But what about when an anime is made specifically to be a prologue to a game or to be incorporated into part of a games overall story and lore. It's something that very rarely happened until recently and it is a brilliant idea for a connection to a video game. Though, if the game isn't connected to Japan or if the game wasn't made in Japan then maybe anime isn't the proper way to have a connection or prologue to it.
Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood and Persona 5: The Day Breakers are my two examples of how this is done and done well, I'm not going to touch visual novels because that will be another topic for another day.
FINAL FANTASY XV: BROTHERHOOD - HOW IS IT INCORPORATED TO THE GAME WELL
It's not often that anything extra is a necessity to get the full experience out of a game but to understand the connection Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus share and why they really are like brothers this anime is necessary and it is done so well. Each episode is dedicated to one character and shows how they are connected to Noctis and what their life was like pre-bro trip.
My favourite episode is dedicated to Prompto, his story is both sickly sweet but also so interesting and something we never would've found out without this anime.
In other episodes you find out Ignis and Gladiolus connection to Noctis, both of whom have been around so long that you also see what young prince Noctis was really like. The anime helped to provide context to these characters so that my preconceived notion of Noctis being a whiny emo prince, Ignis being a stuck up prick, Gladiolus being a meat head, and Prompto being an annoying sidekick were wrong. It let me see a backstory to each of these characters that without this anime I wouldn't have known.
The Brotherhood series was so well done and I don't think a CGI version of it would've worked as well, Final Fantasy XV having been made in Japan anime as a medium for this prologue suited it, I think it also allowed for a switch up so that Kingsglaive could be CGI because too much of something can be a bad thing.
PERSONA 5: THE DAY BREAKERS
You don't have to watch this to understand Persona 5, but you are given a brief introduction to 5 of the characters including the main protagonist (though it gives you the false impression that he'll talk in game which he doesn't). You also see what the Phantom Thieves of Hearts do to those that are evil: they go inside their mind, fight their shadow self, steal their treasure, and cause the evil person to change their ways. Sure, Morgana does explain that to you in game early on, but seeing the entire process happen quickly and in anime format is interesting. I'm not far enough into Persona 5 to know if the bad guy whose heart they change is actually an in-game villain but even if it's not it explains Persona 5's Palace system in a fast paced, action packed way without the slow turn based combat that Persona has. It does spoil all the Personas of the 5 characters featured but it's a given that these characters in game were going to get a Persona regardless.
Persona 5 is a game that takes places entirely in Japan and there is anime used even within the game itself so having an anime prologue to it makes perfect sense, it was a good idea, not something necessary but provides a good and proper little extra to add to the game.
Anime and video games truly can go hand in hand and these two anime examples show just how well they can do; provide something on the side for those that are interested in it to enjoy in a unique and creative format. Proving that anime has more uses than just basic series based on manga.