— #Gacha #Review —

5/6
Chaos Zero Nightmare — Review

Soooo, this isn't a "first impression" review since I played the game for more than 40 hours and went through the whole story that was available at that point.

The game has a Slay the Spire-like combat structure, like the previously covered "Morimens". This style of gameplay is very functional and Chaos Zero Nightmare uses it very well, but it comes with the downside of very long runs, that can take 1 to 2 hours, which is not ideal for a mobage. In order to limit the issue, the game is structured through a "Saved Data" system: full runs give cards, power ups, and equipments to the characters you're using, and that setup is then saved for each characters to use when facing single battles. This way, the game allows both to play single boss fights at full power and to go through entire runs. The problem of this system though is the RNG: the RNG of a run as a "Saved Data" of a characters results in having to farm full runs hoping to get the best possible Saved Data, which is far too heavy of a farming when each one is in the time magnitude of hours.

Combat system structure aside, the game has a great tutorial progression, which unlocks game modes at a good pace without feeling overwhelming, and explaining properly the needed mechanics. The story is very simple but functional, and the initial sections have well-made cutscenes to lure players in, but although cutscenes then stop being a thing, the main story is still fully voiced.

The main issue theme-wise though is that the game was clearly thought to be much darker, but the idea seems to have been scrapped, even though the final product still has game mechanics (the Sanity mechanic) tied to it. The new direction is more generic and has some additional gooning to it, but this also goes to its advantage in distancing itself from the Lovraftian-based Morimens.

Generally speaking, it is an overall above average game with no major flaws outside of the time to dedicate to it, thus making it a enjoyable experience for those interested in the genre.