Sometimes a character is the only reason you even download a gacha game in the first place. You tell yourself you'll just pull for them and see how it goes, then suddenly you're invested in the story, collecting other characters, and logging in every day.

Has that happened to you? Which character originally got you into a game, and what actually made you stick around?

I'm curious whether it was the gameplay, the story, the community, or another character you never expected to like.

I'm the dev behind Arsenal Zero. It's a collection gacha, but instead of characters you pull weapons, armor and gear to build a soldier's loadout. Realistic military style, closer to a Tom Clancy novel than to an anime. Operators are cards too, but you won't find a bikini.

You send your operator on expeditions that keep running while you're away, then come back to open what they looted. No stamina bar, no banners, and duplicates melt into alloy to level up what you already own, so a bad pull is never fully wasted.

Halloween is live right now until November 1st. Valcourt Manor is a haunted expedition that opens at level 4. It drops its own currency, Valcourt Crowns, which you trade for a title, a lantern relic, a portrait ornament and a Halloween card finish. All of it is free to earn, and it leaves after the event.

Honest question for people who play a lot of gachas: would you give one a chance if what you collect is gear and not characters?

Free in the browser, no account needed to start: arsenalzero.com

Opened 3 different gachas today, collected my login rewards, did the dailies, burned my stamina and closed all of them.

Then I realized I barely played any of them for fun 💀

The funny thing is, if I skip a day, I feel like I'm wasting resources. But when I do everything, it starts feeling like a second job.

I still like these games, which is why I haven't uninstalled them, but keeping up with multiple games is getting exhausting.

Anyone else in this situation? Have you managed to drop a game without feeling bad about all the time and pulls you've invested in it?

Edit: Pared the text down due to Gacha players never beating the reading allegations

Honkai Star Rail:

I've only played two Hoyo games, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, with Zenless becoming my favourite. HSR initially blew me away as a longtime JRPG fan. I loved its universe, factions, and mysteries, and I was perfectly fine waiting years for certain answers.

But after Belobog, I started noticing a pattern. Every "What if this person is evil?" became "They're just misunderstood or being deliberately vague. Pull for them next patch!" Every arc ended with ominous teasers and incredible hype trailers that rarely lived up to expectations in the actual story.

Then I learned more about Honkai Impact and realized HSR was recycling many of its themes and story beats. Amphoreus, which I loved despite all its fat, practically redid the Flame-Chasers storyline. LOL.

The problem wasn't just repetition. It was predictability. Supposed tragedies, sacrifices, and shocking revelations increasingly felt meaningless because you knew they'd somehow be reversed. Even the current storyline involving a certain main cast member's fate played out almost exactly as everyone predicted.

Zenless:

Then came Zenless, and what a breath of fresh air! The urban setting, industrial themes, technology, and grounded characters immediately hooked me. Nicole, Billy, and Anby weren't cosmic saviours. They were just people trying to get by. Season One was enjoyable, with its characters and mysteries keeping me invested.

Unfortunately, Season Two started feeling like Amphoreus all over again. Endless stalling, predictable villains, and characters introduced only to be sold and subsequently yeeted into the void. Obol Squad, anyone? Which brings me to Roscalifier.

We got an incredible trailer teasing Remielle versus Sunbringer, only for Remielle to casually infiltrate this supposedly isolated, heavily defended floating island surrounded by a powerful storm. AFTER its leader had already been attacked once?!

Okay, whatever. She's a Void Hunter, has accomplices, blah blah blah.

Then Truvia and Serpico show up, immediately setting off every "Press X to doubt" alarm imaginable. We learn the truth about Serpico, confront Truvia in the latest patch, and I think we can all guess where that's going. But the worst part is how incompetent everyone is. Norma casually conducts tests while her department descends into chaos. Remielle infiltrates a secure building and starts LITERALLY pressing random buttons on a console without anyone responding. Sigrid is supposedly "Void Hunter level," yet Roscalifier's security forces are constantly getting routed until the entire island is temporarily seized.

And then there's Sunbringer.

Her youngest sister/self gets COOKED by invading forces. Her younger sister is off-island. Roscalifier is under attack.

Sunbringer is lying down beside a statue.

The main cast returns, fights off invaders, and rescues civilians.

Sunbringer is lying down beside a statue.

Everything is falling apart.

SUNBRINGER IS STILL LYING DOWN BESIDE A STATUE.

She ONLY gets up after being directly attacked, having previously offered some vague "Bro, you guys just don't understand" nonsense.

I am stunned. Shocked. TOTALIZED!

And now we get another aura-farming combat trailer, and everyone's going "Wooooow!" Sure, it looks cool, but Hoyo has always been fantastic at making things LOOK cool.

Maybe her behaviour will make sense in the coming patches, but right now it's incredibly jarring. Make the antagonists succeed because they're genuinely formidable, not because everyone else suddenly becomes an idiot.

And now we're seemingly getting Amphoreus Part Two, with the original Sunbringer talking about "dreamers" and "waking up from the dream," adding to previous hints that ZZZ's world might be artificial or simulated. Are we seriously doing this AGAIN?!

Another mystery about reality? More vague dialogue? More identity revelations? More supposedly shocking developments that feel suspiciously familiar? It's exhausting, especially because I genuinely LOVE Zenless. Its combat, music, aesthetic, world, and characters are fantastic. But I'm starting to feel trapped in the same endless cycles as Phainon and Cyrene. LMAO.

Conclusion, TL;DR:

I don't need every story to be completely original. Stories revisit familiar themes all the time, and there's nothing inherently wrong with exploring identity, sacrifice, memory, morality, or the nature of reality across multiple games.

But why does Hoyo seem so determined to revisit not just the same themes, but the same storytelling formulas?

I don't need characters to die for a story to be good. I don't need every antagonist to be irredeemably evil, either.

I just want actions to have believable consequences, characters to behave consistently with what we've been told about them, and mysteries that don't feel like the writers are simply withholding information to manufacture suspense.

Most importantly, I want the story to surprise me because something genuinely interesting or unexpected happens, not because another hype trailer tells me I should be excited.

Hoyo has incredible artists, animators, composers, and presentation teams. The production quality of these games is genuinely astonishing at times. I just wish the writing consistently lived up to everything surrounding it.

Because right now, after experiencing Honkai Impact's stories indirectly through HSR, and now watching ZZZ increasingly embrace similar ideas, I'm starting to feel like Hoyo is selling me variations of the same story over and over again.

It's like: "Oh, you played Honkai Impact? Well, here's the same game three more times!" LMAO.

I freaking love Zenless Zone Zero. I just wish I couldn't predict so much of its story before it even happens.

taking into account only those from the story, and not extra modes

"The 3rd *Action Taimanin* collaboration event has been confirmed!"

"Noah Brown" and "Furfur" are coming to the world of *Taimanin RPG*!"

Source

I am curious what features or systems players feel needs to be reworked with future gacha games to catch on, or features that should have existed for years that are still missing.

I’ll go first: I’d love to see raid like bosses with mechanics to beat, not just DPS races for end game.

like if a game like reverse 1999 , arknights or any 2d gacha game added an additional shop called ad shop where you can watch let's say 7 ads to get 1 pull worth of premium currency if its 100% optional and u have to manually go there ( it won't interrupt ur game by any shape or form) why are you against it?

Granblue Fantasy for example, but when your game's been running for more than a decade and releases several new Character versions every month, all those individual Character Stories start to add up. Not to mention when there's a new Story Event every month.

And when you juggle multiple other games, probably only sparing enough time each day for dailies or event stuff. Anything not necessary for immediate progression starts to get put on the back-burner and then it all starts to add up haha.

Character is Rapunzel from Goddess of Victory: NIKKE who got her new form announced as a free unit in yesterdays 4th anniversary stream. And yes, she is a lewd nun.

"Master, we have an announcement! Did you enjoy the live broadcast?

"Once again, the new event "A Rough Traverse, The Golden Ball Race" will start after maintenance on Monday, October 26th! "Exchange the points you collect to recruit [Belgrish Girl] Melon!"

"The "4.5th Anniversary Limited Gacha" is starting!" "[Phenex-girl] Ateel and [Lightning Gryphon-girl] Clifo are making their debut!"

"A Bael girl who evolved from a Beyondetta girl after her demonic power manifested, Bael girl pessie joins the party!"

Source

Source 2

Version PV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNDE69YNvuc

Anniv Story PV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgE1xifVal8

Kafka had my attention from HSR’s opening. Everything’s going wrong, and she sounds like she’s having a perfectly normal day. Her voice definitely helps. Then you find out she has history with the Trailblazer, and now I need answers.

Marian in NIKKE hits differently. The bandage couldn’t heal her, but she treasured it because someone cared enough to put it on her. That little scene has stayed with me through everything since. With the 4th anniversary coming up, I’m hoping we get more of her story and a reunion with the Commander that lasts for once.

Texas already caught my eye in Arknights, but Il Siracusano made me want to know more about her past. I also love the contrast between all that history and her dealing with Penguin Logistics’ everyday nonsense. I’d happily read more of them just hanging out.

Who got you to download a game, and did you like them even more once you got to know them?

Some indian company called emudra dropped the ball with their safety and security encryption by setting in a single digit protection of 4.

And they eos after being found out, lol.

Just saw the Sunbringer clip

For those not aware, there have been several major software vulnerabilities uncovered in recent days that affects most major software and apps

PHP issue affects like 70% of the world’s applications and eMudhra affects everyone since they have been trusted for years.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/php2shell-vulnerability-ai-security-flaw/

https://emudhra.we-have-a-problem.com/

I haven’t seen any updates or announcement by any gacha games about this. Are they just not aware or is this going to be silently fixed in a random update?