People have waited, people have clamored for the release and now it is here, after playing a few days, trying this and that and giving in for the monthly pass. I can now make an initial soft launch review of Princess Connect Re: Dive for the global version. So strap your bags and let us talk about the game.
Initial Impressions
Being in the gacha community for too long, I always hear about this game, all I heard are positives, the art is gorgeous, the rates are generous, the developers are generous and the game is an easy pick-up for those who are wishing for a side-game to add while playing other major games or too busy to play big games. Princess Connect also is a light-hearted game that will definitely interest those who want to play for a good time and are chasing waifus (and there's a ton of waifus in the game. I tell you that). So I was shocked when the game was to be released in the global scene because it has been a meme at this point since it was almost impossible. But 2020 has its own twists, as usual, add to the fact that the SEA region is blessed with a soft launch (while other regions can get the APK), even if I have a lot of gachas, it's no wonder I jumped in to play the game as usual.
Jumping in the Game
Influenced by the gacha community, while I was hyped at the game, I was nervous since the community has told me that the global publisher, Crunchyroll Games, have a bad track record in big IP games so I had my doubts, but from what I remember in the community, it will be usually hearsay, skepticism and trust issues of the people to the publisher, I thought, maybe they would change and so I jumped in.
It is a surprise I was needed to download a lot of files for the game but I just accepted and deleted some items that I would not have any use in and started playing the game.
First Few Steps
The story tutorial was a basic tutorial explaining how things work, while it did not break the 4th wall much as it tried to remain cohesive in the game, we need to expect that they would do a good job at this one. Cygames is the original developer and publisher of the game and thus, would have a lot of fantastic stories ahead. While it is true that there may be fanservice and fluff along the way, it's not like it's a bad thing, I like fluff stuff, if you ask me, it's definitely cool.
Outside the story tutorial, the game explained well how things go. One thing I liked in the game, there is a guaranteed 3 star (the highest) character in your tutorial pull, crazy, right? Like what Pecorine would say, "yabai de su ne?"
Story
Like I said earlier, Cygames is great at story-centric games and it is like you're playing a visual novel more than a game, but this has been balanced well in the game. The story part is separate from the battle part so if you would like to just bonk your enemies to oblivion, you can just pick battle and be on your merry way.
As for the story, that it contains, man, does it have a lot, from the main story of the game, character stories that boost your units, guild stories that you would see how these characters interact with each other, and finally some extra stories in the future that there might be events, collaborations and the like, it is brimming with story. I am interested actually in how the plot would unfold as I have not watched the anime yet and I have not dived in the JP version of the game.
Time for Gameplay: PvE and PvP
As for PVE, the battle is easy but it can get challenging once you reach past latter levels, you will need proper team composition, skill, power levels, and timing to get it right. There are times where it can get challenging because the enemy can have beefy stats and you have not, while it is always winnable by doing the brute force tactic, sometimes a proper timing of skills being deployed can be the deciding factor of the game. Aside from the main battle, there are grottos which are your daily training sets, and a dungeon where you fight off enemies continuously but are separated by floors. There's a lot to offer and so much to expect.
The PVP, meanwhile, is a whole new beast on its own, with a different tier list that will vary from the PVE part of the game, people invest in their characters that it can be tough to catch up for others, but it has good rewards and most of the players are just here for their waifu so why not have it and gain some great rewards. Incoming clan battles and princess arena will also arrive soon, so better prep your units for glory.
Gacha and Generosity
Ah yes, the meat of every gacha game, how generous can it be? I got myself falling in love when they gave us a free 3-star character to help us in our missions, while I am still desiring more, patience is the key for me to get the characters that I want. The dupes of the gacha pulls will be converted into Divine Amulet which is required to buy some shards of the other units for ascension. Ascension is where you add stars to the unit and that makes them stronger by a long mile. If you are to ask the veterans, sharding in the game is the reason why it is popular and coined as generous, as you can easily farm for the units in the hard mode story, it is definitely something to look forward to.
Aside from the gacha, the game is generous with its skip tickets, the quality of life in the skip ticket feature is shown a lot since the game will require a lot of farming and you can get these skip tickets everywhere in the battlefield and if so you can just keep farming and stock up for an event if you like, but there are also rumors that you will be drowned by skip tickets in the coming future, now that's something!
Free-to-Play or Pay-to-Win
The never-ending tug-of-war can be seen in this argument, people will always say a game is either based on their experience. While I have my reservations and thoughts that this is still the soft launch so we need to just be watchful in the near future for what the game will do, after all, it is dubbed as very free-to-play to other regions.
With events that can get you shards of the characters, skip tickets, divine amulets, and more. We should remain hopeful that this will be free-to-play for months and years to come! Besides, pay-to-win is only a mindset in which you pay a lot just to progress and stay at top. People can still enjoy and have fun without paying, it depends on the player in the end.
What's in store for the future
With exciting events, collaborations, and more quality of life improvements in the future, I personally cannot wait for it. With the addition of Princess Festival or PrincessFes gacha in which the rates of the pulls are doubled, I am quite excited to save (or whale) in the coming future.
Closing Thoughts
And there you have it, another gacha game that is great to look forward to in the near future! While I would be vigilant on what Crunchyroll will do, I will enjoy the game as much as I can. I have been waiting for years, some longer than mine for sure and now it is here, I cannot wait to see what's more in store in Priconne, so let's go. Our adventure awaits! Join the Priconne discussion now!
Initial Impressions
Being in the gacha community for too long, I always hear about this game, all I heard are positives, the art is gorgeous, the rates are generous, the developers are generous and the game is an easy pick-up for those who are wishing for a side-game to add while playing other major games or too busy to play big games. Princess Connect also is a light-hearted game that will definitely interest those who want to play for a good time and are chasing waifus (and there's a ton of waifus in the game. I tell you that). So I was shocked when the game was to be released in the global scene because it has been a meme at this point since it was almost impossible. But 2020 has its own twists, as usual, add to the fact that the SEA region is blessed with a soft launch (while other regions can get the APK), even if I have a lot of gachas, it's no wonder I jumped in to play the game as usual.
Jumping in the Game
Influenced by the gacha community, while I was hyped at the game, I was nervous since the community has told me that the global publisher, Crunchyroll Games, have a bad track record in big IP games so I had my doubts, but from what I remember in the community, it will be usually hearsay, skepticism and trust issues of the people to the publisher, I thought, maybe they would change and so I jumped in.
It is a surprise I was needed to download a lot of files for the game but I just accepted and deleted some items that I would not have any use in and started playing the game.
First Few Steps
The story tutorial was a basic tutorial explaining how things work, while it did not break the 4th wall much as it tried to remain cohesive in the game, we need to expect that they would do a good job at this one. Cygames is the original developer and publisher of the game and thus, would have a lot of fantastic stories ahead. While it is true that there may be fanservice and fluff along the way, it's not like it's a bad thing, I like fluff stuff, if you ask me, it's definitely cool.
Outside the story tutorial, the game explained well how things go. One thing I liked in the game, there is a guaranteed 3 star (the highest) character in your tutorial pull, crazy, right? Like what Pecorine would say, "yabai de su ne?"
Story
Like I said earlier, Cygames is great at story-centric games and it is like you're playing a visual novel more than a game, but this has been balanced well in the game. The story part is separate from the battle part so if you would like to just bonk your enemies to oblivion, you can just pick battle and be on your merry way.
As for the story, that it contains, man, does it have a lot, from the main story of the game, character stories that boost your units, guild stories that you would see how these characters interact with each other, and finally some extra stories in the future that there might be events, collaborations and the like, it is brimming with story. I am interested actually in how the plot would unfold as I have not watched the anime yet and I have not dived in the JP version of the game.
Time for Gameplay: PvE and PvP
As for PVE, the battle is easy but it can get challenging once you reach past latter levels, you will need proper team composition, skill, power levels, and timing to get it right. There are times where it can get challenging because the enemy can have beefy stats and you have not, while it is always winnable by doing the brute force tactic, sometimes a proper timing of skills being deployed can be the deciding factor of the game. Aside from the main battle, there are grottos which are your daily training sets, and a dungeon where you fight off enemies continuously but are separated by floors. There's a lot to offer and so much to expect.
The PVP, meanwhile, is a whole new beast on its own, with a different tier list that will vary from the PVE part of the game, people invest in their characters that it can be tough to catch up for others, but it has good rewards and most of the players are just here for their waifu so why not have it and gain some great rewards. Incoming clan battles and princess arena will also arrive soon, so better prep your units for glory.
Gacha and Generosity
Ah yes, the meat of every gacha game, how generous can it be? I got myself falling in love when they gave us a free 3-star character to help us in our missions, while I am still desiring more, patience is the key for me to get the characters that I want. The dupes of the gacha pulls will be converted into Divine Amulet which is required to buy some shards of the other units for ascension. Ascension is where you add stars to the unit and that makes them stronger by a long mile. If you are to ask the veterans, sharding in the game is the reason why it is popular and coined as generous, as you can easily farm for the units in the hard mode story, it is definitely something to look forward to.
Aside from the gacha, the game is generous with its skip tickets, the quality of life in the skip ticket feature is shown a lot since the game will require a lot of farming and you can get these skip tickets everywhere in the battlefield and if so you can just keep farming and stock up for an event if you like, but there are also rumors that you will be drowned by skip tickets in the coming future, now that's something!
Free-to-Play or Pay-to-Win
The never-ending tug-of-war can be seen in this argument, people will always say a game is either based on their experience. While I have my reservations and thoughts that this is still the soft launch so we need to just be watchful in the near future for what the game will do, after all, it is dubbed as very free-to-play to other regions.
With events that can get you shards of the characters, skip tickets, divine amulets, and more. We should remain hopeful that this will be free-to-play for months and years to come! Besides, pay-to-win is only a mindset in which you pay a lot just to progress and stay at top. People can still enjoy and have fun without paying, it depends on the player in the end.
What's in store for the future
With exciting events, collaborations, and more quality of life improvements in the future, I personally cannot wait for it. With the addition of Princess Festival or PrincessFes gacha in which the rates of the pulls are doubled, I am quite excited to save (or whale) in the coming future.
Closing Thoughts
And there you have it, another gacha game that is great to look forward to in the near future! While I would be vigilant on what Crunchyroll will do, I will enjoy the game as much as I can. I have been waiting for years, some longer than mine for sure and now it is here, I cannot wait to see what's more in store in Priconne, so let's go. Our adventure awaits! Join the Priconne discussion now!
