We had the chance to check out the beta for Etheria: Restart, XD Games' latest entry into the world of gacha games, featuring a vibrant cast of characters. Posited as a 'next-gen RPG', Etheria: Restart is a turn-based game revolving around a fully character-focused gacha mechanic and PVP content.
Set in a vibrant, cyber-themed future sometime around the year 2150, you find yourself working as a Hyperlinker in control of a team of Animus - characters that are trained in combat. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes, but during the beta, it felt a little slow. It introduces a lot of characters in quick succession, and I hope they get time to shine as the story continues.
First, let's take a look at the banner and gacha rates, as it's a big pull for any fan of gacha games. The banners only have characters. No weapons, no shells - just characters. They come in R, SR, and SSR rarity, but there are significantly fewer R options than the rarer choices, so you very quickly max out their dupes and start getting repeats. During the beta, maximum pity was 100, though this is allegedly being brought down to 80 on full release. Even with the 100 pity, I got plenty of good characters.
On the standard banner, you use pink Anima Prototype items to roll for characters, which you can easily earn in the game by completing quests, achievements, events, and more. I didn't get a single golden Apex Prototype roll, though - it appears these cost significantly more than Anima Prototypes, and, from what we saw in the beta, you may need to use real money to purchase them on certain banners. However, there is (or at least was, we'll see at release) a pack offering ten Apex Prototypes in the store for 89p or your local equivalent. Yes, I bought it, and it gave me another SSR character.
As for which characters you get for free, you start off strong by getting the SSR Lian, as well as some SRs. I found the gacha to be very lenient, ending up with six SSR characters from the permanent banner, and an early Massiah on his own banner after only a few days playing. However, it's likely that the rates were boosted during the beta, so whether this luck carries over to the full release remains to be seen.
Also, for my husbando fans, a miracle happened - the only female SSR I got was Lian, the free one. All the others were boys. I was actually, for once, spoiled for choice as to which men to put in an all-husbando team. Again, we'll see if this carries on to full launch.
Now you've got a stack of playable characters, it's time to build them. If you've played a gacha game or two before, you'll know how this goes. You level up your character, then give them equippable items to boost their stats and abilities. There's a classic dupe system where you can unlock new skills with copies of the same character, akin to constellations that you pull on Genshin Impact banners or resonance chains in Wuthering Waves.
This time, though, you also get Shells - these are wee critters you can level up and equip that can also move in battle, and provide damage or healing, among other things. There's a fun red dragon guy, a lizard that looks a bit like the water Pokémon Inteleon, and an owl, to name a few.
If this all sounds a bit confusing, don't worry. There's a quick, handy guide for each character that points out recommended teammates, shells, and modules to aim for. This isn't based on other players' data, either, so it's ready from the get-go.
I'm a big fan of the character designs here. There's a futuristic vibe to the roster with fun outfits. Characters' movesets during combat feel different and memorable between the different units and roles they fill. Some even have outfit recolors available to unlock, which change everything from their hair to clothing colors.
Most of your time in the game is spent in combat, whether it's during the story, grinding for materials, or testing your mettle against boss enemies. Combat in Etheria has speed options and auto-play, so you can leave your team to do their thing in the background, which, for me, is a bonus. It's turn-based and easy to get the hang of. You're going to want to type-match your teams to your enemies, but if you don't feel like memorizing each 'element', you can refer to a handy chart at the beginning of each fight, which massively helps your success rates.
Outside of combat and the story, there's still plenty to do. You do need to progress your level to unlock further story missions, so prepare to grind a lot for XP. There are loads of daily activities to keep you going, and, during the beta, there was a packed events tab to work through. There are also the PvP and PvE elements to jump into. You can even duke it out against another player in one-on-one matches where you can't use the same characters as each other. While skill does come into play here, a lot of built-up SSRs may also help.
The game itself looks great. Granted, I played on PC, so mobile performance may be different, but overall it was smooth with great graphics. I tried using the mouse and keyboard and the controller, but found that my controller didn't work with some menus at all. This didn't affect the actual turn-based gameplay, thankfully, but I hope to see it fixed in the full release.
The menus are a little unintuitive - for example, I especially dislike the fact that you have to go through the settings menu to find the hidden log-out option to exit the game. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't found it by accident. Hopefully, there will be some tweaks to make navigation a bit easier in the future.
I will also say that the chat function can be distracting, and it's frustrating that you have to minimize it on every new screen. However, it can be handy to ask for build help and have a little chat with other players while autobattling. Longevity might be an issue, as if players start to drop off, there may be less fun conversations going on. For me, the box just seems a bit too big, and I'd like to be able to disable it.
I'm definitely going to try the full release of Etheria: Restart come the full launch, and I look forward to giving it a go on an Android phone so I can see how the performance changes. The character designs are definitely the highlight for me, but the combat is fun, and I can see myself creating some really interesting team comps to deal with different elemental enemies. I, for one, am very intrigued to see how this game does and where the story goes.
Etheria: Restart launches on iOS, Android, and Steam simultaneously on June 5, 2025 - if you're looking for one of the best budget gaming phones to play it on, we can help you out. Also, here's our list of Etheria: Restart codes and our Etheria: Restart tier list.