Some of the most popular video games around have a lot of fan service. These types of games have been dominating every genre. You can find fan service in fighting games, in shooters, in RPGs, and even in the horror genre.
We will take a closer look at some of the most popular fan service video games that defined the medium.
Video Games That Have A Lot Of Fan Service
Senran Kagura
The Senran Kagura series was created by Kenichiro Takaki. It started as a hack-and-slash game franchise that has spun off into multiple video games by now. At first glance, it looks like a regular anime game. But when you look closely, Senran Kagura turns out to be one of the most fan service-heavy games.
It is also why the game franchise has garnered so much popularity. It has even had crossovers with Senran Kagura characters appearing in other game franchises.
While there, the fan service in the mainline hack-and-slash titles in the series is mostly limited to combat transformations. Some of the more ridiculous fan services are left to the spin-off game, such as Senran Kagura: Reflexions. This one doubles down on the fan service with interactive game mechanics.
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
The Dead or Alive video game franchise was already one of the most fan service-heavy fighting games around. But Koei Tecmo decided to take things even further with a spin-off game called Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
Dead or Alive is a game that came from the mind of Itagaki Tomonobu. He is also known for bringing the popular Ninja Gaiden franchise up to modern 3D standards.
The Dead or Alive series had stern competition back in the day against games such as Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Under Itagaki, the series revolutionized character physics in 3D video games, thus making it one of the most popular games. It became known for its fan service heavy content.
To date, we have yet to see a new fighting game in the franchise. But Dead or Alive still survives by its last Xtreme Beach Volley Game entry and a new dating sim game.
Nier Automata
While a lot of people in the Nier fandom may start arguing that fan service is not the main aspect of the Nier franchise. But creator Yoko Taro made it a clear differentiator from other Square Enix titles with the release of Nier Automata.
It is a beautiful game exploring some heavy philosophical themes. But there is no doubt about it that the game reached its height of popularity because of the fan service.
When the creator was asked about only putting fan service heavy designs in his games, Yoko Taro replied that he just likes women. The game even boasts a self-destruct button for player character 2 B. When used, she blows up and loses her skirt.
Stellar Blade
Developer Shift Up has become quite popular over recent times due to the release of their first AAA console game, Stellar Blade. Shift Up is a Korean game company founded by Kim Hyung.
They were already making games that were heavy on fan service. But they took things up a notch with Stellar Blade, and it became one of the most popular games on PlayStation and PC in recent times.
The plot of the game follows Eve, a highly trained super soldier, fighting against a race of extraterrestrial monsters and saving humanity. Eve’s role was modeled after a real-life Korean model named Shin Jae-eun.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke
Like we discussed when talking about Stellar Blade previously, Shift Up was already deep in the process of working on fan service-heavy games. One of their most prized creation definitely has to be Goddess of Victory: Nikke.
This is the game whose success made the founder, Kim Hyung, take the next steps for Shift Up and develop Stellar Blade. Goddess of Victory: Nikke is actually a gacha game for mobile platforms, mostly.
The plot of the game harkens close to Stellar Blade. It is also set in a post-apocalyptic future where the last line of defense for humanity is trying to fend off a deadly alien race. At the front line of defense of artificially created super soldiers called Nikkes.
These mobile games use a sort of gacha/slot machine system that keeps players hooked. Gacha games live or die by the quality of fan service they provide. This depends on the roster of good character designs, and Goddess of Victory: Nikke has plenty of that.
Zenless Zone Zero
Zenless Zone Zero is another really popular gacha franchise that is developed by miHoYo, one of the world’s leading Chinese gacha companies. This wasn’t their first foray into the world of these types of mobile games. Hence, they were able to perfect certain aspects of this game.
miHoYo’s developed games are already known pretty well all over the world for being incredibly heavy on fan service elements. But it went far beyond with some of the designs and promotional work for Zenless Zone Zero.
The general setting of the game is in an alternate world where players fight extradimensional enemies and monsters. Like regular gacha games, you get to unlock agents that include all sorts of fan service-y characters.
Lollipop Chainsaw
If a playable high school cheerleader hurling a chainsaw in a zombie apocalypse is your idea of fan service, then this game has you covered. Lollipop Chainsaw is one of the most bizarre action games made by Grasshopper Manufacture.
Although if you are aware of the works of Goichi Suda, then this really isn’t his most bizarre work ever. But it’s definitely one with the most amount of fan service.
You get to play as Juliet Starling, who is stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with her decapitated boyfriend, who is also alive. One fun fact about the game is that legendary filmmaker for Marvel and DC movies, James Gunn, was involved with the writing process.
Gal Gun
If we are talking about video games that are popular for having fan service as the main point of attraction, then we can’t miss out on the Gal Gun franchise. A game that was developed by Inti Creates. The gameplay involved railgun shooting, except it did things a bit differently.
Gal Gun is a game where you are a high school student shooting at your fellow female classmates. As absurd as it sounds, the main premise of the game involves stopping the female characters from lusting for you.
The premise of the game was pretty fun, and it gained quite a popularity among fans. It got a sequel, which was also remastered for the Nintendo Switch handheld system.
Fate/Grand Order
Fate/Grand Order is definitely one of the mobile gacha games that saw the boom in the genre all over the world. It was also the game where people found out that these types of video games contain a significant amount of fan service.
This game is probably the most popular IP among Type/Moon’s Fate series of games. This game’s universe was created by Kinoko Nasu and it has interlinking stories with the Tsukihime franchise as well.
Fate/Grand Order works just like how other gacha games do the fan service bit. Various unlockable characters can be pulled using in-game currency items that players gather.
Azur Lane
Following up with another gacha game because why not. Most of the video games in this genre are really popular for the fan service gameplay loop. A lot of people actually spend money to collect characters in these games.
Azur Lane is just another popular example. It was created by Chinese developers Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi, who thought up the most absurd premise for a video game.
Azur Lane takes place in an alternate history World War II era setting. But that isn’t even the crazy part. Instead of having actual weapons of mass destruction, the warships in this game are anthropomorphic female characters.
You have to be on an ascended plane of existence to even think about making fan service out of warships, but these guys did it.
