While gacha mechanics can provide enjoyable moments in mobile gaming, for most players forgotten from the forums and communities, they promise the lure of rare, powerful characters or gear through random draws. They can be misused to spiral into manipulative and predatory monetization strategies for those who fall into systems like this trap and remain spending.
Luck or wallet: 7 games that push players to spend
Here are the seven games that are considered among the worst in terms of gacha exploitation:
1. Fate/Grand OrderFate/Grand Order is one of the most popular mobile games ever made, yet it is also among the most irritating. Practically every player in the game can attest to the low probabilities for any gacha pull, especially for 5-star Servants. Often the player is dealing with a figure under 1%; the pity system within the game only partially eases this by allowing a player to obtain a chance at a 5-star Servant after a significant number of pulls. Adding insult to injury, the game has (and still retains) a scheme which allows them to trade in 10 rare coins for a 5-star of their choice, yet the coins can only be earned through duplicate 5-star Servants-a painful process reserved for the biggest spenders in the game. When combining low drop rates and scarcity of means through which players earn their sought-after rewards, Fate/Grand Order sits at the other end of the gacha's vicious system.
2. Valkyrie ConnectValkyrie Connect is an RPG characterized by a complex and almost brutal gacha system for characters and gear alike. The fighting areas have been praised for their party-build strategy system and cooperative fighting styles, but the gacha punishment is hard, especially when no guarantee is involved. The system beckons players to keep drawing for better units, even when they are vehemently opposed. Many players find themselves brimming with low-tier duplicates, thus slow-ing progression to a crawl. Rarely, albeit sometimes, are these banners ever without guarantee!? The gacha system becomes enforced play on rare characters with no regard for player skill. Most times, it simply becomes gambling in the purest sense.
3. MementoMoriMementoMori is a visual beauty-an idol RPG that has, unfortunately, compounded its already dense gameplay with a highly convoluted gacha system. There's a whole roster of idols that can be collected and summoned; however, the odds for rare idols are low to the point of being unrealistically frustrating. There are also many currencies and with many different systems in place that disorient players from effectively directing their efforts toward free play instead of cash. The game provides suitable free-to-play options, but in reality, the gacha mechanics are overwhelming and therefore designed to promote cash expenditure through competition, especially for the most lucrative idols.
4. Tower of FantasyTower of Fantasy is a dystopia-themed gacha RPG where players summon weapons and characters. The gacha is noted for its low odds in pulling SSR weapons; the customization of characters is available, but in reality, it is the weapons that are focused upon. The gacha pulls are separated into weapon banners, and only a few famous weapons are available during limited-time events. The real kicker comes with "faces," being unique spirits bound to each of the weapons, requiring additional pulls for their unlocking. This increases the grip of the gacha upon the player even more. The presentation of the game is rough, with fat clunky 3D cutscenes and weak voice acting, but this is the gacha that drains player engagement in the end, forcing many to pay to increase their enjoyment.
5. Idle HeroesIdle Heroes is exceptionally popular among idle RPGs, and the gacha here is miserable. Newbies are just bombarded with the sheer quantity of heroes out there, and while there is no need to rush through the content, progression is slow to the point of agonizing if you are not interested in putting some money into the game. The design of its catch-up mechanic makes it almost impossible for any newbies to really catch up to current end-game content.
6.Tower of God: New World Tower of God: New World has a gacha system that sports gambles with absolute zero luck protection. When players pull for units of the lowest class, they receive one single point toward the unit's enhancement, while for rare or very rare units, players receive enormous point gains. Progress in the game is extremely slow, especially when it comes to really unlucky pullers; getting just one upgrade nearly always involves hundreds of rolls, and many players find themselves grinding in circles, unable to make any progress whatsoever other than via extreme luck, or by checking their wallets to bleed a little harder. Most would consider it an insult to their fully developed sensibilities to have a game with low pull rates that refuses to cater for their free-to-play aspect.
7. Genshin ImpactMeanwhile, Genshin Impact would have to be one of the most hyped games putting together gacha mechanics into play, but it surely has all the faults imaginable to it. The game's system of Item Wish allows players to acquire characters and weapons that attribute high-tier items after a designated number of pulls. Still, a character can only be maximized with proper investment in Constellations, which are unlocked by pulling duplicates of the same character. Since unlocking all highs for characters thus requires the spending of countless amounts or grinding, presumably worse yet, this means most 5-star characters are only obtainable on a limited-time basis, with players having to wait for reruns to have a sneaky chance to pull them back. It allows for the worst scenario for players that might have missed the character they really wanted because, on the other hand, there's always a new banner dropping.
These seven games represent the negative face of gacha mechanics, with thrills and rewards overshadowed by predatory systems meant to milk players' wallets. They are still fun, especially when kept in moderation, but it is quite clear how easily these gacha systems can go wrong-forcing players into spending way beyond their intentions in the aim of some rare character or item.
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