagued by a deadly Miasma, players take part in a crystal caravan.
This is a yearly journey to restore energy to the crystals keeping the Miasma at bay. The second screen on the Game Boy Advance is used for each player to keep track of their character's information. Overall, it's a very fun game with friends for those able to get everything set up. It is just a shame that so few ever got to experience it in its intended form back in the day.