5 Best Anime Based on Video Games to Watch Before Sekiro: No Defeat

FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice redefined action gaming with its brutal Sengoku-era posture combat and mythical shinobi lore. Now, its official anime adaptation, Sekiro: No Defeat, is executing a unique release rollout, which is produced by Kadokawa, studio Qzil.la, and ARCH.

— 「SEKIRO: NO DEFEAT」アニメ公式 ｜9月4日(金)より3週間限定上映 (@sekiro_nd_anime) September 24, 2026

Following a limited three-week Japanese theatrical run that began on September 4, 2026, an expanded eight-episode TV series has officially been confirmed to premiere globally via Crunchyroll in January 2027. To prepare for this hand-drawn masterpiece of blood, resurrective curses, and swordplay, here are five video game anime adaptations that capture different pieces of the experience.

1 Onimusha Is Basically the Samurai Bloodbath You Need Before Sekiro

Capcom’s Onimusha game series mixes Sengoku-era warfare with Genma demons, but the 2023 anime deliberately takes a different route. It premiered on Netflix on November 2, 2023, following an aging Miyamoto Musashi, modeled on Toshiro Mifune, as he carries the Oni Gauntlet on a demon-hunting mission. The series is therefore anime-original in its central story, rather than a retelling of Samanosuke’s game adventures.

Its 3D CGI characters against hand-drawn backgrounds give the swordplay a film-like weight. For Sekiro fans, the connection runs deeper than samurai aesthetics: both collide Japanese history with supernatural horror, while Onimusha’s Oni mythology offers a more openly demonic cousin to Sekiro’s eerie immortality and monstrous foes.

2 Fate’s Unlimited Blade Works Turns Heroic Ideals Into Swordplay Chaos

Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is ufotable’s 2014–2015 TV adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route from TYPE-MOON’s visual novel Fate/stay night. It follows Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka as they are dragged into the Fifth Holy Grail War, where seven Masters summon legendary Servants to battle for a wish-granting Grail. Beginning in October 2014, the anime expands the game route across two seasons totaling 26 episodes, which includes an extended prologue followed by 12 episodes in Season 1 and 13 in Season 2.

Its spectacular Servant duels make the Sekiro connection obvious, but the deeper link is ideological: both stories make warriors confront what their fighting means. UBW trades Sengoku Japan for modern fantasy, yet its weapon clashes, supernatural swordsmanship, and questions about ideals make it a sharp companion before No Defeat.

3 Devil May Cry Brings Demon-Slaying Swagger and Ridiculous Amounts of Aura

Long before Netflix’s adaptation, Madhouse brought Capcom’s Devil May Cry games to television in 2007. The 12-episode anime premiered in Japan on June 14, following Dante as his demon-hunting work pulls him into dangerous supernatural cases, including protecting orphaned heiress Patty Lowell. Rather than simply retelling one game, the series builds episodic stories around Dante’s life between game events, with game writer Bingo Morihashi also involved.

Its connection to Sekiro comes through the sheer attitude of its combat: supernatural enemies, stylish swordplay, and a protagonist who walks into demonic chaos with unnerving confidence. No Defeat is far more samurai-focused, but this anime supplies the swagger and monster-slaying energy.

4 Dragon’s Dogma Throws You Into a Monster Hunt With Zero Room for Mercy

Dragon’s Dogma, Capcom’s 2012 open-world action RPG, became a Netflix anime on September 17, 2020. It follows Ethan, resurrected as an Arisen after a dragon steals his heart, and Hannah, a mysterious Pawn who joins his revenge quest. The anime reshapes the game’s broad, player-driven world into a tighter journey, with monsters embodying the seven deadly sins.

Sekiro emphasizes precise duels and traversal, while Dragon’s Dogma thrives on giant creatures and party dynamics. Yet both turn supernatural combat into physical problem-solving, throwing warriors against enemies whose abilities demand adaptation. Dragon’s Dogma offers another game-born world where every hunt feels like a boss encounter.

5 NieR:Automata Ver1.1a Brings Existential Chaos With an Insane Aura

NieR:Automata Ver1.1a game-turned-anime premiered in Japan on January 7, 2023, adapting Square Enix’s NieR:Automata. It follows YoRHa androids 2B and 9S as they descend to ruined Earth to fight machine lifeforms, gradually uncovering disturbing truths about their war. The anime is not a direct retelling: director Ryouji Masuyama and game director Yoko Taro built a version using anime-specific staging and altered story beats. That makes its connection to Sekiro interesting.

Both pair elegant weapon choreography with worlds where identity, death, and purpose resist easy answers. Sekiro’s Japanese darkness becomes NieR’s science-fiction existentialism, but the emotional machinery feels similar: warriors keep fighting while questioning what their struggle means.

Which game-based anime would you watch before Sekiro: No Defeat? Tell us your pick in the comments.