Do you have a favorite character?
It doesn’t matter if it’s from an anime, a manga, or a game.
At first, you might have just liked the art style, or maybe you liked their voice. Or perhaps a single line of dialogue from a particular scene has stayed with you for a long time.
But at some point, you start to want to know more of their story. You find yourself waiting for new episodes, looking up other people’s interpretations, and sometimes even checking out merchandise or fan art. Your love doesn’t stop at the character—it naturally spreads to the world in which that character lives.
The power of subculture games begins right there.
Subculture games are a genre that allows players to hold onto this feeling a little longer within the game. As you meet characters, nurture them, and follow the story, you’ll find yourself eagerly awaiting the next chapter before you know it. Players invest time in the characters, and as that time accumulates, the characters become even more meaningful.
That’s how attachment is formed—through the process of investing time and emotion.
If you trace the roots of today’s subculture games, the very first essence you’ll find is the experience of “raising” characters by investing time and emotion.
A prime example is <Princess Maker>, released in 1991, which placed the experience of raising a single character at the heart of the game. Players managed stats, considered career paths, and made repeated choices to raise their character successfully.
It felt as though the time I invested, the choices I made, and the successes and failures I experienced all seemed to accumulate within the character. As players watched the character before them gradually change, a sense of attachment grew in their hearts.
I have similar memories of the <Tamagotchi> I raised during my elementary school days. I would feed it, put it to sleep, and check on it constantly to make sure it was okay. I even remember crying when my Tamagotchi died, feeling guilty that I hadn’t taken better care of it.
Looking back now, it was just a simple toy, but my feelings at the time were quite serious. That’s because I spent time checking on it and taking care of it every day.
A Memorable Character Needs a Story as Much as It Needs Time
Once you’ve grown attached to a character while developing them, the story surrounding that character becomes important. When you learn why they fight, who they’re with, and what they’re trying to protect, the character becomes a more three-dimensional presence.
Once the story has built up sufficiently, your love for the character eventually spreads to the entire world in which they live.
This is why, in today’s subculture games, the story isn’t merely a backdrop for the game.
The world they inhabit is what makes players want to stay. People start playing a game because they like the characters, but what ultimately keeps them playing is their immersion in the world where those characters live.
So, what kind of world should today’s subculture games present to players?
Many players are already encountering their favorite characters and following their stories through countless games and content. They won’t easily warm up to a new character just because it has appeared. Ultimately, it all boils down to one crucial question.
Is there a reason to invest my time and heart in this world again?
<Lost Sword>
<Make Drama: MAD (Make Drama: MAD)>
<N.O.A.H.>
Even within the same “subculture game” genre, these three games address this question in different ways.
One draws players into a familiar legend, one focuses on the emotions and relationships between characters rather than grand events, and another asks players to make choices in a post-apocalyptic world.
Lost Sword: Bringing an Ancient Legend to Life
Release: January 2025 | Developer: CodeCat | Publisher: Wemade Connect | Official Website: Visit Now
<Lost Sword> is based on the legend of Camelot, epitomized by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Although names like the Holy Sword, the Order of Knights, and Britannia appear, this game does not begin by unfolding the world through a vast narrative.
Instead, it plunges the player directly into battle. Thanks to the premise that the real-world character “Ethan” is transported to the legendary land of Britannia, the player is also immediately drawn into this unfamiliar, mythical world. As you enter the world of Britannia, you meet knights, fight alongside them, and through the voices brought to life by voice actors, naturally come to understand each character’s personality. The relationships between characters are also gradually revealed in the process, and before you know it, the once-strange Britannia becomes the stage on which the player moves.
It’s not a world where you have to understand every detail from the start to enter; it’s a world you naturally become familiar with as you move and fight alongside the characters. It’s an approach that lets you intuitively grasp the world through play, rather than forcing you to study the lore.
The game allows you to jump in with a lighthearted attitude, yet naturally immerses you in the world as you follow the characters and their battles. <Lost Sword> uses this approach to present the legend of Camelot—which could otherwise feel heavy—in a way that feels familiar to today’s players.
Make Drama: MAD, A World Where Relationships Become Stories
Release: June 2026 | Production: Fluffy Duck | Publisher: Wemade Connect | Official Website: Visit Now
The title of <Make Drama: MAD> literally means “making a drama.” The development team explained that they wanted this game to be more than just collecting and raising characters; they hoped players would form relationships with the characters through the game and create their own experiences. Just by looking at the title, you can tell what this game prioritizes.
When discussing <Make Drama: MAD>, it’s hard to overlook the characters’ striking visuals. With illustrator “Snowball”—well-known as the art director of <Last Origin>—serving as creative director, the game immediately showcases its distinctive, bold art style and vivid character designs from the very first impression.
That boldness doesn’t stop at catching the player’s eye. <Make Drama: MAD> has created a world where modern characters, demons, angels, and medieval fantasy-style characters can all appear together. It broadens the scope to allow characters with vastly different atmospheres to coexist within a single world and build their own stories and relationships.
Thus, the game begins with the characters’ visual appeal and flows into their individual backstories and relationships. Behind the eye-catching illustrations lie each character’s story and relationships, and players follow those relationships to create their own stories.
That is where the “drama” this game refers to is born. Rather than having a single massive event drive everything forward, the story gradually expands and relationships deepen as players spend time getting closer to the characters.
Noah: Questioning Choices in a Collapsed World
Release: Coming Soon | Developer: Retroket | Publisher: Wemade Connect | Official Website: Visit Now
While <Lost Sword> presents an age-old legend in a familiar way, and <Make Drama: MAD> weaves relationships with characters into a narrative, <Noah> begins in a much darker place.
The world of <Noah> is a futuristic dystopia set after the collapse of civilization. It’s steeped in a sense of dystopia and apocalypse, and the characters fight to survive within it. As a result, the characters in this game aren’t just pretty and powerful figures; they are portrayed as agents struggling to survive in a collapsed world.
<Noah> is based on strategic turn-based combat, prompting players to read the battlefield and carefully consider their next moves. Rather than fast-paced action, the time spent carefully deciding which agents to deploy and in what order is what truly matters.
Emotions inevitably come into play with those decisions. Since each agent has a distinct personality and backstory, players gradually discover whom they’re drawn to through intense battles and moments of connection. Who you deploy to the battlefield, whose story resonates most with you, and when you choose to intervene—these decisions shape your experience.
In this way, the player is not merely an observer watching the agents fight, but becomes immersed in the tension of the world they are struggling to hold together.
Players will spend hours agonizing over how to survive alongside the agents in an already-collapsed world, weighing every choice along the way. That is the narrative Noah seeks to convey.
Although the worlds depicted in these three games are all different, they ultimately lead to the same destination.
Meeting your favorite characters, following their stories, and—at some point—finding yourself investing your time and heart into that world.
Subculture was once easily dismissed with the term “otaku” or confined within a negative lens. However, today’s subculture can no longer be described as the exclusive domain of a select few enthusiasts. A deep attachment to characters and a highly loyal fanbase have already become a massive driving force behind the gaming market.
Some may still call it the “otaku spirit.” But that spirit is no longer a preference that can be dismissed lightly. What was once dismissed as mere obsession has now become a force that proudly drives an entire genre.
