10 Japanese Video Games That Will Never Be Released In The West

Airing in 1995, Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most critically celebrated and influential anime of all time. The story itself revolves around the character of Shinji Ikari, an emotionally withdrawn teenager capable of maintaining a symbiotic connection with an enormous bio-machine, Unit-01. The show itself depicts an apocalyptic future in which the world is under constant threat from Angels, mysterious monsters with incredible abilities.

In order to capitalise on the popularity of the show, Bandai published a tie-in video game in 1998, called Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel. It was essentially a visual novel in which players were able to interact with various characters from the show, explore multiple locations and make choices that affect the larger narrative. In 2005, a sequel was released entitled Girlfriend of Steel 2nd, which takes place in an alternate universe in which the Angels are no longer a threat, and the characters from the show live in complete harmony.

Essentially a dating simulator, the game allows players to interact with various characters, and form romantic relationships with them. The story involves no conflict, and the game features no combat. It uses the show as a template, but removes several important elements, which was probably the reason it wasn’t released outside of Japan. After all, how do convince people to buy a game in which most of the good stuff has been removed?