It is fairly accepted these days that games inspire movies, TV shows, and anime and a lot of these aren’t great. It also is fairly well accepted that popular shows and franchises might get a game spin-off but usually these are pretty much pandering to fans of the source and while some of these games are actually quite fun they aren’t exactly wowing hard core gamers. That said, there are some anime I watch and I just think how much fun it would be to play a game version of them. Now, some of them probably already have a game out but this is my list of anime that I thought have concepts that would make for an excellent gaming experience while watching.
I’d love to know which anime you think you’d enjoy as a game so be sure to leave me a comment below.
Number 5: Soul Eater
It shouldn’t be any surprise that I’ve put Soul Eater on this list. I mean, when you think about it, the story is made for being an RPG. Enrol at DWMA and design your meister/weapon combo. Complete missions to rise up the ranks and get good grades and help defend the school from threats. It would be an awesome RPG. Add in some factions and secret organisations within the school and you’ve got the makings of a really awesome game.
Now there are already Soul Eater games out there by the looks, but they seem mostly like battle focused games rather than an RPG experience. Maybe I’m wrong and one exists, but if it does, I’d love to know because I would definitely play it.
Number 4: Bungo Stray Dogs
As much as I find the narrative in the anime quite messy and unfocused, that would actually kind of work in an RPG. I don’t know about you, but when I play Skyrim I pretty much avoid anything that is a main mission quest while I meander about completing as many side quests and plots as I can. Mostly because at some point in an RPG, if you follow the main storyline you usually get to a point where you can’t go back to some of the other missions. So I like to get as many of those done before advancing the plot as I can. In Bungo Stray Dogs case, this means you can get distracted by as many petty investigations or conflicts with other organisations as you like and if you forget what the main mission was, that’s okay, I’m pretty sure no-one who only watches the anime knows what the end goal is anyway.
Now this one does have a game as well, but I haven’t really looked into it. Still, there’s certainly a lot about this anime that would work well in a game.
Number 3: Madoka Magica
Create a character and choose to take Kyuubey’s deal. Learn what kind of a magical girl you became based on the wish you chose and the character you designed and then fight off witches, deal with other magical girls, and decide what to do about Kyuubey. This could be an awesome gaming experience. Not to mention the visuals. Madoka Magica aesthetics in a game world would be utterly amazing.
Now there are plenty of Madoka games out there but most of them seem intent on supporting the narrative in the anime rather than being their own kind of gaming experience. Let’s just take the concept and create an original RPG experience around it and then we would have a truly amazing game to play.
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Number 2: Made in Abyss
A little less fighting and a lot more exploration and survival, Made in Abyss would be a truly amazing and horrific gaming experience. How far into the Abyss do you dare explore. How long before you die? I could see this one being comparable to Dark Souls in terms of being unforgiving to those who travel in unwary and die and yet it would be such a glorious experience. Not to mention, despite having a similar difficulty to Dark Souls, visually this one would be bright and cute in direct contrast to the horror of the situation. Fantastic.
Create your own orphan character being trained to explore the abyss and then after the briefest of tutorials, let’s just throw them down the hole and see how far they can get. I would absolutely love to play this though I suspect rage quitting would definitely become a thing.
Number 1: Darker Than Black
It is probably an obvious choice for me, and there is a game of it already, but I’d love to see this in a blockbuster game release. Massive world to explore, Contractors and factions to join, work with, bring down, mysteries to uncover, it could just be such an immersive gaming experience. I could certainly see us travelling about Carmen Sandiego style, stealthily infiltrating buildings and ferreting out intelligence, and when things go sideways unleashing amazing attack and fighting for survival.
It would be such a great game and because of the range of Contractor abilities it would have almost limitless replay value as you try with different characters and abilities to complete missions. I know I’d have a lot of fun with it and I’m pretty sure it could have wide appeal.
So those are my picks for anime I’d love to see made into games, or made into a specific game that I’d like to play. What are some of your choices for anime that would make great RPGs?
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
Digimon, Fullmetal Alchemist, Zoids…
So many potentially amazing games.
Doesn’t Digimon already have games? I mean, I remember playing it for PS one back in the day 😛 And I’ve seen some Digimon games for sale for PS4… Though they probably don’t follow the Digimon actual story. Maybe that’s what you were going for? 🙂
I was thinking that the Digimon games are probably centered more around the fighting than the story, right? So, alter that a bit and, voila, RPG.
I’ve played the Bungou Stray Dogs game for a few months now and…I’m not sure if you’d call it an RPG in the way you’re thinking (since you shoot a marble at elemental orbs to make characters fight), but I went to the Google Play Store to see what it said and it was labelled “Role-Playing”, so I guess we should believe it.
The Madoka Magica game is getting its own anime this year, IIRC…I’ve never played it though.
They really do stretch the definition of role-playing sometimes. It would be nice if they only attached that to games where it was actually an applicable descriptor.
I really like your idea of Darker than Black! That’d be really interesting.
Not sure my psyche is ready for a Made in Abyss RPG, though!
Made in Abyss as an RPG would be vaguely horrific but I think it could be awesome. But yeah, Darker Than Black is a universe that I think could really make for an amazing backdrop for a game and there’s just so many possibilities for it.
The Soul Eater idea sounds suspiciously like a Persona game. I’ll take 5
I’ve actually never played a Persona game but I’ve been curious about them for awhile.
They’re a really good time, stay with 3-5 though, the first two are really long.
I really like your Madoka idea. The franchise already has spinoff manga involving other magical girls besides Madoka’s crew, so it’s not even a big stretch.
As for something else that would make a good RPG, how about Angel Beats? I’m picturing something where you create a character who’s new to the Afterlife Academy, and gameplay would involve exploration and completing missions, learning the secrets of the school, battling against shadows, hostile students, and other dangers, and making progress towards resolving your lingering regret and ultimately “graduating.” Depending on the stats and traits you choose your character’s actual regret and his/her best path to resolution could even differ from game to game. So maybe in one playthrough you end up in Yuri’s role leading a rebellious faction of students, while in another playthrough you become a model student trying to play peacemaker, or even a lone wolf charting your own path to redemption.
That sounds like an awesome game. Plus, no chance of actually dying given you’ll just respawn in the infirmary so you could try pretty much anything just to see what happens. It could be really fun.
Yes, yes, yes! These would all make fantastic RPGs! I wish they really existed as games…
It could definitely be fun.