SINoALICE
SINoALICE is a mobile RPG that reimagines well-known fairy tales, including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White, as darker character-driven stories. Battles play out in real time, and progression leans heavily on collecting and upgrading a large arsenal, with more than 150 weapons available to use.
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Publisher: Pokelabo Playerbase: Medium Type: Mobile RPG Release Date: July 1, 2020 (Global) Pros: +Fast-paced real-time combat. +Distinctive, high-quality art direction. +Music backed by the NieR: Automata composer (strong soundtrack). Cons: -Core loop can start to feel repetitive. |
SINoALICE Overview
SINoALICE is a mobile RPG developed by Pokelabo and published by Square Enix. First revealed on February 16, 2017, it drew immediate attention thanks to creative director Yoko Taro, known for NieR: Automata. The game centers on real-time encounters where timing matters, players trigger skills and swaps as openings appear, rather than relying purely on passive auto-battling.
A major part of long-term progression is its extensive armory, with more than 150 weapons to collect and bring into combat. The narrative angle is equally important, using familiar fairy-tale figures like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White as the basis for a connected set of character routes. Through the Cross Story structure, each character’s storyline is presented in an omnibus-style format, so chapters feel like interwoven vignettes instead of a single straight questline.
Beyond character chapters, SINoALICE adds extra flavor through Weapon Stories (short bits of narrative tied to specific weapons) and Job Stories (background tied to the roles characters can take on). The music is handled by Keiichi Okabe, also recognized for his work on NieR: Automata, which helps the game lean into a moody, theatrical atmosphere.
SINoALICE Key Features:
- Real-time battle system – engage in live combat where using skills at the right moment can swing a fight.
- More than 150 weapons – build loadouts from a large weapon pool, with additional story snippets attached to many of them.
- A retelling of classic fairy tales – familiar stories are reinterpreted and connected through an omnibus-like structure.
- Beautiful art style – a striking visual presentation that gives each character a memorable silhouette and tone.
- Soundtrack composed by Keiichi Okabe – a strong musical identity from a composer known for emotional, dramatic themes.
SINoALICE Screenshots
SINoALICE Featured Video
SINoALICE Review
SINoALICE is best understood as a weapon-collection RPG wrapped in stylish, melancholic fairy-tale dressing. The strongest first impression comes from presentation, character designs are memorable, menus and combat effects are polished, and the soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting in setting a bleak, storybook tone. If you came to the game because of the Yoko Taro and Keiichi Okabe names attached to it, the atmosphere is the part that most consistently delivers.
Combat is built around real-time decision-making, even when your party actions can feel structured and routine. In practice, battles ask you to watch cooldowns and opportunities, then activate the right skills to keep momentum. It is not an action RPG in the reflex-heavy sense, but it is also not a purely idle experience either. When fights scale up, paying attention to timing becomes more important, especially as enemies punish sloppy rotations.
The “more than 150 weapons” hook is not just a marketing bullet, it is the backbone of progression. New weapons expand what you can do and how you approach encounters, and the game encourages experimenting with loadouts as you grow. The added Weapon Stories are a smart way to make gear feel like more than stats, and they fit the game’s anthology-style storytelling well, even if the individual snippets are often brief.
Narratively, the Cross Story approach keeps things moving by letting you jump between character perspectives. That structure works nicely for a cast drawn from different tales, since it avoids forcing everything into a single traditional campaign arc. The tradeoff is that players who prefer one continuous, tightly paced story may find the format more fragmented than expected.
Where SINoALICE can stumble is repetition. Like many mobile RPGs, the core loop is built around running content, improving gear, and doing it again with slightly higher numbers. If you enjoy incremental power growth and building an arsenal, that loop can be satisfying for a long time. If you need constant mechanical variety, the rhythm of combat and progression may start to blur together after extended sessions.
Overall, SINoALICE is a solid pick for players who value art direction, music, and a darker twist on familiar fairy-tale characters, and who are comfortable with a grind-focused mobile RPG structure.
SINoALICE Links
SINoALICE Official Website
SINoALICE Official Twitter
SINoALICE Developer’s Website [Pokelabo]
SINoALICE Developer’s Twitter [Pokelabo]
SINoALICE System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Android 4.0.3 and up / iOS 7.0 or later (tentative).
SINoALICE Music & Soundtrack
SINoALICE’s audio identity is one of its biggest draws, with Keiichi Okabe credited as Music Director. The compositions lean into a somber, storybook mood that matches the game’s dark fairy-tale framing, and the soundtrack generally does a great job of making routine battles and menu time feel more dramatic than they otherwise would.
SINoALICE Additional Information
Developer(s): Pokelabo
Publisher(s): Square Enix
Creative Director: Yoko Taro
Music Director: Keiichi Okabe
Character Design: jino
Release Date (JP): Spring 2017 (estimated)
Release Date (NA): July 1, 2020
Development History / Background:
SINoALICE is a mobile RPG for Android and iOS developed by Pokelabo and published by Square Enix. It was announced on February 16, 2017, and quickly stood out due to the involvement of NieR: Automata creative director Yoko Taro. Not long after, it was confirmed that NieR: Automata composer Keiichi Okabe would also be attached to the project as music director, strengthening expectations around the game’s tone and presentation.
On April 6, 2017, Square Enix published the first official gameplay trailer, which highlighted the real-time battle system and gave players an early sense of how fights would flow. The game was expected to release in Japan in Spring 2017 (estimated). SINoALICE later launched globally in English on July 1, 2020.