Most fantasy video games and even other media tend to stay within medieval or past settings. This way, they get to set a more serious tone that won’t clash with contemporary rules and norms. However,urban fantasyalso exists; it’s a fiction genre where fantasy elements areisekai’dor generously sprinkled into a contemporary urban city.
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The result is an art form that establishes a clear dichotomy between fantasy and modernity. It can be rather tricky to establish certain rules for both of their base genres; but if done right, such a strong blend can result in some memorable cocktails like these followingurban fantasy games.
8Devil May Cry 5
TheDevil May Crygames have always been good examples of the urban fantasy genre. To even things out with the modern settings' military might,Devil May Cryintroduceddemons as the primary threatand it takes special fantasy beings to dispatch them.Devil May Cry 5continues this tradition.
In the latest title in the series, players get to control three protagonists with demonic powers to stop the Demon King Urizen himself from destroying humanity.Devil May Cry 5deserves the spotlight here because apart from having the best graphics in the series, it also breathed new life into the formula which was rather dated by the fourth game.
7Persona 5
It’s a game that adopts an anime style and comes with high school protagonists; thus, players can bet that the urban element as well as the fantasy element here is strong. One can’t simply substitutePersona’s urban settingfor a medieval one and not ruin the game’s narrative and gameplay.
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Persona 5is a rather proud example of this. As high schoolers in an anime-themed world, the players must lead the protagonist, Ren to uncover a conspiracy orchestrated by corrupt adults. On the fantasy side,Persona 5and the older games feature magical attacks and even mythical creatures; on the contemporary side, players get to date NPCs in Shibuya.
6Bayonetta
Bayonetta’s story is rather convoluted but no matter how one understands it, it always takes place in a contemporary or urban setting. Well, at least that’s the case for most of the three games. The first game was notable for introducing anew breed of action gameplayand protagonist to the genre.
As for why it takes place in a contemporary setting, the titular protagonist was actually awakened after five centuries of slumber. Turns out she’s a Witch who was part of a long-standing war against Angels and this war has stretched well into the modern era. So it’s not unusual to see Bayonetta fighting hairy monsters on a freeway or a skyscraper.
5Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasygameslove to mix up their genres andFinal Fantasy 7is a good example here. It has overt fantasy elements all crammed into a futuristic but also modern-looking cityscape. Its priority is its characters and storytelling, world cohesion is only second but even then, Midgar has its own charms.
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It’s a city run by a greedy megacorporation named Shinra whose policies and actions have drawn the ire of a group of rebels who often take a shot at ruining Shinra’s operations. To that end, it also doesn’t shy away from cyberpunk themes. At the same time, it incorporates magical or elemental attacks, demons, familiars, and even godly beings.
4Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
An easy way to introduce fantasy with modernity is by sinking vampire fangs into the premise. That’s why a lot of vampire stories take place in modern times. AndVampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlinesis a shining role model for this marriage of genres, at least in video games.
It has an elaborate lore about its vampires dating back to the biblical Cain and Abel. It just so happens thatvampires fit right inwith the contemporary setting. They’re immortal anyway, so they might as well go with the flow and adjust to the rapidly-changing times. The player character inBloodlinessimply managed to get caught in their usual hedonism.
3Dark
Speaking of vampires,Darkoffers a more focused story on the matter. It follows the misadventures of a man named Eric Bane who was recentlyturned into a vampire. He wasn’t that lucky, however, since Eric also struggled with amnesia in the process, which is cliche but there’s no better way to create a self-insert element for players.
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In any case, Eric needs to keep feeding on blood lest he turns into a mindless ghoul. This is certainly more difficult to follow in a contemporary setting— too many lights and busybodies. Apart from vampires, an angel is also present in the fray, often guiding Eric and acting as his conscience.
2Mortal Kombat 11
OtherMortal Kombatgames could also count here, butMortal Kombat 11is most notable for the latest graphics and upping the stakes in its story.Mortal Kombatgames mostly take place in a contemporary world and even feature modern Earth characters like Johnny Cage and Sonya.
The premise gets more chaotic when different dimensions and worlds are thrown into the mix. Suddenly, fighters from different dimensions came pouring into Earth (and vice versa) for a chance to compete inthe titular tournament. Needless to say, there’s no shortage of fantasy characters and magic in this game, from ice-cold killer ninjas to dragon hybrids.
1The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Ustakes the low-hanging fruit of importing fairy tale characters into a modern-day setting and creating a drama out of it. This is an episodic adventure game where players mostly pick dialogue and action options to proceed with their detective story.
Among its fantasy characters are fairy tale heavyweights such as the big bad wolf, Snow White, Woodsman, the Toad, and even Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Sure enough, all of them are typically dulled and deadened versions of themselves, worn down by the stress of modern life— almost unrecognizable from their fantasy book counterparts.
