For the past 5 years or so, Nintendo has dabbled with the incredibly lucrative “gacha” business model. This has been a phenomenon that has permeated the games industry for well over a decade now, bolstered by such successful Japanese properties as Granblue Fantasy, Fate Grand Order, and most recently Genshin Impact. Other Japanese publishers like Square Enix and Bandai Namco have also taken notice and developed similar games to capitalize on this model.
Modeled after a Japanese toy capsule vending machine, a typical gacha game is usually free to play, but offers in app purchases for more chances to obtain rarer goods via a random roll of the dice. Nintendo has primarily done this with their mobile games, namely Fire Emblem Heroes (which was stupidly successful), Dragalia Lost (rest in peace), and Mario Kart Tour (which only just removed gacha a while back). But also they dabbled with gacha in their console games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as new Blades are obtained via this same system.
Gacha systems have frequently been compared to lootboxes in AAA western games like Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Overwatch. Certain governments around the world have even [recognized gacha games as a form of gambling](https://youtu.be/7ETC2OHGDhA) under the law and have taken measures to regulate them. But what do you think about them? Do you enjoy Nintendo’s handling of them? Or are they just more of the same thing in your eyes? Have you played any of the Nintendo games I mentioned that have them?
by Asad_Farooqui
15 Comments
I love the way it was implemented in *WarioWare: Get It Together!* because the gatcha rewards were 1.) obtainable completely through normal in-game play, 2.) not necessary to play or beat the game, and 3.) clearly done in a manner meant to make fun of other similar mechanics that are done in more predatory ways in other titles.
I think the (secondary way to get) figurines in ~~*Kirby and the Lost Kingdom*~~ *Kirby and the Forgotten Land* were done similarly well for similar reasons.
Fire Emblem Heroes should be a crime. The whole appeal is “hey, you know this character from that game you like? Yeah they’re in this game too, so you should come play!”
And then you go play it expecting to get some tactical Fire Emblem gameplay with a killer story and great characters to boot, and instead you get garbage. The gameplay is no more complicated than hitting the auto button and going to sleep. The characters are as if someone read the first two sentences on each wiki page and called it a day, and the story might as well be written by toddlers.
And that’s not even mentioning how it’s blatantly pay to win, with predatory practices to get you to part with your money. Seriously, this whole game is a blight on an otherwise pretty respectable series.
TLDR: FEH makes me mad.
Xenoblade 2 is interesting though.
So technically it’s a gacha game, as a lot of the gameplay involves using blades that you get out of loot boxes called Core Crystals. The interesting part, is that you can’t purchase core crystals with real money, as there are no micro transactions in XC2. Instead it feels as if the devs implemented this system purely because they thought it would be good for the game, and not to try and scam players out of money.
And you know what? It actually kinda works. It’s a pretty cool feeling to finally get KOS-MOS, one of the best and rarest blades in the game out of a core crystal. It means each time you play the game you’ll have a new set of blades to use and different ways to play the combat system because of it. And it allows the devs to include a massive roster in the game without needing to have a story reason for each character joins you, as the core crystals and blades are tied into the world of XC2 very well.
There are certainly a lot of problems with it, like the Field Skills system being really stupid and punishing you for getting unlucky with which blades you awaken, or how it takes forever to get all the blades in the game because getting those last few ones is a really low chance, but overall this is kind of a cool system.
TLDR: XC2’s gacha system is cool, but is implemented a bit poorly.
Like any good gambling system, it can be addictive depending on how it’s used. Since Pokémon Celebrations, I’ve spent way too much money on Pokémon cards and codes for TCG Online. To me, there’s more gambling involved in these things than most Gacha experiences lol.
As for the mobile games you actually meant to talk about, I’ve played Fire Emblem Heroes through I think 3 chapters of the main story. My roster is constantly filled and I need to either expand it or release characters.
But how much money has it gotten from me? $0. I’ve got tons of 5-star units, some even of my favorites. No money spent. They give you SO much in this game, especially if you actually play it and go through the events and storylines. I love Fire Emblem and am glad for the people who have made contributed financially to the success of Heroes, but I honestly have no idea how or why people do. There just doesn’t seem to be a need imo. I can play all day without running out of stamina for levels even. But maybe that’s because I was an early adopter and got a TON of items during the first anniversary drop when I returned to the game lol.
My biggest financial regret with Heroes is that I didn’t buy the special 5th anniversary collector’s set when I saw it on Amazon Japan. (If anyone wants to part with those CDs let me know lol.)
They’re fun. I like having one on my phone. Don’t right now though.
The strategy is to wait for a new one to release and then coast as a free to play user for 6-12 months, however long it takes to get sick of the grind or for the monetization screws to get twisted.
I hate it, it’s deliberately addicting yet frustrating, I think it always diminishes the experience no matter what.
Hate it, big thumbs down. IMO it also is very contrary to Nintendo’s mission, design philosophy, and standards. I am particularly referring to gacha games in which you can pay real money. Gachas like that are just as bad and predatory as loot boxes and have no place in Nintendo games.
Speaking as a lifelong Nintendo zealot since the 90’s.
I don’t mind them when you can either obtain everything without paying money or the stuff you pay for is cosmetic only. If there’s a randomness feature to the loot boxes they shouldn’t be able to give you items you’ve already obtained, though.
I really like how Marvel Snap’s design works. It’s purely cosmetic and while you do get a card 2 months sooner by buying the season pass, it’s a card that becomes widely available after that window. It feels like the best of the gacha system.
Gacha is appropriate for mobile games like Fire Emblem Heroes, especially since most mobile games are free-to-play. It IS frustrating most of the time, but whatever.
Gacha in actual console games? Hell nah!
Gacha is fun when it’s implemented in a clever way like in Yoshi’s Crafted World where you can’t get duplicates, and it’s still fun because you don’t know what you’re gonna get. In real life and most games I don’t like it, because RNG. Kirby Forgotten Land gacha is kind of bad because it’s a lot of items and getting the last few is very hard, but at least they’re cosmetic. Xenoblade 2 is really bad because they’re playable characters so if you can’t collect them you’re missing a lot of the contents.
As long as I don’t have to spend any additional real money on gacha I don’t mind a spin of a slot machine.
If I don’t know what I’m buying, I’m not buying it. Simple as that.
Gacha is designed to prey on gambling addicts who struggle with impulse control. Just one more roll, surely they’ll get it this time. If your business model relies on baiting whales to spend unreasonable amounts of money, perhaps even more than they can afford, that is exploitation. I think it’s deeply unethical.
I despise them, even if they do not involve real money. I hate it when a game makes me “spin a roulette” to get an item I want when they could otherwise simply be acquired through gameplay. I thought it was awful in Xenoblade 2 and Splatoon 3.
There is no way I’m spending my hard earned money on “chances” ever again. I did it once with rocket league, and even if it were only a couple of bucks, it feels like I threw my money down the drain.
So yeah, I want Nintendo to stay away from them as far as possible. Sadly those games make a lot of money. So I don’t think that’s possible.
There is a non-zero chance that Fire Emblem Engage may have a gacha system similar to that of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with getting new Emblem Rings.
There’s an aspect of it that can be fun provided no real money is involved at any point and, ideally, dupes are discounted or heavily weighted against to reduce grind.
I played FEH and the rolls to get heroes were the compelling bit of the game, it’s just a different mechanism of collectathon unless real money comes into it. Which it didn’t for me. Obviously as soon as it does it gets ick.
Also the rest of the game felt like a chore pretty quickly and one day I just had enough.
I don’t like gambling, not even lottery tickets. I’ve tried a few games that have gacha components and they didn’t change my opinion. I can’t find the fun in them.