Welcome to our first article in a series (maybe) about the latest in gacha games. Why gacha games, you ask? Well, you see, I'm known as the resident gacha game fiend of our writing crew here at Fansubbing.com. From writing Princess Connect guides to finding a way to play the most advertised game in Japan, I have far spent too much time on them. Anyway, enough about me, let's dive into the game we have on feature this week. We'll be taking a look at 2.5 Dimensional Seduction: Angels on Stage! otherwise known as Nigoriri Angels.

2.5 Dimensional Seduction: Angels on Stage! is based on an ongoing manga series and an anime currently airing this season, (and next), of the same name. The general premise is that the standard otaku main character runs the School Manga Club and only likes 2D girls. Specifically, he likes this one character named Lilliel from his favorite manga and gushes about her. But then, a new student named Ririsa Amano joins the club and immediately asks him to take photos of her in cosplay. And who could have guessed, she's cosplaying as his favorite character. He struggles with his previous attachment to only 2D girls and promises to help her on her path of cosplaying and attending various cosplay events.

Later, more characters show up including his childhood friend, Mikari Tachibana, who happens to be a model. To no one's surprise, she became a model to try to woo her childhood crush of 10 years. Since the protagonist is an anime/manga protagonist, he doesn't notice these feelings and still doesn't pay much attention to her. That is, until she also cosplays another character, Miriella, who is one horny demon. Then, a bunch of other characters who also cosplay join the fray, including their advisor/teacher at school.

Getting into the game itself, Nigoriri Angels is available in both Japanese and English (Global Version) for Android, iOS, and DMM games in Japan only. The game is also set to launch on Steam soon, as a Steam page and announcement has already been made. It's certainly interesting to see a Global Version launch alongside the Japanese version. I guess they wanted to strike while the iron was hot and get the game out while the IP was popular with an ongoing anime and manga. The game is developed and published by Aiming Inc. which has developed other gacha games, such as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Battle Chronicle and The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden. If you've played the Eminence in Shadow gacha game, you'll get the vibe right away. For our purposes, we picked up the Japanese version of the game to play.

Looking at the visuals, the quality was honestly much higher than expected. There is a blend of scenes from the anime, 3D animated models, and sprites as well. The home screen is fully 3D with crisp animation of the character you choose as your title character. In addition to seeing brand new scenes on the home screen, you can also 'talk' to your favorite character to raise their bond level. Doing so unlocks more scenes for that character, a slight stat boost, and other goodies.

There is no stamina system in this game, so you are free to do stages as much as you want. However, the downside is that they only give first-time clear rewards. Missions are interlaced between story events, which follow along the main plot of the manga and anime. If you've been interested in the story, you'll be able to learn a lot about the plot and the plot going by playing the main story. There is also a side story that focuses on the backstory of the cosplayer Mayura, so if you're looking for more 2.5D Seduction story, this is where you'll be focused.

We touched briefly on the lack of a stamina system, so how does the game gate you, you ask? Well, the game plays as an idle game outside of the main story, tower quest, boss quests, and event quests. You get passive income, which you can collect when you have some items that Mikari gifts you. There are also 3 instances of 2-hours' worth of material that costs a small amount of gems starting with the first one being free. This is realistically the only way to get items to level up your characters aside from completing the daily, weekly, one-time, and event missions.

Team building here is pretty simple and also surprisingly generous for a game that just launched. You can have up to 4 characters on your team that have different elements and skills. They can later be equipped with accessories when you progress far enough into the game. The team you build comes with a power level that is used to compare against the opposing team to see who gets the first turn.

Character management is a cinch and easily accessible from the characters screen. There is also a level link system that allows you to link the levels of characters you don't have leveled up to the lowest of your top 4 characters. This comes in clutch when you need specific weakness types or characters to clear roadblocks. Since resources are extremely limited, this makes it a bit easier to make progress.

Battles play out as a turn-based card battler. Each of your characters come with 2 active card skills and once they hit 4 charges, they get their ultimate. You alternate turns with your opponent and try to compile the best possible turn. This, of course, has RNG involved as the cards you get back each turn are not set. Having 2 same-star level of a card upgrades it to the next star level of the card. If you've played games like Dolphin Wave, you'll understand just by looking at the battle screen.

Skills are then played out in the order you chose them and come with a complete animation. And I want to stress again that the game actually looks great and the animation is way better than you would expect for a gacha game based on a recent anime IP. The main thing to note is the use of appeal to raise the emotional level of your opponent. Of course, there can also be multiple opponents at once, which makes AOE cards important too. Later on, stages can also have multiple waves, and that means you'll have to be a bit more strategic about card usage.

Gameplay-wise it is pretty fun. There's a semblance of strategy ranging from stacking buffs to generating enough energy to use the ultimate. Characters also have unique combo skills with other characters when they use their ultimates together. Chaining ultimates can be your path to winning battles that were once too difficult.

The objective is to make your opposition cuuum get too emotional to even act. They literally look like they're having the time of their lives. Devs certainly know what the people want in a game like this. Most photographer opponents just lower their own emotional level and buff themselves with protection skills.

The real challenge comes when you face other cosplayers. They also use skills similar to you and raise the emotional level of your characters. Weakness typing is very important as you take way more emotional damage when you are weak to their type. Not to mention, they get 4 cards just as you do, so you might even lose a character on your team if you're not careful.

Once you clear a stage, you're given one-time clear rewards and progress an independent set of rewards that are given once you clear enough levels. With these combined, you have the resources you need to make further progress while leveling up your characters.

In addition, there are other modes such as a boss battle where you fight another cosplayer. They start fairly weak, but get stronger as their cards stack buffs. You also can fight a boss 3 times a day for items such as accessories. And you'll want to do that, too, as it's one of your few daily ways to progress.

Okay, let's be honest, you're probably not here to learn about just the gameplay or hell, even just the plot story. The gacha system in this game is decidedly average if not on the lower side for pull rates. The base normal banner has a whopping 2% drop rate of any SSR. There are three rarities in SSR, SR, and R. You'll want to collect more duplicates of them as they are the only way to uncap levels and make units stronger. The pickup and premium banners are slightly more generous at a 3% drop rate for an SSR with 2% of it being the banner character. A 10-pull costs 2700 gems, which is pretty standard for most gacha games in this vein. That's not to say the cash costs are reasonable, but we'll touch on that in a bit.

One upside is that rerolling in this game is simple. You only have to play the tutorial the first time around. After that, you can delete your account data and start a fresh account. You also get 20 rolls on the normal gacha, 10 rolls on the beginner gacha, and a bit under 30 rolls on the premium gacha. You basically want to roll for at least one SSR, since you can actually end up with none. Optimally, you would want at least 2 SSR or one with a duplicate.

From the sounds of the above, the game sounds pretty solid and honestly, it sounds generous. The problems come when you get into the nitty-gritty of the game. The paid gem system is very expensive, as a 10-pull without the bonus first-time purchase runs in at 5,400 JPY or $54 USD. So, if you run out of pulls, which you can easily do, you're spending a lot in this game. And if that wasn't bad enough, the game is gated by a VIP system. In some games, this is pure spend, but in this one at least, you can gain it from weekly missions. The problem is that features such as 2x speed, skipping, and other QoL changes are locked behind it. Unfortunately, you can only gain 5 VIP points a week, so it'll take you 10 whole weeks to even reach VIP level 1.

On top of that, the screen you get when you roll an SSR can differ. You can either get a rainbow scene where you get at least one SSR, which is shown right away as you get to that pull, or a golden SSR scene, which shows two potential characters you can get. Of course, this can be heaven or hell depending on who you get, literally. Lastly, you can still get an SSR with a normal white background when loading the pulls.

Even though they run discounts just about every time you open the main screen, the cost is still quite high even with 400-600% bonuses on what they're selling. It's very in your face and honestly, very predatory. Being pure F2P is going to be suffering in this game and hopefully, the devs realize that. As this is a modern gacha game, there is also a season pass that comes alongside a premium version. On top of additional items, such as gacha tickets, skill tickets, and star-up items, there's also a voiced character interaction. You heard me right, you get a character voice at the end of the paid season pass.

The first update for the game has also been released and comes with a new limited story event. This is a boss battle where you fight different levels of the same boss and get rewards based on your highest clear. It's nice to see an event so soon and it also happens to come with some QoL changes. The biggest of which is that you can now use 2x speed without hitting VIP level 1. This improvement is huge for gameplay and means you can spend less time watching animations for your daily battles and clearing new stages. Even with this update, however, the game is clunky and has an auto system that seems to randomly throw out cards on top of other problems discussed previously. Plus, the VIP system is still there and bogs down any attempt to look at the game as anything other than a P2W or at least a Pay-to-progress type of game.

While the gameplay itself can be fun and interesting, and the visuals and scenes are high-effort, the game still leaves a lot to be desired. The VIP system is the biggest problem and gates progress as you get boosts for having higher VIP levels. Overall, the game is a mixed bag. The combination of 3D animation and scenes from the anime shines in this game. It's just a shame that it has so many other problems hanging over your head in the long run.

If you're looking for a relaxing gacha game where you can do dailies and progress slowly, this might be for you. Otherwise, if you're a huge fan of the source material, this might also be a good addition for you. Will this game last longer than 6 months? Only time will tell.

Official Link (Global): https://www.ririsa-riristage.com/en/

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2932040/25_DIMENSIONAL_SEDUCTION_Angels_on_Stage/

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