Reverse: 1999 Review (2025) — Time-Travel Gacha Done Right

Reverse: 1999 is a turn-based tactical RPG developed by Bluepoch. It launched in Mainland China on May 31, 2023, and was released globally on October 26, 2023.

Lately, the mobile games I’ve been playing were not living up to my standards. To be completely honest, I’ve been losing faith in finding good mobile games to enjoy. I started thinking that all mobile games were turning into fast cash grabs, with constantly pushing a bunch of packs to progress in the game. 

That or they’ve turned into unhinged ad simulators where in order to play a game for 30 seconds, you gotta watch 30-second ads. That’s the reason why my hopes were at an all-time low. 

I’ve had Reverse: 1999 on my wishlist even before release but for some reason I’ve forgotten about it. So I decided to give it a shot and here are my thoughts about it.

What Is Reverse: 1999? Story, Setting & Time Travel Mystery

You play as the “Timekeeper,” a person immune to an apocalyptic event called the Storm that keeps rewinding reality to random points in the 20th century. One minute you’re in 1999, next you’re chatting with philosophers in the 1920s or fighting through surreal dreamscapes with talking animals. No, really.

The story leans heavily into its alternate-history sci-fi vibes, with each chapter throwing you into a new era, complete with its own visual style, slang, and weirdness. It’s got a surprisingly serious tone, too—mixing existential dialogue, mysterious factions, and a whole lot of “Wait, what just happened?” moments. Think of it like Doctor Who meets Persona, but with cards and way more British accents.

Gameplay

Reverse: 1999 is a turn-based RPG with combat designed around a card system. Each character has two incantation cards and one ultimate card. Each card ranges from one to three star-level, and players can merge cards with the same number of stars, advance them to a higher star level, and deal additional damage. 

When it comes to characters, some of them are given for free, and others are obtained via summoning. Considering that the game is fairly new, there isn’t a massive pool of available characters. I’ve tested my luck in summoning and so far I can say that RNG gods have blessed me. 

The game focuses on storytelling(main story) and occasional side events. Which puts the whole gacha thing in a more tolerable section. There’s no pressure to get “meta” characters in order to compete with other players. You can just take your time and enjoy the game at your own pace. And if you really like the game and you feel like supporting it, then you can splurge at your own leisure. 

There’s a soft pity at 70 pulls, and the game floods you with resources early on. Not to say the banners aren’t tempting.

Graphics

From the moment I started playing Reverse: 1999, I was absolutely blown away by the design of the game. The art and voice acting for this game is phenomenal. The whole animation of characters, the cards, the scenery, and everything else is just so beautiful that it really makes you appreciate what it is. And in my humble opinion, it’s a work of art. I would recommend checking the game out, if for no other reason, then just for the graphics. 

Final thoughts

It seems that I’ve been giving only praises for this game. Well yeah, I could nitpick and find some minute flaws but when you take everything into consideration there’s no real need for it.

It’s a fairly new game and for now, the developers of Reverse: 1999 are on the right track to making a nice cozy mobile game to enjoy for ages. I’ve been playing it for some time now and so far I have no complaints about it. 

Is there a chance for developers to ruin and make it like other gacha games? Yeah, probably. But also, we gotta have some faith; they have done a marvelous job so far, so let us believe they’ll continue with good work. Reverse: 1999 is definitely going on my list of top mobile games. Until next time, make sure to check out more of the posts here.

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