Alright, finally watched episode one, and I had to say I am LOVING this.
MC gets thrown into the game almost immediately, and already the madness begins. Blood is shed, weapons are drawn, tears fall, and we leave the episode on a note that did make me want to see where everything was going.
I can already tell this is far different than Mirai Nikki and Ousama Game. While Mirai Nikki focused on future objectives and rewriting the future to suit the present actions, and Ousama Game was about progression of any set boundary of the mental, physical, or emotional, Darwin's Game is more physical and - actually - plays as a game.
Of course, this is what I've gathered from the 1st episode, so someone who has read material on this anime so far can correct me.
The matches here are regular and ranking, but both are timed. There's no need to destroy phones or something else for the opposing player to be defeated; they can lose due to being killed, technicality or by surrendering, with surrendering being the more favorable if not humilating. No one likes to surrender a match in any game. If you willingly surrender, you need a stipulation. No stipulation, no surrender. I'm not sure if this works when someone is the midst of fighting, chooses to surrender, then suddenly suffers a fatal blow. It may count as a technical loss.
Everyone can see their stats, and nothing about any sort of "player" is kept hidden aside from their exact location. Their rank, their Sigil, their actual name - everything is out in the open. Whether or not they can alter their names and titles probably depends on how long they stay in the game and garner reputations. Each "player" has an advantage in battle, their Sigils, which acts like RNG gaming. They start the game, they get a random ability. And who is a gamer who DOESN'T LOVE RNG?!
Sarcasm aside, that is a really broken gaming system to me and even when dealing with human lives, some poor bastard will be stuck with the worst ability, i.e. Hamada and his aura sense ability. Then you can start the game and suddenly get the most powerful ability by sheer luck of the draw. I get it adds spice to the game play but have some respect for the D-ranks who move up with crap abilities, okay? I also doubt you can exchange Sigils with their in-game currency or points anyway, so you stick with what you get.
Speaking of points, it seems you're awarded them as per standard game design. Win, get points, spend points, wash, rinse, repeat. You are allowed to trade points for weapons in gatcha games via the app. As an added bonus, "players" can choose to call for help from another "player" or someone else but for a hefty price. This is a double-edged sword, as you can extend an arm to have a friend help you in the game and gain a new ally, but they in turn will be exposed to Darwin's Game and be forced to play. You'd both probably face off with each other before you'd know it. All for the sake of rankings.
As for ranking, I'll assume it works the same as any standard RPG/RNG game. Top players are the ones with most wins and points. Losses are not counted due to a loss being death or surrendering. Of course that raises another question from me: what happens when a player surrenders too often? When they choose to surrender about three times? Is there a fail safe in the game that prevents something like that? And if someone does curtail a loss by surrendering more than once, does that count as a technical loss later on?
The origin of the game isn't a question I'm concerned with. Obviously it's magical or supernatural; the packages can be dropped, the bodies vanish with cubes of light and leave behind Minecraft molds, and the main logo of the app is a bearded old snake man. I'm perfectly fine with saying the creator of the app can remain a mystery and the MC and the Loli can get out of this nearly unscathed.
Although I did do some digging about that image. A bearded old man snake with an apple. Just rung a bell in my head somewhere. Bearded serpents are a mythical creature that appear often in all cultures and periods of time. Images were used in Grecian and Roman times as spiritual protectors for the home. But the whole thought of a snake holding an apple leads me to believe the point of the game may be to weed out a certain faction or person to reveal a truth to. Of course that means sutvival is key to reach that grand reward.
I'm gonna keep watching. I love it when a story has meat!
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