Ready to time travel? Reverse: 1999 is a sci-fi RPG with incredible battles and characters

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SHOULD I PLAY REVERSE: 1999?

Play it if you love JRPGs, card games, or vaguely human-shaped collectibles. Reverse: 1999 takes place in a world where time is moving backwards. You command a group of Arcanists, which are basically like time-travelers, that can survive the shift between eras and must fight to protect the future. The story has a nice mix of science fiction and fantasy elements, but it’s the lively cast of characters that really bring the setting to life. I really felt invested in the characters I controlled, and for me, that’s what takes an RPG from good to great.

TIME PLAYED

I played several hours of Reverse: 1999, which was enough to complete the first act of the game’s story. I also got pretty far into the second act and spent lots of time on other activities, like upgrading my characters, summoning new party members, and building a resource-gathering island. There’s a ton to do in Reverse: 1999, and all that variety makes it nearly impossible to put down.

WHAT'S AWESOME ABOUT REVERSE: 1999?

• Addictive strategy gameplay. Reverse: 1999 is a turn-based card game with simple, easy-to-learn mechanics. Every character has a unique set of moves, with each move represented by a card. If you have duplicate cards in your hand, you can combine them to power up a move.

Playing a character's cards earns them “moxie,” and when a character has enough moxie, they can dish out powerful special attacks. Characters also have elemental affinities, which gives them advantages and disadvantages against other elements. Whether I was fighting random enemies or taking on powerful bosses, I had tons of fun playing through battles, and I was always eager for the next fight.

• Fantastic battle animations. Not only did I love playing through battles in Reverse: 1999, but the fights were very easy on the eyes. The battle animations are vibrant and full of detail, especially when characters pull off a special move. I found myself leveling up characters and putting them in my party just to see what their moves looked like.ﾠ

• Amazing roster of characters. I don’t always love gacha mechanics, but pulling characters in Reverse: 1999 is an absolute blast. The character roster is ridiculously diverse, and that made every new pull a wonderful surprise. Sometimes I’d get a cute anime girl, but I also summoned a Frankenstein-like scarecrow, a talking stack of televisions, and a ghost in a sheet. I even managed to recruit the Sputnik satellite!

• Excellent voice acting. The dialogue in Reverse: 1999 is fully voiced in English, and every actor I’ve heard hits it out of the park. Some story-driven games are held back by weak voice-overs, but the actors here brought real emotion to every line. While the main cast does the majority of the talking, recruitable party members also have voiced lines in battle. These lines gave characters real personality, and they left me feeling pretty attached to certain party members. I loved hearing Regulus shout out “Peace and love! Peace and love!” when she was attacked by enemies.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT REVERSE: 1999?

• It takes a while to get going. Reverse: 1999 starts its story off with a bang, but key gameplay mechanics get a much slower rollout. Party building plays a major role in the game, but for the first hour or so, I only had access to a few playable characters. I had a good time with it, but it felt like a story-focused game with light RPG elements. Once I started to expand my roster, the entire game opened up, and it wasn’t long before I was completely addicted to creating teams and testing them out in battle. I’m worried that some players might give up on the game before it has a chance to show its stuff.

[Review written by TapTap editor Ndi]

💬 Will you fight to save reality in Reverse 1999, or will you let time keep rolling backward? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

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