I've always wondered to myself: "What makes a game good?"
An excellent story, amazing gameplay, stable FPS, and a loyal fandom?
No.
No matter how good or perfect a game is, there will always be people who hate it. They might have played it or not, understood it deeply or known absolutely nothing about it.
Meanwhile, some absolute trash games get called "good" by people with weird tastes or by those who drag real-world politics into everything.
So in the end, is there any game that everyone can unanimously agree is good?
Of course not.
So what am I even trying to say?
A good game is a game that you — yes, you — find fun to play.
It can have tons of flaws, annoying issues, trash mechanics, predatory systems, scummy developers, and endless drama. As long as you like it, do those problems still matter?
Is it more important that the community declares a game good, or that you personally think it's good?
Well, as long as you're willing to spend money on it and actually play it, then at that moment, that game becomes a truly good game… for you (lol).
…Except when the developers blatantly look down on players, when gaming journalists only praise games they never actually played, when they trash a game just because it doesn't match their taste, or when people shove real-world politics into it and ruin everyone's fun.
In those cases, whether the game is good or bad no longer matters. You just feel sorry for it — because it was made as a tool rather than entertainment.
As for me?
Well, I won't hide it. There's one game that I consider really good… even though it borrows ideas quite shamelessly.
[Sage of Bacillus]
Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, Digimon, Harry Potter, and many others.
Yeah, "borrowing ideas" is putting it lightly. This game straight-up steals quite heavily.
Perhaps the only truly creative thing about it is how uniquely the monsters are drawn.
I rate its graphics highly because it uses smooth, animated pixel art that feels exactly like Pokémon Black and White — a hidden gem in the Pokémon series.
The story is basically Harry Potter, but the battles are like Yu-Gi-Oh.
It's like: "I challenge you to a children's card game… and it might actually kill you if you're not careful."
Yeah…
The anime-style graphics are very gentle and soft, a classic Pokémon artstyle but the monsters themselves feel very Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon.
Combat is a mash-up. Everyone has a deck with 4 starting cards.
There are 4 main card types: Monster, Spell, Trap, and Fusion.
(There's one more type, but I'll get to that later.)
Instead of Yu-Gi-Oh's Attack and Defense points, it's more like Pokémon with 18 different types. Each monster has moves based on its type and stats (Atk and HP), and battles play out similarly to Pokémon.
The Harry Potter element is the academy setting, the students, and the lore.
Digimon influence appears in some monsters that can talk once your bond with them is strong enough.
All of these elements exist just so the game can be a dating sim in disguise!
Choosing male or female doesn't matter. The game is incredibly free in who you can build relationships with — good people, bad people, anyone.
You can romance guys or girls; as long as your rizz is good enough, the rewards are very generous.
They can even give you a copy of their deck!
Oh, and I almost forgot something important.
To get more cards in this game, you have to gather materials to craft them.
The better the materials, the higher the quality of the card.
There's also a random draw element.
Yes, this game is a gacha game in disguise, but you can fully farm everything without spending money!!!
And the rates for good cards are surprisingly high! Specifically, 7% for the second-highest rarity in the game!!
This game is weirdly generous. Is it actually charity for players? (7% is pretty high for a gacha game.)
Overall, this game left a strong enough impression on me that I stayed loyal to it.
Even with all the drama about plagiarism and scandals, I still kept playing.
I was almost addicted to it whenever I didn't have work.
Yes, it made me happy — and that's the kind of joy a game should give its players.
That's why… actually being transported into this world is honestly going way beyond what's necessary.
"…"
I pinched my face in the mirror — the face of the person I had possessed.
Then I took off my Ushanka hat and looked at the black hair with a few white strands.
Igor Snowy. Just like the name, he uses an Ice-focused deck with a defense playstyle.
The problem is, in Pokémon, the Ice type is one of the worst defensively, with four common weaknesses. Three of those come from very popular offensive types, and one from a strong defensive type.
It's a glass cannon type. While it doesn't hit many types super effectively, its usefulness against Dragon types forces people to run Ice moves. That is, until the Fairy type was introduced mid-game and sent Ice to the dumpster. After that, almost no one used Ice monsters because they didn't want to lose early.
So someone like Igor Snowy, who runs a pure Ice deck with a defense style, is basically just a sandbag for players to beat for EXP, money, and materials.
So who is Igor Snowy?
He's an early-game opponent. Like an unimportant NPC, once you defeat him, he disappears until mid-game, when he reappears at his strongest.
Even though his defense and counter style sounds effective, he uses only Ice types, and by that point the player already has enough monsters to counter him. So he ends up being pretty forgettable.
He's also one of the NPCs you can't romance or interact with much, because he only appears in cutscenes and then leaves.
He doesn't really have any deeper goal either. His reason for fighting you is basically: "I'm being paid to stop you. Please don't mind me while I pull out my cards."
Brutally honest. Fighting strong opponents just for money… he must be really poor.
Perhaps the only thing that left an impression on me was his very unique appearance: wearing a thick fur coat and an Ushanka hat all the time, even though the game describes the weather as very hot inside the academy.
"Alright, time to reorganize my thoughts."
Honestly, I'm already tired of the isekai genre. It's become so oversaturated that everyone knows it.
So being transported here didn't shock me that much.
My family? They passed away from old age. I had nothing left, no wife or kids. I was just a lonely guy earning money day by day while playing games.
And now I don't have to pay taxes anymore. How great is that?
Who would complain about a world where you can summon powerful, loyal monsters to fight for you? It sounds amazing.
So I'm not complaining too much.
"Alright, looking around, it's clear where I am."
Bacillus Academy — the place where almost all the main story happens.
Looking at this body, there's no mistaking it. I'm at the very beginning, when the player has just turned 11 and entered the academy.
This is the tutorial phase where they teach you how to battle, how to create card, how to build decks, etc. It's a very relaxed period where you're practically invincible. Once you craft a high-quality monster card, you already dominate everyone in your year.
Well, unless you challenge the upper classes. Then it becomes like a typical modern Yu-Gi-Oh duel.
But I have to admit, the early game is really easy. Becoming the top student in your block feels like a joke, and the rewards you get are pretty generous.
Only when you move up in years and gain more knowledge does it start getting harder. After all, you're not the only one growing.
Every year brings new privileges, but also stronger rivals from higher classes, and antagonists ranging from bullies to assassination organizations to evil gods.
Yeah, typical academy lore.
"Phew." I breathed out a cold breath and put my Ushanka back on.
I stepped out of the bathroom and saw students heading toward the assembly hall.
A few glanced at me for a moment before looking away, probably thinking my outfit was strange.
Together with the other students, I made my way to the hall.
"If I remember correctly… I'm in the class next to the protagonist."
During his first duel, he tells the player which class he's in, even though the player never actually sees him there when they visit.
Quite mysterious…
I walked to the neatly arranged rows of seats and looked at the faces I would be stuck with for a long time. Everyone wore the same uniform — except me.
I saw a serious-looking male student sitting in the front row and greeted him politely.
"Hello, is this Class Charlemagne?"
"Hm? Yes, it is. What's up?"
"Nothing much. I hope we get along." I extended my hand in goodwill.
He looked at my hand, then slowly shook it.
"Your hand is a bit cold," he said, then let go.
"Sorry."
"No need to apologize."
Thankfully, he seemed friendly and not arrogant. Since this is a fantasy world, I was worried there might be some insufferably arrogant types.
I sat down behind him and watched students from other classes fill up the hall.
There were 7 classes total, each named after a legendary figure that represented the overall personality of its students.
The protagonist's class is Arthur.
The others are: Charlemagne, Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Siegfried, Solomon, and Qin Shi Huang.
It's a bit strange that Igor Snowy — an Ice user — is in Class Charlemagne instead of Siegfried, since that class clearly uses more Ice types than the others.
Once you're assigned to a class, you can never transfer, though I'm not sure why. It seems related to what each class represents.
"Why are you wearing a winter coat right now? Aren't you hot?" a girl's voice asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to the girl sitting right next to me.
She was quite petite, with long, glossy blonde hair and bright blue eyes — different from my darker blue ones.
'I don't know, but I have a feeling I'll feel really uncomfortable if I take this coat off,' I thought. I chose my words carefully.
"I like it."
"…Huh? That's it?"
"Yeah."
"…Oh, so there are people like that."
What? What do you mean by that?
As the hall filled up, the lights dimmed.
Excited whispers filled the air, then a spotlight shone on stage, revealing a kindly old man holding a staff.
"Greetings, new students, and welcome back, returning students! Welcome to Bacillus Academy!"
Immediately, a flock of white doves appeared to greet everyone. The students were all thrilled by the beautiful sight.
"Bacillus Academy is a place where people from all social classes, all races, and all countries can come to study. Things like politics and war have no place here, and I guarantee it will stay that way. You will study here in the most comfortable environment possible, with maximum privacy and without your outside personal life interfering."
"As long as you study hard~" He tapped his staff on the floor.
The entire hall transformed. The confused students suddenly found themselves standing on a wide grassy field with a gentle, cool breeze.
"The history of Bacillus Academy is very special. It originated from an alliance of many nations to train heroes against the Demon King. The academy later became independent from any country's control. As long as you have dreams, willpower, hope, and ambition, we will always welcome you."
"And as for those with ill intentions trying to sneak in — don't worry, they will never be able to sit here. I guarantee it."
He said exactly what was in the game. This was the opening introduction scene, and I swear I've watched it multiple times because there was no skip button.
Seeing the students satisfied, he continued.
He raised his staff, and a card materialized from it.
This was the signature feature of the game.
"And as you all know, Bacillus Academy has long been famous for training heroes."
"You can train with swords, magic, bows — any weapon. But the one thing you cannot do without as a hero… is a companion, a soulmate, someone who will follow you!"
"Summoned monsters!"
He raised the card in his hand. It burst into powerful flames and glowed brightly.
"Flame Eagle! Come forth!"
A monster flew out of the card, letting out an eagle cry. Its body was wreathed in flames as it soared around the hall, making the students look up in excitement.
It then returned to the old man and perched on his shoulder, gazing at the students.
He smiled and said:
"My name is Mirlen, Headmaster of Bacillus Academy. And once again — welcome to Bacillus Academy."
"UOHHHH!!!"
Enthusiastic cheers erupted from the new students. The older students could only smile wryly at how excited the freshmen were.
I looked around at this incredibly lifelike scene and could only smile awkwardly.
I had really arrived in Sage of Bacillus, my own favorite game.