In this thread, post games (or characters) who single-handedly saved and revitalized their respective franchise. I will give you an easy one.

>shitty game
:I
>shitty game with anime girls
:O

Another easy one

Well, if this is the direction that the thread is taking then...

>>713392057 (OP)
He pulled Falcom from bankruptcy.

Kills the series

>>713392640
Funny how basically all games that heavily feature anime girls are, at their core, actually just sit games. Nobody would play atelier if the main character was just some how shmoe

>>713392057 (OP)

>>713392057 (OP)
Almost certainly Rean “Haha” Schwarzer. It’s to the point that they are retconning him into the Sky remake. I’ve honestly never seen that happen before.

>>713392057 (OP)

>>713392057 (OP)
pic related saved Mihoyo from bankruptcy back in late 2010s

>>713392640
>>713398050
>aesthetics and appealing to a demographic actually are important and does sell games actually
This isn't the gotcha point you think it is.

>>713392057 (OP)

>>713398789
I love Shulk and his game, but let's not kid ourselves here

>>713399065
That's not a franchise savior. XC2 piggybacked off XC1's critical acclaim and a Switch holiday launch window.

>>713399743
XB1 wasn't even going to release in NA originally and it took Operation Rainfall to make it happen with two other games, and NoA made it a fucking Gamestop exclusive
X barely moved the needle because it was a Wii U game and NoA didn't know what the fuck they were doing trying to promote it

XB2 actually broke through to a wider audience with the launch year Switch, and made the franchise into a proper mainstay into Nintendo's library, clearing the way for remasters of XB1 and X along with an entirely new game

>>713398050
>actually sit games
Yeah fuck playing games while sitting

>>713400441
>XB1 wasn't even going to release in NA originally and it took Operation Rainfall to make it happen with two other games
That's a myth, though. Operation Rainfall barely did shit. Think about it: how many remember Pandora's Tower or The Last Story? They're barely even mentioned in hardcore JRPG circles anymore. XC1 rose to prominence on its own merits - not its ties to Operation Rainfall. It sold well over a million units even before XC2 or its DE re-release.

XC1 is the game that salvaged the Xeno franchise after the overambitious, mismanaged disaster that was Xenosaga. XC2 just capitalized on its momentum.

>>713402114
>That's a myth, though. Operation Rainfall barely did shit.
Thank you Nintendo intern-kun. I'm sure Rainfall had nothing to do with you releasing three JRPGs Nintendo otherwise had no intention of selling in North America, just like how they didn't with Disaster Day of Crisis despite the translation being done. And I'm extra sure XB1 put the franchise, I mean that's why XBX did so well, and Shulk was revealed offically in a Japanese Smash Direct, because clearly the franchise meant so much to NoA then