15 Best PS4 Anime Games That Every Anime Fan Should Play

Whether we like anime or not, we are bound to stumble upon something that bears its influence.

These may be the distinct types of art that can be associated with anime, or maybe the manner of storytelling and characterization some people have come to expect from the genre.

It is difficult to quantify what constitutes an “anime game.” There is not always a clear line when attempting to differentiate between different art styles.

For this list, we will not include games whose art style seems to be aimed at realism (e.g., NieR: Automata, Final Fantasy).

It will include games based on popular anime series and original games that use the style of anime art. We count it if it looks like anime.

There are a lot of games out there that take the best of anime and make the most fun titles to enjoy. Here, we will list some PS4 anime games.

1. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

• Developer: Level-5
• Genre: Action RPG
• Release Date: March 23, 2018

One of the most exciting aspects of the first Ni No Kuni game was that Level-5 collaborated with the legendary Studio Ghibli on its design and animation.

With Studio Ghibli, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom has no further involvement. Still, the art style stays true to the original while also taking advantage of the extended graphic capabilities of the PS4.

You play as Roland, a man who, after being drawn into the “other world,” finds himself amid a coup d’état. He must defend the usurped young king and help him restore his kingdom.

The gameplay is good, but the main appeal is in the art style. It is one of the most-played PS4 anime games. It maintains all of the Ghibli charm of its predecessor and keeps us coming back for more.

2. Gravity Rush 2

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• Developer: SIE Japan Studio’s Team Gravity
• Genre: Action-adventure game
• Release Date: January 18, 2017

A PS4 exclusive, Gravity Rush 2 builds on the charm and mechanics of the previous game. You manipulate and change gravity, playing as Kat, from maneuvering around mid-air to launching objects at enemies.

Gravity Rush 2 builds on those mechanics, including even more avenues for imaginative players to approach fights and other obstacles.

The sequel also builds on the universe introduced in the first Gravity Rush. With over twice the map size, players will have a lot more to discover and do. The cel-shaded models and dialogue panels of the game are also well done.

3. Attack on Titans 2

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• Developers: Omega Force – Koei Tecmo Games
• Genre: Action game
• Release Date: March 14, 2018

Attack on Titan 2 (along with its previous release) takes its source material from the thrilling, brutal premise and turns it into a hack-and-slash game that gave me the vibes of Shadow of the Colossus.

While the graphics are not overly spectacular, they are good. The true highlights are the game’s movement and battle systems.

Using the signature mobility gear, your character will glide effortlessly, switching from movement to combat and vice versa.

Titans are generally fast-paced in battles to take down and require better positioning and tactics.

4. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

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• Developer: CyberConnect2
• Genre: Action game
• Release Date: February 9, 2016

After One Piece, Naruto was the second-best-selling Shonen manga for most of its run. An anime and series of fighting games spawned from that success, which accrued a fairly decent-sized following. People keep those characters alive even now that the last episode has aired.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 follows Naruto and his former teammate Sasuke as they fight through the Fourth Shinobi World War.

It features all our favorite characters from that world, each boasting the signature techniques we recall from the show. It is also one of the most popular PS4 anime games.

Expanding the game’s Road to Boruto allows us to play as a few of its new characters through many story beats from the Boruto spin-off series. Not only is it modeled after the original art of Masashi Kishimoto, but combat is nothing to be sniffed at either.

5. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

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• Developer: Spike Chunsoft
• Genre: Adventure
• Release Date: January 12, 2017

Over-the-top mysteries, ludicrously convoluted plotlines, and a distinctive art style are known in the Danganronpa series.

Although Destroying Harmony doesn’t do anything that it didn’t do first in the first two installments, it still does better than any other game on the market.

In Hope’s Peak Academy, a high school built for the “ultimate students,” you play a student trapped inside.

In this game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, you are considered one of the best Japan has to offer, but when you and your classmates are trapped in a murder game, everything goes wrong. The only way to survive is by settling the murders of your classmates.

6. My Hero One’s Justice

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• Developer: Byking
• Genre: Fighting
• Release Date: April 13, 2018

Over the past few years, the shōnen series has grown in popularity, making it one of the most serialized manga titles. Of course, it already has anime, movies, and video games.

Although not the first series-based title, My Hero One’s Justice lets you fight head-to-head in a fighting arena using various characters.

In addition to juggling multiple attack moves, quirks alter each warrior’s playstyle, which helps to make characters feel distinct mechanically. Graphics-wise, it captures the anime’s aesthetics and spectacle exceptionally well.

7. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

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• Developer: CyberConnect2
• Genre: Action role-playing game
• Release Date: January 16, 2020

This one is for all the fans of Dragon Ball out there. If you have a PS4, the chances are that you have played at least one Dragon Ball fighting game.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, released in January 2020, takes the great combat pieces from games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ and blends them to brilliant effect with an open-world action RPG.

Travel through areas, connect with NPCs, and complete side activities (like hunting, fishing, and other ways to make money). Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot became one of the definitive PS4 anime games in the franchise by sheer scope alone.

It helps players witness the show’s activities and plots never seen before. Apart from Goku, you can play as other characters, including Vegeta and Gohan.

8. Code Vein

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• Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
• Genre: Action role-playing game
• Release Date: September 27, 2019

Code Vein has been promoted by fans and critics alike as ‘anime Dark Souls,’ and it’s easy to see why. There are souls to gather, giant monsters to fight, animations of long attacks, and clear criteria for escaping enemy blows.

There will be a lot to love about Code Vein for fans of the Souls games, but I believe focusing too heavily on that analogy does a disservice to all the ways Code Vein defines itself.

The tale is set in a post-apocalyptic future where vampire-like beings called Revenants raise monsters.

Via co-op multiplayer, you can team up with an AI-controlled ally or a friend to explore the world, uncovering the mystery of your lost memory.

It is fun to have dramatic character designs, but the styling isn’t the only anime thing about it.

The plot, tense and melodramatic, is about as anime as stories get. To a genre typically characterized by bleak, gray-toned worlds, it adds an element of silly fun.

9. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an elusive age

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• Developer: Square Enix
• Genre: Role-playing video game
• Release Date: July 29, 2017

Dragon Quest XI features a vivid, beautiful fantasy world that makes the most of the cel-shaded theme.

You will be hard-pressed not to explore, and enough engaging quests are available to inspire you.

The characters you encounter as the chosen hero will vary from serious to dumb, and your companions should have ample opportunities to inch their way into your heart.

There has been some fine-tuning of turn-based combat, but eventually, players will still find themselves grinding out monsters to catch up with levels.

Expect it to take a while to get through all Dragon Quest XI offers, but it should be appealing enough for the potential fun there.

10. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered

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• Developers: SEGA · Media.Vision
• Genre: Third-person shooter
• Release Date: November 4, 2008

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, originally released for the PS3, arrived on the PS4 as a port of the original game in 2014.

The plot of this tactical RPG focuses on a war ravaging the area of Europa. As Welkin Gunther, you control and command a militia packed with characters from various walks of life.

You must deploy the correct units and tight tactics to ensure your squad survives each engagement. As for upgrading your unit and characters, the game also gives you much to work with.

Although Valkyria Chronicles has a simple anime art style, I also appreciate the pencil aesthetic the game adopted for maps, scenery, and even cut scenes.

11. Persona 5: Royal

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• Developer: P-Studio
• Genre: RPG
• Release Date: October 31, 2019

In a JRPG – monster collection, turn-based fighting, social simulation, and a lively cast of side characters to share the world with, Persona 5 has everything you could want.

It is like Atlus was looking at any other popular JRPG, plucking out its best mechanics and rolling them all together until they were properly balanced. This game’s features made it one of the most popular PS4 anime games.

Persona 5 has a lot of styling. Everything from the pop-noir, red, and black color palette to the modern jazz soundtrack screams “nice.”

All the character designs are top-notch. They play on the idea of their Mementos costumes, reflecting who they are in human society under the masks (or personas) they wear.

12. Tales of Berseria

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• Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
• Genre: Action role-playing game
• Release Date: August 18, 2016

Some of the most well-known JRPG games ever produced are the Tales games. My favorite is Tales of Berseria, which probably offers the most polished fighting structure in the series. It is one of the most interesting PS4 anime games I have played.

You control the attacks and special abilities of the player, such as a hack-and-slash game, while other characters in the party function through AI.

There are more automated options that remove the need to string combo inputs manually.

Set in the Holy Midgang Empire,  Velvet, a vengeance-driven demon who finally helps save the world, is the main protagonist.

The story is a little darker, but I consider the JRPG setting a good pace change. A cast of trope-y joins her, but likable characters who make her understand the importance of friendship to compensate for that.

Tales of Berseria acts as a prequel to Tales of Zestiria so that both game players can enjoy the Easter eggs, and story beats that connect the two titles.

13. Jump Force

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• Developer: Spike Chunsoft
• Genre: Fighting
• Release Date: February 14, 2019

If, like me, you read Weekly Shōnen Jump, then you will know a chunk of the cast of the Jump Force.

The most comprehensive collaboration of mainstream shōnen protagonists to date is this PS4 fighting game.

As shaded 3D models, characters come to the “real world”; it works well for some, while others (like Frieza from Dragon Ball) appear more uncanny than normal.

The highlights of Jump Force’s battle system are aesthetically flashy movements and reasonably balanced action.

Anime fans can otherwise enjoy seeing classic and new characters interact, talk, and beat the living crap out of each other.

14. Catherine: Full Body

• Developer: Atlus
• Genre: Puzzle video-game
• Release Date: Sep 3, 2019

Catherine: Full Body is a puzzle game crossed with a social sim created by the same studio that produced the Persona series.

The game was originally released on the PS3 but performed well enough in 2019 to warrant a PS4 release.

Catherine, story-wise, offers a deep dive into Vincent’s troubled mind, a man who waffles over his fidelity to his girlfriend as he falls into an affair with another woman with the same name.

“The gameplay “day” follows the social sim format where you interact with characters and prepare for the stages of the “nightmare.

You must guide him through fun yet difficult puzzle-platforming stages when Vincent enters a nightmare, which scores you based on your completion time and collected objects.

15. Dragon Ball FighterZ

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• Developer: Arc System Works
• Genre: Fighting
• Release Date: January 26, 2018

Dragon Ball FighterZ merged the best parts of the previous Dragon Ball fighting games into a bombastic kit.

Players can select from a huge roster of franchise characters (40 in total with all the DLC).

This game is one of the most interesting PS4 anime games that Arc System Works created.

Its fighting system and 3v3 style allow you to chain attacks and special moves, and there are even more options to keep each battle interesting, such as assisting moves, vanishing attacks, dramatic finishes, and more.

The game excels with vivid, vibrant 3D assets that will invoke nostalgia among fans of the shows. Battles are fought in 2D, and the animations are just as dazzling.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is regarded as one of the best fighting games on the PS4, beyond the anime genre.