I Feel Anime Games Are Soulless Button Mashing Marathons Despite 'Watching Anime' Being My First Love

Watching

Anime is something that I've always loved and still do. I've rewatched multiple arcs, defended filler episodes, cried for Itachi, admired Nagi and his footballing skills, and whatnot. But when it comes to anime games, they straight up feel soulless to me. Being an anime fan, most of us have tried a game or two, but they always fail to leave a mark as the shows do. The gap between anime shows and games is huge when it comes to keeping the audience hooked. On that note, here are my two cents on why anime games fail to impress the masses.

Why Anime Games Fail (And They Fail Big Time)?

So, there are a lot of reasons why anime games fail to make a mark like anime shows. And trust me when I say that I can write a whole thesis on the problems related to it. But, holding my horses here, I'll focus more on the core problems that I've encountered while playing anime games.

The 'I Know What Happened Syndrome'

Imagine you are going to play a game and you know everything that is going to happen - sounds like a turnoff, right? Well, at least for me, it is a major one. When I first played Spider-Man 2, the story felt like Ronaldo's Bicycle Kick in UCL against Juventus - clean, crisp, something new, and electrifying. But that was not the case with Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Series or any One Piece Odyssey. Why, because I already know what's going to happen.

Anime Have Armies, Games Have WWE Tryouts

Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Demon Slayer, and more have games, and these games are just boring, mediocre, and unlovable. Why, why, why do these developers think that making a game where the whole purpose is one Vs one fights will make the audience go mad? Studios be like, 'hey, let's make a game where people can beat Madara Uchiha by unlocking some colourful powers of Sakura? And the others go like Wow, what an idea, let's launch it as soon as possible and make Boruto beat Itachi too.'I mean, are you kidding me, we are talking about Madara 'The Legend' Uchiha, and Itachi 'The Goat' Uchiha, and you are serving a game where they can be overpowered. It comes as a heartbreak for a lot of fans and as discussed by my peers dealing with the same issues, 'No, we don't want these 1v1 Tekken first copies. No, Non, Nem, Nein.'

Wow What A Cutscene, Eww What A Gameplay

Most of the games are on life support and using cutscenes as oxygen. I am I have watched that multiple times. Why are you showing the same thing in the game? No one loves Spider-Man games because they look cool or have amazing cutscenes; people love them because the gameplay is on point, the stories are fresh, and nothing feels forced. Having a great cutscene is good, but pair it with crass gameplay, and it spoils the experience forever.

Innovation Is On Vacation With No Return Date

We got to see some of the most amazing anime shows in the last few years, but when it comes to games, there is no innovation. Studios play it more than safe, drop a game that is bursting with colourful attacks that look like Chinese fireworks and done. A game on an anime like Blue Lock could become an epic title, only if innovation is not on leave, and even give FIFA games a run for their money. But no, we are not going to see anything like that because most of the franchises are busy making cash out of the hype instead of actually delivering a game.

Why This Criticism Comes From Love - Not Hate

'The criticism you see is not because I dislike anime games; instead I would love to see a good one breaking all the records.'Fans will love to see games that actually have good stories, don't play by the cutscenes rulebook, and actually take the legacy of the anime forward. What I think is that the moment Studios start taking risks and experimenting will be the beginning of a new era in anime games. Ending the piece with a quote from our OG, Monkey D Luffy from One Piece: 'If You Don't Take Risks, You Can't Create A Future.'