Mario Bautista
Overlord-Lord of Nazarick is set to release in Fall 2024 on Android and iOS devices, and pre-registration is now open on the Google Play and App Store.
Crunchyroll’s latest foray into mobile gaming, Crunchyroll announces Overlord-Lord of Nazarick, a strategic RPG to the popular isekai anime series Overlord. The announcement trailer, full of dramatic flair and tease-like gameplay scenes, promises to capture the hearts of both anime and game enthusiasts. However, for most, this release comes with questions, which are cultivated by Crunchyroll’s terrible past record with video games.
Official Announcement Trailer: What to Expect
A brand new trailer from Crunchyroll on Lord of Nazarick promises an entertaining world full of familiar Overlord universe characters: Albedo and Shalltear Bloodfallen, among others. The game lets you control an army in strategic battles. High-quality graphics with a decent PvP system are what one can expect.
But with such a promising ingredient, the real question is: How long will it last?
Crunchyroll’s game-releasing history will always have a pattern where excitement is always spent with poor management and disappointment with the players. Against these challenges, the odds seem stacked, but Lord of Nazarick could still rewrite history as a successful title.
Final Thoughts: Hope or Hype?
Lord of Nazarick from Crunchyroll appears to be an uphill battle in terms of the company’s vision for gaming. The launch announcement made much noise, but silhouettes of unresolved aborted endeavors darkly clouded the firm’s background. Fans and prospective players are very logical in holding back, and the game’s success is going to depend on how Crunchyroll resolves past criticisms and delivers a well-managed, engaging experience.
In the end, maybe Lord of Nazarick is Crunchyroll’s only hope at redemption within the gaming world, but until then, gamers and industry watchers will sit anxiously, hopeful against the drag of precedents set by previous disappointments.
Crunchyroll’s Past Releases and How They Fared
Princess Connect! Re: Dive As is often the case, this was to ultimately be released in English in 2020, and fans of the original Japanese game were ready for the fun. But it was short-lived. Playing experience with Crunchyroll’s handling of the game has elicited several complaints about slow updates, poor communication, and a bad general feeling about the way the game is being run. Princess Connect! Re: Dive could be sustained as a major competitor, but Crunchyroll knew it had its work cut out for it.
All of the subsequent Crunchyroll releases did not do much to make a better impression. For instance, such titles as Mass for the Dead and Grand Alliance did not elicit any encouragement; they received rather cold and indifferent receptions. The very fact of being a main release by the creators of the famous series Overlord did not save the Mass for the Dead from the problems of the lack of content and weak performance, thus letting the anime decline in rating. Otherwise, the Grand Alliance was also criticized for its gameplay mechanics and general performance, which led to an average rating and a small player base.
More recently, DanMachi: Memoria Freese suffered a disastrous meltdown due to poor handling on Crunchyroll’s end – largely as a result of a very bad communication strategy and without warning, features being axed. The history of tumultuous games has changed publishers – this was no doubt a severe blow for Crunchyroll’s gaming division.
How things will turn out for Princess Connect! and the numerous other Crunchyroll games remains to be seen. With a track record of screwing up releases and failing to maintain, much less build engagement, through to poor maintenance after that point, the long shadow over its current and future work lingers; most view Lord of Nazarick with hopeful skepticism.
It is question number one: did Crunchyroll learn from its past failures? The record from the company has shown a trend, and it’s a bit of a spotty record of problems from poor game management to thin support on the titles themselves. It’s fair to say that Crunchyroll undoubtedly made changes, but skepticism continues to run high.
