In an industry that pushes the boundaries of realistic visuals, sound, and immersion the developer Vanillaware stands out as one of the most unique in the gaming industry. The studio doesn't have games that use cutting-edge graphics and AAA budgets, but they do have an art style that transcends its generational limits by looking beautiful years later.

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Thanks to games like Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire, the studio gained a cult following with its high-resolution 2D artwork and aptitude for telling a great story. This timeless art design continues to this day and their most recent title 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has gained the studio a more mainstream following. As a studio with such a good pedigree, most Vanillaware games are great.

Updated March 28, 2024 by Michael Llewellyn: Vanillaware is a studio known for doing its own thing away from the trends of its peers. They have built a fantastic reputation for creating games that tell compelling stories with beautifully hand-drawn 2D sprites that have a timeless appeal and look great in any generation. This list is updated with their latest game and includes relevant specifications for each title.

7 Fantasy Earth Zero

Metacritic Score: N/A

• Platform: PC
• Release: 2010
• Developer: Puraguru, now Vanillanware

As the studio's first title Fantasy Earth Zero is arguably their least known. It's also an online-only free-to-play MMORPG developed under their former name, Puraguru. Moreover, its development is now handled by a completely different studio named SoftGear.

Fantasy Earth Zero was considered ambitious, but there were issues with bugs and mechanics at launch. As a result, it's critically the studio's worst even though critics were still complimentary of the game's art design and gameplay mechanics.

6 GrimGrimoire

Metacritic Score: 78

Taking inspiration from the Harry Potter franchise, GrimGrimoire is a real-time strategy RPG based in a magic school called the Tower of Silver Star. The protagonist Lilet is stuck in a five-day loop as she tries to prevent an attack on the school. Despite taking inspiration from J.K Rowling's Wizarding World series, GrimGrimoire is a dark and original title with stunning visuals and accessible combat.

Each time loop will reveal more about the school, its inhabitants, and the reasons behind the attack. It's a complex premise and it served as the basis for the time-traveling storyline in Vanillaware's 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. GrimGrimoire is getting a remaster set to be released in Japan in July 2022 and with the success of 13 Sentinels, it's likely the game will reach Western shores later this year.

5 Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Metacritic Score: 81

Action RPG Muramasa: The Demon Blade takes inspiration from classic 2D side-scrolling beat-em-ups while implementing an RPG system. As always, Muramasa has Vanillaware's distinctive art design and storytelling.

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The game takes place during Japan's Edo period while it also adapts the Japanese Folklore and mythology creating an intriguing world with a gripping storyline. Furthermore, the soundtrack is outstanding, featuring some of the studio's most emotional scores.

4 Dragon's Crown

Metacritic Score: 82

Released in 2013, Dragon's Crown is an action RPG inspired by coin-op classics like Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom - a game Vanillaware's co-founder worked on - and Golden Axe. The 2D visual style still features Vanillaware's stylized, oversized, and beautifully drawn characters. However, on a visual level, the characters which consist of a knight, an elf, a dwarf, a sorceress, a wizard, and an Amazon look like a combination of famed Conan artist Frank Frazetta's fantasy art and Vanillaware's style.

Like Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown features some light RPG mechanics, but the combat is deep but accessible and satisfying. The heavily stylized characters have raised some eyebrows with their depictions of overly muscled men and women with oversized chests, but with Frazetta's fantasy works as an influence it shouldn't come as a surprise to those familiar with them. The gameplay is fantastic whether one is playing in its single-player mode or as part of a multiplayer team and next to Streets of Rage 4 it's one of the best co-op beat-em-ups available on any system.

3 Odin Sphere

Metacritic Score: 83

Released in 2007, Odin Sphere is less complex than GrimGrimoire which was released the same year as it features classical beat-em-up style gameplay mechanics. the game maintains Vanillaware's approach to visuals, storytelling, and epic sound design.

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Odin Sphere features an almost Neverending Story-like narrative that focuses on a young girl named Alice reading a book in her attic. There are six intertwined stories each with lots of content and a compelling world that will keep the player hooked for hours. In 2016, Odin Sphere was remastered and released on the PS4 as Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir and is the best version to date thanks to its HD visuals, improved combat, and sound design.

2 Unicorn Overlord

Metacritic Score: 88

Unicorn Overlord is a classically inspired tactical RPG in the vein of Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics. It puts players in the shoes of an exiled prince fighting to take back the throne that rightfully belongs to him by forming alliances and conquering regions. Vanillaware's trademark style returns with its beautifully drawn 2D characters reminiscent of the studio's work in Dragon's Crown and Odin Sphere.

The story, characters, and the world will keep players happy, and fans of classic tactics games will be pleased with its depth, overworld micromanagement and the allegiances to be formed. It's technical and gets more complex, but Unicorn Overlord's mechanics develop and build meaningfully without becoming confusing and overwhelming. Moreover, there are lots of quality-of-life features that can help players along with the later stages of the story.

1 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Metacritic Score: 88

As a sleeper hit in 2020, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim exceeded even the publisher's expectations when it became difficult to find physical copies of the game upon release. It became Vanillaware's biggest success and with a port landing on the Nintendo Switch, the game's well-deserved success looks to continue.

13 Sentinels has a non-linear time-traveling story. It's set in a world that Pacific-Rim-like Kaiju is attacking. Players follow the stories of 13 teenagers during different periods in their lives in a visual novel-style adventure game. The combat uses a real-time strategy system similar to GrimGrimoire and just like that game, doesn't crumble under the weight of a deep narrative set in different timelines.

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