Droid Gamers: Hands On With The Black Beacon Global Beta

droidgamers.com:

In case you hadn’t seen the news, gacha action-RPG Black Beacon kicked off its global beta test  a few days ago. 

Not sure if you should rush off and download it right now? Relax. That’s what we’re here for. We went hands-on with the global beta over the weekend to see whether Black Beacon is set to become the next mobile gacha blockbuster. 

Let’s start with the premise. Black Beacon is an action RPG gacha game, kicking off within the towering halls of the Library Of Babel.

Interestingly, the Library of Babel is a reference to a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, about a world in the form of a vast library containing every possible combination of letters. The vast majority of the books in this library are necessarily nonsense, but, as dictated by the laws of probability, it also has every book known to humanity hidden away somewhere inside. 

Black Beacon’s Library of Babel also takes notes from the biblical Tower of Babel, a tower created to reach heaven. The setting is full of references to judeo-christian mythology and the bible, which is quite an interesting departure from other folklore sources. We can dig it: we’ve seen Evangelion.

In Black Beacon you take on the role of The Seer, who, like many gacha game protagonists, wakes up in a strange place with no idea how they got there. To make matters worse, you inherit some extremely weighty destiny. Congratulations – you are the new custodian of the vast and mysterious Library of Babel.

Fortunately, the other characters in the game seem unfazed by your arrival, though they’re pretty economical with information. 

Your arrival seems to trigger a big change in the Library, and not necessarily in a good way. A monster starts clawing its way out of the depths. Between that, some time travel Doctor Who River Song shenanigans, and a clockwork star that’s poised to take out you and everyone you’ve met, you’re going to have to hit the ground running. 

Okay, we’ve probably waxed about the story for long enough. Let’s talk