Bandai Namcois one of the oldest video game giants that exists, first founded in 1955 as simply Namco before merging in 2006 under its official name. One of the main flagship series of Namco was the arcade game Pac-Man, a timeless and nostalgic gaming staple, as well as the Tekken, Tales, and Ace Combat series, part of the main reasons why it’s considered a titan of the industry.
Bandai Namco is both a developer and a publisher that has expanded its library quite a lot over the decades, branching into choice-based horror games, puzzle platformers, RPGs, and, of course, the titles by FromSoftware. Here are some of the most exciting and influential games developed and distributed by the Japanese gaming giant.
Developer Supermassive Games is known for utilizing a branching narrative system in its horror games, and forthe multi-chapter Dark Pictures Anthology, Bandai Namco took on the publishing. I would recommend playing all the Dark Pictures games, as they each serve up worthy original horror in their own right, but House of Ashes is by far the best of what Season One has to offer.
House of Ashes begins in ancient Mesopotamia, where the Akkadian Empire is under siege by giant bat-like vampire creatures. Then, it transitions to the War in Iraq in 2003, where the CIA and US Army personnel will inevitably encounter those same creatures after falling into the Akkadian temple. The twist reveal here is brilliant, the monsters are terrifying, and the story is one of the best in the horror genre.
The voice cast includes High School Musical and Phineas and Ferb star Ashley Tisdale.
Bandai Namco has also graced gaming with the Ace Combat series, and the seventh installment of the series, Skies Unknown, is one of the best, most realistic flight simulators and aerial combat games currently. In 2022, they even launched a Top Gun Maverick DLC to coincide with the release ofthe epic legacy sequel, allowing you to fly the same models as seen in the film.
It’s a game that will truly make you feel like you’re Tom Cruise in Maverick, carrying out a series of missions in a campaign story where the sky’s the limit. There’s a lot of excellent detail in the UI and design of the cockpit itself, especially since you can be in first-person while you pilot and fight.
Bandai Namco also helped with publishingone of the most influential horror puzzlersever made, Little Nightmares. The concept is sweet yet harrowing and horrifying, following a little girl in a yellow raincoat in an undersea rig called the Maw as she’s hunted by the creepiest and most gigantic adults you’ve probably ever seen in your life.
As Six, you will have to outrun these hideous adult monsters who seemingly want to chow down on you, solving puzzles and platforming while doing so. The environment art and the atmosphere reminiscent of Henry Selick’s Coraline are what really make this game an iconic piece, especially the original designs of all the enemies that you could totally see Pennywise potentially morphing into.
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Bandai Namco and FromSoftware have a long-standing partnership, so Armored Core is also part of the Bandai Namco catalog. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon wasthe first new installment in ten yearsand returned with a mighty score of 86 on Metacritic, making it the highest-rated game of the series.
Armored Core 6 offers a fast-paced and challenging mech battle playground, where you go on a set of missions across a Call of Duty-style campaign with cutscene debriefs in between. The customization is also one of its best weapons, pun intended. You can use all sorts of creativity in designing your mech, while keeping in mind the best equipment to make it as powerful as it can be for going up against foes.
One of the biggest JRPG series, especiallyone to play if you love Final Fantasy, is the Tales series, which also happens to be a property of Bandai Namco. The Tales series is sprawling, with 2021’s Tale of Arise marking its 27th entry overall, which should tell you how much it’s dominating the JRPG landscape. Plus, it sold one million copies in its first week alone.
Tales of Arise introduces a new graphics shader to match the overall anime-style atmosphere, which also helps create some of the most eye-popping art and visuals. The combat also got the new addition of a move called Boost Strike, which allows you to chain attacks with your party members, like in Kingdom Hearts 3.
While NetherRealm has Mortal Kombat, Bandai Namco has the equally popular fighting game series Tekken. Part of its main premise isthe Devil Gene, which creates alternate demon variants of the characters. Each game also continues the storyline with the main cast of characters, similar to Mortal Kombat.
Tekken 8, in particular, offers a huge roster of fighters and ismade on Unreal Engine 5, so its arenas are all graphically stunning, and the visuals are the best of the series. Your protagonist is Jin Kazama, who is affected by Devil Gene powers, and he must confront his father, Kazuya Mishima, the game’s main antagonist, in a compelling rivalry that grips you throughout the series.
Fighting game series Soul Caliber is also a Bandai Namco property and could equally be placed here.
Though Larian is the sole developer and self-publisher of Divinity: Original Sin 2 on PC, Bandai Namco helped port the game to consoles so it could reach more players. Therefore, I’d say it still counts for Bandai Namco to get a bit of credit for this one. After all, Divinity: Original Sin 2 isone of the most important turn-based fantasy RPGsthat paved the way for Baldur’s Gate 3.
Divinity 2 follows the same setup, art style, UI, and RPG formula as Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing you to select from a variety of classes and venture into the world of Rivellon to build the story as you see fit. You can also form a party with companions here and play with your friends in co-op, like a D&D adventure.
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FromSoftware and Bandai Namco’s masterpiece was Elden Ring, a bold new fantasy entry in the Soulsborne series with lore and creative direction aided by none other thanGame of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin. The art, enemy designs, and dark fantasy open world are astonishing, and the gameplay systems aim to be the most fine-tuned and accessible of any previous FromSoftware title.
You’ll play as the Tarnished, traversing the scenic environments of the Lands Between, home to various deadly bosses and lore tied to Demigods. It’sone of the most awarded Game of the Year titlesfor a reason, and it’s since seen the DLC expansion Shadow of the Erdtree (which itself even went up for Game of the Year) and now also the multiplayer roguelike spin-off, Elden Ring Nightreign.
But, of course, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco wouldn’t be in the successful place they’re in now regarding Soulslikes without the title that started it all – Dark Souls (even though the credit also partially goes to its predecessor, Demon’s Souls). Dark Souls was as groundbreaking and influential a game as GTA, leading to new clones from indie developers to deliver a similar kind of experience.
The fantasy world of Lordran isfilled with Gothic locationsthat are home to some of the most gigantic and punishing foes you’ll ever have to face. It’s a game that truly spoke to the culture of ‘rage-quitting,’ truly offering up a challenge to players who would get used to seeing the ‘You Died’ screen more often than in other games. The storytelling aspect of having very minimal cutscenes and uncovering hidden lore through items and the environment also became a unique approach.
Bandai Namco’s most influential game goes back to the era of arcades, when the company was also just Namco. We’re, of course, talking about the classic Pac-Man, aka the most famous and iconic maze game of a yellow circle going around and eating points while avoiding colorful ghosts before they can end your run. And then turning the tables and getting to eat ghosts after acquiring power pellets.
Pac-Man is a cultural marvel, a mascot that withstood the test of time to make a huge impact on gaming history. You can play Pac-Man even just by searching it up on Google, and let’s not forget all the pop-culture media it was a part of (looking at you, Pixels). Next, Bandai Namco is evolving Pac-Man into a darker Metroidvania platforming game, Shadow Labyrinth, for which there waseven a Secret Level episode.
