It’s our belief that if you’re going to develop a new game in a well-established genre, you should at least try and bring something new to the table. Otherwise what’s the point?
That’s the first question we found ourselves asking when we first booted up Raid: Shadow Legends, an admittedly gorgeous new gacha RPG by Plarium.
It immediately reminded us of Age of Magic, an absolutely stunning entry that launched just last year on Android. While that, in itself, was pretty bog-standard, it at least offered something different visually.
In a genre that had, up until that point, been pretty obsessed with anime, the more adult Tolkien-style fantasy of Age of Magic at least offered something for those that don’t really care much for huge-busted cartoon teenagers in skimpy outfits.
We’re really struggling to see what the point in Raid is
But we’re really struggling to see what the point in Raid is. The gacha RPG is hardly lacking in new entries – Google Play is full to bursting with them. If we’re being completely honest, we’re downright fed up of them.
For the benefit of the few of you who haven’t come across one yet, a gacha RPG typically challenges you to collect hundreds of different heroes, create a party out of your favourites, then battle your way through an endless supply of turn-based battles.
You’ll level them up, equip them with more powerful gear, and, eventually, participate in a variety of different modes, including PvP, raids, and events.
Each hero has a different star rating, which denotes its power. One star heroes are cannon fodder while five star – or whatever the highest star hero in that particular game is – will wipe the floor with any enemies you come across.
What’s most tragic about Raid is that it matches our generic genre description entirely
There’s also very little actual gameplay thanks to the option to autoplay all battles. Incredibly, this is often the optimal way to play these games, as you’ll save a ton of time and skill doesn’t really matter anyway.
Why? Because stats are far more important, and the easiest way to boost these is to start spending real life money on upgrades, new heroes, or both. Given that you can rarely outright purchase a hero you want to – which is where the gacha element comes in – these games are basically no better than loot boxes.
Now, the last few paragraphs offered a pretty generic description of a typical gacha RPG. What’s most tragic about Raid is that it matches that generic description exactly. That says pretty much all you need to know about it.
Ultimately, Raid is just a bog-standard new entry in the utterly exhausted gacha RPG genre. It brings absolutely nothing new to the table, and is more interested in just borrowing liberally from its forebears so Plarium can make a quick buck.
Our advice? Save your time.
Don't bother
Raid brings absolutely nothing new to an utterly exhausted genre, and we can't think of a single reason to recommend it.
