I completely understand if you didn’t know about this game or just don’t care. This was Nintendo’s fourth major attempt at breaking into the mobile game market after Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. And it was pretty successful for itself, grossing over $167 million dollars in revenue and at one point being the company’s second biggest mobile success after Fire Emblem.
[Dragalia Lost](https://youtu.be/nb6H3EivKcc) was an action RPG co-developed with Cygames, the Japanese company probably best known for creating the hit mobile game Granblue Fantasy. It’s a similar high-fantasy setting with tons of kingdoms, dragons, swords and sorcery, the whole kit and caboodle. And it’s a gacha game too, so you had to summon dragons and characters with resources you gathered in game or by buying them outright with real money. There were even a few special collaboration events with Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Persona 5, and Fire Emblem. It should come as no surprise that this game took off the way it did, just like Fire Emblem Heroes before it.
It was apparently one of the more forgiving gacha games people have experienced with how generously it handled its in-game currency, and it’s cultivated a passionate fanbase over the years. But the main reason I’m bringing this up today is that…. as of this writing, the game set to officially shut down tomorrow after an impressive 4 years of service. For being a brand new IP going toe-to-toe with some of Nintendo’s top dawgs, this game did really well for itself. Rest in peace little guy, you did good.
by Asad_Farooqui
18 Comments
IF it was on console and didn’t have phone controls/gacha mechanics, I’d play it. It looks pretty cool, but phone games are a non-starter for me
I wouldn’t think it would be shutting down if it was so successful. I thought it was okay, but suffered from being on phones exclusively.
Heard lots of good things. It wasn’t available in my country, so I never played it though. I wonder if Cygames will make the jump to a Switch game – their console efforts seem aimed at PS, but they did release a game on the eShop recently.
It looked like a generic anime mobile game, as if it didn’t were a Nintendo IP
>Gacha game.
There’s the first issue, market is oversaturated by gacha games. They tried to force a new Nintendo IP through mobile only, which in itself is pretty rough to do. If they would’ve fleshed out a full well made game before going the mediocre gacha route, it might have survived. Fire emblem is popular due to known branding, waifus, and Fire Emblem well being popular.
Mobile game wise, when you’re addressing anime-ish specific games. Those top earners are already successful IPs.
Never played it. Do you think they’ll eventually start making console games of the franchise?
Cute characters, but suffered from being a mobile game with mobile gameplay. After an hour or two, I dropped it and never returned.
I was curious, but never got into it. Hard to get into 2 phone games at once, with Fire Emblem Heroes just being an overall better game (to me at least).
And to say they botched the localization would be an understatement, to it not even being released in a lot of countries to 99% of the voice acting being cut out.
If DL is the most “successful” new Nintendo IP since Splatoon, then that just highlights Nntendo hasn’t done a lot of new ones, because it wouldn’t take much to surpass DL.
tbh I never got into it because phone games and especially gacha games aren’t really my thing.
I do think it’s interesting that in all this time, there hasn’t been an attempt to make some kind of non-mobile installment in the franchise. It’s even weirder to think that once it gets taken down, that will be a Nintendo IP that basically just doesn’t exist anymore in an official capacity. Like, unless I’ve missed something, it doesn’t even have any representation in Smash to keep it in memory as a weird little historical footnote. That gives it even less of a footprint than even some Satellaview games that at least get to live on as spirits in Smash.
e: Also, I do kinda wonder if Ring Fit Adventure wouldn’t actually be the “most successful new IP since Splatoon”. It was probably pretty cheap to actually develop, has a premium price tag, and is the 9th best-selling Switch game (even beating out things like Pokemon Let’s Go, Luigi’s Mansion, and Splatoon 2).
>Grossing over $167 million dollars in revenue
Revenue isn’t profit. If it was so successful it wouldn’t have shut down. It’s just more app-based anime gatcha garbage.
Only mobile game I’ve ever really enjoyed for a long period of time. Stopped playing when Curse of Nihility became the main endgame as it fucked with alot of what I liked about the game, but I had a blast playing it while I did and I’m really sad to see it end.
First time I’ve even heard of it.
I didn’t play a lot of it, but I really liked what I played of it. It’s a shame to see the game shut down, and I hope this isn’t the end of the IP.
mobile games.. ew
I wish they made real games on mobile but for some reason we all just accepted that when a game is on a phone it’s just fun enough to make taking a crap not as boring.. at least if you pay for the gem boxes that make it possible to beat the current level..
Tried it for a bit but got bored of it pretty fast. Not surprised it’s shutting down. You could say that… Dragalia….Lost.
<puts on shades> Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
I never played the game since I barely knew about it and it never drew my interest.
If it was that successful, this wouldn’t have happened
I played it for a while when it came out and whilst I don’t remember much about the story and gameplay, I do remember enjoying it enough to play for a while. I guess at the time I was too focused on Pokemon Go and a couple of other mobile games to give it any real attention so I eventually just stopped playing.
What will always stick with me, though, is the banger that was the main menu theme, Bokura no Network, and the chibi models bobbing along to it. I have a memory of playing the music in the background whilst playing Pokemon Go and Chimchar’s idle animation matching up to the beat. The game wasn’t as smooth back then so I’m sure it did match up, doesn’t now though 🙁