Black Desert Mobile Review

A Spirit by The Sea

Waves lap at my feet as I awake on the shore. I have no memory of my past. How did I get here? A non-corporal black spirit with fierce red eyes greets me. The spirit seems overjoyed at my awaking. It claims to have been waiting for me for a long time. Though perhaps I should be frightened I am not. I feel connected to this spirit, we are bound together.

Black Desert Mobile by Pearl Abyss is an excellent example of the level of quality that can be achieved in mobile game development. The title immediately hooks you with its stunning graphics. The character models and environments are beautiful and detailed. Players can choose from five classes. The Warrior and Giant classes are male only while the Witch, Ranger and Valkyrie classes are reserved for female characters. Despite the gender restrictions on classes, character customization is in-depth. By going into advanced mode, players can click and drag different regions of their character’s face to create a unique looking avatar.

Hack and Slash

Whether battling parasitic bees plaguing a nearby farm, or fighting goblins and imps, Black Desert offers a wide variety of opponents to fight. Black Desert’s gorgeous Combat animations and the fluid controls allow for an immersive experience. The Valkyrie class has some beautifully animated light-based attacks while the witch class boasts elemental magic attacks that are equally sumptuous.  Although the combat animations are impressive nearly every quest in Black Desert Mobile is a hack and slash endeavor, which after a while begins to feel repetitive. Luckily, the games varying enemies and environments keep the game feeling fresh as you progress.  

The Black Spirit

A black orb-like creature called Black Spirit follows the player around throughout the game. While helpful there is no doubt that this spirit has nefarious intent. It seems to relish violence often making comments about the weakness of humans. The Black Spirit helps you in battle and can be strengthened by sacrificing equipment in your inventory. It is a good idea to turn on Black Spirit Mode when you will be away from the game for a few hours. With Black Spirit Mode turned on, the black spirit will fight in your stead for up to three hours. Rewards from Black Spirit Mode will be collected when you next log in.   

You can also get pets to fight alongside you in battle. Each pet has a skill, such as a plus two percent combat experience gain, which can be upgraded. Before purchasing a pet click the possible skills icon to view all the skills your pet has a chance of possessing. You can also use the exchange tab to trade two pets for a stronger one. 

Playing with Others.

While Black Desert Mobile is an MMORPG, the main game plays more like a solo experience. Though you’ll often come across other players avatars in-game, PVP is limited to Arena matches. You can challenge a friend or choose to be randomly matched with an opponent. If you prefer a cooperative MMO experience, you can complete quests with a party through the Ruins tab. Parties must contain five players. Once all five players are ready you will be transported to an arena where you will work together to defeat a boss. Though I prefer to play alone, I found the arena matches to be an exhilarating change of pace from the main game. 

Black Desert Mobile is a compelling MMORPG with amazing graphics and an engaging combat system.  While interactions with other players are limited, both PVP and cooperative play systems run smoothly. With an immersive world and fun hack and slash questing, Black Desert Mobile is a real contender in the world of mobile MMORPGs.