Copyright FT Games
OVERVIEW
Battle Night: Cyberpunk-Idle RPG has been out for a bit now, let's just see how it holds up a few months later. This game was released at the best and worst time it could have; right near the moments of a much larger IP in Cyberpunk 2077. The timing being so "perfect" that I swear this was tied into that game directly, it even takes place the same year, coincidence? I think probably, or a weaselly way to take fame off of a larger more well known game. The character depicted in the image above looks eerily like an early concept art piece for Judy (Cyberpunk 2077 hacker character). That aside, this game does look beautiful, especially for anyone interested in a cyberpunk style game. This is a gacha' game, as seemingly every mobile game is nowadays. Let's dig a bit deeper into this cyber-verse.
STORY & GAMEPLAY
The story and lore of this game is so deep and intricate that I couldn't even begin to tell you how spectacular it is, oh wait, there's actually no story-line at all. Let's start over. There's no story or lore at all! The description of the story in the Play Store is more telling than anything actually in the game. Nice and simple, no need to bother with that. So what's there to make you interested in this new IP that has no (apparent) story or characters driving it? Well the art sure is fantastic to look at. There's the really involving gameplay that is entirely AI controlled leaving you watching until it's done. There's got to be something you can do during battles? Nope. That art though, sure is pretty.
That's what a majority of this game is. A pile of art and animation with filler things to make it feel like there's more than meets the eye. Sure there's a handful of activities for your summoned characters to do things in, but not really any deep interactivity with the characters themselves. There's all the generic things to do: PVP, tasks, missions, etc. in the game, but it doesn't go beyond that, even months after release with not any big updates in sight. Even the companies' website neglects to list this as a game they created. Yikes. With all that I've said to this point you'd think I'd hate it and we are watching this game die in real time. Potentially true, but alas I still find it kind of okay. I attribute most of this because of purely shallow reasoning, the art is pretty and I'm a sucker for some Blade Runner, I mean cyberpunk themed property. I really want to like this game, and weirdly I'm enjoying it, even if countless other games do everything better (minus the art perhaps).
Gameplay is set up as up to six characters battling in a semi turn based fight. Each character will take turns hitting another character, you'll watch idly by. If your team isn't doing well, plop in some gear or continue leveling up and rinse and repeat. I will say even though the game is basic in interactive gameplay and doesn't drive any new features unseen elsewhere, it sure does include them all which is a positive. All being the likes of joining a clan, clan battles, dungeons, boss battles, missions, sign in rewards, yadda yadda, you get the picture, all the things. Point is, it's nothing uniquely glamorous, but if you like the visuals, the game has things to do with the pretty art, you'll be more than content with it for a bit. It'll be very interesting to see if they continue supporting this game and add any new content, or if this turns a flop in a hurry. I'd bet the negative PR of Cyberpunk 2077 didn't do this game any favors. I'm sure a lot less people will complain about this game than the other even if both of them are pretty generic at the end of the day.
All imagery and video copyright of FT Games
CONTROLS & PERFORMANCE
Controls in this game are like an oxymoron, what controls? You mean to tap into events in the game? Controls in a battle? There aren't any controls in battling, making the game a click to go here game. Nothing interactive to the player, remember it's a pretty art game you look at. A painting on the wall. The game.
As for how this game handles in performance is top quality. Hey, a positive new thing to say, at last! I experienced no issues throughout all of my gameplay experiences. Was quick to load everything, loading screens went so fast I couldn't even appreciate the art in time!
AUDIO
When it comes to audio this game has its limitations. There is a nice cyberpunk synthwave style that fits the game theme perfectly. The only issue here is there's literally three tracks to hear, over, and over. Granted they are really well done, especially the summon shop has a nice jazzy cyberpunk feel to it that sticks out, but you can't adjust the volume of in-game music either. It's either on or off for both music and sound effects. This game is in a severe need of additional tracks to mix up the audio more. Seeing as this game may have a short shelf life, I'm not overly optimistic. As this game has potential to be pretty good, I really hope to see improvements.
SUMMARY
Battle Night: Cyberpunk isn't going to change the mobile landscape in any cyberific way. The lack of story and character development is going to make things a lot harder on its lifespan than need be. No great interactivity with characters or within battles continues this hampering theme of bringing down a promising game from greatness to mediocrity. I want to love this game with its grand art for all to see, but there are too many flaws preventing it from being just another gacha' game with a cyberpunk theme. If you're interested in those two factors (as I am), then that'll be enough for a try at the game, just don't expect it to last for very long.
SCORE
6.0 out of 10.0
▣▣▣▣▣▣▢▢▢▢
+ Fantastic artwork. Visually very appealing both for character design and environment
+ Large amount of content to do, with hopefully more to come
+ The three audio tracks in the game are great, especially the summoning shop's is super great.
+ Fast and responsive, quick to load throughout the game.
○ Gameplay is bland and completely non-interactive (nice if you don't want a super involving battle system or really appreciate staring at wall art... I do actually, shhh, it's my rambling article theme)
- Small percentage rates to obtain characters designed to get you to spend money to get them
- Events mostly feel repetitive
- Audio is on or it's off. There is no in-between. Unfortunately it's also incredibly repetitive. Could use more than three tracks for the entire game. At least give some variety to not make my ears bleed cyber blood. Turning it off is not the solution as that makes the game's flaws more abundant.
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