Appendix J: Anime, Manga, & JRPGs

[Gradine]

Surprised Record of Lodoss War hasn't come up yet, despite being specifically based on a D&D campaign.

Some JRPGs I'd include:
Phantasy Star series (sci-fi but more science fantasy in its classic incarnations)
Shining Force I + II
Lufia 2
Triangle Strategy
Romancing SaGa series
Octopath Traveller I + II
Dark Souls (and Bloodborne too)
Tactics Ogre
Etrian Odyssey series

I'll definitely think of more to add later...

 

[Alzrius]

Off the top of my head:

[...]
Record of Lodoss War

Surprised Record of Lodoss War hasn't come up yet, despite being specifically based on a D&D campaign.

 

[Gradine]

I'm considerably less suprised that someone said it and I fully missed it, despite it looking for it

 

[Alzrius]

I'm considerably less suprised that someone said it and I fully missed it, despite it looking for it

I use ctrl+f whenever I look for anything on a computer these days; my eyes have overlooked stuff too many times.

 

[Autumnal]

Geo Armor Kishin Corps for how to be a subtle and restrained GM, even though it’s not fantasy.

 

[jian]

JRPG franchises I haven’t seen mentioned yet:

• Tales (Namco): Much like the Final Fantasy series, these vary a lot in setting and themes. My personal favourite is Tales of the Abyss, which has a nice balance of magitech fantasy with themes about what makes a person and how a hero is chosen. Great gameplay, too.
• Trails (Nihon Falcom): Also somewhat variable but most of the more recent ones (Trails in the Sky, Trails of Cold Steel etc) have taken place in a single shared world with overlapping characters and events. My favourite here is the 4-part Trails of Cold Steel series, which starts with PCs in a military academy and moves to civil war, mecha, and magitech ruins containing an ancient evil. The usual, in other words. There’s a tabletop RPG explicitly based on these games, Shepherds.
• Fire Emblem (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo): Also quite variable in setting but notable for their deep tactical gameplay, these games are more high fantasy than anything else, with each game having a large ensemble cast full of fan favourites. My preferred game here is Fire Emblem: Three Houses, where your protagonist is a teacher at a military academy who has to choose which of three classes he takes on - each has a deep and engaging storyline with wonderful characters. Some of whom die right in front of you. It’s that sort of game.

 

[beta-ray]

I've only see the anime, but I really enjoyed Don't Hurt Me, My Healer! It is very aware of the tropes and plays both into them and against them. It was stupid and hilarious.

Another funny one is in the isekai genre, Handyman Saitou in Another World. Story turned out to be more engaging then I thought it would be.

For pure ridiculous comedy there is Konosuba (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!). Really dumb but funny and already has a TTRPG.

Other fantasy anime/manga I did not see listed include Claymore, Heroic Legend of Arslan, Skeleton Knight in Another World, and Moribito.

Beside Shangri-La Frontier which was already mentioned, I am currently enjoying The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World which mixes sort of an isekai with fantasy and super sentai.

 

[Bohandas]

Has anyone said Seven Deadly Sins yet?

 

[jian]

Beside Shangri-La Frontier which was already mentioned, I am currently enjoying The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World which mixes sort of an isekai with fantasy and super sentai.

I do really like this one, though it could spend a little more time on consistent world building. It made me wonder whether you could run it with Cortex Prime, because the Kizuna Ranger is clearly using Values and Relationships as his stats while everyone in the fantasy setting is using Attributes and Abilities.