Key takeaways
- Best overall fighting game: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
- Best Naruto-focused fighter: Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections.
- Best story RPG: Persona 3 Reload.
- Best relaxed licensed RPG: One Piece Odyssey.
- Best demanding turn-based RPG: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.
- Best co-op action RPG: Granblue Fantasy: Relink.
- Best free-to-play choice: My Hero Ultra Rumble.
The best anime games on PS5 are Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO for fighting fans, Persona 3 Reload for story-first RPG players, Granblue Fantasy: Relink for cooperative action, and One Piece Odyssey for a relaxed, turn-based adventure.
Rather than ranking every game together, this guide groups the strongest choices by combat style, story structure, learning curve, and time commitment. That makes it easier to choose a game that fits how you actually play, whether you want short battles, a long character-driven campaign, or an easygoing game for occasional sessions.
Our top picks
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Quick comparison: which anime game suits you?
| Game | Best for | Genre | Typical main-story time | Players | Difficulty feel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO | Fast anime battles | 3D arena fighter | 15–25 hours | 1–2 local; online modes | Easy to start, hard to master |
| Persona 3 Reload | Character-focused storytelling | Turn-based RPG | 60–80 hours | 1 | Moderate |
| Granblue Fantasy: Relink | Action RPG combat and co-op | Party action RPG | 20–25 hours | 1–4 online | Accessible, deeper endgame |
| One Piece Odyssey | Casual, turn-based play | Story RPG | 30–40 hours | 1 | Easy to moderate |
| Scarlet Nexus | Stylish real-time combat | Action RPG | 25–35 hours | 1 | Moderate |
Playtime varies with side quests, difficulty, optional bosses, and whether you complete multiple character routes. The figures are useful for comparing commitment rather than predicting an exact finish time.
Best anime fighting games on PS5
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO — best overall arena fighter
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is the clearest choice if your priority is spectacular one-on-one combat. Its large roster, destructible arenas, transformations, beam attacks, aerial movement, and high-speed clashes capture the scale of Dragon Ball better than a conventional side-scrolling fighter.
It works well for two different audiences. Beginners can enjoy dramatic battles without learning a long list of traditional fighting-game inputs, while experienced players can spend much longer refining movement, counters, resource management, and character matchups. The story content also allows alternate outcomes in some scenarios, giving familiar moments a degree of replay value.
Choose it if you want battles that last five to fifteen minutes. Avoid making it your first choice if you mainly want exploration, social scenes, or a carefully paced RPG story.
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections — best for Naruto fans
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections combines accessible arena combat with a broad selection of characters from the Naruto and Boruto series. It is especially appealing to fans who want to recreate major anime confrontations rather than learn a highly technical competitive fighter.
The battles are easy to understand: move freely around an arena, use substitutions, manage chakra, call support characters, and trigger flashy ultimate techniques. Its large character roster is a major attraction, although the overall experience is most satisfying when you already care about the source material.
This is the better pick over Sparking! ZERO if Naruto is your favorite series, but Dragon Ball is generally the stronger choice for players comparing combat systems alone.
My Hero Ultra Rumble — best free-to-play option
My Hero Ultra Rumble is a free-to-play team battle royale built around heroes and villains from My Hero Academia. Each character has a distinct role, such as close-range damage, mobility, support, or rescue, so it feels different from a traditional one-on-one anime fighter.
Its main advantage is the low entry cost: you can try the core loop without first buying a full-price game. The trade-off is an online-focused structure, seasonal content, unlockable characters, and a community-dependent experience. Check the current online requirements and available content before spending money on optional items.
Best anime RPGs for story and character development
Persona 3 Reload — best story-first RPG
Persona 3 Reload is the strongest choice for players who want an anime-styled RPG with a substantial coming-of-age story. You divide time between school life, friendships, exploration, and turn-based battles in a mysterious tower. These systems are connected: building relationships improves your options in combat, while daily scheduling determines how efficiently you grow.
The game rewards players who enjoy planning. A typical session might involve deciding which social activity to prioritize, preparing equipment and Personas, and making enough progress before the next story deadline. This makes it an excellent long-form game, but less suitable if you want a quick battle or a campaign with no calendar pressure.
Expect a significant commitment of roughly 60 to 80 hours for a normal story run. It is ideal for evening play when you enjoy returning to the same cast over several weeks.
One Piece Odyssey — best relaxed turn-based adventure
One Piece Odyssey is a friendlier recommendation for fans who want a traditional RPG without the intensity of real-time combat. The Straw Hat crew explores an island, revisits important memories, and fights through turn-based battles in which character positioning and enemy weaknesses matter.
The tone is lighter and more comfortable than Persona 3 Reload, and the party is easy to understand. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and the other characters each bring recognizable abilities, making party selection feel connected to the anime.
Choose it for a familiar licensed adventure, straightforward progression, and flexible session lengths. It is not the best pick if you want a highly challenging combat system or a major social-simulation component.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance — best for demanding turn-based combat
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is aimed at players who enjoy difficult battles, demon recruitment, party building, and morally complicated worlds. Its turn-based Press Turn system rewards exploiting weaknesses while punishing careless attacks, so understanding enemy types is more important than simply choosing the strongest-looking character.
This is a better fit than One Piece Odyssey for experienced RPG players who want meaningful decisions in nearly every fight. It is also more demanding: save regularly, keep several party options available, and do not assume that a powerful team will remain effective against every enemy group.
Best action RPGs for real-time combat
Granblue Fantasy: Relink — best for co-op action
Granblue Fantasy: Relink combines anime presentation with fast party-based action. You control one character directly while other party members fight alongside you, and online missions can support groups of up to four players. Each fighter has different attacks, timing, mobility, and support abilities.
The main campaign is a manageable commitment, while optional missions and post-game challenges provide a reason to keep improving equipment and learning additional characters. That structure makes it a strong choice for friends who want repeatable missions rather than a single long narrative.
Its main limitation is that the multiplayer focus can make it less appealing to someone seeking a deep solo life-simulation or a large open world.
Scarlet Nexus — best for stylish solo combat
Scarlet Nexus offers fast action combat built around psychokinesis, party abilities, and two related protagonist campaigns. Objects in the environment can become weapons, and temporary powers borrowed from companions add variety to the basic sword-and-psychic-action loop.
The dual-campaign structure is useful if you enjoy seeing the same events from different perspectives. However, completing both routes takes considerably more time than playing only one. Its story is more science-fiction anime than classic fantasy, with psychic powers, conspiracies, and a heavily stylized world.
Decision matrix by situation
| Your situation | Best choice | Why | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| New to anime games | One Piece Odyssey | Clear turn-based systems and forgiving progression | Less satisfying if you demand difficult combat |
| Only 10–20 minutes to play | Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO | Individual battles fit short sessions | Story progression is less substantial than an RPG |
| Want 50+ hours of solo content | Persona 3 Reload | Long campaign, social links, and party development | Requires regular planning and patience |
| Playing with friends online | Granblue Fantasy: Relink | Four-player missions and repeatable challenges | Best endgame requires learning builds |
| Want a free starting point | My Hero Ultra Rumble | No full-game purchase is required to try it | Online matchmaking and optional purchases shape the experience |
How to choose without overspending
Start with the format you will actually repeat. If you usually play in short bursts, a fighter provides more immediate value than a 70-hour RPG. If you prefer long weekend sessions, Persona 3 Reload or Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance offers more strategic and narrative depth.
For a simple value comparison, suppose a full-price game costs about $60 and you play it for 30 hours. That is approximately $2 per hour. A 70-hour RPG at the same price costs about $0.86 per hour, but only if you enjoy the extra hours; a shorter game you finish may be a better purchase than a longer game you abandon.
Also check whether you need online multiplayer, a separate subscription for console online services, or additional downloadable content. Free-to-play games remove the initial purchase barrier but can still involve optional character unlocks, cosmetics, and seasonal content.
Final picks
- Best overall fighting game: Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO.
- Best Naruto-focused fighter: Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections.
- Best story RPG: Persona 3 Reload.
- Best relaxed licensed RPG: One Piece Odyssey.
- Best demanding turn-based RPG: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance.
- Best co-op action RPG: Granblue Fantasy: Relink.
- Best free-to-play choice: My Hero Ultra Rumble.
For most PS5 owners, the final decision comes down to one question: do you want to master battles, follow a long character story, or play repeatable missions with friends? Pick Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO for immediate anime spectacle, Persona 3 Reload for the biggest narrative commitment, or Granblue Fantasy: Relink for cooperative action.
