Most of what Nintendo has released in the past has resulted in a huge success, the primary examples being Pokemon and the Super Mario series. Nearly everything they put out, provided that it has their brand on it, garners plenty of attention. Dragalia Lost, a free mobile game available on both iOS and Android as of September 27th, 2018, seems to be following this trend, already popular with its cute art style, fluid 3D sprite animation, fun battle mechanics, and, most importantly, its gacha system.
For those not in the know, gacha is a subgenre of video game, most popular on mobile games, similar to loot boxes. The term originates from Japan’s gashapon (ガシャポン), where you insert a small amount of money in exchange for a random item listed on the machine. It works very much like this in gacha games; in exchange for some form of in-game currency, you can “roll” on the gacha and hopefully get what you want. This in-game currency is usually premium, and you receive limited amounts of it for free, but is otherwise obtainable by opening your wallet.
Dragalia Lost utilizes this gacha system as the way for players to obtain new units and items. This is hardly unique to Dragalia Lost, however. Fate/Grand Order, Gran Blue Fantasy, and Fire Emblem: Heroes are all extremely popular gacha games, and are especially notorious for their abysmal chances of getting Super Super Rare (SSR) units. The chances of getting what you want is often lower than 1%, even if you pay. However, fans seem to be drawn to gacha games because of this system rather than in spite of it, and Dragalia Lost is no exception.
Gacha may be Dragalia Lost’s main selling point, but it’s hardly the only one. The adorable art style, real-time battle mechanics, and voiced story are all part of its charm. Within the masses of other gacha games, there isn’t anything new that Dragalia Lost brings to the table; in fact, the main reason why I personally was able to get the hang of it so quickly was because of how similar it is to Fate/Grand Order, and I recognized the battle mechanics from Smash Tap. What makes it unique is its diverse cast of lovable characters and interesting storyline, told in a visual novel format.
It’s hardly perfect, but Dragalia Lost is a fun game, free to play, and a good way to pass time if you’re bored. If you do wind up downloading it to give it a whirl, remember that they’re just anime PNGs. Don’t be too salty about not rolling that five star unit you wanted.
For those not in the know, gacha is a subgenre of video game, most popular on mobile games, similar to loot boxes. The term originates from Japan’s gashapon (ガシャポン), where you insert a small amount of money in exchange for a random item listed on the machine. It works very much like this in gacha games; in exchange for some form of in-game currency, you can “roll” on the gacha and hopefully get what you want. This in-game currency is usually premium, and you receive limited amounts of it for free, but is otherwise obtainable by opening your wallet.
Dragalia Lost utilizes this gacha system as the way for players to obtain new units and items. This is hardly unique to Dragalia Lost, however. Fate/Grand Order, Gran Blue Fantasy, and Fire Emblem: Heroes are all extremely popular gacha games, and are especially notorious for their abysmal chances of getting Super Super Rare (SSR) units. The chances of getting what you want is often lower than 1%, even if you pay. However, fans seem to be drawn to gacha games because of this system rather than in spite of it, and Dragalia Lost is no exception.
Gacha may be Dragalia Lost’s main selling point, but it’s hardly the only one. The adorable art style, real-time battle mechanics, and voiced story are all part of its charm. Within the masses of other gacha games, there isn’t anything new that Dragalia Lost brings to the table; in fact, the main reason why I personally was able to get the hang of it so quickly was because of how similar it is to Fate/Grand Order, and I recognized the battle mechanics from Smash Tap. What makes it unique is its diverse cast of lovable characters and interesting storyline, told in a visual novel format.
It’s hardly perfect, but Dragalia Lost is a fun game, free to play, and a good way to pass time if you’re bored. If you do wind up downloading it to give it a whirl, remember that they’re just anime PNGs. Don’t be too salty about not rolling that five star unit you wanted.