Little brother syndrome
Mistwalker announced that Terra Battle 2, the sequel to its hit freemium mobile RPG Terra Battle, isn’t meeting expectations in North America. Terra Battle 2 and its microtransactions are already no longer available for download/purchase, and all of its services are scheduled to shut down on September 3.
As someone who very briefly played this game, I have mixed feelings. I’m always baffled by an online game expected to receive constant support, especially via microtransactions, getting a sequel very shortly after the first game. This practice forces the developer’s own work to compete against itself, especially given how similar Terra Battle 2 is to the first game. Not that Terra Battle 2 didn’t mix up its formula, but it did so in a way that many players felt worsened it, including myself. 2‘s main changes, an unwieldy world map between skirmishes and even more gacha mechanics, felt like unnecessary clutter atop an already well-liked battle system. So I’m not entirely surprised that 1 is outliving 2, but there’s still something shocking about seeing the newer game getting dropped first.
This shutdown is only affecting North American support for Terra Battle 2, which will continue in Japan. Mistwalker is also continuing development on Terra World, which I hope will fare much better if only because I’m a sucker for good art, weird battle mechanics, and fantasy-meets-sci-fi worlds.
Full announcement [Official Terra Battle 2 website]
