Who says boys can't play with dolls? - Neural Cloud Quick Review

What do you get when you take a bunch of sexy sci-fi anime babes known as “Dolls” and set them loose on a digitized world? The answer is Neural Cloud, a gacha auto-battler that’s set in the Girls’ Frontline universe. If you read the words "gacha" and "auto-battler" and say, "Oh, I know exactly what this is," you might be pleasantly surprised. Neural Cloud has a few tricks that set it apart from similar titles in the genre.

THE STORY

Neural Cloud serves as a sort of prequel to the popular Girls’ Frontline. In the far-flung future of 2063, the superpowered robots called “dolls” wage wars on behalf of humans. A number of those dolls, led by a figure known as the Professor, have disappeared while serving as part of Project Neural Cloud. Your job is to rescue and recruit the lost dolls while figuring out just what went wrong with this operation.

PLATFORMS

Neural Cloud is currently available for iOS and Android. I played on my iPhone 13, and everything was mostly smooth, aside from a few connection issues.

TIME PLAYED

I spent around three hours playing Neural Cloud, thirty minutes of which felt like tutorial. Seriously, it's way too long before you can actually start playing.

WHAT'S AWESOME

• Graphics. It’s clear that a lot of effort went into making Neural Cloud look incredible. Every special skill has an animation that blends cinematic effects with 3D gameplay.

• Gameplay. Since Neural Cloud uses auto-battling gameplay, you place your dolls on the field without manually controlling them. However, you'll still need to utilize a fair amount of strategy in positioning. I died quite frequently until I realized I learned proper placement tactics.

• Base building. Outside of battles, Neural Cloud provides a hub area called Oasis that you construct and upgrade facilities within as you progress. You can build up Oasis however you like and, in doing so, acquire resources. This is also where you’ll find the dolls’ dormitory, where you can spend quality time with these lovely waifus.

WHAT SUCKS

• Tutorials. Neural Cloud takes way too long to get into. I had to click through at least thirty minutes of bland tutorial text before I got to take control for myself.

• Connection. I was occasionally interrupted mid-battle because of a slow Wi-Fi connection. Make sure you’ve got a solid connection when you plan to boot the game up, or you’re going to get frustrated very quickly.

SHOULD YOU PLAY IT?

Neural Cloud is worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of the Girls’ Frontline series. Admittedly, auto-battlers aren’t my favorite, but the mechanics of Neural Cloud are so unique that I had fun anyway. A relatively interesting story and the base building mechanics kept me engaged, even if I wasn’t particularly interested in paying up for the typical gacha game microtransactions.

💬 What would you do with an army of kick ass fighting dolls under your control? I’d look for the Dragon Balls! Share your responses in the comments.