A mostly interesting original story.
What They Say:
Humanity once came close to being decimated by demons. It was just one mage who saved humankind, known thereafter as the Wizard King and regarded as a legend. For generations, the Wizard King has protected the people of this magical world. Based on the hit manga and anime series, prepare for a new legend to enter the fray in Black Clover: Quartet Knights!
The Review:
Black Clover: Quartet Knights isn’t your typical video game adaptation of an anime or manga. This is because, unlike others, it isn’t interested in retelling the same story you already know. Instead, it offers a completely original story that is set in the same universe. The crux of the story revolves around the backstory of Yami, Captain of the Black Bulls.
As such, the singleplayer main story feels a lot like a two-episode standalone arc. Through it, we get a glimpse of the younger Yami that is briefly touched on in the anime and manga, as well as his relationship with new character Karna. The story is told through around 20 missions in total, using a mix of 2D and 3D cutscenes.
Both the 2D and 3D cutscenes look pretty good in Black Clover: Quartet Knights, the 2D, in particular, almost matching the quality of the anime itself. On the other hand, the 3D cutscenes are attractive, looking just a bit better than the in-game graphics. My only issues with the cutscenes in this game are that there are frequent frame rate issues and choppy animations at times.
It’s also worth briefly noting that it is a shame that the game doesn’t offer the awesome English dub that Funimation has created for the anime series. While it’s understandable given the agreements necessary for that to happen, the option would have been welcome.
The missions themselves play out as an introduction to the multiplayer side of things, which we’ll get to in just a moment. There are a few different objectives that you’ll come across from clearing the room of all enemies to straight boss battles. Those two make up the bulk of the missions, as only a couple of them are relegated to introducing the multiplayer game modes.
Overall, though, you can easily finish the main story missions and even the couple of extra missions in just a couple of hours. That is relatively short for the main story but it does offer some replayability in completing certain objectives like beating each mission on hard (which is surprisingly hard), completing it as a different character, and so on.
It is unfortunate but understandable that you only really get to play as mainly Asta and Yami throughout the main story, considering both are melee-heavy characters. They don’t do a good job of introducing the player to the more ranged playable characters, of which there are many.
That’s unfortunate because the multiplayer is the real star of Black Clover: Quartet Knights. In a lot of ways, the game is less your typical arena fighter game and more like Overwatch and Paladins of all things. Much of the gameplay feels like a hero shooter, especially when you control the ranged characters like Yuno.
The similarities to Overwatch and Paladins aren’t just in the gameplay but the multiplayer modes as well. There’s the typical control one where you fight over a spot until one team stays in long enough to earn enough points to win. There’s also the attack and defense mode where you try to escort an object to the enemy’s base.
These modes are a ton of fun to play in Black Clover: Quartet Knights, as the different playable characters are pretty unique. Each character has several abilities to choose from including a main attack, a defensive or healing one, combos, and an ultimate ability. The variation is impressive, allowing each one to feel different to use. The multiplayer is certainly the feature that kept me coming back to Quartet Knights. It is odd, though, that there are some notable missing characters from the roster like Rhya and Grey.
Black Clover: Quartet Knights is a very different style of video game adaptation of an anime or manga. It offers a wholly original story that, while extremely brief, gives some intriguing insight into Yami and his past. The real heart of the game, though, is the addictive multiplayer. Resembling the hero shooter genre and not a 3D fighter as I expected, each playable character feels entirely different from one another, offering frantic and fast-paced matches with a nice set of modes to choose from.
Grade: B-
Released By: Bandai Namco
Developer: Bandai Namco
MSRP: $59.99 (PS4)
Release Date: 9/4/18
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), PC
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
