Though the cutthroat world of gacha video games is reigned by juggernauts equivalent to Genshin Affect or Love and Deepspace, the extremely aggressive market is house to a complete host of thriving titles with sizable, passionate communities of their very own, even when they don’t make the headlines all too typically. Amongst these, Reverse: 1999 is a standout — its setting, music, and artstyle are a number of the most distinct you’ll discover in all of gaming. It’s a sport as a lot as it’s a murals and a love letter to historical past, fully in contrast to what folks typically think about a profitable gacha sport to be.
Launched in China in Could 2023 and around the globe in October of the identical yr, the worldwide model of Bluepoch’s turn-based RPG will likely be celebrating its second anniversary later in 2025. Nevertheless, the festivities have begun early — on August 7, the extremely anticipated collaboration between Reverse: 1999 and Murderer’s Creed kicked off, bringing iconic franchise characters equivalent to Ezio and Kassandra to the PC and cellular sport as playable items.
To mark each the present and upcoming milestones, DBLTAP had the chance to conduct an e-mail interview with Bluepoch in regards to the AC collaboration and two years of Reverse 1999, diving into subjects such because the similarities between the 2 franchises, the evolution of the sport thus far, and the affect of its Steam launch.
Q: What made you need to collaborate with Murderer’s Creed — particularly AC2 and Odyssey?
A: The choice to collaborate with Murderer’s Creed was pushed by a captivating thematic synergy between our two universes. Each Reverse: 1999 and Murderer’s Creed delve into totally different historic time intervals, however by means of distinctive views. Murderer’s Creed’s wealthy historic settings and compelling narratives, mixed with its components of thriller and secret organizations, resonated strongly with the core themes of Reverse: 1999. Ezio Auditore from Murderer’s Creed II and the world of Murderer’s Creed Odyssey are iconic and beloved by a world viewers, and we felt that their inclusion would create an thrilling and interesting expertise for gamers of each franchises.
Q: How a lot of a problem is it to take an IP like Murderer’s Creed that’s so fashionable and well-known worldwide after which translate it into your sport — particularly because the type of Reverse: 1999 is so distinctive?
A: Translating an iconic IP like Murderer’s Creed into the distinctive type of Reverse: 1999 definitely presents its challenges. We’re deeply respectful of the Murderer’s Creed universe and its established lore and character designs. Our purpose is to combine the essence of Murderer’s Creed – its historic settings, iconic characters, and signature components like stealth and agility – in a means that feels pure throughout the world and gameplay mechanics of Reverse: 1999. This requires cautious consideration of how Ezio’s talents, for instance, may be tailored into our turn-based fight system whereas staying true to his character. It is a balancing act between honoring the supply materials and making certain a seamless and fulfilling expertise for our gamers.
Q: Setting out at launch, what sort of story have been you hoping to inform with Reverse: 1999 and has that imaginative and prescient developed in any means over the past two years?
A: At launch, we aimed to craft a story that was each mysterious and deeply participating, centered across the distinctive idea of time reversing. Our preliminary imaginative and prescient was to weave collectively historic settings with a contact of the arcane, making a world that felt each acquainted and fantastical. Over the previous two years, whereas the core thriller stays, our imaginative and prescient has definitely expanded. We have delved into extra various historic intervals, launched a wider array of compelling characters with their very own wealthy backstories, and explored the intricate relationships between totally different factions inside our world. The gamers’ enthusiastic reception to our storytelling has inspired us to proceed pushing the boundaries of our narrative and discover much more advanced and intriguing themes.
Q: Reverse: 1999 has succeeded in a really aggressive market over the past two years. What do you assume the largest strengths of each the sport and your studio are?
A: We consider our success stems from a mixture of things. The sport has a distinctive artwork type which blends retro and trendy aesthetics, and is tough to copy as a result of it’s so detailed. Coupled with a deep, lore-rich storyline, absolutely dropped at life by our gifted voice actors presents a very immersive expertise. Moreover, our studio’s greatest energy lies in our ardour for artistic freedom and our dedication to listening to and interesting with our participant base. We worth each concept and try to create unconventional and memorable characters that resonate with our gamers.
Q: Wanting again on the final two years, what piece of suggestions from gamers resonated with you essentially the most? What stunned you essentially the most?
A: The suggestions that has resonated most deeply with us is the appreciation for the historic accuracy and a focus to element we put into the sport’s numerous settings, character outfits, and cultural references. Understanding that gamers who’ve a real curiosity in historical past discover and revel in these nuances is extremely rewarding. What has stunned us essentially the most is the sheer ardour and dedication of our international group. The fan artwork, theories, and total engagement have exceeded our expectations and actually encourage us to proceed creating and enhancing Reverse: 1999.
Q: As somebody who studied historical past, I actually recognize the eye to element you set into all of the outfits, story backgrounds, and so forth, regardless of the sport being set in a actuality that’s not precisely ours. How do you method the analysis for all this? Is all of it performed in-house or do you communicate to consultants?
A: Our method to analysis is primarily pushed by our in-house staff’s ardour for the twentieth century, particularly fashionable tradition and historic occasions. We conduct in depth analysis on numerous time intervals, specializing in trend, structure, social customs, and vital historic moments. Whereas we do not repeatedly seek the advice of exterior consultants, our staff contains people with a powerful curiosity and data in historical past, and we meticulously evaluation our work to make sure a stage of authenticity throughout the context of our sport’s distinctive alternate actuality. Our purpose is to create a world that feels grounded and plausible, even with the presence of Arcanists and the mysterious “Storm.”
Q: What has your method over the past two years been to maintain the turn-based fight gameplay recent and difficult for gamers? Do you assume it’s best to combine issues up extra sooner or later or is it finest to maintain issues simple and streamlined?
A: Our method to conserving the fight recent has concerned introducing new characters with distinctive abilities and mechanics that encourage totally different staff compositions and techniques. We have additionally carried out new gameplay modes like “Critter Crash” and “When the Alarm Sounds” in our earlier replace, which provide various kinds of challenges and rewards. We consider in sustaining a core, streamlined fight system that’s simple to grasp however presents vital strategic depth. Transferring ahead, we goal to proceed introducing new components and twists by means of occasions and character talents reasonably than drastically overhauling the elemental gameplay, making certain a stability between familiarity and novelty.
Q: How early in growth was the duality between the distinctive, lovely character artwork and the extra simplified, but cheerful and expressive fight chibis established? Was it at all times deliberate that means, or was {that a} kind of ‘Eureka!’ second?
A: The duality between the detailed character artwork and the expressive fight chibis was a deliberate creative selection established very early in growth. We envisioned the character artwork as a strategy to showcase the distinctive personalities and backstories of our Arcanists in a visually hanging method, akin to the type of a visible novel. The chibi type for fight was supposed to deliver a extra lighthearted and dynamic really feel to the battles, permitting for clear visible communication of actions and skills whereas retaining the appeal of the characters. It was at all times deliberate to have these two distinct types complement one another, enhancing totally different facets of the general sport expertise.
Q: A variety of gacha video games appear to be making their strategy to Steam not too long ago, however you anticipated this pattern final yr. Would you say transferring to Steam had a optimistic affect on the sport?
A: Sure, completely. Launching Reverse: 1999 on Steam has had a considerably optimistic affect on the sport. It has broadened our attain, permitting gamers preferring PC gaming to simply entry and revel in our title. The optimistic reception and excessive person scores on Steam point out that this transfer has been well-received by the group and has undoubtedly contributed to the sport’s total success and visibility within the aggressive gaming market.
With limited-time story quests that deliver gamers to Florence and Greece – based mostly on AC2 and AC Odyssey, respectively – and beneficiant rewards celebrating the collaboration, it’s an ideal time for brand spanking new and outdated gamers to take a look at Reverse: 1999.
