Recently, I have been deceived again😭. As a senior two-dimensional otaku, I have been deceived countless times by those games with "beautiful graphics and luxurious voice actors". Every time I see the cover, I have an orgasm in my head. As a result, when I play it, the battle system is like playing PPT, the plot is duller than boiled water, and even the live2D of the vertical painting blinks stiffly... Ah, this is probably the legendary "vertical painting fraud". The last time I played a strategy game called "Kyoto Animation style", I went into it for Tomokazu Sugita's dubbing, but after playing it for half an hour I felt sleepy. Collecting resources felt like doing math problems, it had no soul at all!
However, recently when I was looking for a "real game" that could heal my wounded heart, I actually found this thing in the corner - European War 5: Empire. When I first saw its painting style, I rejected it in my heart: What, this realistic historical style, there is no beautiful girl, no animal-eared girl, not even a tsundere princess... However, with the mentality of "there is nothing else fun anyway", I clicked in, and the result! I am! I had a hard time all night long! 😱
To be honest, the style of this game is indeed not that of two-dimensional, but its UI is surprisingly clean and comfortable. The cities and army models on the map have a pixel-style retro feel, which makes me a little addictive after watching it for a long time. The point is, it doesn't have those fancy card draws, krypton gold, or limited-time activities. It's just a pure experience of “you are a commander, go conquer the world.” For someone like me, who usually only cares about voice actors and illustrations, for the first time I became addicted to the exhilarating feeling of "capturing a city" - commanding an army to rush into the enemy's city, listening to the BGM, I felt like the soul of Chuuji was burning🔥.
Moreover, this game actually has an old-school ACG segment like "pursuing beautiful princesses from all over the world"! Although the vertical painting is not in Japanese style, the "conquer the world and open a harem" routine reminded me instantly of those political marriages in "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes" (laughs). Although there are no big names in voice acting, the dubbing is surprisingly impressive, at least it's igniting when shouting "attack" on the battlefield.
So, I want to say to those otakus who, like me, have been hurt by games with "good graphics but bad gameplay": Sometimes, let go of your obsession with two-dimensional graphics and try those "ordinary"-looking games, and maybe you can discover a new world. Just like European War 5, it doesn't have the exquisite live 2D, nor the breathtaking panting of Rie Kugimiya, but its gameplay can really make you forget the sigh of “Ah, this vertical painting is so beautiful”, and just want to shout “My empire, I will protect it!”😎
(P.S. If anyone knows if there are any hidden 2D skins or mods inside, please tell me! My Chuuni Soul is ready to be burned again🔥)