161 character designs from 'Reverse: 1999' showcase rich retro vibes of the late 20th century.
"Reverse: 1999" was officially launched last year, a mobile game developed by Bluepoch, which has garnered widespread attention in the market with its unique art style and character English voiceovers (the game offers multiple language options). With a highly consistent art style and character design slightly different from today's popular mobile games, it sketches out a unique retro and glamorous sense of the late 20th century, with a hint of thrilling and eerie atmosphere, which personally captivated me. Due to having too many other games on hand and limited time, I haven't personally played it, so I won't share much about the gameplay, but through the sharing of friends who have dived into it, I've discovered that the game boasts rich background settings, and online reviews of its storyline are mostly positive. However, I believe that the character design, related research, and artistic abstraction in "Reverse: 1999" are what truly deserve attention and praise.
According to interviews related to the game's production, we learned that character design in "Reverse: 1999" begins with extensive textual input, followed by discussions with the art team. This might explain the richness of character design and the remarkable use of metaphorical symbols in this game. Each character's design incorporates elements from culture, art, history, legend, science, and continuously emphasizes themes of 'mysticism, retro, eccentricity, artistic, and romanticism.' These elements together create a sense reminiscent of the gothic gloom of the Victorian era, infused with mysteries, sometimes reminiscent of steampunk, but not entirely the same.
Taking the highly popular character 'Tooth Fairy' as an example, it's evident that the production team not only adopts the modern story version widely circulated - 'children putting their fallen baby teeth under the pillow before sleep, and the tooth fairy exchanges them for rewards at midnight' but also delves deeper into the ancient legendary version - fairies are not entirely benevolent creatures. At the same time, based on the character's personality setting, metaphorical symbols like the toothpick bird(Egyptian plover) are added to the illustrations. These intricately thoughtful designs not only make the game characters more vivid and profound but also, combined with the overall text and user interface visual effects, create an immersive experience during gameplay, which is quite clever.
I wonder if there are players willing to organize and share the series' interface art designs or dynamic effects; I really want to collect them, but I'm hesitant to disturb my friends 😂. While writing this submission, I also watched the game's plot animations and trailers on some video websites, discovering that the visuals and atmosphere creation are of high quality, with excellent plot storyboards and quality. If anyone's interested, they can search and watch it themselves. For friends who love the art style of "Reverse: 1999," quickly collect the latest illustrations of the game's progress!"