Robot Tactics is one of the most polished and acclaimed mobile strategy games of the last five years.
Released in 2018, this gacha RPG managed to strike just the right balance of gameplay and storytelling, as well as depth and accessibility. Plus, it featured an army of customisable mech warriors, which is always a plus.
Robot Tactics X, the game’s eagerly awaited sequel, has some big metal shoes to fill. So how does it fare?
Before we get to the answer, let’s take a look at the storytelling and gameplay. As with its predecessor, Robot Tactics X has a deep and involved storyline featuring a cast of anime characters.
That story concerns a long-running conflict between two continents and a group of outlaws, called the Squalorers, striving to uncover various secrets and conspiracies.
As with everything in Robot Tactics X, you can decide for yourself how much you want to engage with the story. Each stage in the campaign is preceded by a long exchange of dialogue, but you can skip it if you like.
Plus, you’ll quickly unlock a Plot feature that lets you earn rewards for reading long narrative sequences, set against illustrated backdrops. You can skip these too, though it’s worth sticking around and getting to know the story and characters.
New Features
In terms of gameplay, Robot Tactics X advances the format in a couple of significant ways. Firstly, it introduces terrain effects, forcing you to consider your units’ Terrain Adaptations.
And secondly, it adds a new race counter effect, with each race interacting differently with the others in combat.
Between them these two innovations increase the number of tactical risks and opportunities that you need to weigh in battle – but only if you choose to play an active role. As with the story bits, you can opt out, playing battles on Auto instead of conducting them yourself.
So how do battles work? Robot Tactics X is a turn-based strategy-RPG, like XCOM or Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, albeit streamlined to make it suitable for mobile.
Each battle sees you attempting to achieve a particular goal – killing a boss character, wiping out the enemy, etc – by moving your units around a grid-based environment and executing different attacks.
Some units have ranged attacks, some heal their comrades, some excel at melee combat, and so on.
Plus, they all have their own counter attributes, making them effective against certain races, and Terrain Adaptations, making them effective on certain terrains, giving you plenty to think about as you create your formations.
A unit’s Terrain Adaptation is determined by its leg parts, as you could probably guess. And there are plenty more parts to consider, with each customisable mech comprising legs, arms, a weapon, a cabin, and a backpack. You can even change the color.
Your mechs need pilots too, and Robot Tactics X has a colorful cast of characters to recruit, upgrade, and promote once you acquire the necessary XP, items, and progress through the campaign.
Endless Customization
If you’ve ever played a mobile gsacha-RPG before you’ll know what to expect with Robot Tactics X. There are tons of items to collect, including more than 100 unique mech parts, and all of these can be upgraded, dismantled, and spent.
You can closely scrutinise all of this, or you can take advantage of the “auto” option, which is available on pretty much every screen.
Likewise, after a while you can have stages play out automatically, and at up to three times normal speed. This is fine if you’re in a rush, but to get the most out of Robot Tactics X, and to stand the best chance of making it through a tough stage, you’ll need to take the wheel yourself.
Not least because the stages get tough fast. To keep your campaign moving forward you can fortify your heroes and mechs with items earned by visiting the Training Ship, taking on other players in the Arena, and eventually going on expeditions. In other words, grinding.
Robot Tactics X is not for the faint-hearted, but if you’re in the market for a stylish, story-heavy gacha RPG with a fairly brutal difficulty curve, it’s worth a look.
You can download Robot Tactics X for free right now on the App Store or Google Play.