(review as the of the end of volume Final)

A game I completely discounted on release, Blue Archive is a perfect example of how gacha soshage have really taken the torch from the 00s/10s eroge scene. Of course, this has been the direction the space has taken since Fate/Grand Order's raucous success, but this one to me feels like the moment. Its hard for me at least to discuss the game except in comparison to its main two competitors in the Story Gacha, FGO and Arknights. Those games I often feel--as great as they are--get away from themselves, with their grand stories and rotating casts often running away from the presentation of the plot--if I was a smarter person, perhaps I'd make some reference to how Grand the scale of those games are and how the small phone screen ill-suits them, but I am not a philosopher.

Blue Archive keeps it simple. Its a game downright obsessed with the small, every day--even the most minor cursory thoughts about how Kivotos as a place works makes the whole thing crash down, but that same small nature just makes it work better for the phone format. I could easily shotgun entire chapters of Blue Archive while at work in a way I struggle to with FGO or (especially) Arknights. The focus on the more day-to-day "nichijou-kei" sort of writing helps this as well, I think.

But all of that would be missed if the writing wasn't up to par, which is where Blue Archive shines. The game's so endearingly optimistic and even the bit characters have too much charm that you can't not love them and buy into their struggles or lackthereof. It even made one of the worst character types--the person who Talks Only In Video Game References--arguably the best, most realized character in the game. The plots themselves can get quite grand in scale--be it Ancient Blood Feuds or Literally The End of Existence of Every Dimension Ever--but they never stop focusing on these girls, and your role in helping them overcome their various traumas, quirks, feelings, or whatever.
Which is where I should put my subnote--yes, the premise is that you're the good-hearted sensei who teaches these girls, and yes they are all very voluptuous and a lot of them definitely do want to jump your bones--but I was honestly shocked by how wholesome the whole game is. Its horny in practice, but in spirit? I'm not as convinced.

I actually really liked how far it takes the teacher conceit--although your character does take definitive action in the stories, it always comes from a place of growth for the girls you are helping. It has a lot of emphasis on how part of the reason Kivotos as a place is fucked is because the world ultimately does not help these girls and there's no mentorship, no people helping them out except themselves--this is exemplified by all the main antagonists being pretty explicit metaphors for methods of control and coercion of the adults these girls should be able to trust and rely on(and, mechanically, this is also tied in by the main character's Otona no Card--literally, adult card, translated into english as your credit card, an object that the other antagonists who are adults should have but don't because they don't accept that responsibility to the students). And that sort of sense of, I don't know, fulfillment? , is what makes the whole plot work.

And its beautiful.

As to the game? Its a passable idle game i guess, but who really cares about that.

After several weeks of playing this game, I’ve decided to actually give Blue Archive a somewhat proper review.

To be honest, I was very distant to Blue Archive when I first started it up. After all, I only really downloaded the game to see if Eden Treaty really was top tier storytelling like I’d heard it was. Pretty much everything else was an afterthought, and I was able to get away with this mindset for a decent amount of time, that is until that one specific story episode that forced me to actually build my characters and level up my account. I absolutely resented BA for this and I still think it was a bit of a fucked up move by the devs, but it also kinda acted as a blessing in disguise. It led to me getting much more involved with the game’s systems, I started getting invested in characters who weren’t in the main story that much, and I was able to derive at least some enjoyment out of the game’s combat. It’s amazing what a great story can do to my motivation.

So now here I am, 64 levels deep, listening to Alkaline Tears and After School Dessert almost daily whilst Ayane’s sweat soaked face graces my main menu. Definitely not the position I was expecting to be in when I saw Mika’s design for the first time and thought she looked pretty.

The story is definitely as good as people say it is. Of course Eden Treaty was fantastic, mainly because the Make Up Work Club is literally just my four favorite characters in a single group, but the other Volumes were no slouch either. After playing Genshin and getting consistently frustrated with how much its writing prodded on and on and on for no reason, a concise story that makes its points quickly while knowing when to have some fun is exactly what I needed. Whenever some goofy or chaotic moment happens and it actually becomes an element of the plot I’m always left with a wide grin on my face, aside from that one case where I both smiled and cried a little (I will never look at ski masks the same way ever again). I once heard the plot be called a children’s story for adults and that’s actually pretty accurate. A chapter will put Sensei and their students through utter hell as they deal with extremely stubborn corporate greed, generational hatred, crippling distrust/paranoia, and the horrors of nihilism, before ending with everyone gathering together to best all the odds as someone declares “THE BLUE ARCHIVE IS REAL”. This is only a slight exaggeration. Also, the characters fill me with so much joy and I would legit take a bullet for about 98% of them.

I will say though, the last thing I expected from this game was me loving Sensei and their role in the story as much as I do. Despite being a self insert, they actually get a decent amount characterization as a bad spender with a childish imagination who is sorta kind of a degen. Basically, your average gacha player. However, in the land of Kivotos where most adult figures for the students are either non existent in their lives or are manipulative bastards, Sensei acts as the guiding light that actually teaches them how to grow and learn from their mistakes, and is willing to put a lot on the line to do so. This does end up leading into most of the students fawning over sensei in some way, shape, or form, sometimes in rather suggestive ways. While this quasi-harem comes off as a bit tacky at first, as time went on I began to completely understand the girls’ feelings, especially after reading Where All Miracles Begin because goodness gracious it cannot be underestimated how life changing Sensei’s actions are there I’m choking up just thinking about it. Shit, I’d probably fall head over heels for Sensei in the students’ position too.

Even though i’m docking a star off for the Hell BA put me through to see through its story, don’t be mistaken. I adore this game about as much as my 5 stars, and am genuinely so happy that I was convinced by the dozens of pieces of Mika art being shoved down my throat to give Blue Archive a shot.

Azusa best girl btw
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Edit: I’m bumping the rating up to 4.5 stars because I get happy every time I think about this game and just 4 stars doesn’t feel right

Played on release and then stoped playing for half a year then I came back and never stop playing since, the only gacha game that I like the story and gameplay of.

While not the most entertaining it respects its users time by letting you breeze through the daily missions in like 10 minutes or so.

Took me a long time to catch up to the story but I don't regret it, while some volumes are better than others the 3rd one in particular "The Eden treaty" was an amazing experience.
The gacha rates sometimes feel like a lie, but this is expected and the worse thing is that the spark isn't maintained banner to banner which sucks.

Give it a shot I have a blast and it's my biggest guilty pleassure as of late, I love the designs and the stories are great.

"Atsui~
Atsukute hikarabisoouu~
Ugoite nai no ni atsuiyoo~"

One of the greatest voice lines in all of video games. I needed it for myself. Dumped 200 rolls on Mika's banner the other day. Mika's cute and all, and the 6% rate was tantalizing, but what I was really chasing was that heat. Even with so much saved, it was still a 0.3% rate. Fate/GO players shot for the stars with more, and died in disgrace for less. It was a steep price to pay for missing the train back in January. I wasn't a believer then, but half a year of Twitter art forces a man to acknowledge the sheer strength Blue Archive commandeered as the head honcho of the cute and funny genre. Come April, I knew what I had to do. I installed, started grinding, and bided my time until the fated day would come. Ohhh I waited. Banners came and went, and my gem stock slowly grew. They called me a fool for skipping Himari. But there is no virtue chasing higher ranks in a future without Summer Hoshino. Days became weeks. Weeks became months.

Until Judgement Day. 7/25. The red carpet was rolled out for Mika. Fanfare, Twitter campaigns, displays, advertisements. She had it all. Even Arona Hot Dog was there. But I was only concerned about my pink, 0.3% prize. I only had a 45% chance to get her. I had nothing else but hopes and prayers; I prostrated before the numbers, completely at the mercy of a coin flip. And it flipped.

It was a silly little thing. One moment I didn't have her, and then in the next, I did. 70 pulls in. It's an unbelievable feeling, to entrust the culmination of several months of dreams on a dice roll, and win. At that time, at that place, for a fleeting moment, through no power of mine, the whims of reality and my wordly desires were one and the same. With no rhyme or reason, the Mandate of Heaven bestowed upon me Hoshino. Don't you see what this means? I walked the path forged by the stars, and it was written in indelible celestial text that Victory was my lot.

Anyway +3 stars for Ui, she's my favorite.

Imagina el hecho de como una historia de chicas lindas haciendo cosas lindas acaba siendo una historia de muerte y tristeza sin sentirse forzado intentando ser un wanabe de madoka magica si no que que todo fue pensado desde el principio para crear conflicto y ideas al jugador, cada historia avanza de buena manera sin sentirse que te estan obligando a ver cosas graficas ni ver cosas cute todo el tiempo, un buen equilibrio de estos sentidos. la interaccion entre los personajes aunque a veces sea muy caricaturesca ayuda a crear mas un mundo y sus conflictos veamos el caso de mika aunque al inicio la plantearon como un personaje sumisa y linda acaba desatando tremendos problemas a futuro pero la misma historia ya te lo planteaba con sus accines y ideas con otros personajes, lastima que es un gatcha y no una novela visual, si no fuera por ese hecho del elemento gatcha le daria un nueve, pero nunca me a gustado ese estilo de venta.
almenos blue archive lo hace bien después de 200 punto las tiradas te regalan un personaje sin necesidad de que sigas gastando mas y el juego te regala gemas por todo asi que no se siente tan opresivo.
el juego en si es un autocombate de estrategia y aunque al inicio parezca fácil después te golpeas con un wall level sin previo aviso.
pero al final no es mal juego... muchas veces hasta es motivador, realmente es el mejor juego gatcha...

Just to let you know, like how i felt like Genshin is not for well-endowed people like me who prefer a game that has a proper progression that stands out to non-F2P players alike, Blue Archive is one of those games where grinding is heavily encouraged NO MATTER HOW you decide to spend or not, but most likely it will give you the instinct to sacrifice your money.
I personally wanted to go through a blind run, but i've heard that to get the best of Blue Archive you have to look up appropriate guides that tell you what are the best characters, which, surprise, you will have to get it with any means, most likely it will give you the instinct to SPEND MONEY.

Onto to the game itself, outside of gacha mechanics: the gameplay itself is a very automatized kind of XCOM where you guide three armed students to attack the enemy formation. You won't have to worry about deciding how they are placed, but you will be worrying instead to make sure that your party is strong enough to approach the enemy. Of course, the problem, which is also present in some gacha games, is that i am bothered at how the game keeps giving you tons of cutscenes before a brief gameplay segment and then boom, more story.

I may not have enough will to actually review this properly as i only gave it a try since last year since i wrote this review, but i personally could have played it if it was a proper XCOM clone or a tactical RPG with a twist in it, something Arknights could've done if it was designed for non-F2P in mind.

Fairly similar to GFL, but if it was all 3D isometric. Great animations, superb OST and PVs. My largest painpoint with it is that its outfits/alt skins are individual characters w/ individual levels (like Princess Connect) - i.e. Shiroko, Shiroko (Cycling), Shiroko (Swimming). You having to individually level them up. I dislike that way of getting skins. I far prefer having a single character you can swap outfits on, like in GFL and Genshin.

Obviously, there is more to a game than just its outfit system, but this is particularly important for me.

Overall: 7/10

Gameplay: 6/10
Story/Narrative: 6/10
Graphics/Visuals: 7/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 9/10