gaming
Nintendo / HoYoverse / ONE37pm
By: Elton Jones
Published May 29, 2023
So what are gacha games, exactly? Wikipedia describes them as games that "implement the gacha (toy vending machine) mechanic," which sees players given the option of using in-game currency (that can also be purchased with real money) to obtain additional characters and beneficial items. And for the most part, the best gacha games are primarily available on mobile devices. But in some rare cases, those types of games are also obtainable on consoles. And as most players of gacha games already know, the top picks in that category of gaming are centered in the genres of RPGs (turn-based and action, to be exact). So with all that being said, let's dive into the 20 best gacha games that can be enjoyed entirely for free and entertain you even more if you're willing to pour some digital funds into it.
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1. ‘Genshin Impact’
Chinese game developer miHoYo must be commended for crafting a console-worthy experience that plays surprisingly well on mobile devices.Genshin Impactis aBreath of the Wild-like experience that throws players into a gorgeous open world that's full of fun locales, dangerous foes, and intriguing secrets to uncover. The massive collection of playable characters you can unlock via gacha mechanics and the dev team's devotion to creating regularly updated seasonal content forGenshin Impactmeans you'll never run out of things to do.
2. ‘Honkai: Star Rail’
If you got a lot of enjoyment out of the first game on this list, then we're pretty sure you'll do the same when you check out this game. And why do we feel that way? Because it comes from the same developers of Genshin Impact and adopts that attractive anime art style that endears itself to fans of the HoYoverse's signature graphical touch. Honkai: Star Rail gives you a team of four to hop into battle with within a vast sci-fi-inspired world that also features fantasy elements. Extra flashy turn-based combat is the name of the game here. And when it comes to this game's gacha elements, be prepared to spend some money if you're dead set on unlocking all those new party members you truly desire.
3. ‘Fire Emblem Heroes’
Nintendo has found massive success with its deep dive into the world of mobile gaming. Super Mario Run and Mario Kart Tour have proven to be great time-wasters for your average gamer that loves to use their phone as their central source of the hobby. Fire Emblem Heroes is another one of those big wins from Nintendo due to two factors - nostalgia and addictive gameplay. Using gacha mechanics to acquire recognizable fan-favorite Fire Emblem warriors and adding them to your mighty party that's keen deep in fun tactical RPG battles is the winning gameplay formula on display here.
4. ‘Epic Seven’
Chances are you've already been greeted by the gorgeous anime cutscenes Epic Seven is known for. As for its actual gameplay template, it's that traditional turn-based JRPG action that's carried by a gathering of world protectors. By taking advantage of Epic Seven's gacha elements, you'll be able to add some of the most powerful Heroes to your party to further dominate the monsters that inhabit the world placed upon the body of the massive "Orbis." The endearing characters, exciting battles, and eye-popping anime visuals of Epic Seven will grab ahold of you and never release you from its grasp.
5. ‘AFK Arena’
So idle games are the sort of playable experiences where you send out your party of combatants to do big damage on their own - while they automatically attack, it's up to you to step in and activate their more devastating special abilities. AFK Arena encompasses that signature style of gameplay and mixes it up with the inclusion of the sort of beautiful art style you'd see sported on stained glass. When it comes to this game's gacha focus, it's mainly attached to how you'll get your hands on extra rare characters for your roster. And with the inclusion of a roguelike mode called "Shadow Invasions," AFK Arena has tons of features to offer for incoming players and longtime veterans.
6. ‘Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space’
Another Edenis one of those quality mobile gaming picks delivered by two creative geniuses known within the world of JRPGs. Those personalities are writer Masato Kato and music composer Yasunori Mitsudam, who are two talented individuals that worked onXenogearsand theChronoseries. What you're getting here is a traditional RPG with a theme focused on time traversal that takes place across three different periods, which are Antiquity, the Present, and the Future. The game's turn-based battle system and abundance of main/side content will pull you into a fascinating adventure through time itself. The gacha mechanics included here are mostly centered on obtaining rarer characters, by the way.
7. ‘Guardian Tales’
The retro gameplay formation ofThe Legend of Zeldagames that existed on the NES and SNES is perfectly replicated in this one.Guardian Talesis an action RPG played from a top-down perspective where your party of three heroes must navigate numerous biomes and clash with all sorts of fantastical baddies. There's such a huge offering of playable heroes and weapons to collect here as you go embark on a grand adventure chock full of secrets to uncover. And as you've probably already expected, you'll be tapping into Guardian Tales' gacha mechanics to collect new warriors and equipment.
8. ‘Azur Lane’
Azur Lane's concept is such a mind trip - it's a side-scrolling shoot 'em up with a naval warfare theme that includes some tactical RPG elements. And with the gacha focus primarily centered on obtaining new anime girl-themed ships, you'll quickly get sucked into the vortex of further expanding your six-ship party. The bullet hell that erupts in this game may be hard to overcome at first, but spend enough time with this mobile shooter and you'll gain the sort of dodging skills that will make you feel nearly untouchable.
9. ‘Raid: Shadow Legends’
RAID: Shadow Legendsfully embraces a fantasy-themed journey that pits your party of "Champions" against the Dark Lord Siroth & his dark forces. There's such a wide selection of warriors to choose from here that come from 14 different factions - you'll get caught up in intense turn-based battles with formidable sorcerers, knights, elves, the undead, and so much more. You'll get plenty of fun out of the game's PVE Campaign and PVP Arena modes, that's for sure! We're sure you've seen dozens of online ads about this game and its collectible Champions, so you should already have a clue about what makes it one of the best gacha games to invest in.
10. ‘Alchemy Stars’
We're back with another excellent turn-based RPG here that's certainly easy on the eyes thanks to its anime visuals. And the cool part about Alchemy Stars' combat mechanics is how you'll be able to utilize connect tiles of the same element/color alignment in order to raise a character's strength and attack range. The world of "Astra" calls upon your protection, so make sure you tap into this game's gacha mechanics to further build out your army of powerful "Aurorians."
11. ‘Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle’
The superpowered heroes and villains that were made popular by Dragon Ball Z have gotten plenty of mobile games worth playing extensively. One of the best gacha games just so happens to be one of those aforementioned DBZ titles and it's called Dokkan Battle. The unique nature of this game's approach to tactical combat comes in the form of matching color-coded "Ki Spheres" that power up each party member's attacks so they can deal big damage via "Dokkan Mode." And of course, the best way to get your hands on tons of iconic DBZ characters is through the gacha-pulling system you're quite used to from games such as this one.
12. ‘One Piece Treasure Cruise’
All these anime-themed gacha RPGs have a chokehold on millions of players - and to be quite honest, we're among those millions.One Piece Treasure Cruisemost certainly falls into that gaming category. It's a classic turn-based RPG that feedsOne Piecefans' addiction by giving them a huge lineup of characters to collect via gacha mechanics and add to their massive pirate crew. It's easy to get enamored with this game thanks to its approachable gameplay premise set within the eventful world of the One Piece manga/anime. Recruiting heroes and baddies in this game never gets old...
13. ‘Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes’
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is the ultimate gathering of all the powerful beings that hail from that famous galaxy "far, far away." Holographic turn-based battles provide the perfect excuse for why so many of those beloved characters are capable of battling each other, no matter the time period they hail from. Tapping into this game's gacha-pulling option means you'll be able to grab Star Wars characters from every era of the franchise - we're talking the prequels, original trilogy, new trilogy, and spinoff shows! Building up a squad of Jedi is totally doable here, which we highly advise you guys and gals to do.
14. ‘Marvel Strike Force’
Comic book fanatics have a highly addictive turn-based RPG to turn to that lets them build a party of heroes and villains from a lineup of Marvel Comics' best characters.Marvel Strike Forcelets you construct five-person units consisting of heroes and villains, upgrade them to reach new levels of power, and do battle with all sorts of custom parties in a bid to save the universe.Marvel Strike Forceis the ultimate love letter to Marvel Comics heads. Now's the time to avenge the people of Earth as you take the fight to Ultimus and his evil forces. Picking up all those beloved heroes you're dying to have by your side means you'll have to indulge in this game's gacha mechanics.
15. ‘Summoners War’
Summoners War is one of those mobile gaming OGs that has accumulated millions of devoted players. And even in its current state, it still stands out as one of the best gacha games since it allows its player base to recruit new party members from a huge pool of 1,000+ monsters. As a Summoner, you'll need to push your team of beasts to victory as you contend with equally powerful rivals with monster squads of their own. Enter the legendary "Sky Arena" and prove your worth to the competition to stake your claim as the very best!
16. ‘Final Fantasy Brave Exvius’
Square Enix has graced mobile gaming storefronts with a nice variety of games devoted to the publisher/developer's biggest IP, Final Fantasy. For this lineup of the best gacha games, we've chosen to choose Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. This tactical RPG focuses on an entirely original storyline and cast of characters within an HD rendition classic 16-bit reto style the first six Final Fantasy games embraced. Exploring dungeons, entering towns, and clashing with recognizable bosses throughout the series' history with your collection of Final Fantasy protagonists is so damn fun.
17. ‘Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2’
Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei (SMT) series has been going strong for a very long time thanks to quality mainline releases and equally amazing spinoff titles. Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 takes the whole "recruit demons to fight by your side" concept and brings it to mobile devices. And to the surprise of no one, it succeeds in replicating that easy-to-grasp RPG concept. You know the deal here, folks - peruse through dungeons, battle & chat it up with demons, and eventually add them to your stable for further demon skirmishes. On the gacha side of things, you'll get the chance to add some uber-powerful monsters to your dark army.
18. ‘Arknights’
What if Fire Emblem incorporated tower defense mechanics? Well, that game would end up being Arknights! Blocking your base from being overrun by the enemy means you'll need to carefully place your army of human "towers" (called "Operators") across the map and call upon them to decimate the opposition. You'll be doing a whole lot of strategic battling, custom base building, and gacha character pulling as you look to get your hands on some of the game's best Operators Arknights has to offer.
19. ‘Dragon Quest Tact’
Dragon Quest Tact does right by all the cute yet deadly monsters that inhabit Square Enix's iconic JRPG universe. And what makes this mobile spinoff game such a good time is its reliance on grid-based tactical combat, which lets you command your monsters to pick their spots on the battlefield and pick their foes off in quick succession. And as one would expect, increasing the size of your monster infantry means you'll sometimes be pushed to do some gacha pulls for the strongest and rarest ones.
20. ‘Langrisser’
Any old gaming heads reading this list right now had their heart flutter a bit at the sight of this game! And that's because it comes from a long-running tactical RPG franchise that's been around since 1991 (it even debuted on the Sega Genesis, for god's sake!). Fans of Fire Emblem will find a lot to appreciate with this mobile entry in the series - classic turn-based combat, unit management, character upgrading, and an impressive anime art style are at the forefront of this final pick on our list. Rounding up formidable soldiers for your army means you'll have to take advantage of Langrisser's gacha mechanics.
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