For as long as modernanimehas existed, the idea of transforming it into video games has existed too. Some anime receive incredibly successful adaptations which take the story concepts and transform them beautifully into engaging game design, likeAttack on Titan 2orShin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation, but others don’t fare as well.
In some cases, this makes sense. A Silent Voice, for example, probably wouldn’t be very good in video game form. That said, for every example of an anime that shouldn’t be game-ified, there are at least two or three that undoubtedly deserve a chance to be playable, and here are the anime that need that video game treatment the most.
10Death Parade
Not To Be Confused With Elevator Action
Studio Madhouse struck cosmic existential gold with their anime original seriesDeath Paradeback in 2015, but as exciting as the series is to watch, it could be even better as a video game. The game would probably play similarly to Supermassive’sDark Pictures Anthologyseries, only from the perspective of the curator, or in this case, the arbiter.
Players could prepare drinks and care for their own version of the Quindecim bar, and would also have full control over each of the Death Games, judging the humans at each game’s conclusion and assigning them an elevator. If executed well, Death Parade would make for a remarkably unique and fresh video game with some dark, existential undertones.
9Ben To
High Stakes Grocery Store Violence
Why we don’t already have aStreet FighterorSkullgirlsstyle 2D competitive fighting game set in a grocery store where players battle for half-priced food is anyone’s guess really, especially given the impressive fight choreography on display in the anime.
Players could pick a faction and rise through the ranks to become a wolf, collecting half-price stickers and laurel wreath seals off the bento boxes they win in battle and using them to decorate the walls of their own half-priced food clubrooms when they aren’t busy fighting. On top of that, unique weapons like chopsticks and shopping carts would also really make the gamestand out as a 2D fighter.
8Squid Girl
A Chaotic Restaurant Simulator With Soothing Summer Vibes
While Squid Girl does technically already have what could loosely be defined as a video game in the form of a Japan exclusive typing practice application, it’s probably safe to assume that’s not what most players have in mind when they think about playing Squid Girl instead of watching it.
A Squid Girl video game could be an excellentOvercooked-style restaurant simulator, with additional stages outside business hours tasking players with maintaining The Lemon House and cleaning the beach, as well as befriending beach goersall summer long, all while playing as the titular Squid Girl herself.
7To Your Eternity
Evolve And Experience The World Around You
To Your Eternity might not immediately come to mind as the type of anime which would really benefit from having a video game adaptation, but the more you think about it, the more a game about changing forms and evolving as you gain a better understanding of the world around you starts to sound really, really cool.
There are games like EVO The Search for Eden which have attempted similar gameplay in the past, but To Your Eternity’s unique rules regarding evolution, especially the ability to hold onto previous forms for later use, could really make a video game adaptation worthwhile even to those who have never seen the original anime.
6Okko’s Inn
Boku no Natsuyasumi, But In A Ryoukan Instead
Okko’s Inn is a story about a girl named Okko, who moves into ahauntedtraditional Japanese inn (called a ryoukan) in the countryside and learns how to be a proper innkeeper under the guidance of her strict grandmother.
Watching the anime, it gives off strong Boku no Natsuyasumi vibes, and the idea of a Boku no Natsuyasumi style game in which you also get to learn to take care of a ryoukanandtalk to ghosts is nothing short of amazing. Especially after the success of games likeShin-chan: Me And The Professor On Summer Vacation, Okko’s Inn seems a great fit for the world of video games.
5Ranking Of Kings
An Action RPG With A Ton Of Heart
Seriously though, why has this not happened yet? Forget making waves, Ranking of Kings made full on tsunamis in the anime community when it first aired back in 2021, and even now the fantasy action series screams potential when it comes to a hypothetical video game adaptation.
The easiest way to adapt the series would be aturn based RPG, but Ranking of Kings would probably work best as anaction RPGinstead, allowing players to use their own wit and their small stature as Prince Boji to run circles around their enemies while they wait for an opening to strike, like a more bright and cheery version ofThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
4Gleipnir
A Hyper Intense Open World Hack And Slash
Likely functioning similarly toInsomniac’s Spider-Man gamesin terms of world and game design, a Gleipnir video game would see Claire and Shuichi team up in the series' iconic monster suit, traveling around their local prefecture, looking for coins, answers, and brawls.
You’d be able to travel pretty much anywhere you wanted in this urbanopen worldwhile you seek out and take down other monsters in glorious full 3D combat. What makes Gleipnir a better candidate than most for a video game adaptation largely comes down to how unique controlling Shuichi’s monster form could feel in combat, and the relatively dark and engaging story of the original.
3Princess Mononoke
Ghibli’s Own Breath of the Wild
Although some fans might argue Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind would make for a more unique setting, the large majority ofGhiblifans have been clamoring for a Princess Mononoke game ever since the release ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildback in 2017, and it’s pretty easy to see why.
Realistically, you could pretty much just repackage BoTW’s gameplay and general atmosphere with a Princess Mononoke-themed coat of paint and end up with a handful of game of the year awards, but it would be much more exciting to see a video game adaptation really take advantage of its source material and give us some incredible boss battles and highly atmospheric explorable areas.
2Heavenly Delusion
The Last of Us Meets Nier Automata
It’s not hard to picture one of 2023’s biggest anime hits, Heavenly Delusion (or Tengoku Daimakyou), as a big budget, triple A video game which mixes the gameplay styles ofThe Last of UswithNier Automata, and its doubtful there exists a gamer out there who would see a game like that and turn it down, anime fan or otherwise.
Truthfully, it would probably be hard to pull off a Heavenly Delusion video game in the lore department, and the developers would have to be especially careful not to over indulge in cutscenes relating to a certain school-like facility, but if done correctly, Heavenly Delusion could make for a very successful video game.
1Delicious In Dungeon
Eat Your Way To Victory
Sure, there may exist out there in the indie game world games similar in concept to Delicious in Dungeon (or Dungeon Meshi), but none really match the style and charm of the anime itself, and without the presence of its delightful cast of characters, it’s not likely any game about cooking monsters is going to compare to actually having and playing a Dungeon Meshi video game.
Players could take control of any of their favorite party members from the anime, and would be tasked with both defeating the monsters of the dungeon, and coming up with delicious ways to cook them. In the right hands (the team behindSakuna: of Rice and Ruinperhaps) Dungeon Meshi could make for a truly charming fantasy game that anime fans would eat right up.
