March 31 Crunchyroll Games announced the end of support (End of Service; EOS) of the global English -language server of a mobile game Princess Connect! Re: Dive. The project was immediately removed from the stores, the internal purchases were turned off, and on April 30 the server finally left this world. The global launch occurred on January 19, 2021, lagging behind Japanese almost three years. As accepted in such cases, the reasons for the closure were not commented on.
This text is the memories of the path that I went along with Princess Connect! Re: Dive from the first to the last day. As relying with memories, the contents of the text will rarely be detailed and accurate, and the correct too. In addition, I will try to avoid detailed descriptions of the internals of the game, but the story cannot do without the general extority parts: what is this in Princess Connect! , that it allocates it and why it was gone. I do not promise positive, but I guarantee sincerity.
Part One. Acquaintance
Before dating Princess Connect! The list of games on my phone looked about nothing. No, true. Not a single game. Of course, in school times, Angry Birds flashed there with Bad Piggies, Cut the Rope, and even the first Dead Trigger; I found the times of the dawn of this zombie shutter. After the year from the fourteenth, mobile gaming no longer entered. This was partly influenced by iron: smartphone with Android 2.3 and a simple 10-inch tablet tritely did not pull modern games. And partly the reason was the completely not fascinating game process of those games: after an hour and a half, the next project became uninteresting, and the Donat raising his head finally cropped curiosity.
Nevertheless, I met the concept of Japanese Gach in the second half of the tenth, when they began to fall into runic game discussions. It seems as if it were yesterday, but for five years passed. At that time, the anime and so on it was rapidly gaining popularity, and the concept that began to flicker in the game runet Gacha (Do not confuse with yourself, know) on the subcorta deposited. True, not as a genre, but rather as a synonym for a virtual casino: merciless and generally meaningless, with insanely low percentages of success. This was perfectly laid down on the perception of mobile games as a hellish suction machine of the Donat.
Among the long -standing fans Princess Connect! It is impossible not to highlight the Greenteaneko comic artist. Karin – the character of the game – periodically flashes in ordinary stripes
Acquaintance with Princess Connect! Re: Dive began as well as most players of Global: with anime adaptation. The story about it should be divided into two parts; Hold it in your mind. Now it is worth focusing on the perception of the anime “from the side”, as I had three years ago.
As a rule, anime adaptation of already output, rather than preparing games, is difficult to perceive to a stranger. Of course, such projects are in the first and main queue advertising. In an effort to show as many tins as possible, which will then have to be knocked out in a gache, the studio forget about the rest. Well, you know there, genre belonging, for example. Or a qualitative narrative. Or at least something that will cling when viewing. Anime, published in the summer of 2020, became a pleasant revelation, because it turned out to be a good comedy. The talent of the director Konosuba Takaomi Kanasaki and responsible approach Cygames Pictures – the internal team of the developers, by the way – came together perfectly. Re: Dive was just nice to watch. I think that most viewers did not know anything about any game during watching. Moreover, there were plenty of characters and showed each series at once two or three new. Here, of course, the general separation of the heroes of the world is helped by the guild, but the story of this will be an excessive recess.
Some particles of the franchise can be found in relatively ordinary memes. More often the rest in this glow Kyara
About a couple of months after the end of the first season Crunchyroll Games announces the launch of the mobile gachi Princess Connect! Re: Dive around the world. Then I did not even understand: this is the release of the game of the anime or vice versa – the anime was prepared as a promotion of a global release; This does not change, but the question was. For pre-registration on Google Play, as I recall, they promised useful buns on the first day of launch. “If you don’t have to pay anything, and the anime hooked, then why not try,” I thought then.
Where the previous perception of mobile games in general and the Gach in particular got? Yes, FIG knows, in fact. It did not disappear as such, but in this case the era intervened in the matter. The second half of the 2020 is the time when the nervous system after the beginning of the coron -capalpse has already returned to normal, and the surrounding reality is not. And the processor sitting on the remote engineer has a bunch of time, which has nowhere to put: everything is closed. The re -winging of a hobby and the invention of new ones began: I bought WII And again he began to write to the Blogs SG. The game of Japanese Gachu fits perfectly into this series, so the invitation turned out to be timely.
On January 19, the notification clicked to the mail, and I downloaded the client. I launched and … began to download the game itself weighing 5 gigabytes. So yes, the real start was still somewhere on the 21st, for it was too lazy.
Part two. Interest
The game begins exactly as well as anime: with an incomprehensible exposure monologues of the half -mechanical fairy and elf Kokkoro. In part, this beginning gave rise to bewilderment: this is what, one and the same for the second time to watch?! But after 10 minutes, the plot stops being imposed, releasing in free game swimming. By the way, I never read the main story beyond the prologue.
As, probably, it is supposed to be mobile Freedia, the first time the game is thrown by resources: the Starin does not dry out for Stamin’s battles. A three -star fighter is mandatory issued in the first twist of the gachi. In general, they throw the necessary resources regularly, and as a result, by the end of the third day, when the fountain of generosity begins to screw, a good initial bullet accumulates.
For each battle, the player puts up five fighters who are habitually divided into tanks/damagers/chilov and other supports. However, also when arranging the girls are divided into three lines: which is logical, front, middle and distant. The player does not participate in the battle as such: blows and abilities act on Kuldown, and we are only free to use the “ultra” of each fighter after it is charged. However, this is put on the kuldown, and then nothing needs to be done at all. How easy it is to guess, the battles quickly cease to be the main part of the gameplay.
The main charm lies in the same arrangement of the fighters. If at first this is a banal distribution of roles, then soon questions arise like: “And do not refuse here from the chilery and tank in favor of additional damage?“In addition, each (or rather“ each ”) has to be pumped immediately in six directions, some of which are tied to others. Immersion in the subtleties of the group management delay. In general, it was drawn.
And then there is another turn of https://bingositesnotongamstop.co.uk/review/spin-time/ events that Re: Dive proposed and ignored my past mobile games: a variety of modes. As the chain of tasks passes, the game opens other modes: tasks on the farm of resources, online rostes, dungeons … This does not happen at a time, but quickly, which additionally delays and is of interest, and in addition diversifies gameplay. They also give a house that must be arranged by himself, and then settled in the characters and pump some furniture. Yes, even furniture is pumped. Looking ahead, I’ll say that this house, as the plot tasks passes, expands by two floors.
In general, the abundance of modes and subtleties formed the original interest to delve into the game.
Part is the third. Attachment
How to maintain interest in online game, when the novelty of the initial attracts evaporates? A common solution – seasonal events. He is confessed and confessed; True, in its own way, having launched monthly plot events in March.
Local events are a certain “game in the game”: a temporary set of quests and boss-battles, seasoned with a short cute story. For example, in the last New Year event, Santa chose a successor of the three least suitable characters for this role. And the first such story was spinning around the desire of the Hatsune’s elf to make a gift to her younger sister (which, by the way, is the beast man. The question "how" leads to the spoiler of everything is confused). One event lasted about two and a half weeks, and these days collected the main attention on himself. The local Gacha generously shared resources for pumping, and at times the event even threw free characters. Useless, but free; I don’t remember using one of them.
The described above hints at the grind, which are suffered by similar and not only games. Popures of the joke, I say responsibly: Princess Connect! does not suffer from a grind, she Enjoying. Firstly, for a long time you do not feel the need to repeat the same battles. Promotion in the plot is confident. Slow down is not associated with complexity, but with other modes that also require attention. Due to this, the real Grindowl stands in the eighth or nine month of a calm game. Then you really have to go through the same places again and again. Why is it here? For the sake of clothes, without which the characters cannot go further. The events that turn into the concentration of grinds on the second day stand apart, but I admit: in their logic I figured far from the first attempt and at first was a single passage.
Secondly, introducing the grind, the developers threw a couple of simplification mechanics on him. The main one – SKIP ticks – allow you to get resources for the battle, not launching, if earlier at least once to master the maximum result. These tickets give the sea, they do not end at all. For the past year and a half, I have turned the battles only at the expense of these tickets, and by the time of disconnecting almost 13 thousand had accumulated. So the Grind here was more likely another detail of the character management than the GRIDDE.
The download screen has always been accompanied by a funny comic strip. True, most often I did not have time to read it
And there was a donat in the game. For rubles, it is allowed to buy local resources and, of course, currency for Gachi. Prices differed in non -Orthodoxy: one twist of top -ended gachi cost several thousand rubles. But why it is needed, I still did not understand. Unlike classic mobile phones, the development of the player is not blown here, therefore, only multiplayer for the sake of it is worth contacting the donut. Well, or if you liked the character.
Characters … yes … this is probably the main non -Igra reason that Princess Connect holds! "Princesses" not without reason are taken into the name of the game. Girls here are presented to any viabushny and not only taste, both practicing each type and deconstructing. Say, the usual wizards familiar to the anime are found here in duplicate, and two more are brought up with the thematic event. And everyone sticks out different sides of the image.
The variety is supported by the game and on the meta-level. In the course of development, one fighters or others become stronger. Hatsune already mentioned today, for the first one and a half years, burned the opponents susceptible to magic and was indispensable in almost any Pati, but as the player developed, the leadership began to give in to the leadership of others. Of course, it does not do without 100%, the best, imbalance characters; I remember the three Game Changer’ov. But they will not give a result either – choose a balanced team.
In addition, the characters are not just Zhpegi (Lord, I sound like an otaku). These are Zhipagi with voice acting, and often with animation. This does not make them real, but creates an additional measurement. The animation inserts of the plot were distinguished and distinguished by the control against the background of other scaffolding.
Most of the story is presented in the format of a visual novel. And how Re: Dive conveys actions should be an example for some “large” BUSK
Part is fourth. Delight
And after the same eight to nine months after the start of the game, when Grindwall began to be felt, I decided to reconsider the anime. Not so much to see a new look as to remember the plot events. However, it came out exactly what to "look at the same".
If the adaptation of the game is just a good comedy for an extraneous viewer, then in front of an avid player in Ukolnn on top of the main layer reveals the love of the creators for the details of the world and characters. Cygames Pictures was not allowed to break the canon, and therefore the studio woven into the history of game characters with thoroughness. The viewer regularly received a portion of bonuses for knowledge of the world. Sometimes these are references for the sake of, but several episodes are taken directly from game events, which causes warm memories of the past.
Cygames knows very well how to flirt with fans. This semi -second frame from the opening of the second season is still making his way to goosebumps. But a year and a half passed!
In thoughts on this, I dug up the main charm of game adaptations, to which even many creators did not reach. For a demonstration example, take an episode from the end of the fifth series: in the heat of the battle of Hatsune (Chesoslovo, not your favorite character), the ulta – meteorite rain Shooting Star. Let me remind you that in the game Ula is the only thing that the player himself is free to use. So, the launch process itself is shown pathetically and in detail. This pathos also works for you, because you have been using Shooting Star yourself for the fourth month in a row and you know its strength. Such a synchronization of game skills and what is happening on the screen inspires and makes the episode look even stronger. And then even more high on him in the game. Thus, the anime involves the player-prisoner into what is happening, making the participant in the events. And this technique works because there is an interactive source.
This very moment can be seen here
Part is the fifth. Mutual love
The second year (and with it the third) is the time of the gradual development of the game. A set of not only muscles, but also new bones; at times suitable, but at times not quite. Say, “unique equipment” did not turn into additional mechanics, becoming an additional direction of pumping. But the sixth stars to individual characters changed the game meta, and it’s even hard to say which way to which. At least the gameplay has revived.
Otherwise, since the end of 2021, the game has changed slightly, and the process of promotion became tangible-pimped. Yes, they added a pleasant tinsel to the Iventam, the Mini-Games with the launch of the Masochist Kuuki into the air, and last year’s events began to ride quickly for the second time. But these are trifles. Although no, there was one event: in the fall of 2022 I reached the maximum possible level. Nothing important, and the ceiling rose monthly, but the feeling of success from it was.
Princess Connect Re: Dive has become a pleasant daily routine. In the evening – pick up resources, run down the dungeon and read the plot. In the morning in the subway – spend a daily stamine. In our difficult time for kukuhi, this is a hook that holds for reality, taking very little time.
Part is the sixth. Sensation of death
Such development is precisely described by the expression "too good". And when things go too well, they like to suddenly become catastrophic.
However, the word "suddenly" here will be incorrect. The financial indicators of the global server fell with unenviable stability. In comparison with a less populated Japanese version, the profit is completely ridiculous. The next revenue, published in early March, suggested pessimistic thoughts: the fall of February by January – almost twice (180k $ against $ 300k). For comparison, the Japanese server brings the creators of 2 million possibly more than a month in a row for more than a month. April, by the way, is closed with the same indicator.
The case is not the first. Clamping on the English -speaking servers Gach – the event close to the ordinary, and the publisher of Global was already distinguished by the popular disconnection of the popular mobile phone in Overlord’U. So it cost, hoping for the best, prepare for the worst.
However, as not to be prepared, such events are still sudden. Friday morning on March 31 went ordinary until I, as usual, launched the game in the subway. And there, right on the main one, a "important announcement" hung. The publisher’s message was as follows: 1) Ira closed on April 30; 2) store – today. Mishura and politeness were enough there, but not a word about the reasons. However, I have already explained the situation.
Needless to say, the day was spoiled?
Part seventh. New old life
So. Month to the end. What to do? The first thought that comes to mind is to try out colleagues in the genre. For example, a mobile phone based on recent "Ascent in the shade" Pain reminds Re: Dive in terms of the interface and gameplay. But who will give a guarantee that tomorrow they will not close it and? Bad option.
The next idea is to switch to a Japanese server that blooms and smells. There are exactly three problems here: the lunar interface; Three years of the difference could not leave a mark on the meta; and also start promotion again. We partly decide the language barrier, but the need to repeat more than two years of the development of Akka from scratch does not particularly motivate.
Why just don’t finish? Score on Gachi and send mobile games to the scrap of consciousness again. But because it went. The characters have come in with whom it is pleasant to spend a little routine time. A feeling of constant progress came; Let it be small, but not requiring donat. And still hope for the third season of anime adaptation is being glowing. With which the journey with the princesses began.
So on April 26, three days before the end of Global, I started moving on a Japanese server. The difference in the language was attended by knowledge of the thorough interface and screen translators. And the month of waiting for the closure smoothed out the problem of re -promotion in my head, making it tolerant. At the same time, now you can avoid previous mistakes and not waste time on weak fighters.
P.S. A few days after the closure of the global server, the following news appeared: the developer and the Japanese publisher Comers are created by the European and North American daughters. Hope dies the last, as they say
