[Jotaku]

Prior to determining anime games you want to play when bored, what kind of anime game would you like to play?
Mainstream anime games usually have the following types:

1) Story-rich game - visual novel or JRPG
2) 1vs1 fighting game - Recommended if you like dueling
3) Massively Online Multiplayer Anime Games
4) Kawaii anime games, or anime dress up games

We will introduce the most popular anime games that fit each category as of August 2021.

1) Story-rich games - visual novels or JRPGs (mainly RPGs with little action elements)

If we go back to the history of anime games in the 1990s, JRPGs or visual novels always dominated the mainstream of anime games history. Because these genres have the environment to convey the best stories to gamers in a well arranged form. In the past anime games, there were famous JRPGs such as Breath Of Fire, Langrisser, and Shining Force, etc. There were mainly adult games on PC in terms of visual novels, but due to the influence of consoles that do not allow adult versions (e.g. Isaku, Toheart, Nonomura Byōin, etc), there are also many visual novels that focus only on the story on consoles (e.g. Sentimental Graffiti on PC and SEGA Saturn). In recent years, on AnimeEsports.com as of August 2021, Steins;Gate Elite and Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc have been the most popular according to AEG Anime Game Database.

2) 1vs1 fighting game - Recommended if you like Dueling

In fact, this field is also a genre of games with a very long history in Japan, along with JRPGs and visual novels. It is a game style that mainly consists of combos using human instincts or reaction speed, so I don't think a long explanation is necessary. As of August 2021, Dragon Ball FighterZ and BlazBlue: Central Fiction are the most popular fighting games according to AEG Anime Game Database.

3) Massively Online Multiplayer Anime Games

Unlike fighting games or co-op games that can be played with a small group of 1 or 2 people, it is a type of game that can be played with a large group of at least 4 people. It is a genre that began to emerge as high-speed Internet spread to many countries in the 2000s. In my memory, the first massively online game that uses the Internet and allows more than 4 players at the same time was probably Phantasy Star Online 1 (PSO1) in  2000 as a game of Dreamcast platform.

For reference, I remember that the co-op and PvP of PSO1 was up to 4 people. It is also the field of anime games that our Anime Esports community has been focusing on. Currently, the most popular Massively Online Multiplayer Anime Games as of August 2021 are Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (Fatal Bullet is more popular than Alicization Lycoris) and Genshin Impact are the most popular. Other than that, I personally recommend Kurtzpel and Phantasy Star Online 2 on PC. If you're looking for a battle royale-type anime game like Fortnite that you can play with 50+ players, it doesn't exist yet as of August 2021. The reason is that most of the companies that make anime games are niche video game companies, and their capital is not good enough to make such a huge game. By the way, if you mainly play these genres of games, we recommend that you join our community and play together. In particular, population is the most important for games of this genre, and the platforms that currently have the most online users in anime games are PS4 -> PC -> Switch & Xbox in that order. If you're buying a Switch or Xbox, it's going to be very difficult to find someone you want to play with (I personally had a Switch, but it was very difficult to find someone to play with, so I sold it back).

4) Kawaii anime games, or anime dress up games

In a way, it can be said that it is a game that expresses the true meaning of anime. Kawaii Anime Games has already been described and introduced in detail on another page, so please refer to it.

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These are the most playable genres in the current anime game. Hope it helps you.