I gotta say it, nostalgia is the sole reason why we keep supporting and getting these mediocre anime games. As long as we continue to let our nostalgia blind us, we will never get good quality anime games.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and I often wonder how is it that the anime games scene is the only sector in gaming that gets a pass for releasing abysmal games year in and year out. Any other sector or genre that dares to release the quality of games that we with these anime games, would have been slaughtered by the masses. Take any recent anime games that have come out, and take away their IP name, and see if people would be just as generous as before. I’m mostly looking at Bandai Namco as they are the one with the most IP of popular anime games.
At first I thought it could be licensing issues, maybe the publishers like Bandai are very strict when it comes to the schedule as to when they want their games to be out and force developers to cut corners. That could be it, but then I don’t want to absorb the blame from the community either because I believe we too are to blame for this mess we’re in currently. We see that a game are mediocre from trailers and gameplay previews, heck some of you KNOW the game is going to be mediocre, yet you all line up to pick it up day, why? Nostalgia!
Because it’s the only game that has your favorite anime on it, so you have to get it. Then a week later, some of you all have the audacity to complain about it been bad, then repeat the cycle when they announce a sequel. I also put blame of YouTubers who are not honest with their audience about an anime game and instead pretend to enjoy or be hype about a game, in fear of annoying the fanbase or to milk it for view. Further misleading people to recklessly buying mediocre products. All because of hype!
We are never going to get good anime games until we start talking with our wallet. You don’t have to play a game to know whether it’s going to be good or bad, we have enough resources in this day and age to estimate and gauge the quality of these games before buying it. We gotta be better. The publishers know that their games hinge on nostalgia so they play on it heavy, using their trailer to really drill in those emotion into you. If I’m being honest, I don’t see anime games getting any better soon. While most games are pushing the envelope as to what they can do, anime games seems to be lagging behind, almost as if they’re stuck in the 2000’s.
