A faithful high-quality adaptation, but beware | Early Review - Black Clover M

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Black Clover M is a brand new gacha RPG mobile title developed by VIC Games Studio that has recently soft launched in Canada, with progression to carry over into the global launch that will follow.

🟩Pros

+Faithful high-quality adaptation +Stunning cel-shaded anime visuals +Voice actors from the anime are returning +Auto-play features

🟥Cons -Game requires access to contacts, photos, videos, and storage -Overwhelming amount of currencies and monetization techniques

Drawing inspiration from the beloved anime and manga series, Black Clover M presents players with a high-quality adaptation that seamlessly integrates iconic scenes into the gameplay. The exceptional quality of animation brings the Manga and Anime into life, creating a visually striking experience. With cel-shaded graphics characteristic of anime adaptations, the game does justice to the visual aesthetics of the anime.

This turn-based RPG takes you on an exciting journey through a world steeped in magic… or anti-magic, all while featuring stunning scenes from the anime. The inclusion of esteemed voice actors like Gakuto Kajiwara, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kana Yuuki, Junichi Suwabe, Daisuke Ono, and others adds an extra layer of authenticity, especially for Anime fans.

At its core, Black Clover M offers a traditional anime-based gacha RPG game. As you advance through the game, you'll have the opportunity to acquire potent gacha characters, enhance their abilities, and engage in an array of activities including single player story missions, repeatable farming missions, and asynchronous arena PvP battles.

The narrative leading up to the scenes remains faithfully recreated from the anime, albeit in a more condensed form. It seamlessly integrates battle sequences with the game's turn-based combat mechanics. Additionally, the game introduces certain creative liberties to allow for non-canon flexible character selection.

The game features an overworld exploration segment in which a chibi version of Asta can traverse the game world. This is intermixed with a third-person exploration mode when visiting significant locations like villages and castles, although with only a fixed camera angle and not much to do except go to the next objective.

The transition to turn-based combat follows a familiar format, with units taking turns to activate skills, factoring in cooldowns and SP points, and running a rock-paper-scissors weakness system under the hood. Synergistic attacks among teammates can be strategically employed based on the party composition.

The animated skills mirror the over-the-top and flashy style of the anime, though players are granted the option to limit or even disable these animations if needed. The combat and exploration aspects can both be carried out automatically.  It’s not a 100% idle game, but there are options for auto-combat and fast-forwarding during combat sequences. Similarly, for exploration, players have the convenience of clicking on the quest UI to enable the character to automatically navigate to the designated objective.,

The game's design subtly encourages engagement with its gacha and shop features, a common element in mobile titles. While this monetization approach might be considered typical for the genre, it's essential to recognize its influence on gameplay progression. Black Clover M is brimming with content, encompassing a variety of content types each associated with its own currency which can be a bit overwhelming.

While this diversity may add depth, it also encourages spending real money. Additionally, the game's content might feel slightly inflated due to the inclusion of extra battles and even duplicate or unnecessary mechanics — like having multiple daily login bonuses — offering quantity without necessarily delivering substantial depth.

The free-to-play aspect is very much viable, at least during the initial hours of gameplay that I have experienced, although an energy system does introduce limitations. The game does slowly ease players into the limitation by providing bonus energies for new players, ensuring that early gameplay remains relatively unaffected. Notably, the game incorporates cosmetics, allowing players to personalize their experience and characters. Moreover, the game appears to offer a relatively forgiving approach to gacha mechanics, because I’ve already gotten some SSR in my first few hours of play.

From a performance perspective, Black Clover M seems to run decently on devices like my Snapdragon 888 phone, even boasting an extensive graphics options menu that enables players to tailor the experience to their hardware capabilities.

However, a very alarming concern with Black Clover M is the requirement for players to grant access to their contacts, photos and videos, as well as storage. Such access seems unnecessary for this game anyway and could potentially lead to data misuse or breaches.

Conclusion:

For avid fans of the Black Clover anime, Black Clover M is definitely worth a try… if you are using a burner phone or don't care much about allowing access to your phone’s data. The essence of the anime has been faithfully captured within a mobile gacha RPG format. The game skillfully intertwines story-driven quests with classic anime scenes, resulting in an immersive experience for fans and RPG enthusiasts alike. While the game's monetization strategies might feel prominent; the free-to-play viability, generous gacha rates, and a generally accommodating newcomer experience could sway players in favor of giving the game a try.