Seven Knights Re:Birth Impressions - Stunning But...

Earlier this week, Netmarble launched the free-to-play action RPG Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, and I decided to give it a try. On the surface, it looks like the type of game I frequently play – anime RPG adventures with collectible characters. Whatever your opinion on the gacha portion of gacha games may be, quite a few of those that have come out over the last few years are quite good in areas like gameplay, storytelling, style, and even music. So, I’m always excited to check out the next adventure.

That said, Seven Knights: Re:BIRTH wasn’t what I expected. It’s not just that any one element bothered me, but more that all the elements combined made me wonder who exactly this game is for or, rather, who would find it satisfying to play.

As the game is made for mobile devices as well, I wasn’t completely put out by the systems that obviously catered to that. Although, there are obviously plenty of gacha games made for both mobile and PC that don’t feel quite as mobile-centric when it comes to navigating the game. Still, it’s something that alone is not enough to make me walk away from a game. I’m willing to put up with one element I’m not fond of if other aspects of the game make up for it. But this particular game didn’t do that for me.

Before I go on, I will admit that I didn’t spend hours and hours in the game. So, if someone comes along and tells me I’ve missed the part where it gets better… Well, honestly, I have far too many options when it comes to games to spend time playing something and just hope that it’ll finally work for me.

So, what’s the issue, aside from the obviously mobile interface? Well, a few things. Some of them likely extend from that one issue, like the game’s auto features. Do not get me wrong. I’m not against auto features. I just feel like there’s a time and a place for them. I want to at least feel like I’m playing the game after all. As an example, Honkai: Star Rail offers an auto-combat option. You can use it when fighting trash mobs in the world or in content like the Simulated Universe or Calyxes. Basically, the content you’d be doing to farm for much-needed character materials.

Boss fights are off the table. You’re going to spend some time on those, and you’re going to enjoy the trauma. And you certainly can’t idle your way through the whole game with the system just moving you through fights and story bits on the map. You can in Seven Knights Re:BIRTH. You don’t have to do it, but all the options are there to turn it into a quick-moving game that you don’t really have to touch other than to apply better gear and maintain your characters and teams.

I’m well aware that games like this exist, and people play them. And, if I’d enjoyed what was happening with the story, I might have ignored those two factors. But it just wasn’t really enough to pull me in. For one thing, the “player character” isn’t someone you can see. I realize they intended it to feel like the player is actually involved in what’s happening. But it made me feel less like I was a part of the world and more of an observer, despite having dialogue options.

For another, while the characters I was interacting with did speak their dialogue, what they said was just a small segment of the dialogue that actually appeared on the screen. That’s something that always bothers me. It was made worse when I turned on all the autoplay features just to see how they worked together. The result was that I had to speed up my reading to make sure I was done before the text flew by – a problem that I don’t come across in other games I play because the dialog that is voiced is fully voiced.

As for the story, I’m afraid I didn’t get too far, because the delivery wasn’t for me. The pacing didn’t really work for me, with a few lines of dialogue before heading into the next round of combat. I suppose, if you’re playing the game in brief stints on the bus, in-between classes, that sort of thing, it could work for you. If you’re more like me and looking for engaging stories that keep you busy for hours at a time, this probably isn’t going to do it.

That might be a good thing, though. Keeping up with the games I do play is already pretty time-consuming.