Vortex Gaming

Black Clover Mobile, developed and serviced by Big Games Studio, is a mobile RPG based on the anime of the same name. Since its surprise reveal at Jump Festa in December 2022, it has attracted fans with its anime-level graphics that vividly bring characters and backgrounds to life, and has appealed to global users as well as domestic users through overseas CBT.

It has already been verified through testing, and there have been mobile games that have excellently captured IPs in Korea before. However, users' views on IP-based mobile games are still skeptical. This is because there have often been cases in IP-based games where it was not guaranteed that not only the quality on the surface, but also the actual gameplay was faithful to the original or that the gameplay that even non-fans of the original could enjoy was supported.

However, 'Black Clover Mobile', which was centered around veterans who once turned that anxiety into expectation, felt like it had proven its potential once again. There may be elements that are divisive, but it is because not only the elements as an IP game, but also the basics of general games are supported.

The world of the original work, faithfully captured on mobile

It is common to say 'it's like an anime' when looking at a well-made subculture game. This means that the character's movements and direction are well-equipped like an anime, and it also means that the feeling of the original work is preserved. In addition, since 'animation' still has a significant influence in subculture and presents the most ultimate direction, it is also a compliment that it is made so well that it reaches the destination.

From the release of the development video to the overseas CBT, 'Black Clover Mobile' showed a appearance that perfectly matched that statement. However, it was only released overseas and was difficult to access in Korea, and the development environment was different from another work that many of the developers had participated in before, so there were concerns about whether they would be able to show 100% of the appearance of incorporating the IP well into the game. However, from the first tutorial, it showed enough to resolve those concerns.

The original 'Black Clover' is a work that depicts the process of Asta, a boy who dreams of becoming a Magic Emperor despite having no magic power, and his rival Yuno joining the Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom and fighting against powerful enemies that threaten the kingdom and the world. In a world where anyone can use magic, Asta, who has no magic power, overcomes various difficulties by adding effort, tenacity, friendship, and even chance, and has gained support not only in Asia, North America, and Europe, but also in various parts of the world.

The main storyline itself is orthodox, so it is not difficult to understand, but in the work, world-building unique settings such as 'Magic Emperor' appear several times from the beginning. In the original manga and anime, these settings were quickly unraveled in different ways to lower the barrier to entry, and 'Black Clover Mobile' faithfully captured the development of explaining the basic systems in the game, following the direction of the anime. By taking the tutorial, which is easy to skim through, to the download window, it reveals what status the 'Magic Emperor' has in the work, and after Asta joins the Black Bulls, scenes where various characters such as Magna, Noelle, and Vanessa provide additional explanations also combine the original cutscenes and SD characters to explain the process step by step, increasing immersion.

For such a context to flow naturally, it must be supported by characters and backgrounds built with that level of quality, and this part had already been largely flawless from the CBT stage. By increasing the quality not only of the cutscenes but also of the gameplay screen, it made it impossible to stop the flow and keep looking, and it is also noticeable that the composition commonly seen in collectible RPGs is gradually unraveled in accordance with the flow of the original work, so that the world introduction and content are well intertwined. Of course, it is somewhat slow compared to the recent mobile game trends, but it can be said that this limitation was well compromised and overcome due to the nature of IP-based games that need to follow the flow of the original work.

This composition was also a secret to maximizing the quality even in the limitations of the mobile device. The areas where the main story unfolds in the original work, such as Hage Village, Kikka Village, the Black Bulls hideout, and dungeons, maximize the feeling, while the world map, which is the area where you move to the content in between, lightly captures the feeling of SD, so editing for content linkage and graphics were well applied with selective focus. At the same time, fishing and exploration were added to various parts of the world map, adding not only the character's actions in the work, but also small fun elements.

However, unlike other games, the dual structure of consuming 'tickets' separately to advance the story instead of consuming stamina, and consuming stamina for growth content, had the potential to be divisive. Isn't it human nature to want to see the next story quickly when you see an interesting story?

This was probably intended to allow you to smoothly move on to the next story by consuming stamina for various content to grow your character in the meantime while the tickets are being charged. However, the structure of not being able to see the next story and moving on to content due to a lack of tickets, rather than voluntarily switching due to growth being blocked, was bound to be divisive. Even if it is not an absolute indicator for evaluating the game, it was an element that could have a negative reaction from users.

Supplementing the system to preserve the feeling of the original work in the basics of turn-based RPG

Games based on manga or anime IPs have often been said to be games that rely on characters, or even 'only watch the characters'. This is because manga and anime IP-based games have focused on implementing the characters and world-building that are the core of the IP, and as a result, the quality has decreased by partially giving up even the basics and grammar of the genre. However, it is also a genre with a kind of dilemma that can be criticized by fans if the original settings are applied somewhat differently as a result of focusing on gameplay.

'Black Clover Mobile', which interprets the original work as a mobile turn-based RPG, also had concerns about hearing such words. This is because it adopted the method of multiple vs multiple or several allies cooperating to defeat a powerful enemy, which is mainly adopted by shonen manga works after the 1:1 structure that was mainstream in the era of the Big 3 (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach).

In particular, 'Black Clover' drew a world where everyone except Asta, who has no magic power, has their own unique magic, so even more difficulties were inevitable. The process of attacking powerful enemies with the combination of not only commonly thought of elemental magic but also various special magics seemed difficult to fully express with a simplified mobile turn-based RPG tailored to various user groups.

Strictly speaking, 'Black Clover Mobile' did not solve that difficulty to the extent that it would satisfy everyone 100%. However, they tried to present a composition that maximizes the sensibility of the original work within the framework familiar to the current mobile turn-based RPG user base. In particular, the parts that were carefully considered to incorporate the aspects of real-time cooperative battles often seen in the original work into the turn-based RPG as strategic elements were noticeable.

In turn-based RPGs, the element of one character performing a cooperative attack with another character is no longer unfamiliar. This is because several games have already shown such attempts. However, Black Clover Mobile sought to differentiate itself by applying this to all characters. This was actually a very dangerous choice. Due to the nature of collectible RPGs, character combinations that did not appear in the original work may appear, and even characters who are in an antagonistic relationship with each other may be organized into a team. Among the fans of the original work, there was room for reluctance to draw that connection itself.

Black Clover Mobile, which took the risk and equipped all characters with combination skills as standard, sufficiently proved the reason with the card of more cases and strategy. This is because it not only simply added an additional option called 'combination skill' to the three elements of normal attack - basic skill - ultimate skill in general mobile RPGs, but also added the elements of TCG that change depending on how the characters are combined and arranged, adding depth to the strategy.

In particular, since the channel for deploying debuff and buff skills, which are important in turn-based RPGs, has been added, there was a charm to attacking while counting skills at the right time. Furthermore, since character growth is subdivided into level, promotion, grade increase, talent, skill enhancement, skill page awakening, and equipment growth, the fun of attacking various content designed accordingly by finding the best combination was added. At the same time, when characters who have a connection with each other in the original work are organized, it changes to a 'connection combination skill' that adds special directing and effects, preserving both the fun of watching and the synergy.

Manga and anime IP-based mobile games are still being released steadily, but there are few works that satisfy both the demands of the original fans and the gameplay. Due to the nature of mobile games with short development and service periods, the release frequency of poorly made games that are so-called 'mass-produced' and only superficially covered with IP is high, so the response has been so poor that users have been saying that they believe and avoid them for a while.

However, the developers, who had already received favorable reviews for capturing both the sensibility of the original work and the basics as a game, once again proved their skills with 'Black Clover Mobile'. Not to mention the graphics, directing, cutscenes, and voice actors, they captured both the feeling of the cooperative battle in the original work and the strategy by delving deeper into the equipment and skill settings and the combination of combination skills on top of the light structure of the mobile turn-based RPG. Due to the nature of mobile turn-based RPGs, the various magic effects of the original work were simplified into a general form familiar to light users, but the direction was established with the buff-debuff utilization strategy unique to turn-based RPGs, showing a appearance that encompasses both the charm of strategy and familiarity.

Of course, this does not mean that 'Black Clover Mobile' is a perfect game. Black Clover Mobile has a slightly slower tempo than the current trend, and therefore, problems that were not visible when quickly skimming through are particularly more visible. Types such as the ratio of specific classes such as healers and tanks or balance are actually problems that most IP games that prioritize faithfully capturing the original work can experience at least once.

However, since there is PVP, users may pay more attention to skill page or character balance issues. In particular, the skill page is a system similar to artifacts in other games, but the effects vary greatly depending on the grade, and it seemed that adjustments were needed because it could add a feeling like the 'exclusive equipment' that has been a problem in some quarters recently. As mentioned earlier, the character growth is not fast due to the somewhat slow content unlocking process and the complexly designed game structure, so the problem may not be very noticeable at first, but there seemed to be a concern that the accumulated differences would widen as you perform various content. The developers are aware of these problems and are providing various rewards as a temporary measure and have also posted developer notes, so it is necessary to watch it in the long term.

In addition, the UI/UX that is difficult to grasp quickly, the lack of refund of resources when failing, and the somewhat old-fashioned composition such as buffs being reset when waves are passed were also somewhat concerning. Following the trend is not necessarily the best, but there is room for not feeling so good about not accepting the elements that have gradually evolved after many considerations in terms of convenience and various functional aspects over time.

Even so, 'Black Clover Mobile' is a title that users who have played the original work would probably already be playing, and has the charm to make even those who have not seen the original work look for it. Of course, it may be somewhat difficult to approach as there are few cases where IP-based mobile games have shown a good appearance yet. However, since those who have shown that good example are still struggling, I wonder if things will change in the future. Big Games Studio, as well as the developers who have not joined here and remain, are also showing a appearance of making another IP-based game well, so I hope that the day will come when manga or anime IP-based games will not simply be limited to fan service and will be established as a solid genre.

8.0

Black Clover Mobile: The Opening of Fate

Black Clover Mobile: The Opening of Fate

• Graphics and directing faithful to the sensibility of the original work
• Combination and strategy preserved with combination skills and settings
• Content equipped in various aspects from exploration to growth
• A balanced tightrope walk between the original work and game-like permission

• Various braking devices that excessively prevent content consumption
• Complex content, growth structure, and UI/UX
• Key content to reveal one's own unique characteristics is insufficient

Review Platform: Mobile(1.0.1)

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웹진 인벤윤서호 기자
2023-05-29