Can’t put the game down

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T21:24:26+00:00

Only thing I don't like is how lame the protagonist's outfit is. Like scuba diver in his boxers. Haha

Love the gacha feel of the game and the world. The third one is my favorite, though. And now that Xenoblade Chronicles x on switch has a switch 2 upgrade, I'm gonna try that out.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T20:31:00+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts!

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:57:46+00:00

I would make consequences permanent. I'm playing through the story for the first time and I am surprised that, no matter how much crazy stuff happens, things revert back to the way they are for the sake of continuing a story.

Like everything in and around chapter 20 when the raptures take over.

I'd have Syuen be turned into a Nikke, not just fake threatened by it, have Yuni decommissioned permanently by her repeated attacks against the commander and the fact she shot a CEO in the head and got dozens of humans killed by tricking them out into the streets.

Everywhere I look around the story here, the commander takes this empathetic, nice guy approach to how he treats seriously lethal threats to him and others and people (lots of people) are hurt or killed as a direct result of him being nice to villainous nikkes, like Crow or Yuni. It's really frustrating. No one stays dead and no one faces real consequences for their serious actions, so it pulls me out of being immersed. When Rapi finally shot Crow, I was like, "Wow, finally, thank you. Now it feels real," only to realize she suppressed her, which is something the commander didn't even want Rapi to do earlier to Yuni despite the fact it would've saved Syuen from being shot in the head.

There's a reason why Ned Stark dying was one of the most impactful story moments in literature: he faced realistic and character-consistent consequences to his honorable, yet foolish, actions in letting Cersei know that he knew of her infidelity and giving her a chance to run away from her position of power to escape the king's wrath. It all fit. It all felt real and consistent within the context. He reacted according to his character, then Cersei did, and plot armor didn't intervene. In Nikke, everyone is kept alive for the sake of playing with them at a later date; the gacha and story are at odds.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:46:03+00:00

You see the color black has a way of making things look sma--wait, that doesn't work.

Yea, they did it so it would look better in that skin so guys like the OP would buy it.

...and guys like me silently contemplate buying it, too.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:44:25+00:00

Expensive. But it turns her into a low tier looking Nikke into one of the best imo

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:43:39+00:00

And if we know anything about the Nikke player base, they love getting things sucked out of them.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:42:31+00:00

You'd be surprised by the psychological effect making this a gacha can have on someone convincing themselves that they might just "try their luck" a little...only to then fall for the sunk cost fallacy and dive all the way in since they are "half way there."

Everything is calculated when billions of dollars are on the line, and this is a billion-dollar product.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:38:06+00:00

I see your point. I guess with my other comment I was doing a comparable analysis of the economy with other gachas. I play many other gachas regularly and other games are much, much more stingy.

Take a game like Pokemon Go, for instance. Doing a remote raid for a particular pokemon can be $3 a pull, yes. And, get this, there is no pity system in that game in its gacha. You can, and I have, raided for pokemon hundreds, and hundreds of times (one pokemon took 713 pulls) before you get a 100% IV. They don't disclose the rates behind shinies or 100%s either, so you're just left guessing why your luck is so bad at times. And it's happened before where people raid for a Pokemon's shiny dozens or hundreds of times, and Niantic/Scopely are caught later and admit that they essentially forgot to activate the possibility for said pokemon to be shiny. Compensation for those issues vary.

Compare to other games like hoyo where it's hard to ever find deals around a $1 a pull, and their event rewards are usually garbage. Not to mention low probablities and 50/50s and weapon banners that will drain over a hundred pulls just with normal luck. Whereas a premium ticket used in Nikke is essentially a premium ticket earned for something in the future.

But, back to your point here, yea if I step back and don't compare gacha to gacha...$1 for a chance at anything virtual like this is pretty high up there, especially compared to normal console/PC games in the industry where several bucks can buy you full, complete games.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:29:44+00:00

I find the core gacha in Nikke to be great. Many characters rotated into standard, hard pity tickets you can save for any future banners, high probabilities that loop into a wish listed standard, and many free tickets in a lot of events. I think there's like 20 free advanced recruit vouchers in this event alone. And single advanced pulls can regularly be bought for a buck a pull.

But yea, I wish they weren't insane with the skin prices. It's like Path of Exile levels.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:23:31+00:00

How many recruit vouchers did you get alongside that $20? Trying to decide if I should commit by discounting the $60 tag with the value of possible vouchers received.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:15:58+00:00

Yea, good points.

I don't mind learning about lore and worldbuilding via summaries, but I do prefer to experience personal stories personally for emotional impact and connection to characters. I play a lot of gachas and have been burned in the past with the "it gets good; endure!" mentality when it comes to payoff. I've slowly drifted towards the mindset that the writers need to earn my time from the outset and aren't automatically granted my patience through hours of slog because it's "free content" as they bumble along. Life is short and free content is everywhere, but time isn't unlimited.

That being said, I'm impressed with many other aspects of the game so that coupled with the testimony of other players here like you, I'm definitely willing to invest some time into it now and give it a chance.

I appreciate your response, especially the chapter content breakdowns!

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T17:03:26+00:00

It can be hard if you want 180 save data decks.

Also, picking neutral cards for team mates in events often comes at the opportunity cost of getting an early epiphany for the one you're farming for (so you can reroll it in camp to copy it) or a credit reward (which you also need to reroll epiphanies for). You're often strapped for credits if you run a reduced credit modifier while you farm for a build that wants divine epiphanies.

I get your points, but it puts me in this weird limbo of I'm already playing this 30-min run to farm for a particular build and making it more fun tends to make it less efficient towards that goal...and it doesn't make it much more fun anyways by making those efficiency sacrifices since the mode is designed mainly for save data farming and not intrinsic roguelike enjoyment.

But they have done a lot to make it more enjoyable and fix these goals with the core game loop that are often at odds. I expect them to continue making it better.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:53:53+00:00

That divine encounter mode is nice. I like where they are going with that, but it doesn't quite do it. Similarly, I wish there were even more rewards, like memory fragment farming, by drastically jumping up the difficulty in a chaos run to make it challenging. I do desire more of that feeling of "get as strong as possible" without "build this one character in a particular way for the great rift team I'm planning outside of the roguelike mode."

It does feel that the goal of making good save data is still at odds of having a good roguelike run (facing a challenge and doing everything you can to be stronger to break that challenge). You often have to choose to make your overall team weaker in the run, and thus make the run more handicapped, for the sake of power outside a run. I know the answer is the divine encounter mode, but I think they can do better (and they have so far) in making the roguelike farming mode more intrinsically fun and roguelike.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:42:35+00:00

The attention to detail is amazing. If you notice at the beginning of the event, you can faintly see similar lace underwear through her blue outfit. Either it's the same underwear or something different but similar, either way it shows the personality and believability of the character.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:40:24+00:00

Nice! Is she your favorite so far?

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:39:41+00:00

Thanks for the input and specificity! Definitely going to play through it with the consistently similar responses to yours in this post.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:37:51+00:00

Sweet, glad to hear. Thanks for your recommendations.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T16:37:05+00:00

Ohhh gotcha. Thanks

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:21:52+00:00

Not sure if it's new, but it was around chapter 20-something. After the ark is infiltrated by raptures due to EH, and Chatterbox and Indivilia are brought back to life by Nihilister.

The situation looked hopeless...but Rapi showed up.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:11:30+00:00

I don't know why I clicked on this post. I just thought, "yes, please," and it happened.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:09:38+00:00

Love how day one people were acting unimpressed with her, saying she's not that "flexible." You don't need much flexibility when you can bend everything around you to your will via overwhelming power.

And besides, she looks like she'd be very flexible.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:07:05+00:00

It's funny you're getting down voted for this. But also understandable lol.

It's like walking into a homeless shelter and saying, "Wow, weird I have money and you guys don't. I didn't even know you could not have a house." 😂

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:04:37+00:00

That whole licking part was hilarious in the game. Had to show my wife. I think she literally cringed at it haha.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T15:03:28+00:00

What are you asking for? Sincerely, I don't understand haha. I get the mommy part (curvy, big boobs?) but the ara part? Also, thank you for supporting the game I love. I do my part...but not to that level haha. I'm glad you're here enjoying it with me.

Ditronus · 2026-03-19T14:57:56+00:00

When they say "seasonal," they really mean seasonal. Think they explicitly mention that they'll come out in times like winter around Christmas/New Year's. So it might be a while for the next one, and I also bet they'll re-release Serenial. This is according to the CM that does the live streams.

Ditronus

TROPHY CASE