Action Taimanin (アクション対魔忍) is a free-to-playaction role-playingvideo game developed and published by Gremory Games on mobile, and later ported to Windows PCs by Lilith and Infini-Brain.[3] The game is a spin-off of Lilith's Taimanin visual novel series. Unlike other installments in the series, it is not pornographic.
Action Taimanin takes place in an alternate near-future Japan. Demons have crossed over from the dark side, breaking the unspoken rules of non-interference. The rule is now obsolete, and a war rages between the humans and demons. As the fight rages on, crime syndicates are taking advantage of the chaos to rise in power. The government established an organization of ninjas called "Taimanins" to fight the demons.[4]
The game's first storyline finished with chapter 16, part 2 with the extended storyline now up to chapter 22.
Gameplay
Action Taimanin features multiple game modes. The main quest begins with retrieving a stolen bio-weapon from a UFS base. Time Attack mode has players racing against the clock and other players to try and rank as high as possible. Special Mode is a vehicle race to avoid obstacles and get to the finish line.
By completing different modes and training, players can unlock additional outfits for their favorite characters. Support characters are also on hand to help out with various skills. Bonding with the support characters will, unlock special slice-of-life events.[4]
Characters
In Action Taimanin, the player takes the role of Fuuma Kotarou (ふうま 小太郎), the newly appointed captain of the Taimanin Task Force. Over the course of the game, Kotarou will recruit both playable and non-playable Task Force members. Playable characters can be obtained with in-game currency while Supporters are acquired through gacha banners. The following is a list of playable characters and does not cover the game's Supporters. Since the opening of the global server, the game adds a new playable character every 2 months.[5]
Action Taimanin was announced at TGS 2019 as a general audience aimed 3D game set in the Taimanin universe.[31] The starting playable characters unveiled were Igawa Asagi, Igawa Sakura, and Mizuki Yukikaze.[32]
Release
Shortly after the Japanese release, users noticed a remixed version of Au5's "Snowblind" was used in-game but the artist wasn't featured in the game's credits. Gremory Games would then issue an apology for copyright infringement and take measures to avoid similar situations in the future.[33]
In September 2020, it was announced that Action Taimanin would be released globally for PC on Steam, as well as on iOS and Android devices.[34] On May 4, 2021, the Japanese and global server merged with the former folding into the latter. The Japanese server final closure took place on July 27, with urging of Lilith and Gremory for Japanese players to register for a transfer.[35]
The global server celebrated its first anniversary with several in-game events lasting for all of October 2021 with a second anniversary event taking place October 2022.[27] Reception to the second anniversary was negative due to Gremory Games introducing the first paid-only character, Annerose from Koutetsu no Majo Annerose [ja], without prior notice after she won the game's 2022 character popularity poll.[36]
Reception
Sequential Planet complimented the game's visuals and performance as well as it being F2P-friendly. However, they criticized the stamina system, combat, and enemy variety.[37] Iyane Agossah from DualShockers included Action Taimanin in his top 10 games of 2020, praising the game's story and calling it "surprisingly good and researched". However, he criticized the aggressive monetization and repetitive gameplay.[38]Game Rant called Action Taimanin one of the best free anime games on Steam.[39]
^Stenbuck, Kite (September 8, 2020). "Action Taimanin Will Launch Worldwide on Steam and Mobile Devices". Siliconera. Retrieved November 28, 2020. Although Gremory Games is handling the mobile releases of Action Taimanin, the PC version on Steam is published by Infini-Brain, the parent company of the LiLith brand that has been developing the Taimanin series.
^"渡部 紗弓" (in Japanese). Sigma Seven. Retrieved 2021-09-14. 「アクション対魔忍」（井河アサギ役）
^"【重要】「井河アサギ」キャラクターボイス担当変更について". アクション対魔忍 (in Japanese). 2020-06-23. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-02-02. 諸般の都合により、井河アサギのキャストが変更となりますことをお知らせさせていただきます。
^ abSchpasm (2022-09-22). "Action Taimanin Begins 2nd Anniversary Event on October 4". QooApp News. Retrieved 2022-09-22. Annerose Vajra is finally coming to the game! After winning the popularity poll, Annerose Vajra will be added to the roster on October 4th
^Lemus, Jean-Karlo (2022-10-07). ""I'm The Mario!" - This Week in Games". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2022-12-01. It would be bad enough if Annerose was just $50 on release but later available for the usual 1200 gems, like every other character—but according to the patch notes, she's only going to be available for sale with actual cash money. No gems later down the road. And this is their big Anniversary celebration: spend $50 for a character you voted on seeing in the game. Suffice to say, a lot of fans aren't happy.
