Action RPGs can be incredibly addictive. Back at the height of my PC playing days when I would invest days and weeks during summer vacation (and even when high school was in session) logging into Command & Conquer: Red Alert and WarCraft II, I alternated that with many an hours booting up the granddaddy of action RPGs, Diablo II.

Diablo II established a style of role-playing games that has withstood the test of time and has proven to remain as influential as games like the Metroid series and Koji Igarashi's Castlevania entries are for paving the way for Dead Cells and Axiom Verge to be successful. Producer James recently talked about the action RPG, 2019's Last Epoch, a game developed with the same love and dedication to the craft as Blizzard's legendary dungeon crawler. To add another honorable mention to that would be the Champions of Norrath games, which is based in the Everquest universe. Preferably, I'm talking about its sequel, Return To Arms, which came out a year later in 2005 for the PS2, which doesn't quite capture lightning in a bottle twice, but aims at making some improvements to what's familiar.

A direct follow-up to Champions of Norrath, Return To Arms picks up with the defeat of Innoruuk. Creating your warrior, you can either join the forces of good and eradicate what's left of the Prince of Hate, or totally turn heel on Fiorina work to resurrect Innoruuk and wreak havoc.

Return To Arms' main goal was to iron out a lot of its issues with online play. There's also some additional races and classes added, along with an expansion of items, monsters, weapons, spells, and abilities. I've never had a problem with the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality, and Champions: Return To Arms retains the same dungeon-crawling entertainment of its predecessor. It's probably best enjoyed as a multiplayer, it's robust to have fun with as a solo adventure. For that matter, ealy on, it's very possible to get overwhelmed until you hit level 3 or so. Kobolds will swarm immediately and pick you apart if you rush in too hastily. As mentioned previously, right out the gate you have the option to choose your alliance. You encounter Natasla in the desolate Plane of War who persuades you immediately. Not a vast different in the route you choose to play. The places you travel are similar, though objectives are naturally different.

Because Return To Arms doesn't change too much, the familiarity is there from Champions Of Norrath, for better and/or worse. Choose between Barbarian Warriors, who have high health, attack, can use any weapon, save for some class exclusive ones, and exceed greatly at melee combat. Wood Elf Rangers are great with bows and can imbue arrows with magic.

They are best at ranged combat and lose their advantages in close range. High Elf Clerics can deal out adequate blunt damage and their Holy magic can do a number on the undead, but cannot use sharp weapons. Erudite Wizards have very limited melee weapon options, which is made up for with high proficiency in elemental magic. Dark Elf Shadow Knights are a good balance with magic and melee attacks. Their magic deals a lot of damage, but heavily consumes mana. Val Shir Berserkers are an offense-heavy race and class, making them very linear. Iksar Shamans, a lizard-like race, has great melee offense and varied magic, including some buffs. New to this game, they're quite a formidable class. Like other action RPGs, you can level up and apply points to whichever feats you choose. The skill trees vary from race and class, some high level skills require lower abilities. For prep, the main thing Return To Arms focuses on are weapons, armor and accessories. You'll acquire a lot of loot, and while it does pile up, the extra goods come in handy when it comes time to sell them for Gate Scrolls, which can wapr you back to safe zones. It comes in great handy when the enemies become very daunting.

The enemies don't really attack in unique patterns, and that includes the bosses. Every monster just tries to rush you down and charges you with reckless abandon, seldom trying to block or evade. It does make a lot of the heavier enemies feel like HP sponges. For a combat centric game, there may not be a great deal of variety in this category and might feel a little straightforward when it comes to strategy. On the positive side, the aggressiveness does place a great emphasis on farming to increase those stats, it's not easy to steamroll this game. If you're trying a speed build, you might get weighed down early by carrying a lot of items, it adds up fast if I'm not paying attention.

If you enjoy some Diablo II style action RPG, the Champions series are very good. Norrath is a little better, because I feel little changes in Return to Arms, but this is still a quality game that can be an enjoyable grind for the PS2. It uses a tweaked version of the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance engine, so if you were a fan, it bears a resemblance and you may feel right at home.