I haven’t played Mecha Break yet, but people I trust have told me it’s very good. Possibly a little overstretched with three game modes, and due to still being in beta we don’t yet know exactly how its monetisation will work, but good nonetheless. Other people, those who don’t know me and have never met me, have decided I hate it. This is the way of modern gaming discourse.
You see, while people interested in actually playing Mecha Break are talking about the range of mech units and pricey upgrades, others are only concerned with the character models. These custom characters are pretty, hyperstylised, and have jiggle physics for days with sliders in all the right places. You can make hot women. This may make a few people angry, somewhere. But it’s bizarre that this is taken as a win against people like me who just don’t care.
Mecha Break’s Character Creator Is Good, Simple Fun
It is taken as a victory against wokeness that a game with sexy ladies is popular, just as it was when Stellar Blade did well. But the truth is, no one really cares. Mecha Break is getting positive previews from journalists, including TheGamer’s own. Stellar Blade reviewed well. In fact, my biggest complaint has always been that Eve herself was too boring to deserve her incredible style, and I’ve written before that it’s my most anticipated sequel because I expect Eve will improve with time and iteration.
It’s people shadowboxing and declaring themselves the winner. It’s the inverse of the ‘I’m playing chess while they’re playing checkers’ idea. We’re over here minding our own business in a completely different game and you’ve slammed a rook down on the table and announced that you have outsmarted us. I’m glad Mecha Break is doing well because I’m generally glad when games do well. My biggest concern is our continued embrace of live-service, highly monetised forever games that usually fail to last as long as they need to, instead of more meaningful, enjoyable, and sustainable single-player experiences.
I’ve checked out the character creator for Mecha Break, and it’s very involved. I always enjoy games that give you full control over what your character looks like, and I’m happy to see it become the norm. Parts of this specific one are a little bit embarrassing, with control over everything from thigh thickness to foot size, but also… if it was a game I was interested in with an art style I found less generic, I would 100 percent spend time to perfect the thigh thickness of my character, and the less sexualised parts like eye shape, hairstyle, and make-up are excellent too. It’s a great character creator, it’s just a little too obviously the kind to jump out of its seat, have its eyes turn into love hearts, and bash itself in the head with a hammer at the sight of a woman.
Enjoying Mecha Break Out Of Spite Is Not Enjoying It At All
If you really want me to criticise Mecha Break, I can. I don’t like the use of near cartoonish physical proportions as a stand-in for any creativity or personality. When your trailer shows off that you can make your own D.Va or Asuka, you’re admitting that you’re a highly reductive game. This kind of objectification is nostalgic for a time that never really existed, and that makes it more boring than it is offensive. Not to mention one of those characters is a child.
People point to, say, Faye’s design in Cowboy Bebop, which definitely leaned into objectification. Faye wore a two piece that showed off her cleavage, midriff, and left most of her legs bare, while she constantly had a thong visible. This outfit was somehow both baggy and tight, always accentuating her breasts, and was even cut open in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie while she was tied up, defenceless.
And you ask any fan, no matter their gender or sexuality, what they think of Faye, and they either say ‘badass’ if they’re right or ‘annoying’ if they’re wrong. But even Faye haters see that she had an obvious personality. She was a person first and attractive second, even if it was a close race. In Mecha Break and games like it, the ‘person’ part doesn’t even get out of the starting blocks.
Mecha Break is already getting a lot of comparisons to Stellar Blade, and that makes sense. Both are selling themselves on attractive character models, but both are also being dragged into a culture war where one side claims a game existing is a victory and the other side says ‘oh that game looks neat and I don’t care about that nonsense’. It’s highly disingenuous and dangerous for gaming. These are people who say they want to take politics out of gaming, but politicise it at every turn by inventing reasons games are saving or ruining the medium, often with little reference to or even experience of the gameplay.
I’m glad Mecha Break is doing well. The character models are a little cringe and reductive, but ultimately harmless. These are the thoughts most people will have when looking at Mecha Break, and I’ve played more than my fair share of games that are a little bit cringe in one way or another. It’s bad enough that every video game gets turned into a footsoldier in the culture war, but it’s so much worse when the reasons behind it are completely made up.
- Released
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2025
- Developer(s)
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Amazing Seasun
- Publisher(s)
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Amazing Seasun