Back to the Future with Floppy Disks?!

By taking on the role of the timekeeper in this 2023 mobile game release, you make one promise to the world across different eras: Lead its people and save them from the storm – a cataclysmic event present throughout timelines. The Rescued join you on your journey and you recruit most of the characters (Arcanists) in the game by either playing the game or by summoning them through opening doors to their worlds.

Within the game, the opening of these doors works through a gacha-mechanic. Gacha is based on Japanese vending machines with various content. However, the amount of content and distribution of rare items often greatly varies and if you want a specific item or character you need to be incredibly lucky. This type of gambling has been criticized because it encourages spending until the desired character appears. Let us together have a brief look at the different systems of the game and how they relate to gacha and the mix of game genres.

Reverse:1999 allows for a playthrough of the main story without using money. The game itself is free-to-play. Beautiful graphics and animations contribute to the atmosphere that is set by the visual novel storytelling and sound design. Soothing rhythms, droplets of rain, and rambling in the distance are just a few of many examples that contribute to the game’s soundscapes. Moved by the tunes and the ambience, I noticed how well the characters fit into these worlds across timelines.

ombat scene in a fog-covered swamp; illustrating card deck and characters

Just wait for the combat music in this ensemble surrounded by fog

The combat system itself is fun and engaging and combines elements of turn-based combat and tactical card battling. By spending actions, the player can combine cards with the same card art to create powerful combos. The fights don’t take too long and amount to some quick action between navigating the in-game map and enjoying the story. Even though the characters add different sets of cards to the combat mechanic, their story development is on the weaker side. One could ask whether or not the characters being out of place is adding to the experience of traversing time and space through different eras. In my opinion, this aspect does not support the game’s gacha mechanics strongly. While initially baffled by the audiovisual elements, the character narrative could not convince me.

Game Character Art ”Sonetto”;raising the left hand and light is emitting from the finger

Meet Sonetto: Artist, Arcanist and one of the recruitable characters you will encounter on your journey

The more general ideas of the narrative are interesting and compelling and similar types of games have not seen themes combining time travel and real-world locations. Also, within the story floppy disks are used as tools for time traveling and I find that absolutely hilarious. The gacha system reports back to all of the other elements of the game. Do we want to explore the new characters, their stories and combat prowess? Opening the right door might need a handful of luck or real-world currencies.

I would say give it a chance, even if you do not play mobile games regularly. As it mixes different genres of games, it might appeal to you in trying out the interaction of these different systems within one world.

Developer/Publisher: Bluepoch/Bluepoch
Platforms: IOS, Android, Windows; Reviewed on Android
Release Date: 31.05.2023 (China); 26.10.2023 (Global)
Genres: Turn-based, Card-Battler, RPG, Visual Novel, Gacha

Picture Material (taken by author in Reverse:1999 [Bluepoch, 2023]):
Banner: Screenshot of Starting Screen
1. Screenshot of Combat Scene
2. Screenshot of Character “Sonetto”

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Max Solala

E-Sports enthusiast, Dog-dad, 90s kid, part-time event organizer and full-time game studies student, when not writing papers they do enjoy playing first-person shooters or games with deep narratives.

#mobile games #Gacha #characters #Free-to-play