If you haven’t figured it out by now, we lu-lu-looooove our anime here at Retro Dodo.
I was watching Death Note while writing this article, actually (which also lead me down the rabbit hole of looking at Death Note video games).
We have covered our share of anime games for home consoles, but you know what we haven’t covered? Anime for PC!
That’s right, the absolute best anime games on Steam in 2023. To play on your gaming pc, laptop on the go (like me), or maybe even on one of the Best Handheld Gaming PC’s.
Sorry, but this list will not include Anime Redemption (the Red Read Redemption spoof), nor will it include Anime Standing (the Death Stranding spoof).
We did consider including Anime Tetris and Hitler Hates Anime, but there were ten games we thought were better…
So what are our favs? Here’s the Retro Dodo list of the 10 best anime games on Steam in 2023:
Table of Contents
10. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 (2021)
NieR Replicant is a pretty unique game.
It is a prequel to the also incredible NieR:Automata from 2017. And many members of the development team from “Automata” reprise their roles for “Replicant ver. 12………”.
It is a futuristic action role playing game with some pretty intense combat that will switch between third person and top down at times.
Almost every aspect of the game has been praised…
Whether it’s the graphics, the music, the story, the characters, the game play, and also the improvements made from the original version to the new “ver. 1.2[…]”.
And yeah, all those numbers are all part of the quirk of the game… but what it essentially represents is that this was an upgraded version of the original Japan-only release.
With ports available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on Steam… you got a lot of options to play this masterpiece of a game.
At the time of writing this, NieR RePliCaNT v 1 point somethin is actually 50% off. So it’s a pretty good time to pick it up.
I’s a wonderful game, and one you should absolutely try out if you have not already.
9. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (2018)
The highly anticipated follow up to the equally beloved Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch… “Revenant Kingdom” is another incredible anime game presented in the aesthetic style of Studio Ghibli.
And, while Ghibli did not produce this iteration like they did with “Wrath of the White Witch”, many Ghibli team members were still involved in the development.
The game still has all of that cute anime charm that we love, and makes giant improvements to the overall experience of a Ni No Kuni game. Not that it needed much improvement.
Currently 85% off on the Steam store as well! So you know what to do.
This is an easy addition to any best anime list, especially since Studio Ghibli anime is among some of my absolute favorite.
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019)
I feel like this is one that should need very little introduction. But since it’s basically my job to do so, here we go…
The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is the definitive collection of the fan favorite game series, and is a prime example of the beauty of the visual novel game genre.
It is your duty to investigate the cases of your clients and defend them in court. That might not sound very fun, but trust me.. it’s all done quite well. And you will be eager to find out what comes next.
The “Trilogy” collection is the remastered version of the first three titles in the franchise which were originally made for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.
Currently sitting at a very sweet 50% off on the Steam store.
Very happy to be able to include this one in this list of the best anime games on Steam, as it is a must-play.
7. Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition (2018)
Final Fantasy is one of the absolute best game franchises of all time.
The beloved series currently sits at 95 total entries between the 15 main titles, spinoffs, remakes, and known release coming in 2023.
Admittedly, I have not played all 95 games (nor did I even know there was anywhere near that many!), but of the ones I have played, Final Fantasy XV is by far one of my favorites.
I am a fan of live combat, so Final Fantasy XII and XV are my two favorites in the series.
And as the most recent in the mainline titles… Final Fantasy XV is an absolute feast for the eyes.
It is Final Fantasy firing on all cylinders. Perfect combat, perfect dialogue, perfect settings, perfect enemies. It’s kinda perfect, amirite?
And lucky for gaming fans, the title is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia(barf), AAAAANND Microsoft Windows.
So you can purchase yourself a copy right now on Steam. (50% off at the time of writing this article, by the way.)
So no excuse to not try it out, if you have not already. I’m actually gonna jump back into it pretty soon. Add it to the list.
Are you a Final Fantasy fan? Why not check out our recent article How Many Final Fantasy Games Are There?
6. Tales of Arise (2019)
Taking a pretty high spot on our recent list of the 10 Best Anime Games On PS5, Tales of Arise has been a game that has been growing in our hearts as one of our favorite anime games of all time.
And it’s not just us… critics and gamers all seem to agree… the game is insanely good.
Gorgeous visuals, amazing game play mechanics, a really good story, and hours upon hours of JRPG goodness. What more can you ask for?
How bout all that at a discount? You guessed it… 50% off right now on the Steam store! (I swear, we didn’t know about all these sales when we started this article.)
Are you a fan of Tales? Us too. Check out this list of the 10 Best Tales Games Of 2023. Spoiler alert… Arise took the number one spot. Duh!
5. Dragon Ball FighterZ (2018)
For how insanely good Dragon Ball FighterZ actually is, you might be surprised to see it so low on this list of best anime games on Steam. So are we!
That just goes to show how good so many of these games are.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is one of our favorite anime fighting games of all time.
I actually gave it the number one spot on our list of the 10 Best Anime Fighting Games a few months ago. It’s that good.
An absolutely masterfully crafted fighting game by the legendary Arc System Works.
Featuring 3-vs-3 battles in 2d environments, à la Street Fighter and Marvel Vs Capcom… some of the best fighting games ever created.
And it is one of those games that perfectly captures the spirit of the source anime material.
We highly recommend this one to fans of anime, fans of fighting games, and fans of Dragon Ball. But if you are a fan of any of those, you probably already know about this amazing title.
At the time of writing this article, Dragon Ball FighterZ is 85% off on Steam! So you for sure wanna go grab a copy, even if you just wanna keep it for future play. Worth every penny (even at full price).
4. Guilty Gear Strive (2021)
Guilty Gear always scores super high on any list of anime themed video games.
We absolutely love the art style and the incredible combat mechanics featured in Guilty Gear Strive.
It’s proven to be one of the strongest anime titles in the last year, and will easily see itself holding a spot on any anime list we create.
And of course, as you may have guessed… it’s available on Steam right now! Currently 40% off, I might add… so you might wanna get your credit card ready and go grab yourself a copy.
An incredible game that is insanely beautiful, and super fun to play… and easy addition to our list of the best anime games on Steam.
3. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (2016)
You know it, you love it, we love it.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is one of (if not the) best anime fighting games of all time.
Packed with amazing combat and awesome characters… it’s got everything you need for an anime fighting experience to keep you busy for hours and hours and hours.
We’ve talked about it about a million times now… For good reason. It’s incredible.
Currently at 77% off on the Steam store, as well.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 has taken the number one spot on a bunch of our anime themed lists, including the 10 Best Anime Games On PS4 and of course the 10 Best Naruto Games.
But we might be seeing a turn of the tides here, people. We might be worn out on anime fighting games for the time (cause we absolutely crushed a ton of them earlier in the year… and loved every minute of it!).
You know what we are not tired of? Anime video games. We could never grow tired of that. But we do have a few new favorites we would like to share.
These next two entries have been growing on us quite a bit, and have easily become some of our favorite gaming experiences of all time!
So what are our personal favorite anime games on steam in 2023?
2. Monster Hunter Rise (2022)
Monster Hunter Rise is another title that has really grown on us over the past few months.
The Monster Hunter franchise has always been quite interesting and had a lot going for it. But admittedly, I was pretty disappointed in Monster Hunter World when it was released.
That game looked amazing. It just didn’t play amazing.
Well, I am happy to say that any complaints I may have had with “World” were completely erased with the release of “Rise” in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch.
It looked and played incredible even on that console, which is not necessarily known to be a powerhouse. So imagine the improvement when it was released for PC in January of this year!
The gameplay is smooth, fun, and intense! And the graphics… wow. So good.
And you have an animal companion. I mean, come on… that’s perfect in my book.
This instant classic is currently 49% off on the steam store! (Why not just make it 50% Capcom?)
Happy to rank it so high on our list. But there’s one game that you may already know that I am quite obsessed with lately…
1. Octopath Traveler (2019)
Alright, so what is all the excitement about surrounding Octopath Traveler? I’ll tell ya!
Here is the concept behind the game… you have eight unique characters, each with their own role to play in the games storyline.
And that also means eight unique starting points in the game and eight unique paths to the endgame goal.
The overall story experience will be roughly the same, as the characters journeys all crisscross and converge. But it makes for some pretty great replayability.
And trust me, you’re gonna want to spend a lot of time in this world!
Take that cool game concept and blend it with some of the coolest game aesthetics of all time.
A unique 2.5d presentation… which means that there will be a mix of 2d and 3d graphics, but will overall have an oldschool JRPG feel to it.
You will feel like you are playing one of the best SNES rpgs from the 90s. And that sounds perfect to me.
Why not sprinkle in some of the best music and sound design in a modern game while we are at it?
Are you starting to get a feel for why this game stands out so much?
Yes, it’s safe to say I am obsessed. And I have no regrets calling this one my number one anime game to come to Steam.
