Before light novels gained popularity in the United States, one of the few ways to get them into English was through unofficial translations. Now many light novel titles are available and officially licensed for readers to enjoy.
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Typically, once a light novel series gets popular it will get adapted into other media like anime, graphic novels, and even video games. Most of the time,Western audiences won’t see these types of games available in their region, but a few make it outside of Japan.
9Durarara!! 3Way Standoff
Before it was adapted into an anime,Durarara!!began as a light novel series.Durarara!! 3way standoffis the first game of the series. It’s a visual novel where the player takes on the role of Yoshimune Miyoshi, an original character for the game. Players befriend the three Raira Academy students, Mikado, Kida, and Anri, and explore Ikebukuro.
They encounter several other characters like Izaya, Shizuo, Shinra and even Celty. Yoshimune finds himself involved in an altercation involving the Yellow Scarves, Saika Army, and the Dollars, and the choices the players make determine where he ultimately ends up.Durarara!! 3way standoffhas a sequel and then a remake for thePlayStation Vita.
8Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climaxis one of the games that made it over to the West from Japan. It’s a 2D arcade fighting game that features many characters from light novels printed by the publishing company Dengeki Bunko. Characters are divided into playable fighting characters and assist characters. Characters from series likeSword Art Online,The Devil Is a Part-Timer!Spice and Wolfand evenBoogiepopare featured.
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The game was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dengeki Bunko, and it was first released in arcades in Japan before being released for thePlayStation 3andPlayStation Vita. There’s been an updated version released in 2015 calledDengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignitionthat adds more characters to the roster. But it was only released in Japan.
7The Rising Of The Shield Hero: Relive The Animation
A popular light novel genre is Isekai which blends fantasy and science fiction. Most Isekai are about male protagonists who suddenly find themselves in another world.The Rising of the Shield Herolight novel follows that basic premise as Naofumi and three other young men from Japan find themselves as another world’s Cardinal Heroes. Each of the heroes has a different legendary piece of equipment, with Naofumi’s being the Legendary Shield.
Despite being made a hero, Naofumi finds himself shunnedby the majority of the kingdom as he’s betrayed and framed for a crime he didn’t commit by the kingdom’s princess.The Rising of the Shield Hero: Relive The Animationis an RPG that retells the anime. It has a battle system that uses the abilities the Shield Hero has in canon and a leveling system that allows players to infuse their shield with different items. It’s also one of the few games available officially in the US, throughSteam.
6Sword Art Online: Lost Song
Sword Art Onlineis a very well-known series and is probably considered one of the driving forces in the rise in popularity of the Isekai genre. Many know it for its anime series, but it started as a light novel.Sword Art Online, orSAO, has several different games, and many of them have officially made it over to America.
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One of the best games isSword Art Online: Lost Songwhich follows the alternate timeline in ALfheim, that doesn’t follow the original storyline of the light novels.Lost Songhas more action game-based gameplay than the standard MMORPG style of the other games. Players can take on the role of characters other than the protagonist Kirito and can even create their own characters.
5Full Metal Panic! Fight: Who Dares Wins
Full Metal Panic!is asci-fi light novel seriesthat focuses on Sousuke Sagara, a covert private military organization member. He ends up infiltrating a high school as he is tasked with protecting Kaname Chidori a lively but seemingly ordinary high school girl.
Its first anime adaptation was made in the 2000s and its only game came out in 2018.Full Metal Panic! Fight: Who Dares Winsis a tactical RPG that takes place during the series' 4th season. The game is produced by the same company that created theSuper Robot Warsgame series.
4Occultic;Nine
Occultic;Nineis a light novel series that is a part ofScience Adventure, a multimedia franchise that includes series likeSteins;Gate. The series follows nine very strange people who are all linked together by the occult blog of high schooler Yuuta Gamon. Strange things slowly begin to happen around them that suggest reality is not what they all thought it to be.
A game for the series was released in 2017 for the PS4, PSVita andXbox One. It was avisual novel game that tells the eventsof the light novels. There were plans to port it to the Switch that would include new content, but those plans were canceled in August 2022.
3Bakemonogatari Portable
Bakemonogatariis a part of theMonogatarilight novel series. It’s about a high schooler named Koyomi Araragi who survives a vampire attack and winds up helping different girls with thevarious supernatural/occult issuesthat plague their lives.
Bakemonogatari Portableis a visual novel based on the events of the light novels. Players get to play as Koyomi and other characters in the series. It closely follows the events in the light novels, with a few added scenes to expand on the plot.
2DS Dengeki Bunko ADV: Baccano!
Baccano!is a light novel series that’s set in a fictional version of the United States, over different time periods. It features the perspectives of different characters, all of who are connected to an immortality potion that was created in the 1930s.DS Dengeki Bunko ADV: Baccano!is a visual novel for theNintendo DS.
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It takes place during the Grand Punk Railroad light novels and retells what happened on the Flying Pussyfoot from the perspective of different characters. The goal is to make sure the passengers make it safely to New York.
1Toradora! Portable
Toradora!is a light novel series about Ryuji Takasu a high school student with an intimidating aura, but a very gentle disposition. He meets a girl Taiga Aisaka who is pretty much his direct opposite, a cute and sweet-looking girl with a harsh personality. Though they have issues at first the two come to work together in pursuit of thecrushes they have on the other’s best friend.
Characters fromToradora!have been included in other games likeDengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, but the onlyToradora! game has beenToradora! Portable. It’s a visual novel game that focuses on Ryuji, who loses some of his memories. There are multiple endings to the game and there’s even a mini-game where players get to play from the perspective of Taiga.
