404 Game Re:Set launches on April 25 in Japan, playable demo launched

It will soon be time to destroy Sega for its crimes. 404 Game Re:Set (pronounced as "Error Game Reset"), a new mobile RPG from Sega and NieR series creator Yoko Taro, launches soon in Japan. Folks with Japanese Google Play or Apple App Store accounts will also be able to download a playable demo version of the game, ahead of the full launch on April 25, 2023. At the moment, no international release has been announced.

The premise of 404 Game Re:Set involves players fighting to take down none other than Sega itself. The game publisher has taken over the world, turning it into a cyberpunk dystopia. Players will need to infiltrate Sega servers and free purify the spirits of Sega's greatest masterpiece titles, which are rendered in-game as cute anime girls. These include anime girl versions of games like Outrun and Fantasy Zone. Previews in Famitsu confirmed the existence of more characters based on Space Harier, Pongo, Virtua Racing, and Crazy Taxi, and more. 

The bits of narrative shown off in the game's trailers so far appear to center on the incarnations of Sega classics Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter, and Afterburner. Each game girl has two types: an "Anode" type representing the positive "light side" of their personality, and a more negative "Cathode" version that emerged due to Sega's nefarious actions. Players will need to purify the Cathode game girls using game mechanics that blend RPG-style progression and scrolling shmup-style "bullet hell" gameplay.

Sega also confirmed that 404 Game Re:Set will also feature "masterpiece" characters affiliated with other game companies, each with their own Anode and Cathode versions. The latest trailer promotes characters based on Bandai Namco's Xevious and Dig Dug, and Taito's Arkanoid, Darius, and Kiki Kaikai.

The trailer also promises characters based on Capcom and SNK games. Even the rather dark story previews hint at the involvement of Bandai Namco's Pac-Man:

404 Game Re:Set launches in Japan on April 25, 2023. The playable prologue demo, titled 404 GAME RE:SET ProloguE, is available on the Japanese App Store and Google Play Store as a separate download.