Yesterday, Arika posted a new two-minute-long video on a game called Prayer To Death. The game looks like a mix-up of SEGA’s Virtual On and a fighting game to those who’ve seen this video. At first glance, it seems interesting, and being a massive fan of Virtual On, I’m curious about what I’ve just watched. But what exactly is Prayer To Death?
Check out the video below.
Back in 2020, Arika announced it was working on a new game called Prayer To Death (sound familiar?) and that this game was set to be released on April 1st, 2020, in Japan. Of course, we found out that this never happened as the game was a massive April Fools joke. Again, Prayer To Death looked like it would be some sort of spiritual successor to Virtual On. This was a fantastic mecha vs. mecha fighting title with players fighting in an arena. It is the predecessor to many mecha-based fighting games, including the Gundam Extreme Vs. MaxiBoost ON, and many others.
For reference, this was the video that Arika released back in 2020.
Of course, being an April Fools joke, the game never materialized as it simply didn’t exist. Arika had teased and bamboozled its fan base, just like they had done before with Fighting EX Layer. Another game that Arika had teased as an actual game, but just like Prayer To Death, was only created as a prank. Several years later, Arika revealed that Fighting EX Layer had been developed as a fully-fledged game released for PS4, Switch, PC, and even an arcade release. Yep, Arika completely fooled everyone by bringing what was originally a prank and willed it into existence.
If that happened for Fighting EX Layer, could the same thing happen for Prayer To Death? That’s a question that has been asked ever since the 2020 April Fools prank had come and gone, with no answer from Arika. Fast-forward to yesterday, when Arika had released a new video for Prayer To Death, which was the only other time since 2020 that we’ve heard or seen anything about the title. And similar to Arika’s prior behavior, it looks as if the game is being developed as an actual game — it’s no longer a prank. Or is it?
Maybe Prayer To Death isn’t a prank
In this newly released video, we’re treated to some gameplay with a number of things taking place. This video features one character called Regaid, facing off against a mirror match.
While not available in this particular build, several characters (cyborgs) are shown on the character select, with two more hidden in shadows. Thanks to the last video, we know that the names of the unavailable characters are Shir-SH, Capell&Opu, Porec, Betelion, and Arteta.
Throughout this fight, we can see that this match takes place in Paris, France, as a pair of famous landmarks, the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, are seen. It has that Twisted Metal 2 vibe going on, as that game also had a stage similar to this.
The fight takes place in both the air and ground, with a number of alleyways and streets can be traversed. The combat looks to be based on getting a lock-on and firing a crazy amount of missiles, and rapidly dodging in multiple directions. While it’s hard to see, surrounding buildings look destructible, as one building turns into a green outline, with pieces missing from the top. Before long, the match is over with the game’s name being shown, then fading to black.
Akira hasn’t officially announced this game, and given that the video drop was so close to April’s Fools day, I’m still not 100% convinced. Part of me wants this to be a legit game, as we could do with a few more arena-based fighting games like this. On the other hand, it is so close to April Fools, and we were already fooled once.
Perhaps the biggest clue that this is another April Fools prank is that there’s no mention of the game on Arika’s website. There’s no chatter on Arika’s Twitter account, nor have I received any press release regarding the game. The more prominent gaming outlets don’t even mention Prayer To Death – maybe they know something we don’t? Yet, why would Arika go through all of this just to pull another prank two years later?
My Mecha/Gundam-loving inner child wants this to be real, so bad. It’s been ages since we’ve seen a Virtual On game. Sure, we have those Gundam games, and they are fun to play. Yet. I’ve always felt that they lacked the charm Virtual On was oozing with. I just want Prayer To Death to be that game that tries to be the next Virtual On. Yeah, that has to be it.
I suppose all we can do is wait and see what happens, but my fingers are crossed that Prayer To Death is yet another Arika title that will eventually grace our gaming consoles. And so help me if this is another damned April Fools prank!
