An enticing goth-anime-vampire RPG gameplay experience | CBT Review - Silver and blood
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✨Overview
Silver and blood is an upcoming turn-based tactics RPG with hero collector elements currently on a CBT testing phasing for various regions. I was able to participate in the recent CBT that’s ending today (with a new one scheduled for the Japan region later), and the game invites players to delve into a Gothic world where vampires take center stage — if the name "Silver and Blood" is not already a dead giveaway.
📖Story and Premise
Silver and Blood weaves a fantasy narrative set in a world engulfed by strife, a conflict between humans, monsters, and vampires. Players take on a role of a doctor wrongfully accused of supporting Vampires, only to found out that he is a vampire himself, a powerful and prophesied one at that, who can summon allies at will. The narrative appears promising, offering a rich backdrop for players to immerse themselves in this gothic and dark fantasy world.
🎨Visuals and Art
The game’s visuals are impressively unique in its own way. Its cel-shaded, but not really Anime-looking all throughout with its highly detailed and stylized 3D environments. The art style is Gothic, Dark, but still vibrant looking with strong colors, especially during combat. The overall visuals are clean, impressive, and feels like a lot of thought has been put into designing the characters, levels, and the world.
🎮Gameplay
The main gameplay of Silver and Blood is its grid-based battles, where players can strategically position up to five units. There is a card system where combining identical cards results in more powerful units, so it's a matter of adding additional units and/or deciding which existing unit to upgrade.
Additionally, you can let the AI auto-deploy the units in this game, as most aspects of the combat can be automated, provided your squad is powerful enough, allowing players to observe their squad in action, just doing minor adjustments on the fly. However, for those seeking a more hands-on approach, there's the option to activate special skills manually too.
♟️Dynamic Grid-Based System
The grid setup is fascinating; it's not limited to the typical left-vs-right or top-vs-bottom side battles as seen in other tactical auto-battlers. Instead, it incorporates ganking elements, occasionally leading to your squad being surrounded on multiple fronts, or your squad surrounding the enemy, depending on the units you summon. This, coupled with a straightforward rock-paper-scissors system, results in highly compelling strategic gameplay. Naturally, the squad level remains the most critical aspect of progression, and winning is still impossible without at least meeting the required power level.
⚔️Dynamic Battle Objectives
The gameplay introduces a diverse range of combat objectives, ensuring that players face more than just the typical task of eliminating enemies. From timed survival missions and protecting VIP NPCs or mechanisms to surviving multiple waves or phases of bosses, the challenges presented in battles are dynamic and varied. This another layer to the combat, requiring players to adapt their tactics to different scenarios, making combat encounters engaging and unpredictable.
⏫Progression
Most of the progression centers on upgrading your characters and equipping them with gear looted from battles. There's not much to do aside from advancing in the combat-oriented story missions or attempting the also combat-oriented Nightfall challenges and clearing Inverted Abyss floors. The progression system is pretty straightforward, and if you are used to playing gacha RPG games, it will feel right at home.
In addition to clearing levels, players can passively acquire more resources by advancing the so-called Territory Prosperity — basically increasing the level of your castle. Furthermore, they can acquire even more resources by investing diamonds (a premium currency) in it.
As of this beta test, I have not seen any gacha mechanics implemented yet, but it is almost certain that they are coming. For now, all my SSR units and material for upgrades have been obtained by progressing through the story and completing the daily and weekly challenges.
📊Technical Performance
Aside from the initial server connectivity issues I’ve experienced and the lack of way to tweak the graphics or framerates... for what I was given on my Snapdragon 888 device, the game ran flawlessly (it looks like it’s running at 30FPS and the resolution looks crisp and sharp). There were no crashes, and I even minimized the game and returned hours later, and my game was still there without having to restart or reconnect.
⚖️Conclusion
Silver and Blood presents an enticing gameplay experience, combining strategic depth with visually stunning elements. The diverse combat objectives, grid-based battles, unique card system, and thoughtful progression mechanics contribute to a promising and engaging gaming experience. As of this current state, I would highly rate and recommended this game, however, it's crucial to approach these types of games with a degree of caution regarding its eventual monetization and gacha model in the future.
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