In anticipation of the upcoming launch, this is as a good of a time as any to take a look at a few other video games where the main character is also transported into a different world. The sheer diversity of games in the Isekai genre is a testament to the flexibility and versatility that it offers to developers.
RELATED:Digimon Survive’s Dark Storytelling is Perfect to Expand the Franchise Universe
Classic Assassin’s Creed Games
This popular Ubisoft franchise is centered around the eternally warring Templars and Assassins competing to gather powerful artifacts left behind by the Isu, an ancient precursor race. However, this is a war that takes place both in the past and the present simultaneously.
Indeed, many of these artifacts were lost throughout time. The descendants of the respective factions, therefore, use a virtual reality machine called the Animus to relive their ancestors’ memories in a simulation and locate the artifacts. Assassin’s Creed is one of the best AAA franchises on the market and a great Isekai as well. Recent Assassin’s Creed entries follow a similar, if more detached approach, but any pick of the franchise could be good.
Sonic Rush/Sonic Rush Adventure
There are no shortages of Sonic games where everyone’s favorite speedy blue hedgehog ends up in another world. One could point to Sonic and the Secret Rings or Sonic and the Black Knight as examples. The excellent Sonic X TV show sees Sonic and his friends brought to the human world, but so does the critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) game. Luckily, there are still more Sonic games yet to come in the future.
However, two of the earliest and most well-reviewed Isekai Sonic games were Sonic Rush and its sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure. Sonic ends up in Blaze the Cat’s world, and vice-versa. The interesting plot, good level design, and boss fights that require some shrewdness on the player’s part solidify both entries as pillars of Isekai video games.
Digimon
For many, the Digimon Adventure anime was the introduction to Isekai. The Digimon games likewise follow suit with Isekai entries starting with Digimon World released in 1999 all the way to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth released in 2015. The original premise involves humans being transported to the digital world, but there are some installments where it’s Digimon who end up in the human realm.
As far as the Isekai genre goes, the Digimon franchise can be considered one of the pioneers. As a matter of fact, Bandai Namco is looking to launch Digimon Survive at some point, which takes a darker turn than past franchise entries. It’s pretty much Gamer’s pick when it comes to a Digimon Isekai game, as they all embrace the same concept being done in Forspoken.
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts is a video game classic and an Isekai masterpiece. Sora’s Disneyland trip gone wrong now spans thirteen games, and features everyone’s favorite Disney characters from Goofy and Donald Duck to Mickey Mouse and his friends.
Most recently, Square Enix brought the entire franchise to the Switch through the Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece collection as a celebration for the 20th anniversary of Kingdom Hearts. Switch users can now catch up on the story and hopefully enjoy future installments of this legendary RPG.
Genshin Impact
The open-world action RPG released by Chinese developer Mihoyo took the world by storm since its launch. The game lets the player choose whether to play as Aether or Lumine who is then transported into the mysterious world of Teyvat where their quest to find their missing sibling will bring them face to face with dangers lurking at every corner.
The game is free to play, and players can progress through the story without paying a single dime. However, Genshin Impact’s gacha mechanic is the only way to obtain more powerful characters and weapons. The game’s anime-style art, unique combat mechanics, and interesting story quests still make it one of the top Isekai games on the market.
Forspoken releases October 10, 2022, for PC and PS5.
MORE: Fate/Grand Order Has Surprising Origins
