Why NIKKE Players Felt Let Down by the Evangelion Crossover Event

Shift Up's Goddess of Victory: NIKKE collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion fell short of expectations, according to a recent interview with the game's producer. The August 2024 event, featuring Rei, Asuka, Mari, and Misato, suffered from several key issues.

Design Compromises: Initial character designs, created collaboratively by Shift Up and the NIKKE team, were deemed too suggestive by Evangelion's creators. Subsequent modifications, while satisfying the licensors, failed to resonate with players. The resulting designs, while faithful to the originals, lacked the appeal needed to excite the fanbase.

Lack of Incentive: Players felt little incentive to acquire the limited-time characters and costumes. The high cost of the gacha skins, particularly Asuka's, offered minimal visual differences from her base model, diminishing their value.

Diluted Identity: The collaboration, along with other recent crossovers, is perceived as diluting NIKKE's core identity – its distinctive, stylized anime characters and engaging narrative. Players felt the event was underwhelming and not worth the investment.

Missed Opportunities: The Evangelion event, while featuring beloved characters, felt drawn out and lacked inspired design choices. The overall execution failed to capitalize on the potential of the collaboration.

Shift Up acknowledges the negative feedback and promises to incorporate player suggestions into future events. The Evangelion and NIKKE games are available on the Google Play Store. Hopefully, Shift Up will deliver more compelling content in the coming months.

For more gaming news, check out our coverage of Wuthering Waves' Version 1.4 update on Android.