Dislyte Review – Just Another Uninspired Gacha?

Dislyte, the creation of Lilith Games, was originally released on May 10, 2022. And with the studio already renowned for its successful titles like ARK Arena and Rise of Kingdoms, expectations were high for the new game. And now, with the latest update in February 2023, it’s time to revisit to reflect the current state of the title.

And in this review I’ll be exploring its gameplay, visuals, character roster, and more, to determine if it has truly stood the test of time and remains a compelling choice for players seeking an engaging Gacha RPG experience.

Story And Setting

Dislyte is a cyberpunk-inspired world where divine beings known as Miracles serve as the catalyst for the rise of Espers. These Espers are ordinary humans who have been chosen by the Miracles and bestowed with abilities reminiscent of mythological gods and goddesses.

However, alongside the gifts bestowed upon humanity, these beings have also brought monsters to the world. Miramon, a monster that poses a grave threat to humanity, came with the arrival of the Miracles to destroy the world. And in this world, you must take control of different Espers in order to save the world.

But while Dislyte’s story shows promise, it falls short of being interesting. It lacks the elements necessary to evoke a genuine emotional connection to the characters, and the initial events surrounding the prologue fail to generate any excitement or empathy. Dialogue writing in the game is adequate, but it lacks the depth and intrigue needed to captivate players. Although it serves its purpose, the conversations fail to spark significant excitement or curiosity.

Dislyte lacks the elements necessary to evoke a genuine emotional connection to the characters, and the initial events surrounding the prologue fail to generate any excitement or empathy.

The campaign is divided into twelve chapters, each of which presents its own set of unique encounters. Players progress through each chapter navigating through a series of stages, typically consisting of sixteen parts. These stages are further categorized into regular stages, and boss stages. Each type of stage offers its own distinct gameplay experience, with regular stages offering a balanced challenge, and boss stages presenting a formidable opponent that will test your abilities to their limits.

Fortunately, the option to skip cutscenes proves to be a saving grace. It allows players to bypass dull and uninteresting conversations that may interrupt the overall flow of the game. However, these cutscenes can still be accessed in the Atlas menu.

Gameplay

When it comes to gameplay, Dislyte doesn’t stray too far from the tried-and-true formula of other Gacha RPGs. It features a turn-based battle system that will feel familiar to fans of the genre. 

If you’ve ever played rock-paper-scissors, you’ll quickly grasp the combat system as well. The Espers are divided into three elements: Wind, Flow, and Inferno, and they play off of each other. Wind counters Flow, Flow counters Inferno, and Inferno counters Wind. And hey, there’s a fourth element called Shimmer, which plays it cool and doesn’t have any specific counters or get countered by others.

Each Esper comes equipped with two special abilities that can spice things up in battles. These abilities can range from powerful attacks that dish out massive damage, to buffs that boost your team’s strength or debuffs that weakens the opponent.

What makes the turn-based combat interesting is that it’s not as straightforward as it seems. Your opponents might just steal the spotlight and take their turns ahead of you since the economy all boils down to Action Points (AP), which determine the order in which characters act. The higher the AP, the quicker the turn. And here’s the kicker; Speed (SPD) influences the generation of AP.

Sure, it might be a bit of a headache initially as you wrap your head around these mechanics. But once you get the hang of it, you can manipulate battles in your favor. Dislyte showers you with a bunch of handy tools to gain an edge in battles. From ATK Up to Bleed, Counterattack to Revive, there’s a plethora of effects that can turn the tide of a fight.

Each Esper also falls into one of three tiers of rarity: Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Naturally, the Legendary units are the cream of the crop in terms of performance, but they are not easily obtained. They’re like the rare gems you stumble upon in a treasure hunt. But rarity isn’t the only factor that makes a difference in the game, there are also a bunch of other elements contributing to the well-balanced combat system.

If you’ve ever played rock-paper-scissors, you’ll quickly grasp the combat system as well.

You can also promote your Espers, which means upgrading them from a lower star rating to a higher one once they reach their level cap. Ascending is another option you have, and this involves upgrading and enhancing their abilities, making them even more versatile and effective in combat. It’s all about maximizing their potential and ensuring they’re equipped to handle any challenge that comes their way. Then comes the Resonating, this feature allows you to fuse duplicate characters, resulting in increased stats such as HP and ATK.

To further amplify the prowess of your characters, Dislyte presents Relics that can be equipped. These act as valuable artifacts, bestowing additional stat boosts upon your Espers and further augmenting their power and effectiveness in battle. This equipment is upgradeable, but this process can become quite a hiccup. As the level of the equipment increases, the probability of a failed upgrade also rises.

The game also features a high pity system, which means you gotta roll around 120 times before you can guarantee yourself a legendary character. They do hook you up with a free legendary after the first ten rolls, but after that pity system is just a headache.

But overall the combat is actually pretty well-balanced, making up for this little hiccup. Luckily, the game offers gold records and gems as rewards for every other achievement. And you can buy more gold records with those gems, keeping your progress on track without breaking the bank.

Dislyte even offers several PvE modes other than Story Mode such as Sonic Rift, Miracle Stages, Desolate Lands, Calamity Island, and more. There are also two PvP modes: Arena and Point War. However, I must admit that these didn’t quite grab my attention as much as I had hoped. The Arena mode felt more like casual matches, similar to friendly practice sessions, without offering any significant long-term rewards. On the other hand, Point War presented a ranked match experience, but it involved fighting against the offline accounts of other players.

Visuals And Performance

Dislyte features a visually appealing urban cyberpunk world with an anime-like art style. The character designs in particular are top-notch, with such attention to detail that Espers are a treat for the eyes. The 2D portraits are beautifully crafted, and the 3D models are equally impressive. Occasionally though, the models may appear a bit lifeless, but it’s not something that detracts significantly from the overall experience.

Speaking of aesthetics, music plays a significant role in the game, and the soundtrack encompasses a blend of pop, rock, jazz, and rap. But the aspect that bothered me a bit was how the music didn’t always sync up perfectly with the environment, plot, or combat sequences. While it doesn’t hinder the overall experience, it feels like a missed opportunity to enhance the immersion. Nonetheless, the music in Dislyte adds another layer of theatricality to the game and contributes to its unique atmosphere. 

As far as performance is concerned, the game delivers a seamless and bug-free experience in terms of performance. I never came across any noticeable issues or technical hiccups during my playthrough. Whether I played it on lower graphics settings or pushed it to the extreme, the game maintained its framerate throughout. However, running the title on full graphics settings can be quite demanding on your device’s battery life.

Verdict

Despite a few annoying shortcomings, Dislyte has the potential to be a worthwhile Gacha RPG for the right crowd. Its core gameplay is entertaining, and its unique setting and diverse range of visually appealing characters make it an engaging experience.

The game holds its own for the most part and offers really enjoyable gameplay for those willing to look past its minor flaws, and with its intriguing world and character designs, it’s worth giving it a try if you’re a fan of the genre.

This has been our Dislyte Review. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles. 

• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Review
• Diablo IV Review
• Street Fighter 6 Review
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom Review
• Redfall Review
• Valorant Review