10 Anime Games to Look Forward to in 2018

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Dragon Ball has seen a huge number of fighting games over the years, but Dragon Ball FighterZ takes a special place even among those. FighterZ boasts an absolutely incredible art style that almost makes it look like fights from the anime in motion. Even past that, the team at Arc System Works has meticulously crafted each character’s movesets to be direct representations of moves from the anime or manga.

With a roster that boasts fan-favorite characters like Gotenks, Kid Buu, Frieza, and Android 16, there’s plenty of variety.The roster even includes new characters from Dragon Ball Super like Beerus, Hit, and Goku Black. The focus of FighterZ is three vs. three battles that let you swap between characters and use them for assists, while unleashing all of your crazy over-the-top attacks.

With the pedigree of Arc System Works behind it Dragon Ball FighterZ looks like it’ll be accessible enough for newcomers to the genre, while also providing a fair amount of depth to veterans. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, this is absolutely one title you cannot miss.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Like the first game, Ni No Kuni II isn’t really based on a specific anime. It is, however, based on the entire style of Studio Ghibli animation. Boasting the same Ghibli-esque aesthetic, Revenant Kingdom takes players back to the kingdom of Ding Dong Dell. You play as Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum the King of Ding Dong Dell, who’s been ousted from his throne by malevolent forces. Evan has to gather allies and take back his kingdom, which sends you on a sprawling adventure filled with interesting looking characters.

Ni No Kuni II’s biggest change from its predecessor comes with its combat system, which is much faster and more action-oriented. There’s also a brand new kingdom building feature that has Evan commanding armies and constructing buildings.

It looks like Level-5 is bringing us another epic RPG that fits right into the vein of Studio Ghibli, just like the first. This is definitely one of the more promising anime games of the year to keep your eye on.

Attack on Titan 2

Koei Tecmo managed to deliver a surprisingly fun and intense experience with their first Attack on Titan game, and now it’s just a case of getting more of a good thing. Although the core gameplay remains mostly the same, Attack on Titan 2 features a number of improvements and additions.

The game will follow the second season of the anime, while also featuring a number of original stories supervised by Hajima Isayama, the creator of Attack on Titan. There’s more of an emphasis on what happens between battles this time, as you base camp will be significantly larger with more characters to talk to, and more to do. Attack on Titan 2 will also introduce co-op play and the ability to create your very own character to join the fight.

The first Attack on Titan from Koei Tecmo absolutely nailed letting you use the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear to blast around the battlefield and swing yourself around Titans. While it doesn’t look like Attack on Titan 2 is drastically different, that’s probably not a bad thing.

My Hero Academia: One’s Justice

The last year has seen My Hero Academia’s popularity explode, helping it become one of the hottest shows out there at the moment. The series takes place in a world where 80 percent of the population possess superpowers known as “Quirks.” This allows for a wide variety of skills and powers, which hopefully will bring a ton of variation into One’s Justice.

At this point we don’t know a ton about the game, although we do know that One’s Justice will be a battling game with characters from the anime squaring off in crazy over-the-top fights. Bandai Namco has also revealed that there’ll be battlefield destruction, although we don’t know to what degree.

It’s great to see a deserving series like My Hero Academia finally get a big game to its name, and hopefully One’s Justice will be able to stand up there with the best of anime games this year.

One Piece: World Seeker

One Piece has seen a wealth of titles from all different genres over the years, but World Seeker looks to be trying something a bit new at least. We don’t yet know the story of World Seeker, but it will let players take direct control of Monkey D. Luffy in an open world environment that they can run around and explore at their own pace.

The reveal trailer for the game showed Luffy using a variety of different Gum-Gum techniques to explore different areas and take down enemies. There are also going to be a variety of options for how you tackle enemies, including stealth options to bypass combat entirely.

World Seeker seems like an incredibly ambitious One Piece game, and although there have been plenty of great games for the series it’s refreshing to get something new. We’ll have to wait and see though if this pans out to be one of the better anime games of 2018.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Brittania

The Seven Deadly sins is a relatively new series, compared to most others on the list, but it’s an instant fit for a video game. The series features some crazy action, on par with anything you’d see in Dragon Ball Z, and Knights of Brittania hopes to let you play just that. Knights of Brittania is centered around the story of the anime, as players travel around the countryside of Brittania in the Boar Hat, taking on various battles and completing quests.

There are a number of characters to play as, each of whom boast their own unique fighting style and skills. The roster includes the likes of Meliodus, Ban, King, Arthur Pendragon, Gilthunder, Jericho, and more.

This is the first time the Seven Deadly Sins has received a console game, and hopefully Knights of Brittania will live up to the action and drama of its anime counterpart.

Hokuto Ga Gotoku (Fist of the North Star)

Hokuto Ga Gotoku has a few different reasons to get you excited. First, of course, it’s a Fist of the North Star game which we haven’t gotten since Koei Tecmo’s Ken’s Rage games on PS3 and Xbox 360. The real reason to get excited, however, is that it’s a Fist of the North Star game developed by the team behind the Yakuza series.

In many regards it looks like the development team is adapting the anime series into the Yakuza formula, which honestly would work quite well for Fist of the North Star. Hokuto Ga Gotoku is using the Yakuza voice actors instead of the original voice actors to try and match their style even better. The game boasts super violent battles, which you’d probably expect, but there’s sure to be a wealth of side content to partake in as well, as is standard for Yakuza.

Unfortunately, Hokuto Ga Gotoku has yet to receive confirmation for the west, but with the game launching on March 8 in Japan, hopefully we see some announcement soon. It’s a game that would easily appeal to anyone that’s a fan of both Yakuza and Fist of the North Star.

Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet

Fatal Bullet is a first for the series of Sword Art Online games. Instead of being a standard RPG with action combat, Fatal Bullet is a third-person shooter mixed with RPG elements. The game takes place after the events of Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, and will be set in Gun Grave Online, but it’s different from the canon version of the show. New events and scenarios will play out around The Death Gun incident, along with new characters that get introduced into the mix.

There are plenty of weapons to choose from, along with skills and abilities to create. Once again you’ll create your own protagonist, but Fatal Bullet has a feature called Kirito Mode, that lets you swap to Kirito and see events from his perspective. As the game progresses you’ll be able to swap between Kirito and your protagonist at will.

Sword Art Online is clearly still running strong, and Fatal Bullet gives fans a new chapter of the series to experience.

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time

Like with many games here, Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time is a dead ringer for its anime counterpart. It also just so happens to be the first Little Witch Academia game ever made. Chamber of Time follows the events of the show as Atsuko and her friends work to uncover Luna Nova Magical Academy’s secrets and discover the seven wonders. It’s a side-scrolling action RPG title mixed with beat ’em up elements, although everything is lavishly rendered in 3D.

There’s more than just combat, however, as you’ll also have to solve puzzles, cast spells, explore dungeons, and more. Chamber of Time looks decidedly different from most other anime games, but that’s exactly what makes this one look so interesting.

Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker

The Ultimate Ninja series of games may have come to a close, but there’s definitely more Naruto games on the way starting with Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. It’s a bit of a different title as Shinobi Striker is solely focused on multiplayer matches, pitting two teams of four players against each other.

The game is built from the ground up with a new graphical engine, and it brings a selection of fan favorite characters from the series into the fray. Having eight ninjas running around all at once can certainly get hectic, so teamwork is going to be essential with Shinobi Stiker, and it could be a good game to get a group of friends together for.

If you’ve been waiting to get your Naruto fix lately, Shinobi Striker certainly has you covered.