It is Time for a New Vampire Hunter D Game

Anime tie-ins are more popular than ever. From Dragon Ball Xenoverse to the new upcoming Sword Art Online RPG, Echoes of Aincrad, there is big money to be made in anime adaptations in game form. After watching a recent Dungeon Chill video, it occurred to me that there is an anime/manga/novel series (still ongoing by the way) that would be perfect for a new game, Vampire Hunter D.

The first reason that came to mind is that in the novels, the designs for Vampire Hunter D’s artwork are done by Yoshitaka Amano. You might know this name from the artist behind a lot of the concept artwork and title frames of the Final Fantasy games. He has a very painterly, delicate style that is vastly different from other anime-based games or franchises.

With the focus on visuals that people seem to have now, I think it would be interesting to make a shift away from cartoonish, cel-shaded visuals, with a franchise known for more delicate (yet gothic-influenced) art styles. There was actually a Vampire Hunter D game released on the PlayStation 1 back in 2000, in North America, to celebrate the film Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which was released in theaters.

I’m not going to go into a large amount of detail here about the Vampire Hunter D game (or films). Dungeon Chill covers it well in his video, and I’ll have that linked at the bottom of this article. However, with character-action games such as Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and others available on the market, Vampire Hunter D would provide an interesting bit of variety.

Vampire Hunter D’s world is set in a post-apocalyptic/sci-fi style where supernatural beings are common, and vampires once had a full, noble bloodline. D is a vampire that does mercenary work of sorts, similar to Geralt of Rivia. Many of his stories involve him pursuing a job and encountering others who are connected to said job, either friend or foe.

D, as a protagonist, is also different from modern anime protagonists, as he is somewhat detached and aloof, not excitable and personable, such as Goku from Dragon Ball or Luffy from One Piece. This is another reason that I think there is room for a Vampire Hunter D game on modern platforms. There are 57 novels as of 2024, which leave plenty of content for games, though the writer might choose (if approached) to provide a new scenario for an interactive Vampire Hunter D adventure.

I’m not sure if we will ever see another Vampire Hunter D game, but the world and its characters would be perfect for multiple adaptations. The developers could go closer to a Castlevania style or lean toward Devil May Cry and provide a more character-action-esque experience. Either way, for those of us who love Vampires, or are just fatigued by a lot of the more common anime games that are out right now, it would be a fun thing to see. I can’t help but feel that, due to the wealth of Vampire Hunter D content available both in Japan and in the West, it would be a shame for it to not get more love and attention.