Revue Starlight Re LIVE (Free) is a new mobile gacha game from the gacha queens over at Bushiroad. If you’re a fan of the idol group genre already, you’ve likely played one of their other games like Love Live: School Idol Festival or the more visually appealing and genre-inclusive BanG Dream: Girls Band Party.
Similar to those two games, Revue Starlight Re LIVE arrived on this side of the pond only around 9 months after the original 12-episode anime premiered. You’ll excuse me for never having heard of it before the game’s localization announcement, but having the show launch on HIDIVE rather than the more readily available Crunchyroll meant knowing of it outside of the U.S. was probably asking a bit much.

I’m writing this review not long after the game asked me to leave one on its App Store page. These games can go on forever, so if a few hours in is when the developers have essentially shown me their hand, then so be it. Unlike Bushiroad’s other mega-popular idol games, Revue Starlight Re LIVE isn’t a rhythm game. While it’s primarily a turn-based RPG, it does feature a healthy amount of songs originally performed by the headline girls. Tapping along to the beat won’t affect your performance in-game, but adoration of the tracks will obviously add to your overall enjoyment when your chosen song kicks in to signal your team’s buffed up combat potential.
Using the very same Live2D animation style used in the BanG D...