Hunter x Hunter: Nen X Impact & Kaiju No. 8: The Game Are 2025’s Worst Anime Games

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Manga, anime, and video games are closely connected. Popular stories are often adapted into different formats – we see video games based on manga, and anime series inspired by video games. It’s a great time to be a fan of both, and there’s a strong demand for video games based on popular anime, especially action-packed shonen series.

Both Kaiju No. 8 and Hunter x Hunter are hugely popular anime, representing both current hits and timeless classics. When announcements came that both series would receive video game adaptations – Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact and Kaiju No. 8: The Game – fans were thrilled. However, what promised to be exciting new games ultimately disappointed and felt like weak attempts to capitalize on popular franchises.

Nen X Impact Was the Wrong Move for Hunter x Hunter

While not as widely recognized in gaming as series like Dragon Ball, Naruto, or Gundam, Hunter x Hunter has still seen ten games created based on it, mostly in Japan and on portable consoles like the WonderSwan Color and Game Boy Advance. Sadly, Nen x Impact doesn’t live up to the potential of the series.

Nen x Impact is a fighting game where teams of three players battle teams of four. It takes gameplay cues from popular titles like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Considering Bushiroad and Arc System Works have a history of successful anime fighting games, Nen x Impact’s disappointing performance is particularly frustrating.

While smaller in scope than Dragon Ball, Nen x Impact‘s initial selection of 16 characters feels limited compared to the massive 200+ character roster in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO. Although Nen x Impact plans to add more characters over time with a season pass, it still falls short.

Players are unhappy with the game’s price, feeling that Nen x Impact’s shortcomings would be easier to accept if it cost much less or included some free downloadable content. While it’s clear the developers put a lot of care into adapting Hunter x Hunter, problems with game balance, repetitive actions, and a small number of players ultimately make the experience less enjoyable.

Some defenders of Nen x Impact have tried to justify it by calling it a “kusoge”—a Japanese term for games that are clearly flawed or unbalanced, but still fun to play. However, this isn’t a good argument for the game, and the Hunter x Hunter series deserves higher quality. Simply having good intentions isn’t enough, particularly for players who aren’t already fans and need a well-made game.

The release of Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact has been delayed. Originally announced in late 2023 with a planned 2024 launch, issues with the online gameplay system—specifically the rollback netcode—have pushed the release date back to 2025.

Despite the game being delayed, fans were furious that the online play still wasn’t working well. Many believed Nen x Impact was Hunter x Hunter’s final opportunity to have a successful video game that could also attract new viewers. Now, fans generally expect any future Hunter x Hunter gaming content to appear in a Jump Force style game.

Kaiju No. 8 Bombs Its First Chance to Be a Gaming Hit

I’ve played a lot of mobile RPGs based on anime, and honestly, Kaiju No. 8: The Game isn’t bad – it’s definitely not as annoying as Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact. But that’s the problem! It’s just… incredibly generic. It feels like the developers barely tried, and that’s what’s so disappointing. I’d almost prefer a game that tried something ambitious and failed, because at least that would be memorable. This one is just so safe and bland, I have a feeling it’ll disappear into obscurity pretty quickly.

While Kaiju No. 8: The Game can be enjoyable for a short time, it doesn’t really make you want to play it again. What starts out good quickly becomes repetitive, especially as the game requires more and more grinding. The game has a decent base to build on, but it lacks depth. Even RPG fans hoping for a full, engaging turn-based experience will find this game feels incomplete.

The disappointing reception of Kaiju No. 8: The Game would be less of a problem if there were other games based on the series. However, this is the only video game adaptation of Matsumoto’s Kaiju No. 8.

The game’s poor performance might lead people to think there’s no demand for a Kaiju No. 8 video game at all, not just that this particular game failed. It’s possible many players are discovering Kaiju No. 8 through this game, and if they find the game unoriginal, they might assume the manga and anime are the same way.

When an anime is adapted into a successful video game, it can revitalize the franchise and even become more popular than the original show. However, a poorly made game, like the recent Kaiju No. 8: The Game, can disappoint fans and make them lose hope for a truly great Kaiju No. 8 game ever being made.

Nen X Impact & Kaiju No. 8 Are the Worst Anime Games of 2025

Anime video games are released every year, but 2025 had a particularly large number of them. We saw many lesser-known titles, including games based on popular series like Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Medabots, Macross, Tribe Nine, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Yu-Gi-Oh! This is a big change from the past, when only Dragon Ball games were commonly available outside of Japan.

Aside from smaller anime game releases, several popular titles created tough competition for Nen x Impact and Kaiju No. 8. Games like Bleach: Rebirth of Souls and Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road were highly successful in their genres, and the free-to-play mobile game Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra received a lot of positive attention. Gekishin Squadra‘s strong performance especially highlights the disappointing mobile game adaptation of Kaiju No. 8. Furthermore, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2, released in 2025, was a noticeable step up from the first game.

While more downloadable content is planned for Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact, it’s unlikely either it or Kaiju No. 8: The Game will gain many new players, especially with other games competing for attention. A boost from the third season of the Kaiju No. 8 anime is possible, but a fresh start with a completely new game might be a better strategy, avoiding the issues of the first game.

A Kaiju No. 8 game had the best chance of success in 2025, with both a movie and a new season of the anime being released. The fact that this combination didn’t create more excitement for the game shows how poorly it performed. Even a simpler, more unexpected game might have done better. Despite the popularity of both the Hunter x Hunter and Kaiju No. 8 anime, they’ve struggled to attract a large gaming audience.

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2025-11-18 07:12