Normally, I just quietly squat in the anime section enjoying the looks of paper-thin waifus, but today I came across the topic in the 'Movie and TV Fandom' section, and my blood pressure shot up immediately. As an otaku who swears to defend the 2D world to the death, I originally rejected 'realistic art styles,' until my group friends insanely recommended this game 'Battlefield War Simulator' to me, saying things like 'battlefields grand enough to be wallpapers' and 'the explosive art of tank advances.' And I... believed them. I really believed them 😭
First, let's praise the art style, I have to be fair about this. The maps are really enormous, and the moment a plane trails smoke, I momentarily thought I was watching Tanya from 'Saga of Tanya the Evil' cast a big spell—explosions flying everywhere, clear projectile trajectories—the physics engine is really something, hardcore enough to even guess the shapes of sparks. You could say that purely in terms of graphics, it surpasses some gacha games I've played by several levels, so much that as a 2D otaku who always thinks 'art style is king,' it's the first time I felt realism could be appealing.
But ladies, the gameplay is so bad I could carve out Gensokyo on my floor with my toes!!!!! The world has no plot supporting it; as soon as you open it, it makes you a 'commander,' and then infantry and tanks push forward together. We otakus like grand scenes, but not driving a tank around like a headless upperclassman!! It's advertised as a strategy-focused war simulator, but in reality, it totally relies on watching AI go wild. Infantry spin in circles like they've been enchanted, tanks that should crush everything with their treads get stuck on a little dirt mound and awkwardly hop back and forth—exactly like how I've messed up my own mobile game sessions lately 🙃
And airplanes? Oh boy, the controls and realism are on two extremes. The realism is real, physics simulation is so strong that I thought the space agency parachuted in to design this game, but the difficulty is terrifying. I personally turned it into a 'Gundam airdrop performance,' rolling three and a half times, nose directly into the ground, fireworks going off, AI teammates next to me walking around like nothing happened. Sure, it's war, though I didn't get killed much by enemies, I contributed at least ten kills because of failed piloting.
And what's more, this game... it doesn't even have voice actors, and the story? Zero??I only hear the roar of engines and the whistling of bullets, but not a single cheesy line, not even a cute pilot yelling 'Fire~'. Honestly, playing it feels so lonely. No matter how amazing the graphics are, they can't make up for a commander like me who survives on my waifu's voice!! If I had to choose between driving a tank or listening to Ayase Hanazawa's voice, I'd pick the latter, seriously.
The most ridiculous part is that this game is free to download. It's true—0 yuan, newbie-friendly—but it stole three precious hours of my life!! Wouldn't it be better to spend that time pulling gacha for my waifus? Fine, I'll accept that the gacha reads my mind, at least the character art restores my spirit. But in this game, my eyes had a feast of special effects, while my brain went hungry. What is this? This is called 'a beautiful battlefield with a dumb game mode.'
On the other hand, if you want to experience some kind of 'helplessness in a real war' in the real world… then sure, you can download it just to check it out, like sightseeing or viewing 'explosive art.' After all, the art style is impressive enough to make a realist like me, who's usually indifferent to 2D, nod in approval. But gameplay? I'm just an otaku, not responsible for strategy or manual dexterity. Hmph, anyway, even if I had to choose a hundred more times between a 'spirit-filled tank AI' and 'grinding with Gudako,' I'd rather listen to my kouhai yell 'Senpai' in a Fire Emblem run than be a commander who only feeds the battlefield 👋.
Peace~ Good night.