Square Enix’s absurd NFT Million Arthur game is about turning sushi into undies

Square Enix has released the core game portion of its NFT project Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur in Japan. The game can be played via browser as a free-to-play title.

The Million Arthur series is a multimedia franchise by Square Enix which started with the card battle RPG Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur released in 2012, and was followed by anime, manga, and spin-off game releases. 

One example of a spin-off project is Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur, which started as a manga within the game and was written by manga artist Choborau Nyopomi. This manga included meta jokes and developed a sense of humor that seemed to challenge the worldview of the series and the ethics of reality, thus having a profound impact on the image of the series itself. 

In addition, the TV program Jitsu-Zai-Sei Million Arthur, in which female cast members recreated Kaku-San-Sei Million Arthur in a live-action format, also became a hot topic. The series is characterized by such unorthodox endeavors.  

Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur is also one such endeavor, and as is typical of the Million Arthur series, follows an unusual storyline. Arthur: Techno Smith, a character from previous titles, is being chased by the police and is forced to dispose of a large number of illegal underpants that she owns. In her search for a way to dispose of her illegal underpants, she discovers that she can turn them into stickers. It just so happens that Merlin, another recurring character from the series, invents technology that can turn sushi into underpants. This means that players can turn sushi into underpants and convert them into stickers (and NFTs). 

The gameplay loop consists of collecting resources through combat and manufacturing underpants. The player mobilizes the Million Arthur series characters and sends them on adventures to collect resources (sushi). Once the sushi is collected, the characters’ next objective is to manufacture pants using the sushi. 

There are resting periods after battle and manufacturing which take a certain amount of time, so it’s necessary to wait until the characters can be mobilized again. When pants are accumulated, they can be thrown into a pond and be made into stickers. Albeit rather senseless, it is an idle game that can be played in your spare time. 

The flavor of the game seems to be based on the previously mentioned work by Choborau Nyopomi, and many of the illustrations seem to have been created by her. Choborau has been cheering for the launch of this game, urging users to try out Square Enix’s absurd new game. 

スクエニがわけのわからないゲームを作ったんで是非プレイしてみてください。 https://t.co/I0u5YfBXIw

— ちょぼらうにょぽみ (@choboraunyopomi) April 20, 2023

NFT (Non-Fungible Token) technology is also a subject of concern for gamers, as there have been many cases of malicious or copyright infringing NFT projects by other companies. We have to wait and see how Square Enix will operate Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur and its NFT going forward, but we can see the spontaneity that is typical of Million Arthur, as their stance seems to be “we just made an NFT game because it seemed funny.” 

Shi-San-Sei Million Arthur is now available in Japan as a free-to-play title. It appears that LINE account login and wallet registration are required to play and create NFTs. 

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-04-24 16:54 JST)