For the past few years, open world anime games have been gaining massive interest, largely due to the success of HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact and the increasing global popularity with anime-related mediums. While a few, such as Tower of Fantasy, have tried to emulate Genshin’s success, most have been met with disappointment. With Genshin still reigning at the top, many are eager to see more open-world anime games challenge for its throne. We all know Genshin has been severely lacking in competition and the fans could definitely benefit from more options. Without further ado, here are some of our most exciting picks for open world anime games potentially coming in 2024.

Project Mugen

One of the most highly anticipated games on this list is Project Mugen, an open world action-RPG where players control ‘Espers’ to investigate supernatural occurrences and anomalies. Announced by Naked Rain in August 2023, Project Mugen’s trailer shows off an exciting traversal system, akin to Spiderman’s web-swinging, in a beautiful urban setting.

The various locations look absolutely stunning, containing plenty of life and activities to explore. Project Mugen will supposedly feature a great deal of freedom, with developers mentioning the ability to interact with almost any object, as well as being able to seamlessly visit many indoor locations like shops and arcades. In addition, players can also traverse the city with vehicles and swim in open water.

Most exciting of all is of course the fast paced combat displayed by the various featured characters. From guns, bows, and blades, to telekinesis and yo-yos, Project Mugen’s combat teases plenty of unique playstyles. Furthermore, it seems players will be able to utilize the environment around them to aid them in combat, such as tossing objects or breaking platforms.

Project Mugen is looking extremely promising, with what appears to be a fun and unique blend of GTA, Spiderman, and Honkai Impact 3rd. While many details are still unknown, what’s been shown so far has gotten us very excited for the game. Currently there is no official release date, but speculations put the launch of Project Mugen somewhere around late 2024.

Arknights: Endfield

Arknights: Endfield is another highly anticipated open world action-RPG, currently being developed by Hypergryph. Endfield is based on Hypergryph’s extremely popular tower defense mobile game ‘Arknights’. Announced in early 2022, Endfield appears to retain most of the core art style from the original IP. Located on the planet Talos-II, players will set out with Endfield Industries Operators to explore and gain footholds in a dangerous and untamed world.

From its gameplay footage, it seems players will get to control a team of four characters, or Operators, to explore the open world. Unlike Genshin, all four characters remain simultaneously on the field, with players able to swap freely among them. Described as a strategic game, Endfield also seems to hint at tower defense inspirations with what appears to be construction mechanics scattered throughout the world.

With an established and proven IP, Hypergryph’s Endfield is definitely catching the eyes of many old and new fans. While there is no official release date yet, Endfield will be holding its first technical test in January of 2024. We are definitely excited to see how this game will hold up against the competitors.

Wuthering Waves

From the developers of Punishing: Gray Raven, Kuro Game brings us their take on the open world action-RPG genre with Wuthering Waves. Set in a recovering post-apocalyptic world, players control ‘Resonators’ to combat various creatures and threats still lurking from the aftermath.

From what has been shown in closed beta footage, the game feels strikingly similar to Genshin Impact. There are six elements present in the game for players to utilize and interact with. Players can swap freely between a team of four Resonators during combat, unleashing a variety of abilities. Just like Genshin, there are normal attacks, heavy attacks, plunge attacks, as well as skills and ‘ultimates’. Although set in a grittier world than Genshin, the exploration also feels somewhat familiar, including chests, puzzles, ‘seelies’, climbing, and gliding.

Where it noticeably differs from Genshin are the QTE (quick time events), called Concerto Skills, that can be triggered between characters under specific conditions to perform powerful attacks. This is reminiscent of the QTE combat that can be found in Honkai Impact 3rd, as well as Kuro Game’s own PGR. Resonators also have the ability to perform parries and evasion attacks. Furthermore, each character possesses unique Resonance Circuits, shown above their health bar, that can be filled to perform a variety of bonus buffs and attacks.

Initially slated for 2022, the game has faced several delays and quite a few criticisms in its first closed beta test in April 2023. Some of the criticisms include repetitive puzzles, subpar character model quality, lack of voice lines, and uninspiring story. The co-op play also faces similar issues to that of Genshin, as many gameplay aspects such as puzzles, chests, and quest progression are locked out during it. Playing in co-op also prevents players from accessing QTEs, a core part of combat, and the ability to heal other players. Furthermore, many of Wuthering Waves menu UI seems to be reskins of Genshin Impact’s.

Despite the initial flaws, Wuthering Waves still has plenty of potential with its flashy combat and beautiful environments. Fortunately, the developers have acknowledged many of the issues and are hard at work to improve them. Some of the improvements have already been showcased on their official YouTube channel as well. Hopefully Wuthering Waves can make some good changes by its rumored late 2024 launch. The game will definitely need something truly unique to stand out from under Genshin’s shadow.

Zenless Zone Zero

Although Zenless Zone Zero is not a true open world game, it is hard to keep this upcoming anime action-RPG off the list considering the accolades of its developers. HoYoverse, the minds behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, are building a brand-new IP with ZZZ, which takes place in a futuristic and post-apocalyptic metropolis called New Eridu. Players will take on the role of a ‘Proxy’ to fight alongside multiple groups against the supernatural disasters known as ‘Hollows’.

ZZZ’s current explorable world is limited to the central hub where the player's main base resides. The area is similar in size to a single zone from HSR and has various shops and NPCs that players can visit. The main base is a shop called ‘Random Play’ where players can access their missions and rogue-like game modes. Combat mainly takes place inside isolated instances located within the Hollows.

The combat appears to be similar to HI3, with fast-paced swapping of characters and QTE action. ZZZ has also incorporated HI3’s dodging mechanics, allowing players to perform i-frames (invincibility frames) upon successful dodges and counterattacks immediately after.

ZZZ is visually stunning and possesses plenty of personable characters for players to enjoy. With HoYoverse’s flair, fans will undoubtedly be excited to check out New Eridu. Hopefully the rumors of a Q2 release in 2024 are not too far off, as we can’t wait to try it ourselves.

Blue Protocol

Blue Protocol is an online action-RPG developed by Bandai Namco and released in Japan in June 2023. While not available in the west yet, Amazon Games is aiming to launch it globally some time in 2024. The game is set 2,000 years in the future on the planet Regnas where overreliance on technology has threatened its existence.

There are currently five classes available in Blue Protocol: Blade Warden, Twin Striker, Keen Strider, Spell Weaver, and Foe Breaker. Players can freely swap between the classes by equipping different weapons, without the need to create new characters. However, progression in each class will still need to be done individually.

While the first few months of the Japanese release were met with several criticisms, including repetitive quests and progression, lack of challenging endgame content, and lackluster cosmetics, Bandai Namco has since made numerous regular improvements to Blue Protocol. With revamps to several progression systems, skills, and QoL, as well as new additions to endgame game modes, missions, and areas, Blue Protocol is looking better than ever.

The original delay for the global release appears to be a blessing in disguise as the developers continue to address feedback regularly in their streams. If Bandai Namco and Amazon Games can continue to work out the kinks, we have high hopes of a stronger start for the game’s global debut. The world of Regnas looks extremely beautiful with its fun anime art-style and is brimming with potential, so hopefully the developers can continue to do it justice by the time we receive it.

Conclusion

That concludes our list of open world anime games we are most looking forward to seeing in 2024. Fans of the genre can expect an exciting new year as beta tests and releases start to roll out. Hopefully these games can hit the ground running as we can never have too many open world anime games to enjoy.