Re:Zero-Starting Life in Another World Infinity brings the player back to the isekai filled with political drama and fantasy, in a visual novel-style retelling of protagonist Subaru’s adventures in another world. This Japanese gacha title, an update of a previous Chinese version, release with improved graphics, user interface, and content, offers a wide cast of familiar and new characters to play as.
Re:Zero Infinity avoids the dull, repetitive gameplay of other turn-based gacha games with an intuitive and deep combo-based combat system, while also offering a faithful and well-paced story with remarkable visuals and sound design. Taking a deeper dive into the mobile title, it is clear that going back and reliving Subaru’s countless lives in the Kingdom of Lugnica is worth the trip.
▍Intensely Interactive Gameplay
Luckily, the combat system of Re:Zero Infinity offers a great deal of variety, so there is no need to fight the same battles, and tap the exact same buttons, as you dive deeper into the story. Its turn-based combat system allows you to select from three different moves for each character. AP skills consume your party’s shared pool of Action Points, displayed on a vertical bar to the right of the screen.
A character’s standard attack gradually refills these action points, which also recharge over time. SP skills do not use AP but have a cooldown for a set number of turns. Through landing hits, taking damage, and combo attacking enemies, a circle around your character’s portrait will gradually fill. When this circular bar is complete, you can unleash a character’s powerful ultimate attack, playing a brief cinematic.
It is satisfying to mash the standard attack and hit enemies with clubs and fireballs, but the combat system rewards players who engage with the game’s complex, but accessible, mechanics. Characters and enemies possess elemental attributes, and green or red arrows show whether a particular character’s element is strong against an enemy.
A more complex strategy comes into play with status effects, applied through different characters’ attacks and abilities, and the potential to combo your characters’ abilities together. Using Ram’s wind skills on an enemy that has been frostbitten by Emilia will apply additional damage. But it is also important when and how you use Emilia’s skills. As the player and enemies attack, she gains increased critical chance, and her AP skill recharges faster if it successfully lands critical hits. Every move, even a character’s basic attack, does more than just damage.
In general, these mechanics are very approachable. Re:Zero Infinity does a great job of visually representing the status effects upon enemies and characters, and information on combos and attack descriptions is easily accessed by clicking the pause icon toward the top of the screen or holding your finger on an attack or skill.
But be a bit wary of dragging your finger to the Auto-Battle button, which can seem like a shortcut to the Lose screen. From my experience, the game felt strict with upgrade materials and resources early on, and your ability to upgrade your characters and access new resources heavily depend upon your slowly-increasing player level. After the tutorial portion of the game ends, don’t expect to breeze through battles with Auto.
▍A Gorgeous Combination of 2D and 3D Graphics
Visually Re:Zero Infinity really shines with a striking mix of 2D and 3D. Battle animations are distinct and interesting, and the different combinations of colors and 3D movements within a fight are a visual treat. A few attacks are your standard magic projectile, but many others offer unexpected surprises, like Felt’s AP attack, summoning Reinhard to fight for her. Ultimate attacks lack the explosive visuals one would expect in a gacha title, however. And the character featured on a player’s home screen feels a bit stiff due to limited animations and voice lines.
Outside of the 3D models, the 2D graphics in Re:Zero Infinity’s menu play into the franchise’s somber moments, offering lovely imagery of the Lugnica kingdom and surrounding towns, blue and star-filled. Character portraits and CGs within the story mode are rich in detail and do a great job of bringing the world to life.
The character portraits seen in battle do not present the most interesting poses but really come into their element in the Character menu, which shows the cards’ animations. Motion is used very well in each—a Felt card animates beads of sweat as books fall overhead and the occasional glimmer of her pendant.
Of course, to admire the character art you will have to go through the gacha. With a 5-Star rarity of 2.5%, it is hard to say how generous Re:Zero Infinity will be long-term, with the many launch events currently active. Additional copies of characters, which increase a character’s Rank, apply various buffs to skills and attacks, so again, it is difficult to say how impactful the gacha and increasing Rank will be for the game’s mechanics.
▍Familiar Voice Actors and a Memorable Soundtrack
Working together with the visuals is an impressive soundtrack, which hits many different notes. Intense battle themes heightened your experience with Re:Zero Infinity’s combat, while laidback and more melancholy tunes capture the emotional highs and lows that the franchise is famous for. Many voice actors from the anime adaptation return, such as Kobayashi Yuusuke, who voiced Subaru, and Takahashi Rie, who voiced Emilia.
The extensive dialogue within the game immerses the player in a story adaptation that is faithful and well-paced. The music and visuals do justice to humorous moments, such as Subaru’s accidental use of the women’s restroom upon entering the isekai, as well as intense moments, displaying piled-up corpses. The story of Re:Zero Infinity does not quite reach the peaks of the anime but definitely justifies giving the light novel series another life.
▍The Menus and Interface Feel Bloated
A minor point of annoyance is the menus. A player must click through a number of buttons and sub-menus to claim all of their log-in and event rewards, a time sink that adds up. Though on the flip side, level-up menus direct the player clearly to the battles that will grant needed materials, and outside of the story mode a player has nice opportunities for progression, through a variety of missions and objectives that will unlock materials and upgrades over time.
▍Re:Zero Infinity is a Strong Adaptation with Memorable Gameplay
Re:Zero Infinity immerses you in another world, and whether you are familiar with the story or not, the complex gameplay, story presentation, and character models turn Subaru’s adventures into a new, captivating experience.
Unlike many other gacha releases, combat is not a chore. Characters will surprise you with the versatility of their skills, which can be combined in many different ways to repeat battle nodes or tackle difficult bosses. And the carefully crafted story of Re:Zero Infinity stands out from the sparse and uninteresting narratives common in the mobile game market.
The title is currently only offered in Japanese and Chinese, with no plans for an English release, but is absolutely worth checking out if you are interested in seeing and experiencing a refreshing take on the battles and stories of the Re:Zero universe.
