Exos Heroes - Global Release Date & First Impressions Gameplay

Exos Heroes is a Gacha / hero-collector developed by Oozoo and published by LINE Games (who are also responsible for Destiny Child, The First Summoner and Xross Chronicle among others). The game is a sequel to Exos Saga, and was originally released in South Korea on November 21, 2019. The global release date for EU & NA is May 28, 2020, and the game is available for both iOS & Android devices.

LINE Games is well known for publishing few – but extremely polished – mobile games, and fortunately Exos Heroes is no exception! There is a unique art-style that definitely sets it apart from other gacha games, while the gameplay seems to go in the right direction on what gacha fans should expect from a 2020 release!

We have released an Exos Heroes Database the same day that the game launched globally, so if you’re serious about making the best team lineup, head over and check out all the heroes and their specialties!

Heroes – Unique Art, Unique Heroes

Hero Management Overview, Exos Heroes

Everyone’s tired (I think) of collecting anime chibi girls that look the same from game to game, and hopefully Exos Heroes realizes this.

The 3D models are extremely detailed, and each hero has an actual personality, backstory, and usefulness. There’s a clear distinction between fodder units and actual heroes, while all hero rarities have great potential, without locking you too much into an “SSR-hunt”.

You will be awarded a “select gacha” as a new player, that means you can keep pulling until you find a unit that you’re satisfied with. I heavily suggest you go for a Fated (5 stars) unit, and not settle for a Legendary (4 stars) one. Make sure to check all the heroes first, as you won’t be getting another chance at something so good – so early in the game!

Combat – What You Would Expect – With A Twist!

Combat, Exos Heroes

You can have up to 5 heroes in your team which is great, and they also have certain roles / positions to fulfill – Tank, DPS, Support & “Chaos”. With 6 elements and physical or magical attack types, the team building aspect goes deep, and will certainly satisfy those that crave the extra “RPG-iness” in a gacha game.

While elements work as you would expect (fire beats nature etc.), each hero has one special (or several) element called a Guardian Stone, which will cause him to “Break”, rendering him unable to act for a few turns, while receiving extra damage.

The “break” mechanic will dictate your fights, so careful strategists will be rewarded for learning their opponents Guardian Stones / Breaking Points.

Game Modes – Plenty for 24/7 (?) Grinding

Open World Overview, Exos Heroes

I’m still a bit confused on Exos Heroes’ gameplay. I enjoy it a ton, but I’m not sure if it’s more AFK than needed. Even though all the modes and mechanics is something we’ve seen before, it feels… different and extra enjoyable here!

It’s amazing to see more gacha games implement open-world features like The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, and in Exos there’s a great open-world system! In essence, it replaces stage-grinding, and instead, you are using your energy to explore the world around you. Your heroes will discover a ton of loot for you, and also get into random battles. You can also set them to do this Exploration while you log out of the game, which is a great plus!

There’s a ton of other “limited-entry” modes for your resource grind, PvP seems promising with top-player tournaments, and there’s quite a few different “lobbies” for carrying out different tasks in the game.

I’ll know better in a month from now, but up to here the gameplay certainly feels refreshing, and it’s quite hard to put down the game!

Story – A Positive Surprise

Story Mode, Exos Heroes

I’m the type of person that always reads every single dialogue in a game, just because I feel bad skipping them.

Fortunately for me, the storyline of Exos Heroes is amazing! I certainly didn’t expect that, but the main characters are full of… character, breaking away from the norm and offering a unique cyberpunk storyline, filled with smart and funny dialogues, and plot twists on every corner!

The English localization is (almost) perfect too, which makes this a great experience. The English voiceover is not so good sadly, so I went with the original Korean one, or you could also choose Japanese if you’re more accustomed to it from Anime shows.

The “click-to-advance-dialogue” mechanics are great, each sentence is short and to the point, providing a great flow to the story without making you rush to the action. There’s more than enough voiceover cinematics as well, and the graphics are simply great!

P2W? – Whales Rejoice

Paid Packages, Exos Heroes

Oh… why did we have to reach this section?

I don’t know what to say guys. I’m a week in the game, and I haven’t felt forced to buy anything. Fortunately, there are no popups with offers every two seconds, and the game doesn’t try to shove you with “ad rewards”.

All that’s great, and there’s also a couple of fair-priced monthly packages, which I always appreciate. Paying 10$ per month to a game I love? Heck yeah! Having to pay 100$ per week to stay relevant? Hell no. ?

But there are two things that make me heavily skeptical:

• There are 5 Fated heroes that are considered “extra rare”, because you can’t pull them from normal Gachas. I’m not sure how will we be able to get them in the future, but so far you can get a select ticket if you top-up 30,000 crystals – that’s around 300$. Lame whaling! I want my Bathory. ?
• There’s just too many Legendary / Fated Heroes (almost 100 of them), and with the current drop rates it’s quite hard to build the team you actually want.

There are also a couple of systems that help with the above though:

• After finishing the 4th chapter of the story, you will have the chance to pull from a special gacha, where you can select the heroes you want to drop, and with each pull you will be getting more and more chances to get them. That’s an amazing system, and I believe all gachas should offer something similar.
• I’m still not 100% on this as I haven’t done it myself yet, but there’s a kind of “transmogrification” system, where you can use the hero you need, with the looks you want! That sounds sick, so I’m looking forward to discovering it soon!