Lately, I’ve been on something of a side-quest in life, to better understand trends that don’t make sense to me: the enduring popularity of isekai light novels; the appeal of free-to-play gacha games; why the majority of the country would vote to re-elect a convicted felon who doesn’t care about anything but his own material wealth. It’s the middle one of those three things that brings us to today’s word.

mancozeb, noun – an organometallic fungicide humans apply on plants

Learned from: Reverse: 1999 (PC, mobile)

Developed by Bluepoch

Published by Bluepoch (2023)

Apologies for the weird phrasing in the definition, but as you can see from the screenshot below, that is the verbatim definition the game, itself, gives the player. One of the characters ends up getting poisoned after a fight, and another member of the party who specializes in potions, starts rattling off a list of ingredients she’ll need to try and heal him–to which he replies that he’d probably be better off with some mancozeb. It’s worth noting that the poisoned character in question is a floating apple wearing a shirt collar and tie…Reverse:1999 is a weird game.

I’m only in Act II so far, so I don’t know how this all shapes up. The story so far though, involves an event called the Storm that happened right at the end of 1999, causing time to lurch backwards, and erasing anyone caught in the incident. But now other Storms are hitting other points in history, particularly around times of social turmoil: the civil rights movement of the ’60s, the stock market crash that kicked off the great depression in 1929, etc. In the midst of all this are various factions of arcanists–people (and other things) with magical abilities–fighting for their own ends, or just to survive. And since this is a gacha game, you’ll end up with a team of characters from across large swathes of history, from Victorian necromancers; to futuristic space rangers; to quasi-historical figures like proclaimed time traveler, John Titor; to possessed radios; to the metaphysical manifestation of rabies; to a floating sentient apple. It’s a bizarre, wild setup, and while it doesn’t always make the most sense (not helped by the occasionally spotty translation), it’s actually one of the best games I’ve played in this genre.

A lot of it has to do with the gameplay–it’s the only gacha I’ve stumbled across that uses a turn-based card battle system, similar to Slay the Spire, and that sort of thing is just my jam. Plus, the art is gorgeous, opting for a more painted look than your standard cel-shaded anime style, which really sets it apart. And so far at least, there’s surprisingly little fanservice; I don’t mind that sort of thing by any means, but I do feel that its absence here is noteworthy. Especially since Reverse: 1999 manages to stand on its own without using T&A as a crutch. It’s a game that deserves more recognition, so if you’re intrigued by the concept and don’t mind being a little confused along the way, it’s well-worth checking out. And it’s not like they paid me to say any of this; I’ve just really been enjoying my time with this one so far.