Topic: The Gacha Gaming Thread

Excuse me while I raise the flame shields & batten down the hatches for raising this topic on a core gaming site...

Ahem. While I NEVER spend any money on them, I do like tooling around with the occasional gacha game on my phone during my lunch hour at work (& other such downtime where I don't have my Switch or laptop on hand). Here's what I'm currently messing around with.

Senran Kagura: New Link

Yes, that Senran Kagura has a mobile game (the title screen art is changed once or twice a month to highlight the featured new units). This is my "main" gacha at the moment.

As a turn based affair, it's the easiest one to just turn your mind off with and do some grinding to pass the time. I also like the fact that the action is presented by full scale 3D character models instead of 2D art or chibi models (although you do get a detailed 2D art card for each version of a character you have). While ultimately toned down from what the series offers on console, I'll admit it allows for much more fan service than I'd expect from a mobile game (there's no clothing destruction, however some of the available outfits are little more than string bikinis & it still features very noticeable "physics").

The current home screen, which oddly enough reflects a current collaboration with the Ring horror franchise (it has a ton of collabs, though most are from franchises with similar appeal. I started playing in November, and it's had Gantz, To Love Ru, Ikkitousen, Queen's Blade, & Dead or Alive collabs between then & now). It usually features the girls in your current team lounging around.

Action Taimanin

Because apparently the girls of Senran aren't the only lovely ninjas around (luckily the Android version is apparently identical to Steam in terms of content, however it's heavily censored on iOS platforms, which includes both added clothing & even reduced bust sizes for certain characters).

It has more of an action setup which is a bit more cumbersome when it comes to playing on phone, however there is still some fun that shines through. Honestly the character design is stylish enough I think it could transition fairly well into a proper character action game (it is available on Steam in addition to Android/iOS, so I assume you could play with a controller that way).

The home screen, which displays your current character (characters? I only have one at the moment). Interestingly, new playable characters aren't up to gacha, as you have to save up the "premium" in game currency to buy characters outright (although they require a lot of said currency). Instead, gacha is relegated to obtaining new weapons & stat/effect enhancing "support" characters.

Mario Kart Tour

Need I explain?

This is probably the one most of you are already familiar with, being a much simplified take on a proper Mario Kart experience. I'll admit I had jumped off it for awhile, but I've recently came back so I can refamiliarize myself with it's available tracks that way I can guess/look forward to what might be added to MK8D's "Booster Course" pack in the future (think I'm looking forward to "Waluigi Pinball").

It has a real understated home screen with not much going on in terms of neat little touches.

So, what gacha's are you playing?

Never spent a cent on a gotcha, but ngl, I sure do enjoy playing them for a bit.

Apologies for not knowing much about them, what counts as a "gacha" game? I only played a few mobile games, favorites being the now discontinued Trolls Pop, Sonic Dash, and a few classic Sonic games (paid for these to play them offline without ads, to save on data). I don't think those are gacha going by the games shown (Mario Kart, and one looks like an RPG).

@Sunsy, generally refers to mobile games (though they can be on any platform), where the main (only) way to obtain new and/or better characters or weapons is by spending some sort of in game currency in order to obtain new characters/weapons at random (since it's random, you can't pick & choose which character you're going to get, and since each event may only be around for a couple weeks before rotating out, you may miss your chance to get a specific character unless they get out back into rotation). Of course, it is considered a bit underhanded, since some people will buy lots of the in game currency with real money that way they can keep rolling the gacha until they get the character they want.

Even though there's no real world money involved, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a gacha element, since new Blades are acquired at random when you summon them.

It's named after "Gachapon" machines, which are those capsule toy machines where you can put in a little bit of money and get a random little toy.

@RR529 Thanks, I think I have played a few like that. Trolls Pop did have "gifts" as rewards, but I remember never spending anything to get them, just earning them from playing levels or sending a character on a balloon trip and they return hours later with a gift of random items like power ups or troll stickers to unlock new characters. I guess this game kind of counts, even though it was a puzzle bobble clone.

I usually play Asphalt 9, the in-game currency earned can be used for card packs which unlocks new cars, and stars them up. Most of the currency is earned by just doing the daily tasks or events in game. I use to play a now discontinued game called Dawn of the Breakers, which reminded me of a beat 'em up. To get heroes to play as, you had to win them out of capsules at random too. Played them on Switch.

Occasionally, I like playing Minion Rush on my phone. The amusing part, I'm not big on the Minion characters, but I actually enjoy playing this game. The game features costumes where Minions get special powerups and these are obtained by buying prize pods with in-game currency.

Gotcha (no pun intended), similar to those toy machines I sometimes see in supermarkets.

I was hopelessly addicted to Pokémon Shuffle on 3DS, having played it for nearly 900 hours!

It was incredibly liberating when I finally decided that enough was enough and I walked away from it.

Never ever again.

It was so consuming to the point of being embarrassing.

I even justified buying jewels if there was a bonus, particularly if there was a permanent incentive attached to the purchase (I can’t remember what though).

It was an addictive but miserable experience. I now avoid any F2P games like the plague.

I started playing Genshin Impact almost 2 months ago now… it’s gacha. I’ll forever be free to play, probably (I may reconsider if a character I really want gets a rerun). That’s the only gacha game I’ve ever played (except Mario Kart Tour, but I don’t even remember it being gacha) and I don’t like it for it’s gacha elements, just for it’s BotW-style gameplay. Although the gacha does create interesting conversations among my friends who also started playing in February.

Hmm, for some reason that SK isn't available for my Android, @RR529 ....Played a little Action Taimanin on Steam, though! I played a bit of Fire Emblem Heroes when that came out, along with the obvious Final Fantasy gacha games but even with those, I never spent anything & gave up after awhile

Still playing a bit of Dragalia Lost even though it's on its last legs of life. But besides that the only one I'm actively playing is Genshin Impact. It feels like each new area they add gets better and better. I've been having a great time exploring The Chasm.

@Silly_G, yeah, I definitely get that the setup can definitely be exploitative. Luckily none have gripped me like that.

@BruceCM, huh. Not available as in it's not compatible with your device, or that you can't find it? I think I had to access the Japanese Play Store to DL it (set up an alternate Gmail with a VPN), though since then I've been able to play & update it with my regular account no issue.

Ah, thought it was odd I hadn't heard of it before, @RR529 .... Found an unofficial download that's supposed to be in English to try, thanks

I'd always had a casual interest in gacha games, although I try my best not to spend anything on them, and just stay in the "free" part of freemium 🤣

also, I was wondering if gacha world, and everything made by lunime would be considered "gacha"? 😁
https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=4702794943380501526...

gacha life has over 50 million downloads, and I have a hunch that it's mostly kids who download this though 😅

Guess it’s time for me to resurrect this thread.
blue archive definitely.
It’s just so dang good
The story is great and well written, the characters are endearing and likable, it’s easy to get premium currency (the official reddit has done the math and it takes 2 months to get enough to reach pity and as a FTPlayer i almost have enough premium currency to go for 5 pity rolls) honestly if you like gacha games and your tired of excessively dark and depressing stories give this game a try.

Hey @Samalik Found a discussion for you! 😀

As said by @Greatluigi (yo!)...
Blue Archive is a good choice. He mentions 2 months to get a 100% on a character, but it's closer to a month and a half if you are actively playing, made more helpful if you read character stories when you need to in case you fall short of a few gems.
The game also takes only 10m a day to play, so it's really friendly on your time if you already did all of the new content. And the community is quite the cultured crowd. 😭😭😭
The only down side is that the game is region locked for certain western countries. So you may need a VPN for a first time log in. Thankfully, there's also the easyfun method in case that happens, since that's a cloud streaming android platform based in America. Not as responsive as downloading it, but if you are that desperate to get into the game, it's an alternate method.

Another game I've been playing constantly is Legend Clover. Basically, it's a gacha eroge that plays like Fire Emblem in a way, with all of it's cast themed around old legends, historical and mythological. The characters are actually full of personality, the storyline.... I can't comment on because there was a skip button on the whole campaign and my stamina was overflowing and I really wanted to burn some stamina.... 😩
But based on what I have read so far, it is respectable, which can also go for the H-scenes themselves as well, since unlike a lot of certain other gacha eroge that makes it westward, it keeps characterization in mind first. Even the first bond scene is not about sex, but getting to know the girl's quirks first, usually through some cute and funny banter that reveals lots of amusing oddities or respectable traits about them. Perhaps they are competitive to an absurd degree, perhaps they take their work seriously, perhaps they are a good faith trickster who's probably more sane than the rest of her family. It goes on and on!
H-scenes are usually tinged more comical or romantic, and the girls not only have fantastic designs straight out of iconic eroge that made it to Japan's pop culture status (like Fate), but the body types are varied too. So you are able to find some girls you may visually love, but then probably fall in love with a girl that you didn't think was your type, based purely on her off-beat personality.
The beauty of variety instead of giving every girl the same breast size and calling it a day.
(spiteful stare at Nutaku's pitiful modern library)
I've probably mentioned this game a lot of times in my "what are you playing this weekend" community articles, but I think it begs repeating in this thread cuz topic and it's a great, feel-good gacha game. Just a note in case, buy you won't find it on Google Play or the Apple Store, as much as it deserves to be there.

To add on top of the whole F2P monetization talk from 2-3 years ago, I think it's a good golden rule that you should only spend money on a gacha game if you actually been enjoying to for a while.
Give it 6 months of regular play and a mindset of "I'm funding development of a game I love" to make sure you know what you are doing. 6 months also gives you time to get a feel for the monetization schemes in these games, since no two gacha games use the same exact systems.
Blue Archive is very straight forward. Buy gems, get characters, improvise with characters to get more free gems to hit pity, profit.
But then you have gacha games that kinda abuse the whole point of a gacha system as far as the players are concerned, like the ones that feature cosmetic gacha systems like Nikke and Punishing Grey Raven (and now League of Legends... oh joy). If a normal gacha system is suppose to push one to improvise a strategy from it's randomness, then that begs the question what is even the gameplay point of cosmetic gachas? Why can't you just buy them?! Or grind for them normally?!
Then...., you have gacha games like Fire Emblem Heroes, which have no pity system or a clairvoyance release schedule for whatever reason, unlike PGR and BA, so the game CAN and WILL rip you off.
And I don't need to bring up Mihoyo's 50/50, one of the most pitiful excuses of a "pity" system, which will give you an SSR..... of a weapon.... instead of a character you were pulling for..... and then reset the pity counter so you have to build it up all over again....

@Samalik that part of mihoyo and the 50/50 weapon thing reminds me so much of mega man X dive. I would get my hopes up when I get a golden light only for it to be a weapon. Makes me glad that guardian tales has separate gacha for heroes and weapons. 😅
Dang I miss X dive…

@Greatluigi Well, it's still playable on steam at least

One game I've played for years is Love Nikki, a 2D fashion-RPG. The game Isn't super oriented towards gacha but some outfits are only obtainable by either free or paid gacha.

A new game in the series, Infinity Nikki, a 3D open world fashion RPG with platforming is coming to PC, PS5, mobile in a couple weeks.

I'm hoping it comes to Switch 2 also since open world games on mobile are kinda meh.

Long ago I played Genshin but I didn't like the movement controls on mobile and it never came to Switch so I stopped.

@FishyS never in my whole life have I seen the words fashion and RPG right next to each other in the same sentence. I am VERY intrigued.

@Samalik True. 😅