Buckle up, we're talking about anime

When I hear that a new game is coming based on a popular shonen anime or manga, I tend to assume that we're getting another fighting game that I'll forget about within a week. I can only assume that every Naruto fan is a pro-level arena fighting game player at this point, given the number of Ninja Storm games they've been faced with. One Piece: Burning Blood, Dragon Ball FighterZ, My Hero One's Justice, the ill-fated Jump Force �it seem??s to me that when you make a game based on a hit anime, the obvious move is to go for a fighting game.

Some of them are good, some of them are not, but boy... are there a lot of the?m.

[caption id="attachment_357691" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bandai Namco[/caption]

It makes sense; these are usually franchises with a roster of fighters boasting a variety of recognizable signature moves, and fans are always clamoring for pointless power comparisons between any two given characters. If you really want an answer to the age-old debate of "SSJ3 Goku vs. Bardock," all you need to do is look at a FighterZ tier list. But you know w??hat genre can do all of that just a little bit better? Role-playing games.

Put your nose to the grindstone

The RPG, in its most primitive form, is a genre about getting buff. It's about starting off as a capable fighter and slowly evolving into a formidable warrior. Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest �all of these games fall under the same genre grouping primarily because they let the ?player grow stronger over time.

A couple months back, I went on a pretty severe Dragon Ball bender. I read all 500-odd chapters of the original manga in the space of about a week before I turned my attention to the wide world of Dragon Ball video games, starting with 2019's action RPG Dragon Ball Z Kakarot. This is where I made a discovery that seems all too obvious in retrospect: at least since Raditz crashed in Goku's backyard, Dragon Ball has been the story of a guy playing an RPG.

[caption id="attachment_357694" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bandai Namco[/caption]

Kakarot isn't the first game to invite this comparison, and there have been Dragon Ball RPGs in the past, but it stands true. Goku grinds his way from "unusually strong kid" to "god-battling superhero". What are Dragon Ball Z's frequent training montages if not level-up fanfare? This is why Kakarot, a 7/10 by most measures (see Chris Carter's review), is a near-perfect Dragon Ball adaptation.

The life of the party

Recently, after running out of halfway-decent Dragon Ball stuff to submerge myself in, I've begun tackling a more daunting task: reading One Piece for the first time. It's a much larger project than reading Dragon Ball, but I'm about 600 chapters in, and when I heard the elevator pitch for the upcoming One Piece Odyssey, I was elated. The game is a party-based RPG, and I truly can't think of a better way to adapt One Piece.

Dragon Ball Z is somewhat unique in that its fights are usually one-on-one, and its heroes are basically all brute-force punchy-boys (aside from Bulma, who really should be playable in more games). One Piece is the opposite. Certain characters may break off for the occasi??onal side quest, but the Straw ?Hat Pirates are an RPG party if I've ever seen one. They've got a healer, a bard, a thief, a handful of specialized fighters, a rubber person �you know, the classics.

[caption id="attachment_357697" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bandai Namco[/caption]

After I got over the initial excitement I felt at the idea of a One Piece RPG (not the first one and likely not the last), I realized that a lot of shonen series feature RPG parties. Naruto might be grinding his way to Hokage-dom, but he's doing it with a lot of buddies at his side. Those lads from Demon Slayer are always fighting in little crews. The superheroes in My Hero Academia get Avengers moments every other chapter. Fairy Tail recently drew this comparison for me with its own party-based RPG, although I can't speak to the quality of that one since I haven't watched an episode of Fairy Tail in around a decade.

But what else?

The point is, all of these massive rosters, that already make fighting games such a good template for shonen adaptations, would also make for pretty interesting RPG parties. Most of those characters are steadily upgrading their powers all the time anyways. Some of these properties already have built-in levels, like One Piece's bounties. Maybe it's easier to drop anime charact??ers into fighting games. I've never done it. But I have played those games, and I can proudly say that I'd like most of them a lot more if they were RPGs.

So in recent years, we've gotten RPG adaptations of Dragon Ball Z and Fairy Tail, as well as some Sword Art Online games that I don't feel extremely qualified to comment on. With a release scheduled for tomorrow, we'll finally get to check out One Piece Odyssey for ourselves. But what other series deserve the RPG treatment??? Should Denji, Power, and Aki be the new Clo?ud, Barret, and Tifa? You tell me.

And? maybe we can c??hill out with all those fighting games, if you don't mind.

Related: One Piece Odyssey suffer??s from a?? lack of difficulty that leaves the gameplay stretched thin on Gamepur

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No Happy Ending

Koei Tecmo's anime RPG Fairy Tail may have only just launched a week ago, but the publisher has already released an expensive season pass, which will bring new c??haracters and content to the anime adaptation just weeks after the base game's arrival.

For the sum of around $60 USD, the Fairy Tail season pass will add four new characters to the adventure, along with an extreme difficulty option, and one new dungeon. Lyon Vastia and Levy McGarden will arrive on August 20, followed ?by Lisanna and Elfman Strauss on September 3. An additional dungeon, "A Rift in Time and Space," will round out the content on September 17.

In addition, multiple $40 costume sets - which are not included in the season pass - have also hit the Steam store. This takes the grand total of Fairy Tail's base game, season pass, and costume sets to somewhere in the region of $240. Of course, people are entitled to spend their money however they please, but it's yet another example of Dead or Alive syndrome?, where dedicated fans - having already stumped up 60 bucks to buy ??the initial product - are squeezed tighter still before their game is barely out of its wrapping.

Fairy Tail is availab??le now on PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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Now scheduled to spin its yarn in July

Koei Tecmo's upcoming RPG Fairy Tail has been hit with a s??econd delay, shifting its release date from June 26 to July 30. While yet to be officially recognised by the publisher, the change-of-date was noted in the latest? issue of Japanese publication Weekly Famitsu.

The video game adaptation of Hiro Mashima’s popular anime/manga series was originally scheduled to release in March of this year, but was pushed back to June in order to? further polish and fine-tune the product. It is likely that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hampered these plans, adding another five weeks to the development and publi??shing process.

Developed by GUST Studio, Fairy Tail will serve as an interactive "greatest hits" of the source material, recreating fam?ous events and story arcs, while allowing the player to take up the mantle of a wide range of characters and visit a vast array o?f recognisable locations from the cute fantasy universe.

Fairy Tail?? is now expected to launch on PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on July 30 in Europe and Japa?n and July 31 in North America.

Fairy Tail RPG delayed from June to July 2020 [DualShockers]

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Magical RPG to be made a little more spellbinding

The delayocalypse of 2020 continues, as Koei Tecmo has regrettably revealed that its fantasy JRPG Fairy Tail will not meet its expected March release date. Citing a desire to further polish visuals and gameplay, Fairy Tail w??ill now launch in the west on PC and consoles June 26.

"I am truly sorry for Fairy Tail's delay, and the inconvenience caused to our fans, partners, and stakeholders who are looking forward to this title," said Producer Keisuke Kikuchi in a press statement. "Please allow us to take further time to polish the game to ensure it is as high quality as possible, so we can offer you a truly immersive experience. We will be working hard to enhance the magic effects, event scene effects, improving the game balance, and more! This delay wil?l allow us to ensure we provide you a much more satisfying game. Thank you for your understanding."

Currently in development at GUST Studio, (under supervision of original author Hiro Mashima), Fairy Tail? will blend several famous story arcs from the manga/anime series, and see player step into the shoes of multiple characters from the mythical universe including Kagura Mikazuchi, Sherria Blendy, and Rogue Cheney, among others.

The most recent Japanese trailer, featured below, gives us a glimpse of Fairy Tail in action.

Fairy Tail will now launch on June? 25 on PC, and June 26 on PS4 ?and Nintendo Switch.

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Once upon a time...

New word out of publisher Koei Tecmo is that its upcoming RPG, based on the popular fantasy series Fairy Tail?, will finally be ready to spin its web of magic and mayhem on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on March 19, 2020.

The release date was announced in a new tr??ailer, which also confirms further playable characters "Master Swordswoman" Kagura Mikazuchi, "Sky God Slayer Mage" Sherria Blendy, "Handsome Mage" Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, "The White Dragon" Sting Eucliffe, and finally "Shadow Dragon" Rogue Cheney.

Developed by GUST Studio, Fairy Tail is an action-RPG that will tie in with several popular story arcs from th??e manga/anime series, including the Tartaros, Tenrou Island and Grand Magic Games arcs. The Japanese and North American/European releases will be a mere day apart from each other.

Fairy Tail launch??es on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch March 19.

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So clearly not the full anime

The latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine has been released and it contains a small info dump on Koei Tecmo's upcoming Fairy Tail RPG. One of the questions, when the title was announced, was what arcs it would be covering. While that still hasn't? been directly answered, the game is reportedly around 30 hours long if you tackle just the main story. That's barely a dent in the anime's 328 episodes.

Some other expected bits are that there will be side quests that extend the length o?f the game. Characters wil??l be given specific episodes and will have unlockable costumes for completion. There will be a few game-specific stories, as well, so the title won't be comprised entirely of manga/anime material. More than 10 characters are being teased as playable, though which ones we still don't know.

For gameplay specifics, the battle system will be command-based. Since your characters all belong to a magic guild, you'll be able to level up your guild rank and learn new magic links to use in combat. Side quests will also tie back into this system, letting you fulfill requests to upgrade your guild's buildings. Your party members will even have a bond system that deepens as you use them or put them to work at ?your facilities.

Finally, DLC is being considered for the game. I doubt we'll see huge expansions that end up retelling the entirety of Fairy Tail's plot, but ?there is always the chance that we'll get new story content in the future. This seems like standard stuff for an RPG on modern hardware, but it will likely mean more to fans of the series.

Fairy Tail game is about 30 hours long,? has legend-class magic [Gematsu]

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Guild of Magic

Koei Tecmo announced that it will be producing a JRPG based on the acclaimed Fairy Tail manga/anime. A series focused on wizards battling demons and dragons??, the game will feature a story with supervision by creator Hiro Mashima to ensure it is faithful to the source material. The title will he beading to PC (via Steam), PS4, and Switch sometime in 2020??.

There isn't much more information to go on, but Koei Tecmo will be talking more about the game at the 2019 Tokyo Game Show next week. For now, just know that the game will see all of the major characters that fans have come to love over the years. I don't know much about Fairy Tail, but I do feel a JRPG is a ?good fit for this series.

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