Video Games

What Is Reverse: 1999 About?

Image of character standing near a dark pond in Reverse: 1999

One of the latest gacha titles buzzing with small fanfare is Reverse: 1999, a unique turn-based RPG in the vein of Honaki: Star Rail. If that piques your curiosity and you want to know what is Reverse: 1999 all about, here’s an explanation.

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So, What Is Reverse: 1999?

According to the official store pages for Reverse: 1999, the gacha game is a 20th-century time-traveling strategy RPG starring turn-based battles with card shuffling mechanics and a slew of exotic characters from different time periods. Furthermore, Reverse: 1999 has an appealing visual novel style, blending animated characters on oil paint backgrounds through dialogue sections and more. As for the premise of the game, it’s quite a doozy.

In the world of Reverse: 1999, a phenomenon called the “Storm” arrived on the last day of 1999 in an era of uprising and violence. Unlike a normal storm, raindrops rose from beneath the Earth, defying all reasoning and erasing time, space, and all creation in that era. 

Everyone seemingly poofed out of existence except for the Timekeeper, otherwise called Vertin, the main character. Now the Storm is going backward through time, deleting eras that already came and went until nothing is left. 

In Vertin’s shoes, you’ll travel through various time periods and save characters with strange powers called Arcanists from the Storm and fend off enemies across the timeline, all the while uncovering more about the truth of the Storm and what happened in 1999. If the narrative is up your alley, you’ll have plenty of cutscenes and side activities to enjoy while playing to fill you in.

Related: All Characters in Reverse: 1999 Ranked (Tier List)

As for the combat, it’s the standard elemental-based gameplay seen in the likes of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, where characters are weak or strong against specific elements. The twist here is that the player will have a deck of cards known as Incantations that can shuffled and played each round to make a character attack or use a team buff. 

The strategy of combat lies here since you can boost cards with duplicates or focus on using all the Incantations for one character to trigger their Ultimate skill. The gameplay keeps you active and thinking ahead as battles get more challenging, so if that sounds cool, give this a shot. 

How Can I Play Reverse: 1999?

Recently, a playable global version of Reverse: 1999 was launched on iOS and Android devices. You can jump in on an applicable mobile platform after a short download. But if playing on the go isn’t a good playing experience for you, consider installing the official PC client or BlueStacks to play the game on a desktop/laptop.

All platforms will feature the same content, characters, and events, so no worries about missing out on anything. Also, a good thing about gacha games like Reverse: 1999 is that the developer will notify players inside the game about upcoming changes and recent patches. And that’s a general roundup of what is Reverse: 1999 about – let me know if you try it!  

About the author

Anthony Jones
Anthony is a Strategic Content Writer for the The Escapist and an RPG nerd in love with retro games and the evolution of modern gaming. He has over two years experience as a games reporter with words at IGN, Game Informer, Distractify, Twinfinite, MMOBomb, and elsewhere. More than anything, Anthony loves to talk your ear off about JRPGs that changed his childhood (which deserve remakes) and analyzing the design behind beloved titles.
    Anthony Jones
    Anthony is a Strategic Content Writer for the The Escapist and an RPG nerd in love with retro games and the evolution of modern gaming. He has over two years experience as a games reporter with words at IGN, Game Informer, Distractify, Twinfinite, MMOBomb, and elsewhere. More than anything, Anthony loves to talk your ear off about JRPGs that changed his childhood (which deserve remakes) and analyzing the design behind beloved titles.

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