EXPOSURES (MOBILE GAME) -- SINoALICE

SINoALICE was a game I had been waiting for for a long, long time. After the global release was cancelled just one day before launch last year, I thought we were doomed to never play it. Then, after changing hands, SINoALICE finally released 5 days ago.

Am I playing it like crazy and loving every bit of it? Well...

SINoALICE

Playtime Length (so far): 1-2 hours each day
Platform Played on: Mobile
Language: English (Some text are read in Japanese)
Type of Game: Gacha, Upgrading class / gear, Material / Event farming, Guild vs Guild
Game-specific Details: I'm currently Rank 43, alternating between farming the current event, other materials, and story. I am the lone member of my own guild, lol.

My Impressions

After spending a few hours on launch day, I was a bit let down. NOT because it didn't live up to my expectations (the only expectation I had was experiencing a twisted game and it delivered in that area). Here were a few thoughts I had on launch day:

What do all the symbols on the weapons mean during a battle?

What do "common" skills and "class" skills mean when upgrading a character?

Should I have all these weapons equipped even though many 

are low-level or stick to a few high-levelled ones?

In short, I was a bit let down because I was confused on how to play the game efficiently. There were some tutorials on some of the game mechanics, but for the rest, I either had to look it up online, check the help section in the game, or trial-and-error figure it out myself.

What I interpreted after reading weapon skills in the game and then using 

those weapons in battles to test out my interpretations. Click to enlarge the image.

I tried looking up online sources for this, but phrasing was very vague, even in 

the in-game help section. For the "common" skills, based on what I read online, 

I tested it out and can confirm that what I write is how it works.

Equipping more weapons is better, 'cuz it affects the overall base stats. 

Having the stronger weapons levelled (and matching the character's specialty) 

would be gravy.

After getting a better understanding on some of the game mechanics for SINoALICE, my impression improved... but there was still something... something keeping me from saying, "SINoALICE is the best thing ever!".

I'll get into that a little later... First, I want to talk about the things I like, 'cuz, yes -- there are things I like about SINoALICE (I mean, I'm still playing it!).

-The music. This is simply perfect for setting the dark and dreary atmosphere for SINoALICE. Sometimes even when I'm done playing for the time, I'll leave the game running just to keep listening to the home menu music while I do other things.

"The Book of Lies and the Universe". This is the title theme, 

perfect for welcoming you into a dark and dreary world.

-The premise. Where else will you play as a fairy tale character with a slightly twisted personality on a path to revive their own author for their own goals? But -- in order to revive their own author they have to kill everyone else. It makes me really curious how each character's story turns out!

From what I've played so far, the story segments are very short and some can be quite abstract. It's a dark screen with a graphic and some voiced text before each battle, sometimes with voiced text after specific battles. I kinda think a lot of that text is meant to provide more characterization, with certain points progressing the actual story.

How the story segments are laid out. So far that I've played (Chapter 1-4), 

each chapter has 10 battles, with some chapters clashing between 2 characters. 

Those chapters between 2 characters are pretty interesting to read. :3

One of the story texts for Sleeping Beauty. She wants to revive her author to have her story re-written. Sleeping Beauty wants to keep sleeping 

instead of being woken up by the prince at the end.

-The language. Some of the language in SINoALICE is quite sarcastic, blunt, 4th wall-breaking, and with dark humour. I like that. I should have taken screenshots when I saw this in the tutorials, but one example of this is when you're trying to summon more grimoires (weapons) and one of the NPCs says something along the lines of "RARES! We want more RARES!". I find it very amusing.

-The graphics. I'm not really that big on graphics, but even I can't ignore the pretty character designs. I guess the style really appeals to me.

My current "main", Snow White/Breaker.

-The gacha. One thing that I find pretty unique with this gacha compared to other gacha games I've played is that you're summoning weapons, not specifically units. Granted, there is a chance some of those weapons can unlock more units / classes... but depending on your focus, it might not be as important.

What I like about this method of summoning weapons is that it gives more flexibility over which character you play. Like -- as long as you equip good SR / L weapons to your favourite character, you can keep using her.

My 2nd summoning attempt. I think I was pretty lucky.

Look at all these weapons! Supposedly each weapon has their own story, 

but I haven't checked them out yet.

-The social aspect. Now... I haven't really used this aspect much, but I can appreciate that it's there. The Director of SINoALICE, Yoko Taro, said in an interview that SINoALICE is a "social game", and I can totally believe that. There are several features in the game that allow for socializing, like a board for posting various topics, and the ability to create group chats with friends, and such.

Even every battle has a small screen for chatting. Why would an in-game battle have a small screen for chatting? Because there is a mode called "co-op battle" that allows for one player to join another player's battle in real time. I've had several random players join my battles, and I've joined others'. For me, I'm usually focused on battling when I do co-op battles so I don't really chat... but there is an option to set battling to AUTO which frees up the player to chat if they want to.

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Okay... I've talked enough about all the things that I like about SINoALICE (which is actually a lot!). Here is my biggest barrier with the game... and I don't even really consider it a fault:

After you get through all the story, the main focus seems to be The Colosseum... aka Real-Time Guild vs. Guild that lasts for 20 minutes. I'm not a big PvP person, so I don't really enjoy it much... I do it because it's part of my daily missions, and so far, it has rewards you can't get anywhere else (CORRECTION: I just noticed that those rewards are also available in a medal exchange, but there are better things to get from that medal exchange, honestly).

I also look at my lone guild of 1 member (me), and think... well, I'm doomed, lol. I've had a couple successes when I'm against another Guild that has very few members like me. But against a full guild of 15 members... that's when I attack once and then set the rest of my actions to AUTO (while I watch my character get murdered for 20 minutes).

I guess I could join another guild that has more members if I get tired of losing all the time. But -- I guess I don't like thinking that this is something I have to do to have a fighting chance.

My first Colosseum victory. I find it amusing how both guild names 

relate to being away from the game in some form, hahaha. :3

Thing is... I can't really say the Colosseum sucks (though maybe improving matchups between Guilds with similar amount of members could be something), 'cuz I don't think it does. If you enjoy PvP and can commit 20 minutes to it each day, I'd imagine it could feel very rewarding and satisfying, especially if you know that others in your guild are likely doing the same thing. I can only say that it's not for me.


EDIT -- Somebody asked me if I thought the microtransaction pricing was fair. To be honest, when I first looked at the regular pricing for the Twilight Crystals (in-game currency required for summoning weapons), I thought it was a bit more on the pricey side. At regular price, one weapon can cost between $2.60-$3 CAD. You can be the judge on if you think that is fair.

For comparison's sake, another phone game I play, Dx2, runs at a slightly lower rate ($2.50 CAD), and for that game I've only done microtransactions for it a couple times.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to afford the Twilight Crystals at regular price at this time, but I may consider buying some during a sale or if there is a promotion package with a character I really want. In the end, I do want to support the game somehow.



Okay, I'm done chatting. Overall, I think SINoALICE is a good, interesting game, but I think the initial learning curve will turn some people off, which is really unfortunate. For me, I'm going to continue playing SINoALICE to see more of the story. There is also a Nier collaboration coming up so I can't miss that, hahaha.

Now to putz around a bit for 1.5 hours before seeing my character get killed in the Colosseum, lol.


Thanks for reading my blog! Feel free to comment on / ask about anything.

IF you happen to be playing SINoALICE on the US servers and would like to add me as a follow, feel free: 103579373. Every now and then I check who's following me and will follow back if they're active. I may remove if not active for a few days or so, though.

I know I said in my last blog that I was thinking about making my blogs shorter, but I guess I had a lot to say for this one, haha.

Take care, and until next time! :)