Best RPGs That Are Isekai

The isekai genre, often associated with anime, involves characters being transported to unknown realities where they face new challenges and opportunities. In RPGs, many titles adopt a similar dynamic, taking protagonists to other realms and requiring them to adapt to new rules and explore unfamiliar environments.

Despite many of these games not adopting the typical anime aesthetics, several RPGs still capture the essence of isekai, utilizing this narrative to tell deep and immersive stories. These games challenge characters to adapt to new realities, offering unique and thrilling experiences that transcend the boundaries of the known.

10

Cassette Beasts

An Unexpected Journey

In Cassette Beasts, players are transported to the island of New Wirral, an unknown dimension full of dangers and mysteries. Here, the inhabitants use cassette tapes to transform into powerful creatures, facing the challenges this new world presents. The adaptation to this alternate reality is a central theme, exploring the struggle for survival and the search for a way back.

The monster fusion system is one of the game’s pillars, allowing for unique combinations that result in more than 14,000 different forms. As players explore New Wirral, they must record new creatures, develop skills, and create strategies to win intense battles. Cassette Beasts offers a rich and engaging experience, blending traditional RPG elements with the essence of the isekai genre.

9

Magic Knight Rayearth

Sega Saturn’s Classic Isekai Adventure

• Platform: Sega Saturn
• Developers: Working Designs, Sega, Overworks
• Publishers: Sega
• Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG

While many RPGs follow traditional formulas, Magic Knight Rayearth for the Sega Saturn stands out by adapting a classic isekai anime. The story follows three girls transported to the world of Cephiro, where they must adapt to their new reality and face epic challenges to save this magical realm from evil forces.

In the game, the protagonists explore dungeons, battle powerful enemies, and discover their own abilities, all while trying to find a way back home. Magic Knight Rayearth perfectly incorporates the elements of the isekai genre, offering an engaging narrative and RPG mechanics that retain the essence of the original anime, making it an excellent game.

8

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

Persona Protagonists Unite In A New Adventure

Persona Q2

Systems

Released

June 4, 2019

Developer(s)

P-Studio

The Persona franchise already flirts with isekai elements, transporting characters to supernatural worlds. In Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, these themes are intensified, bringing together protagonists from different games in the series in a new universe. Although they already possess powers, the heroes must adapt and join forces to face the challenges of this cinematic labyrinth.

In this spinoff for the Nintendo 3DS, players explore dungeons inspired by films, each with its own rules and dangers. The narrative, lighter than in the main games, highlights the interaction between iconic characters from different Persona eras as they face new enemies and unravel the mysteries of this alternate universe.

7

Undertale

A Modern Isekai That Defies RPG Expectations

Inspired by games like Earthbound, Undertale is one of the simplest and most enjoyable RPGs ever developed, where the protagonist, a child, falls into an underground hole filled with monsters and must adapt to this reality. The game also incorporates many popular elements from the isekai genre, forcing players to adapt to the rules of this new world.

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Undertale may be one-of-a-kind, but there have been game studios before and since that set out to capture the same kind of offbeat magic.

Undertale offers an engaging narrative with complex characters, where choices and approaches result in different endings. The game subverts expectations by introducing mechanics that encourage peaceful alternatives to combat, challenging the player to adapt to an unknown world. This combination makes Undertale a modern example of isekai, shaping the protagonist’s experience.

6

Kingdom Hearts

An Isekai RPG About “A Fish Out Of Water”

In Kingdom Hearts, Sora is whisked away from his island home, becoming separated from his friends as he’s thrust into new worlds inspired by Disney stories. Each world presents its own unique rules and challenges, emphasizing the isekai element as Sora adapts to these unfamiliar realities, often feeling like a “fish out of water” in these strange, magical lands.

As the game progresses, however, the script lessens the need for adaptation, with Sora navigating the worlds without needing to follow specific rules. Despite this change, the first Kingdom Hearts still fits well within the isekai concept, with its initial premise and the constant sense of being in an unknown environment, maintaining the spirit of an adventure RPG.

5

Pokemon Legends Arceus

A Time Travel Mission in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon wasn’t the only time the franchise played with isekai elements, and in Pokemon Legends Arceus, the main characters are sent to the past by the God of Pokemon himself. Although his motivations are unclear, the journey to the Hisui region is both fun and one of the best spinoffs in the series.

Here, players are transported to a region in the past, where Pokemon were still more of a threat than a friend. Even the Pokedex, for example, had not been fully developed. In this game, which combines RPG elements with exploration, players must shape the future of the universe as it is known today.

4

Digimon Survive

One Of The Most Well-Known Isekai Franchises

Digimon is one of the franchises that best knows how to use standard isekai elements to create high-quality animations and RPG games, and in Digimon Survive, the story is no different, making it one of the best games in the franchise. Here, the game features tactical battles, but the majority of the gameplay focuses on text in a Visual Novel style.

In addition, Digimon Survive also brings more mature elements to the story, addressing themes such as survival, friendship, and difficult choices that directly impact the plot’s development. The game stands out for its engaging narrative, combining the exploration of an unknown world in a darker tone than the standard of other games.

3

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Entering the World of Ivalice

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Systems

Released

September 8, 2003

Developer(s)

Square Product Development Division 4

Many universes created in video games are often perilous for their inhabitants, filled with dangers that many players have wondered what it would be like to live in these fantastical worlds. This is the theme of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, where the protagonist, Marche, is transported from everyday life to the magical world of Ivalice. Inspired by a game he and his friends are familiar with, the world turns out to be more challenging than expected.

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In Ivalice, Marche faces challenges beyond battles, dealing with the moral complexities of a seemingly perfect world but filled with hidden dangers. The game incorporates isekai elements, emphasizing the character’s adaptation to new rules and the quest to return to the real world, while Marche learns about friendship and responsibility.

2

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

The Game Where The Protagonist Becomes A Pokemon

Even though the main games in the Pokemon franchise follow the logic where players are trainers battling in gyms, the spinoffs explore more creative narratives. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon does this by taking characters on an isekai journey. Here, the human protagonist is transformed into a Pokemon, embarking on a new and challenging adventure.

In this new world, the protagonist must adapt to life as a Pokemon, forming teams with other creatures to explore mysterious dungeons and face various dangers. The plot explores the adaptation to a new reality, with the protagonist learning to live in this universe while seeking answers about their transformation and how to return to human form.

1

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom

A Story Of A President Transported To Another World

One of the most engaging games ever produced by Level-5, Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom begins with the introduction of Roland Crane, a president of an unnamed nation on Earth, who is transported to the kingdom of Ding Dong Dell in a younger version of himself. Alongside Evan, the mission is to reclaim the lost throne.

Transported to this new reality, Roland must quickly adapt to the complexities of a magical world. Ni no Kuni 2 combines isekai elements with rich gameplay, allowing the exploration of vast kingdoms, participation in real-time battles, and the building of a new realm. The journey of adapting to this unknown universe makes the game a unique and immersive experience.

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Best Games Based On Isekai Anime, Ranked

Isekai stories don’t always make for good video games, but these games based isekai anime do a fine job of replicating the feeling of their series.