Good luck, have (actual) fun!
Summary:
- Meta is a widely accepted optimal strategy.
- Some of the best anime about gaming is about defying meta.
- Anime inspired us to ignore meta and have fun, and maybe it should inspire you too!
The era of meta strategies
“Meta” is a strategy that is widely agreed upon as optimal by a gaming community. In competitive games like League of Legends and Dragon Ball FighterZ, there are meta picks — characters that are the most powerful during the current patch due to adjustments made by developers. In gacha games like Genshin Impact and Goddess of Victory: Nikke, there are entire tier lists of characters based on how efficient they are at clearing the game content. Even in games like the Binding of Isaac and Don’t Starve, there are efficient builds and strategies, with plenty of guides readily available online.
And honestly, that’s boring. Thankfully, anime agrees with us.
Anime is breaking the meta
A brand new player joins a VRMMO, and due to their own idiosyncrasies, decides to go with an unconventional build. Said build turns out to be much stronger than expected, leading them to become a prominent figure on the server, taking on increasingly challenging opponents and making you wish this MMO was real so you could join in on the fun.
Now, which one of these have we described between Maple from BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense (Itai no wa Iya nanode Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu), Llenn from Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Sunraku from Shangri-La Frontier: Kusoge Hunter, Kamige ni Idoman to su, and Earth from A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life (Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki)? The answer is: all of them!
Indeed, some of the best anime about playing video games is so enjoyable exactly because it captures the spirit of discovery and adventure, rather than following a preset mold of meta. And isn’t this a notion we all want to follow? Isn’t it fun to figure out what works better for you specifically? True, in real video games few things are undiscovered before we join, and we are unlikely to find something entirely new — but this doesn’t mean we have to follow the same mold as the rest of the player base.
Anime has the power to uplift and inspire. And these anime have inspired us to follow our own dream builds and weird ideas, rather than blindly following internet guides. Sure, these might not be as optimal as what is considered meta, but we are having fun — and “having fun” is the actual point of playing video games, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!