3 Best Multiplayer Anime Games 2023

**AnimeGamer** · (This post was last modified: 12-06-2022, 05:27 PM by AnimeGamer.)

Games have evolved in the modern age to be primarily online and with an always-online model to get more content to players and earn more profit. In this pursuit to make every aspect of a game online, many have forgotten the simplicity of 2010s multiplayer, considered the best of its kind, bar the toxic lobbies. As we move onwards with the new model, we hurt the single-player games market and multiplayer as a whole. Some have tried returning to the older ways and created some great games. A few are also anime games, of which the best are listed below.

Table of Contents

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
River City Girls

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Figure 1-1. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Platforms: (Nintendo Switch)

To the surprise of no one, Pokemon stagnated in recent years, which happens when you sit at the top for so long, but it seems that the outcry of fans after generation 8 has awakened the Pokemon Company to change. This can be seen in the new generation 9 games Scarlet and Violet. As soon as you start your journey, you can see the changes. Now with the added feature of the let’s go games, the wild areas from generation 8 have been developed into a whole map for the region. For the first time in a mainline Pokemon game, you can go anywhere and everywhere and challenge any gym leader in any order you want. Wild Pokemon have also been changed, with you now having different choices on capturing them in their natural habitat. This time, the story also focuses more on you as a trainer.

Figure 1-2. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Gameplay

Combat might not have changed in any extreme way, but the changes made have been what fans have wanted for a long time. Now when you challenge an enemy or pokemon, you battle on the spot and not in a separate pocket dimension like in the previous games. This adds immersion while allowing for some new moves to show the effect on the terrain. The new Pokemon introduced this time also have great designs and even greater abilities and moves which will undoubtedly make the meta of Pokemon battling interesting to develop.

Finally, Multiplayer has also been implemented into the series, as now you can roam around the wild with your friends in tow. Compared to the last mainline game, Pokemon has evolved leaps and bounds to become a fun old, and new fans can enjoy all the same.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Figure 2-1. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Platforms: (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Arcade game)

In this day and age, where one needs to fit every criteria and be a working member of society, we have begun to solve the sense of who we are as individuals. We hide behind fake masks to fit into society, but can one live a fulfilling life if he continues to run from who he is? The answer is more complicated than yes or no, as explored in the original Persona 4 game. But what happens when you are faced with the opposite of your ideals and the flaws in your thinking? That is the premise of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. In the canonical timeline, this game takes place after the events of the original. It has the group be taken back to the TV realm to face a new foe who seems to be another manifestation of the collective subconscious. Many of your flaws are revealed to the world as you battle him. Will you be able to fight back and win, or will you submit?

Figure 2-2. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Gameplay

Combat-wise, it is a 2D fighter where you can select from a wide range of characters, such as the main Persona 4 cast, and some members do Persona 3’s form. Fighting is simple as you can string regular and heavy combos easily; the bit will require some exact inputs to trigger one of the numerous persona skills. There is no hard counter to anyone method of playing, so you will have to be smarter than your opponent in multiplayer and couch co-op to win. It is a must-play for the fans of Persona 4 and a great game in general.

River City Girls

Figure 3-1. River City Girls

Platforms: (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Luna)

The 80s and early 90s were dominated by the RPG genre, fueled by the massive communities of DnD. But when arcades started to become more commonplace, another genre rose to prominence, the beat em up style of games. Not only were these games easy to make, but they were also quick and fun to play for a more general audience. This led to them becoming massively popular with teens in arcades, but their relevance dwindled with the advent of more home consoles. But in recent years, due to the indie revolution, they are back, and one of the prime examples is River City Girls.

Even the main narrative of the plot of the game is different from its 90s ancestors this time around. You play as Misako and Kyoko, two troublemakers, as they get the news in detention that their boyfriends have been kidnapped. To save the damsels in distress, they break out of school and beat the living shit out of anyone in their way for their boyfriends.

Figure 3-2. River City Girls Gameplay

Combat is 2D liner based as you progress each area only after beating every enemy, and the combo system helps you keep track of the number of style moves you have pulled off. Each character has unique abilities which can be used together to deal massive damage. The choice of couch co-op and online play offers you to play any of the characters with a friend to use some of the unique combos. It is a fun and enjoyable game that will make you remember all the lost coins in the arcades.