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Next New GREAT Anime Mobile Game? | Black Clover M: Rise of Wizard King

24K View2023-08-23

Black Clover Mobile: Rise of Wizard King has been launched for Early Access in Canada. The Global Launch is scheduled for October 31, 2023.
This is going to be the first impression of the Early Access available right now and what you might be able to expect from the game, including gameplay, graphics, story animations, and more.

Anime and manga games may be a dime a dozen, but anime games done WELL are a rare breed. Developed by Vic Game Studios, Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King is a mobile take on the beloved Black Clover series as players follow Asta and Yuno on their path to become the Wizard King in this turn-based adventure RPG.

Story

The game follows closely to the plot of the manga. The world of Black Clover is a land of fantasy and magic, where people are born with innate magical abilities that can be wielded via grimoires.

It is in this world players are introduced to Asta, a boy who possesses zero magic. Despite this setback, Asta refuses to let such a thing keep him down and embarks on a journey to become the next Wizard King through grit and sheer force of will. Luckily, he isn’t alone on this journey. The going is fraught with obstacles, Asta and his comrades have you, the player, to guide them.

Game Modes (Story Mode/PvP/Challenges-Normal&Limited)

Black Clover M revolves around several gameplay phases. Because this is a mobile gacha game, there are bread and butter grinding areas designed for resource gathering for stuff like EXP and such. Nothing to write home about.

Where the game truly shines is in the story mode. This section has players walking through the pages and scenes of the anime to see Asta’s journey, complete with occasional well-animated cutscenes to boot. These story chapters are divided into battles

that players must overcome to progress, and that’s where Black Clover’s main battle system comes into play.

Gameplay (Gameplay Loop/Battle System)

The gameplay is simple to get into yet hard to master. The turn-based combat and strategy revolving around it is very deep.

Even though the game has an auto-battle feature, you will rarely be using it as the battles will need a human touch to successfully clear your way through it.

Battles are waged with teams of four characters.

The characters are divided into five different categories:

- Healer: Heals the team

- Attacker: Dishes out the pain

- Debuffer: Hampers the enemy team’s ability to fight

- Defender: Draw enemy aggro away from squishy teammates

- Supporter: Buffs allies

With a team comp set, battles are then engaged over a timeline, where characters’ speed stats dictate how fast and frequently they can act. All mages have a regular attack, a spell, and ultimate. To further assist, players can augment their characters with certain gear to turn the tides of battle in their favor.

Along with the typical battle suite is the Partner system. Players can partner characters together to engage in Combined Attacks which can be activated when a character’s SP gauge is full.

These are known via the Affiliation tab which indicate which specific characters have Perfect Partners with who. These combined attacks can really save your neck in a pinch.

Combat will always revolve around the battle forecast, players exchanging moves with the enemy. Each turn grants you a chance to do whatever move you desire, BUT keep in mind each abilities’ cooldown. Spam moves without thinking and that’s a good way to leave your team unprepared and catch the untimely game over.

Strategically design your team and pick your moves wisely to become the best mage there is!

Presentation (Visuals/Sound)

Though graphics aren’t necessarily the end-all, be-all of games, Black Clover M makes great use of its IP in both presentation and flair.

The visuals of the game look very polished and smooth. Using Unreal Engine 4, Black Clover M doesn’t feel janky or clanky in its presentation, and mimics the anime style aesthetic very closely. Cutscenes, though used sparingly, are always fantastically animated. The characters and their special moves throughout the game are truly a treat for the eyes. To people inexperienced with the series like I was, Black Clover’s visuals do not disappoint and have actually gotten me interested in checking out the series.

You can tell the developers have done their best to bring in the quality fans can come to expect in the anime into this game.

Gacha System:

Have a waifu or a husbando from Black Clover? Well, they’re most likely in the game for you to pull and use. The game also goes the extra distance to allow you to level up the rarity of your characters to make them potentially viable into the future. In a genre rife with powercreep, that’s a relief, especially if you hold a particular character near and dear to you heart.

Conclusion

All in all, Black Clover M is an earnest attempt at bringing the Black Clover series into a mobile game format that doesn’t feel cheap and like it’s wasting your time. Genuine effort went into this game, as seen in the presentation and animation that fans of the series can definitely appreciate.

To people who love the Black Clover series and love turn-based strategy games, this game might be the grimoire you’re looking for.