SKYPEOPLE’s RPG Final Blade just dropped the English version. When it was first released in Korea it caused quite a stir. Let’s take a look and see if this is the mobile game for you!
▍The Gameplay
Final Blade is a 2D role-playing game that has you assembling a team and leading them through a series of battles. Battles play out like an automatic sidescroller, where your party will move forward and attack incoming enemies on their own. At the time of writing this, there are over 300 different characters to collect and you can create a specific battle formation to take on the different enemy teams. While you can let entire levels play out on their own, you’d be missing out on two important aspects of Final Blade.
The home menu in Final Blade.
First up, every party member has a special ability that charges up over time and the only way to use it, is by tapping on their icon in battle. These abilities can range from big power attacks to support abilities, like healing the entire party. While you technically don’t have to use them (like if your team is already crushing the enemy) these abilities can definitely be game changers and get your party out of a sticky situation!
Battle time!
Second, as you defeat enemies, loot will be dropped and you have to tap it to collect it. As expected, you can find equipment as loot, but you’ll want to watch out for something even better. Enemies will drop the game’s premium currency, that you can use to gacha roll for new characters or buy specific characters. While you won’t be receiving large amounts at a time (I was averaging about 1-2 per enemy defeated), if you keep playing you will eventually be able to save up. You can also purchase a little demon buddy who will automatically collect the loot for you. However, it’s not really necessary and more of a convenience if you want to grind without paying attention.
Battles results and sweet, sweet loot!
Character menu – this is where you can check out your character and equip new gear.
As you battle, each team member will level up and you can eventually upgrade them into bigger and more powerful versions. You can also find better equipment to give your team, to give them that extra edge in battle. There’s also a crafting system where you can use loot such as crystals and shards to make new items. However, this and several other gameplay elements can only be accessed once you reach a high enough level. For example, there are battles you can play alongside your friends, but they were only accessible to higher level players during my testing. So you’ll have to make some progress in the game if you want to see everything.
▍The Graphics
I think it’s safe to say that for a mobile game, this is a pretty looking game! Playing the game on my phone, the visuals are bright, colorful, and extremely crisp. The characters, effects, and backgrounds all have a dreamy, painted feeling to them. The art style is more like traditional Korean/Chinese art. Character designs and the world all feel inspired by the culture, mixed with fantastical anime aspects.
One of the many menus you’ll be seeing frequently.
If there is one thing I would warn about though, it would be the menus and interfaces. While they all have a typical layout and design to them, there is a lot of information to handle. So opening up your character info page is going to be somewhat confusing the first few times. You’ll eventually get into the swing of it, but it might be scary to look at until then.
▍The Value
As with most free to play mobile games, there’s always going to be microtransactions. And while Final Blade is no different, the microtransactions aren’t necessarily bad. For context, every level you play requires energy (in this case, rice bowls) and the harder levels require more energy to play. Earlier levels need a minimum of 5 energy units, with the number increasing to 7 energy units just a few levels later. In my testing, it took 1 minute of real time to refill 1 energy unit, which is honestly quite generous compared to other games where it’s 5 minutes for 1 unit (yeah FGO I am talking about you). Now that said, you can buy energy refill packs using the premium currency, but it’s not necessary. As you level up, your energy gauge will refill for free and the maximum amount will increase. So as long as you play efficiently and regularly, you won’t really find yourself in an energy shortage.
The Gacha Rolls in the game’s store.
And as for the game’s premium currency, it’s pretty much what you would expect. You can use said premium currency to gacha roll for a single character or multiple characters at a lower cost, purchase certain characters directly at a higher cost, buy upgrades and consumables, and exchange for the game’s basic coin currency which can be used for things like basic character upgrades.
And while you could spend real money to gain an advantage, it’s not a requirement if you play the game regularly. Because as mentioned earlier, you can earn the premium currency just by playing and if you play every day, you can earn a daily login bonus. Sometimes you’ll get the basic currency, equipment, items, and even the premium currency. And the amounts are relatively large, so they certainly feel like bonuses! Not to mention during events, you can get additional login bonuses and even some bonuses that increase with consecutive logins.
The Daily Logins are just one way to earn extra items and currency.
The last thing I want to note about the game’s economy is the secondary premium currency. This one cannot be purchased with real money, but can only be used for specific exchanges like energy packs or certain consumables. And the only way to acquire these is from leveling up, clearing stages, login bonuses, and events.
Overall, Final Blade is quite the hefty RPG package. The battles are fast paced and easy to jump into, so it makes for a great game to pick and up play throughout the day. And with the beautiful graphics and multiple gameplay elements, there’s plenty of content if you’re willing to put the time in. If you have already tried it, we’d love to hear which characters you rolled!
