Tokyo Ghoul [:re birth] Is A Feature-Packed Gacha RPG

In short: Players who approach Tokyo Ghoul [:re birth] expecting the typical ‘pay to collect heroes’ RPG will be pleasantly surprised at the sheer number of features that this one packs into the formula. You’ll not only traverse the full storyline of the Tokyo Ghoul series up until now, but also participate in a pitched turf war around Tokyo that will reward the most thoughtful and skilled players with powerful characters and other rewards that could potentially allow even the stingiest player to compete at the top echelons and blaze through event and endgame content. The game is available for free right now in the Google Play Store, with in-app purchases available for summons and other boosts.

Background: This is not a drop-in replacement for Tokyo Ghoul: Dark War; that one is an action RPG that specializes in fantasy fulfillment and fan service, much like Bleach: Brave Souls. This is a more respectfully done turn-based RPG, albeit to a meager degree, that clings tight to the source material for the most part and adds in a very unique battle system and a turf war mechanic that can keep the game fresh long after completing the story missions. As a side note here, fans of the manga’s alternate story will be disappointed to know that this one ties into the anime, and events in the manga from Root A onward are not paid any real attention outside of bonus content.

Impact: It starts out easy enough, and finishing the tutorial even gives you a range of powerful characters as rewards. Those characters and the environments they populate are lovingly rendered in a way that blends cel-shaded anime style with detailed 3D models and textures; it really does look like playing an anime, in the more cinematic moments such as using special skills. You can roll those well-rendered characters out for story missions or use the characters that experienced those story beats in the anime. This game is a great way for fans to relive the series, and for first-timers to experience the story thus far. Combat blends bits and pieces of Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy and Lunar to allow room for creative tactics and make every battle fresh and interesting. The turf battle feature, meanwhile, boasts a range of different types of incidents on the map that you can tend to or incite in order to shift the tide of the battle between humans and ghouls, and earn points for yourself. There are separate rewards for the winning side, those who took the most territory, and the highest-scoring players in each round of the turf battle. As stated above, these rewards can be extremely powerful characters and other items that can make trips to the summon screen a moot point for skilled players, giving everybody an equal shot at experiencing event content and competing with other players. In short, if you have even a passing interest in Tokyo Ghoul and you’re not completely averse to turn-based RPGs, give this game a shot.