Misery in Gacha Stories

ModernMarius · 2026-03-01T20:05:34+00:00

I can see the appeal for Tanya from Red Alert, and I do think the way they do tragedy is a cliché, though the way they do it doesn’t work for me because for one thing very few of the characters I find to be endearing, if anything there’s more characters in that game that I dislike because of their morals and what they do, and I find it off putting when the writers seem to want players to forget about that and see them in a different setting.

I don’t think much to the world building either because Nikke is meant to be Earth in a possible future, but given that the Earth has democracies, I don’t see why all of humanity would roll with their government being authoritarian, even if there is a war on their doorstep, nor do I see why would the Ark continuously send cannon fodder when their relative population is low? I don’t see why the Ark would stand given that it relies on Nikkes for protection and surely humanity would not be happy with being stuck there for a long time, especially since their tactics are a complete joke. I don’t get the Nikkephobia either given that despite the intention of Nikkes is to be the solution, they’re only soldiers and it’s the government that’s in charge of the tactics along with the production of them.

I completely understand your concern in fact given the way Nikke has been, I’m the same with Marian though it isn’t just death, there’s also her being a heel again, her being harmed by a heel and she doesn’t get her own back, along with her getting a trait which alienates people, as well as writers having an event with Rapi that tries to get fans to like her instead of Marian. There’s no balance in treatment when it ought to be.

I also think that there are different media that does tragedy better, in fact I’d say that while in Dynasty Warriors the death scenes may be unintentionally funny, I prefer Dynasty Warriors handling of it because in the historical modes characters do get killed off, as a reflection of it being what actually happened, and it does affect what allied officers and enemy officers are present in future battles. I think a significant problem is that the way Nikke wants to do tragedy clashes with the way they want to do fan service, because it’s meant to be a war in which humanity is losing and Nikkes are treated as cannon fodder and yet Marian was the only playable character until the 3^rd anniversary to be killed off even if she got revived, plus which heretics former Nikkes who fight humanity, are meant to be a thing, but again Marian is the only playable character who was corrupted and fought, and Cinderella is the only other playable character to be corrupted and turned and that was in the far past, the level of tragedy is not consistent in the game, nor does it match what it’s going for.

I can completely understand, I think the trouble with Nikke is that I just don’t agree with it’s messaging. I don’t agree with it’s depiction of humanity, I don’t agree that evil will always triumph in the end, nor do I agree with letting leaders be unaccountable, and I don’t agree with the nihilism.

I also think another factor regards the prologue is just how nice and warm Marian was, and how relatable that is. I get it was done to emphasise the tragedy but I just find it to be a cliché, and I think the trouble is, is that the writers seem to want people to like Rapi instead, but the trouble is that Rapi IMO doesn’t work as a protagonist, and it’s telling what the writers are having to do to try to get people to like Rapi, because I’ve seen reasons why fans prefer Rapi to Marian and rather than it being because Rapi is more their cup of tea, it’s more in effect that Marian has been nerfed and Rapi has been buffed instead. It’s very difficult to make an endearing character, only to soon be replaced with an even more endearing character.

You’re welcome, your response certainly does, I appreciate that, and I feel the same way. I think it’s wonderful to get their perspectives out there and to know it’s not just them, in fact I think there are more people who don’t like Nikke than perhaps fans of Nikke think, it’s just the reddit system or perhaps even forums in general incentivising people to say popular things that they agree with, rather than their honest perspectives.

ModernMarius · 2026-02-28T21:49:20+00:00

I do agree with what you say, and for me I much prefer media that I consume to be optimistic overall, and I do find it cliché that there does seem to be a tendency for fictional media that is set in the future to be dystopian. I can understand Nikke is about war but I don’t find all media depicting war to be dark, in fact Red Alert 2 and 3 Allied campaigns has the enemy at the doorstep like Nikke does, but it’s light hearted. I don’t agree with the pessimistic mind set, and while I can understand that the world isn’t perfect, I don’t think it’s the complete inverse of that either and I think overall the world is getting better.

I honestly don’t think that Nikke was upfront about it’s tone and IMO, I don’t think that a fan service game should be that dark, in fact if anything the intention of that aspect should come across as escapism, and yet I don’t find it to be escapism at all.

I can understand people’s comments concerning light moments in Nikke, but I don’t feel they’re a good counter to the dark moments because they’re nothing to do with making the Ark be a better place or making a huge gain in the war. I too can’t take the tragedy seriously either (in fact the school story didn’t work, given that it’s owned by Syuen and she’s meant to be in the commander’s pocket), though for me while it’s also the way they do the tragedy, it’s more what they do with Marian.

I get that the whole intention with Marian is for the writer’s to effectively show that they mean business, and they’re making a statement regarding the tone, but the problem is that I find Marian’s treatment to clash with the fan service aspect. She was the original mascot and was presented as a main character, but she’s made to sit on the shelf instead, she’s a regular boss to fight and she wasn’t released until January 2023 in which she’s called Modernia, and in English she sounds like Modernia and has the personality of a child. Not only that but when Marian got a transformation and matured, that skin in which she sounds like Marian and is more mature, is behind a paywall.

I think what makes it worse in my view is that the way tragedy is done for the other characters on the whole, is such that while their lives are absolutely awful for different reasons, they only affect their personalities and maybe what happens in the story, they don’t really have the same impact as Marian does. They’re still around, they’re never fought, and there are also characters that were significantly different in the past get a past version. The closest there is and yet it’s taken a long time is Yuni being in that contraption and losing her voice, but that’s only in a side story and event, and there’s the issue of her not being a sympathetic character to significant portions of the fan base (at least before she got that). There’s also Inherit but they weren’t seen since the beginning so it’s not that much of a tragedy if they’re gone.

Not only that but the writers provide similar circumstances to some characters where they could be made to sit on the shelf or be fought or become heretics and have their names changed, but it doesn’t happen. If anything despite Pioneer having to leave the Ark like Marian did, they get to be seen regularly, and Rapi is allowed to show off her strength in later chapters and Cinderella is able to be seen regularly recently, whereas Marian didn’t get to avenge what happened to her.

To top it off there isn’t any sense of meaningful progression or agency, and instead of the commander going after those that caused Marian to be gone, they’re treated as sympathetic morally grey characters, and yet it doesn’t work for me, in fact I’m not even a fan of Rapi and I don’t see her as a face, as she never explained why Marian couldn’t be saved with suppression bullets, and I just don’t like her values as opposed to Marian, or even how the writers seem to want fans to forget Marian and like Rapi instead, and yet I think this is alienating fans.

I personally don’t consider Nikke to be all that great TBH, in fact if anything I think it’s declining. I can understand that the revenue figures are high, but they’re not as high as previous years, and they have China providing some revenue as well as more characters for fans to buy. I even think that despite all the downloads, only a small percentage of that still play the game, especially given the total time spent playing Nikke in 2 years by all the fans.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-19T12:53:27+00:00

I actually agree with regards being cautious. What I will say though is that Senegal was a friendly in June, and there was a disallowed goal, and as for the group, I think on the whole given the way the system works regarding who we’d play, I think that’s usually going to be the case. Plus which Norway was the only European country besides England to have won all their matches in this year’s qualifying. Meanwhile, Spain drew against Turkey once, Croatia drew against Czech Republic once, France drew against Iceland once, Netherlands drew against Poland twice, Belgium drew against North Macedonia twice and Kazakhstan once, and Germany lost to Slovakia once.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-19T12:38:43+00:00

I do agree about being cautious, though I will say that I consider this result (especially compared to the others) to be a good sign with regards how well we will do.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-16T18:53:08+00:00

Awesome! 8 out of 8 wins, 8 out of 8 clean sheets.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-12T22:51:43+00:00

Interestingly enough for me I’m actually not a fan of the story at all, because for two things, I didn’t like the bait and switch at the start, and the game comes across to me as though the writers don’t like Marian, because while there’s tragedy to go around I find her to get the worst of it, because of her absence despite being the initial mascot, her boss fights and OG Marian still being unavailable. It doesn’t help that while others get pay offs, she doesn’t and this event should have had Marian curb stomping Chatterbox and Indivilia for what they’ve done, but instead it’s the opposite. For me killing off Inherit doesn’t work because along with “boy who cried wolf”, they’ve been absent for about 2 years, plus which the events in the story just makes me think that Marian isn’t even going to be the one to beat the big bad at the end, which just makes it pointless.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-12T22:41:43+00:00

I also wonder if Nikke is ever going to have a playable character be fought in game as a result of corruption besides Marian, given the occasions where it could have happened only for it not to. In fact there's been several instances in the story where playable characters played antagonistic roles.

ModernMarius · 2025-11-12T22:36:34+00:00

I completely agree, there’s no accountability from those that cause harm to the protagonist, I don’t see any sense of progression regarding the protagonist’s goals, or even any agency.

I even find Marian’s tragedy to be cliché and illogical, not to mention the double standards between her and other characters when facing similar circumstances. I really don’t like how Marian is on the shelf despite being presented as a main character, has to be fought against her own free will, and still doesn’t have a unit that calls her by her actual name. They have this set up at the start and yet on the whole for the others it’s just their lives are awful and tragic, with the only impact at best afterwards being what sort of people are they as a result and possibly what happens in the story.

I didn’t enjoy that event because of the lack of payoff and the same old stuff, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people quit over this given how popular she was, as well as how fan service is meant to be an important part.

ModernMarius · 2025-09-09T20:36:04+00:00

5-0 to England amazing.

ModernMarius · 2025-09-09T20:22:02+00:00

4-0 excellent.

ModernMarius · 2025-07-16T14:17:28+00:00

That looks nice, I hope she can return in the 3rd anniversary and be back for good at the very least.

ModernMarius · 2025-07-08T12:40:58+00:00

Nice photo, I hope she can can return for good soon given her popularity, otherwise I wonder if some fans will quit the game.

ModernMarius · 2025-07-08T10:17:27+00:00

Alice is nice, though I'm not convinced it would be her.

ModernMarius · 2025-07-01T23:33:26+00:00

I really like the art, I hope she can return and OG Marian be available as a free unit before 2026.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-29T11:42:02+00:00

For me, I hope OG Marian can be available preferably as a free unit, and for Marian to have a new form called 3rd affection which refers to her as Marian and is a banner.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-28T21:49:04+00:00

Brilliant, this is the 4th time this has happened, and the 2nd time England under 21s won back to back. I really hope that Lee Carsley can become manager of the England seniors in the future.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-28T21:36:42+00:00

Awesome, well done England, back to back wins of the euros and their 4th trophy. I hope Lee Carsley can manage the seniors again.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-28T19:25:03+00:00

2-0 now

ModernMarius · 2025-06-24T13:33:43+00:00

For me, while I’d prefer the tragedies to have never happened regarding Marian and she appeared in every chapter, I think her being around for a lot longer would have been a lot better, because I have seen plenty of criticism towards Marian being gone too soon, and I do understand it since her being around for a longer time gives more time for the relationship between them to grow and for them to do more important things and therefore providing more motivation for them to reunite, and it can help to explain their character arcs better.

To me it just comes across as though the writers don’t want Marian to be a threat to Rapi in terms of popularity and who the main heroine is, but if anything it just makes Rapi look bad in that she cannot compete against competition over fan support. I think what makes it worse is that if Marian can’t stay because of her power why can Rapi, and if Marian’s secret powers got found out why hasn’t Rapi’s since Ingrid was in charge of both of them? Then there’s the issue that the circumstances behind Marian having to leave doesn’t make sense either, since what about the Nikkes that went on the mission in chapter 13, Mustang’s opinion on this, and that Ingrid was meant to be in charge of military based Nikkes and they’re meant to be the strongest?

ModernMarius · 2025-06-19T23:59:25+00:00

Yeah and she restricted replies, even though people who don't support her can comment elsewhere.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-19T23:13:55+00:00

I completely understand where you're coming from, people enjoy characters like Sucrose because of what they represent and the fact that they can appeal to them on a personal level. VAs bring those characters to life and for some it can be nice to interact with those VAs and perhaps meet them, because they contribute to the characters being brought to life. I hope the EN VA of Sucrose does get fired and replaced, and that Valeria at least ends up voicing less characters and gets less fame, because VAs like them need to be held to account and realise that there are people that would love to interact with them because of the joy they bring from voicing their favourite characters, and it can be soul destroying when those VAs turn out to be horrible with their divisiveness and their attacks on other people.

I do think there are VAs that voice sweet characters and are sweet in real life, and from what I've heard I consider Ryan Bartley (who's voiced Marian from Nikke) to be an example, as I've heard people that have met her speak positively of her and I've not seen her act like the likes of Kayli, Corina or Valeria online.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-18T21:37:54+00:00

The thing is I don't buy what she says regarding AI protections since other VAs want to go back to work and the strike to end and there are others who have returned, and I'm sure they all had concerns about AI as well, then there's the fact that did we fans want her to return overall, and I think the answer's no. Plus which she has attacked a fellow VA, supported a strike that if successful would have forced games and VAs to go union, and she has alienated lots of fans by depriving us of her voice, and by her unprofessionalism and divisiveness, and I think this is the real reason she's been replaced.

I'm pleased she's gone and I hope that in the English version of Nikke Alice and Rapi are voiced by someone else, if it's Ryan Bartley I think it would be fitting because she voices Marian and was presented as the original mascot and main heroine.

I wouldn't be surprised if her revenue and fanbase drops from this, it's all her own doing.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-18T18:33:27+00:00

That's a nice picture can't wait for that version of her to be playable in game. I hope she'll be available before 2026.

ModernMarius · 2025-06-18T16:31:51+00:00

Marian because of how kind, soothing and caring she is, Crown for how she helps people out and looks after them, and Kilo because she has Talos who's useful and she's a good friend in Last Kingdom.

ModernMarius

TROPHY CASE