5 RPG-Inspired Anime Series That Will Scratch That Gamer Itch

As a instrumentality of RPGs and anime, I'm ever connected the lookout for a bully caller bid that seamlessly combines my emotion of some of those things; thankfully, there's a astonishing magnitude of anime that fits neatly successful that subgenre. Granted, not each bid is really good. There's thing to beryllium said for diving into thing trashy from clip to time, but if you privation to commencement with a great RPG anime, determination are 5 I urge that you cheque retired successful 2026. And present they are!

Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling was archetypal released backmost successful 2024, but I didn't commencement watching it until Season 2 wrapped up past year. I'd heard thing but bully things astir the series, starting with IGN's 8 retired of 10 reappraisal of Season 1, and my lone hang-up was that it's lone disposable to watercourse connected Crunchyroll. After biting that bullet, I rapidly binged some seasons wrong a week.

What truly makes the communicative unsocial and absorbing is the satellite building. The bid takes spot successful a modern nine centered astir the thought of magical portals (Gates) filled with monsters and individuals (Hunters) with the inherent powerfulness to conquer the dungeons inside. Each Hunter is locked astatine a circumstantial threshold of power, but the main character, Sung Jin-woo, encounters a unsocial script that allows him to fundamentally level up.

Solo Leveling has RPG elements astatine its bosom portion besides breaking down barriers betwixt video crippled mechanics and existent life; it's a truly amusive watch.

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online was a revelation for maine erstwhile I archetypal watched it and kick-started my emotion for this benignant of story. It was close astir the clip that VR was starting to go a thing, and this bid helped maine ideate what the aboriginal of gaming could hold; I loved each infinitesimal of it. For reference, the archetypal play premiered backmost successful 2012, which is astir 7 years earlier the archetypal Quest VR headset.

The premise of SAO is that successful a near-future society, exertion has precocious to the constituent of afloat immersive VR. Kirito, who is fixed the accidental to beryllium a beta tester for the caller tech, finds himself successful a sci-fi phantasy nightmare erstwhile helium and 10,000 others get trapped successful the game. If they dice successful the game, they dice successful existent life, and the lone mode to flight is to bushed each 100 floors of a floating castle. It's an epic communicative with precocious stakes wrong and extracurricular of the game's reality.

There are 3 full seasons of Sword Art Online, aggregate theatrical films, and a spin-off bid astir Gun Gale Online. There are besides rather a fewer SAO video games that person derived from the series, though ironically, nary of them utilize VR.

Shangri-La Frontier

Shangri-La Frontier is simply a shining illustration that not each bid needs to person precocious stakes to support you interested. It has each of the aboriginal fully-immersive VR tech of Sword Art Online, but alternatively focuses connected a gamer that conscionable loves to game. Sure, determination are epic brag battles and governmental struggles within the game, but extracurricular of it, the characters are conscionable surviving mean lives.

The communicative chiefly follows Rakuro Hitzutome, who has a estimation arsenic a masochist for truly hard oregon buggy games referred to arsenic "trash games." After finishing a peculiarly atrocious game, helium decides to effort retired a ace fashionable VR MMO called Shangri-La Frontier; naturally, he's blown distant by the acquisition and uses each of his pro-gamer skills to bash things that cipher has ever done earlier successful the game.

This isn't my favorite RPG-style anime series, but it's inactive a large ticker with a refreshing instrumentality connected the full VR scenario. There are presently 2 seasons disposable with a 3rd connected the mode for January 2026.

Log Horizon

For those of you who truly privation to spell heavy into that MMO feeling, Log Horizon is the mode to go. The communicative follows that classical isekai anime formula, with characters who mysteriously get pulled into a fashionable MMORPG satellite called Elder Tale with nary mode out.

Where Log Horizon truly shines is successful the literal world-building the bid has to do. What happens erstwhile thousands of radical get permanently stuck successful a game? Well, they person to physique an existent nine determination to survive. With a absorption connected crippled mechanics, this bid is the closest connected this database to classical MMORPG successful anime form.

There are 3 seasons of Log Horizon available, with the past episodes airing backmost successful 2021. It's improbable that we'll get a Season 4 owed to a deficiency of root material, but galore fans are inactive holding retired hope.

Delicious successful Dungeon

This bid truly deed each of the close notes for me; it's an unusual premix of cooking and phantasy that conscionable seems to work. Amid each of the monster slaying and adventuring that comes with dungeon diving, you've got to devour aft all, truthful if you privation a amusive and delicious phantasy to binge, this bid is an casual proposal for Netflix subscribers.

The communicative is reminiscent of classical tabletop RPGs similar Dungeons & Dragons, but with a absorption connected a applicable means of survival. After a reddish dragon eats his sister heavy successful the dungeon, Laios gathers his enactment connected a quest to prevention her earlier she gets afloat digested. But without immoderate funds near for supplies, the radical has to crook to cooking and eating monsters on the mode to past the trip. Thankfully, they rapidly brushwood a dwarf who knows however to marque them sensation delicious.

There has lone been 1 play of Delicious successful Dungeon truthful far, but a 2nd play is presently successful the works. Even without the tabletop RPG elements, this bid is genuinely 1 of the champion successful the phantasy genre.

Jacob Kienlen is simply a Senior Audience Development Strategist and writer for IGN. Born and raised successful Portland, Oregon, helium has considered the Northwest his location for his full life. With a bachelor's grade successful connection and 10 years of nonrecreational penning experience, his expertise is dispersed crossed a assortment of antithetic popular civilization topics from TV bid to books and the latest Pokémon games.