There are quite a few people complaining about 86 - eighty-six online, with their main points of contention being the depressing plot, the lack of rich story experience typical of strategy games, and the constant living under the shadow of The Legion, which makes it very difficult for players to enjoy.
However, for those who like it, they particularly enjoy it because they feel they can experience an extraordinary anti-war spirit from this game.
Moreover, the expressive power of the game itself, whether it's the innovation in gameplay, 3D presentation, plot interpretation, character design, etc., is truly outstanding.
"The game itself possesses a very strong infectiousness, but this infectiousness is not something that young people, or those without much life experience, can immediately grasp.
Overall, in 86 - eighty-six, humanity and anti-war are the themes.
In terms of human nature portrayal, the chasm between races is difficult to cross; the conflict between the white-haired race in power and the 86 cannot simply be described as oppression.
If you put yourself in the shoes of the 86, you'll find that the core of this game still has a strong spirit of resistance.
Some people previously complained that the 86's resistance was not thorough enough; in their opinion, they should have overthrown the white-haired race, or simply let The Legion destroy Saint Magnolia, or the 86 should have established their own country.
However, I want to say that those methods are actually a naive and politically immature expression.
Hazawa's approach is the most reasonable.
He used his death to build a monument for the 86 and also to build a bridge across the chasm.
The Second Corps could die, but I believe it was a death for a worthy cause.
Because when the white-haired race had no choice but to execute them, it meant that the 86 had already won; they gained their identity as humans and citizens, and received recognition.
From this moment on, the 86 are no longer mere war machines; they are heroes.
The spark has been sown, and it will surely blossom everywhere in the future.
Now, let me analyze why Hazawa had to do this, and why he could only do this.
First, should The Legion be allowed to attack Saint Magnolia?
While doing so would be satisfying, killing the white-haired race and the fall of Saint Magnolia could be seen as an excellent revenge against those white-haired race who committed countless evil deeds.
But is that the reality?
Not to mention that there are also moderates and good people among the white-haired race, even if the Imperial Army destroyed Saint Magnolia, this event would be enough to extinguish the glory of the 86.
As members of Saint Magnolia, the 86, both emotionally and rationally, on the grounds of righteousness, could not allow their homeland to perish.
This is the foundation of their existence; otherwise, what has the war always been for? This layer of meaning would cease to exist.
Defending one's home and country is a basic bottom line for everyone, and the 86 thus gained a noble arc.
Therefore, the 86 cannot stand idly by; they must fight, they must defend their country, even if it means protecting the white-haired race, but this is also an unavoidable reality.
As for other options, overthrowing the white-haired race and seizing political power?
It's not that simple; is mere military suppression enough? What about governance, the subsequent economy, the lives of the people?
This approach is actually the most destructive way, firing a shot at one's own country and then trying to repair it.
The cost is actually greater, and it's not even guaranteed to succeed.
One must know that for Saint Magnolia, neither the white-haired race nor the 86 are the greatest threat; the greatest enemy is still The Legion.
If they fight among themselves internally, how will they deal with the external threat?
Therefore, looking at everything comprehensively, although I am also very desperate, I have to say—
Hazawa made the optimal choice.
It seems like he used a coercive method to make the entire nation of Saint Magnolia aware of the 86's existence.
However, he was using this method to force the white-haired race to resist the war.
Can you understand the key to this?
Did the white-haired race not know that the people fighting on the front lines were the 86, and that the 86 were living human beings?
They knew, and a considerable portion of the population knew and tacitly accepted this reality; they did not acknowledge the 86, ignored them, and treated them as non-humans, simply to numb themselves and ease their conscience.
Humans have empathy; the purpose of dehumanizing the 86 was to eliminate everyone's guilt and empathy.
However, Hazawa stood up and broke this narrative from the bottom-up logical chain.
From now on, the white-haired race can no longer comfortably treat the 86 as non-humans.
This is the greatest significance.
Furthermore, Hazawa and his group did not overthrow the white-haired race's rule, did not choose to fight internally, causing the least damage to Saint Magnolia.
But his actions, after the 86 became public and transparent, meant that the white-haired race could not ignore them and had to join the fight.
That is, at the end of the game, whether voluntarily or forced, the white-haired race had to fight alongside the 86, and this is the greatest meaning of [Resistance].
From this perspective, I truly admire Hazawa, and I really like this character.
Even more than the protagonist group.
It's just a pity that he has been executed, becoming an existence that is inevitably crushed by the wheels of historical progress.
However, it is precisely because of people like Hazawa and actions like his that the monument for the 86 can be erected in everyone's hearts.
I really like this game.
86 - eighty-six should be Furuhara Tsubaki's most profound and meaningful work in all these years."
"Mm-hmm, I also strongly agree with what the person above said; it was put so well. I didn't quite understand the actions of the 86 before.
Now everything is clear.
There's nothing more to say, 86 - eighty-six is a masterpiece.
I love 86 - eighty-six, and I love Furuhara Tsubaki!
Pokeni!
Eternal God!!!"
...
Regarding the evaluation of the female protagonist, there is also great controversy:
"Among the new games in June, "86 - eighty-six" is undoubtedly a very promising game for players, after all, the Director of this game is the famous [Furuhara Tsubaki], Producer [Ishino Mika], scriptwriter [Maeda Jun], original artist [Makoto Shinkai], music [Atsushi Shirakawa]…
These figures can be said to be the undisputed top figures in their respective fields.
Moreover, each of them has strong and solid works as backup.
Before the game, I was actually very much looking forward to this work. Old Thief Furuhara's game never disappoints in terms of plot, although many times you'll really want to kill him.
But it's also precisely because his game is indeed very well-made.
So, as soon as this game was released, I got my hands on it.
But the only thing that worried me was—
Such a team, whether it's Director Furuhara Tsubaki, or Producer Ishino Mika and Maeda Jun, what they were previously good at was the galgame genre.
So, as a strategy game, would "86 - eighty-six" be successful?
It really made one worry.
Facts have proven that this team has great talent and ability in galgames, especially in storytelling and expressive power.
The designers of "86 - eighty-six" use a fictional world view to portray the widespread issues of racial hatred and discrimination in the real world.
It lowers the "game threshold" for this serious issue in an easy-to-understand way, allowing teenagers to experience both the entertainment of fast-food fiction and the satisfaction of "watching a profound work" while playing the game.
And the game based on this further leveraged these two advantages, thus ensuring its popularity and topicality after release.
"86 - eighty-six" takes the long-standing war between two major nations as its story background. The female protagonist's faction is a nation formed by the "white-haired race," and all citizens of the nation, including the female protagonist, are humans with white hair and white skin.
To resist the enemy nation's unmanned war machines, they enslave the "colored races" from the "86th District" within their territory, sending them to the battlefield to pilot machines and fight, while publicly claiming domestically that they have developed the same "unmanned technology."
Because the white-haired race nation believes that "colored races" are "incompletely evolved humanoids."
Clearly, the story of "86 - eighty-six" will inevitably revolve around the white-haired race and the "86."
The female protagonist of the story is set as a kind white-haired race combat Director, responsible for remotely commanding the 86 in battle on the battlefield. Unlike her fellow white-haired race, the female protagonist does not believe the 86 are "humanoids."
She believes these warriors are humans just like herself, and wants other white-haired race to recognize the "human status" of the 86, but she cannot change reality and is even mocked by her own kind.
The story portrays many of the white-haired race as self-righteous and arrogant; compared to them, the 86 are more human-like.
These warriors, who face death every day, constantly maintain an optimistic attitude, seemingly with a sense of "life is short, enjoy it while you can."
Perhaps they truly live each day as if it were their last, as companions fall in battle every day.
It is worth mentioning that the 86 also harbor hostility towards the white-haired race, calling them "white-skinned pigs." Through some detailed information in the plot, it can be discovered that the 86 are likely survivors of a genocide carried out by the white-haired race.
The white-haired race and the 86 are clearly the perpetrators and the victims; some members of the 86 even had their parents killed by the white-haired race.
The conflict between these two races is undoubtedly difficult to reconcile, but the kind and naive female protagonist believes that "love and understanding can resolve everything."
She actively "communicates" with her subordinate 86, believing she gets along well with them.
But in reality, the 86 were only "politely responding" to her overtures, never truly accepting her internally, until an 86 member who frequently communicated with the female protagonist sacrificed himself on the battlefield, and the surviving 86 finally chose to "boycott" this series, publicly accusing the female protagonist of hypocrisy.
Deep-seated hatred and ingrained discrimination cannot be resolved by casual conversations and overtures of goodwill.
While the female protagonist is indeed kind, her way of expressing friendliness reveals an inherent sense of superiority and discrimination.
Facing the 86, who have always been persecuted by the white-haired race, the female protagonist could ask, "You don't hate us, do you?" This fully demonstrates her foolishness and unconscious arrogance.
Whether the female protagonist admits it or not, she has never truly treated the 86 as equal human beings, so there is no problem in saying that her sympathy is hypocritical. In fact, many ordinary white people in reality also have this inherent sense of superiority.
Therefore, no matter how beautiful, pure, and kind they made the female protagonist, I just can't bring myself to like her.
In comparison, I prefer the story in The Witcher 1—
It's clearly about vampires and humans, with irreconcilable conflicts, so they just directly resort to arms.
The male and female protagonists fighting and loving each other for their ideals and their respective races is actually more satisfying."
"I don't think so; Lena is actually a very good girl already.
If there's anyone to blame, it's only why she is a white-haired race.
However, this is probably also a dilemma Furuhara Tsubaki deliberately left for us in the game: if Lena were not a white-haired race, she would not bear original sin, she would not be questioned, her kindness would be true kindness, her sympathy would be true sympathy, and she would not be considered arrogant or discriminatory, right?
So, if that's the case, I think this is precisely the effect Furuhara Tsubaki wanted to create.
If Lena sheds her racial identity, she is a lovely girl, pure and kind. So, if she has this additional identity, she is instead criticized. Is our perspective on the issue incorrect? Are our standards of judgment too dual?
Personally, I actually really like Lena.
It is precisely because of her white-haired race identity that she can still stand from the perspective of the 86 and be with them; this courage is actually very admirable.
Why must they be seen as opposing each other?
The white-haired race are not all bad people, are they?
If Lena had not chosen to support the 86 in the end, helped them conceal, and let the 86 launch a [rebellion], then you could still accuse her of being a self-righteous hypocrite.
But she has already gone to such lengths, and her white-haired race bloodline is not something she could choose, so why blame her for her bloodline?
In my opinion, Lena represents people's yearning for beauty. Perhaps her identity is not suitable, but she interprets her ideals through her actions and personal charm.
Lena is a thorough idealist, yes, and also a brave idealist who puts her ideals into action.
What she hopes for is to build a country where everyone is equal, harmonious, and advances together.
Lena is also growing, striving with all her might to grow.
I don't think such a Lena should be criticized."
"The ones who truly deserve to be criticized are those few white-haired race who disregarded life, aren't they?
They concealed everything and cruelly treated the 86; those guys truly deserve to die."
"Looking at it this way, 86 - eighty-six is indeed a realistic work. Furuhara Tsubaki has a lot of guts to have created something like this. Isn't he afraid of being scolded?
This is how I understand the game.
Everything is a reflection of modern warfare.
First, the white-haired race are openly called white-skinned pigs by the 86, which also reflects the faces of those arrogant bigwigs in the West, who inherently look down on other colored races.
They are truly capable of making others fill the void and go to their deaths.
Sometimes, it's people who are bad, not war that is terrifying.
War is also initiated by humans.
Thinking from this perspective might help understand Furuhara Tsubaki better."
"Hahaha, I wonder what those true white-skinned pigs in the West will think when they play this game."
...
Ishino Mika didn't know what the white-haired race in the West thought, but she did know that—
This time, she received the most razor blades ever.
Whether they liked 86 - eighty-six or not, everyone was driven to collapse by this game.
Razor blades kept pouring in.
Even Ayase Akane sighed that the warehouse was almost not big enough.
"What kind of game did you all make? How have I never seen so many razor blades?"
HR-chan felt very puzzled, as if no one who played this game didn't curse it.
Whether it was a genuine curse or just a fake one.
The focus of the curses was different, that was probably the difference.
Ishino Mika also expressed her helplessness, and hearing Ayase Akane's words, her brows furrowed deeply.
She turned her head to look at the Director, Aoki Haruhi, who walked out of the restroom with an indifferent expression, and silently complained:
"Director, do you know I'm not called Ishino Mika anymore?"
"Then what are you called?" Aoki Haruhi seemed a bit strange.
"Players call me Ishino Lao Zei."
Ishino Mika covered her face in pain.
A girl being called a 'Lao Zei,' how can she live like this?
This is all your fault, Director!!
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