Lord of Vermilion
5 Japanese Arcade Games That Need to Come West
Do you remember Dinosaur King? It was an arcade game released in 2005 that doubled as a trading card game. Each time you inserted a credit token, the arcade cabinet would spit out a card that you could use with the game.
One of Japan’s most popular collectible card arcade games is Lord of Vermilion. If you like MOBAs, Magic: The Gathering, and Nobuo Uematsu, (and I’m sure there’s lots of people that like all three of these), then you’ll love Lord of Vermilion. Your cards become your units on the battlefield, and your objective is to push through your enemies’ defenses and break their arcane stones. The Lords of Vermilion mini-game in Final Fantasy XIV was actually a parody of this game. There have been a number of crossovers with Final Fantasy, Romancing Saga, King of Fighters, and Magic: The Gathering.
If they could find a way to bring Lord of Vermilion over to the West, even if it remains an arcade exclusive, it could be a huge hit in today’s gaming climate. Gacha systems are in so many games today, like Fire Emblem Heroes, the mobile Final Fantasy games, and all of the games on consoles that feature loot boxes. Plus, collectible card opening videos is a genre that is booming on YouTube right now. People love the dopamine rush that comes from the randomness of these systems; if you combine that with a genuinely good arcade game where the cards that you get are actually useful, why wouldn’t this game be a hit in the West?
