Xbox Game Pass has almost every type of game someone could want. Yearning for a good scare? Alien: Isolation and Amnesia should get the job done. Feel like exploring an open-world? There are more than a dozen options. Want a first-person shooter? Subscribers should be spoiled for choice. However, the one exception might be anime since Xbox is not exactly known for these types of Japanese productions.
While not overabundant, Games Pass does have a few titles that are either associated with an anime franchise or utilize a similar art style. They even cover a respectable range of genres, so this limited selection has surprising variety. More importantly, the best anime games on Xbox Game Pass are also fantastic.
Persona Franchise
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Genre | Turn-Based JRPG |
Developer | P-Studio |
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Persona is the ultimate "anime" series, and three of the franchise's best JRPGs are on Xbox Game Pass. Each title is split into turn-based combat and social sim sequences, and the latter sets Atlus' subseries apart from other genre representatives. These sections allow players to truly become the stories' protagonists as they engage in hobbies, attend school, and go on dates.
Each entry tells a unique storyline that is split into multiple arcs, similar to cours in anime, and dedicates a great deal of time to exploring the main characters' personalities and backstories. Persona 5 Royal is, unsurprisingly, the most graphically impressive entry in the franchise, and it is a good starting point for newcomers. That said, Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden both have incredible plots that are just as brilliant as their successor's narrative.
Danganronpa Franchise
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Genre | Visual Novel, Adventure |
Developer | Spike Chunsoft |
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Similar to Persona, Danganronpa is a video game franchise that has been adapted into anime. The series revolves around "kill or die" scenarios as students are trapped in a setting and must eliminate one of their peers without being caught to escape. Most of the gameplay consists of visual novel sections, although players can also explore in between trial sections.
Danganronpa boasts fantastic writing with a dark comedic edge, and its characters are generally fascinating. The trials get genuinely intense, and some of their outcomes can be horrifying.
Unfortunately, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition was removed from Xbox Game Pass in January 2023.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Platforms | Xbox One |
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Approximate Game Length | 12 Hours |
Genre | Fighting |
Developer | Arc System Works |
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Games adapted from anime are in short supply on Xbox Game Pass, but there is one exception: Dragon Ball FighterZ. Goku and friends have starred in roughly a billion games over the years, and while quite a few of them are fun, FighterZ was the first title to make the franchise a proper competitive option. Developed by Arc System Works, the 2.5D fighter perfectly captures the source material's aesthetic and penchant for over-the-top action.
Dragon Ball FighterZ's best feature is its accessibility, which is something that cannot be said for most of Arc's BlazBlue and Guilty Gear projects. That's not to say the game lacks depth, only that it has a low barrier for entry that allows non-fighting fans to enjoy the ride. Although the single-player gets repetitive quickly, FighterZ is still one of the best anime games on Game Pass.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch Remastered
Platforms | Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One |
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Approximate Game Length | 45 Hours |
Genre | Action JRPG |
Developer | Level-5 |
Xbox Store Page |
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch lets anime fans live out their isekai dream. Following a personal tragedy, the young Oliver is sent to a magical world in order to rescue his soulmate; along the way, he mends a few broken hearts, makes a couple of friends, and catches familiars to use in battle.
Level-5's project is a great JRPG by almost any metric, and the game's monster-taming mechanic makes it a suitable pick for subscribers searching for something similar to Pokemon. More importantly, Wrath of the White Witch's cutscenes were made by Studio Ghibli, and the iconic company's style radiates throughout the entire project.
Gungrave G.O.R.E
Platforms | Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One |
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Approximate Game Length | 10 Hours |
Genre | Third-Person Shooter |
Developer | Iggymob |
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Some anime fans might not know this but Gungrave began life as a 2002 PS2 game. A year later, Madhouse adapted the concept into a cult classic anime; a year after that, a sequel to the game was released. The franchise went quiet after that point, only to be resurrected in 2022 with Gungrave G.O.R.E.
A slow-paced but hard-hitting third-person shooter, Iggymob's title is stylish and satisfying, even if the basic gameplay loop does get repetitive after a few hours. Although not an amazing game, fans of the PS2 titles or the anime might get a kick out of Gungrave G.O.R.E.