Devil Book Review

Whimsical MMORPG Action

There are many mobile games that use the trappings of an MMORPG in both mechanics and structure. Devil Book, a game by developer NGEL GAMES Co., Ltd is one such game that puts a unique spin on the formula.

Automatic Battle for the People

Devil Book bills itself as a hand-drawn RPG mixing MMORPG progression, gacha mechanics and a bit of idle game flair. The game starts players with a single character named Jiro. Together, Jiro and the player learn the basics by traveling the world, talking to NPCs and defeating skeletons. The game’s tutorial is quite clear in what the player can do to win fights and improve their characters.

When setting out one will instantly notice that combat in Devil Book is almost entirely automated. Once your character is moved within range of a monster; they will instantly attack it and use skills without input. While you can control characters manually the game’s interface is slightly cumbersome on a small phone screen. Therefore, it’s better to simply let the autobattle takes over and finish things for you

Big Numbers for Fun and Profit

The only agency the player has to change combat is to raise a series of statistics. These numbers are increased through party leveling, skill improvement, and finding equipment. These systems are par for the genre. Devil Book introduces some minor adjustments to make them work with its idle-like setup. Each character in your three-person team has an overall power rating that can be improved in several ways.

The first and simplest way is raising a character’s level. This is done by defeating enemies in combat or using EXP-raising items. Gaining levels yields skill points, which allows you to raise a character’s skills. Raising skills lets the player customize each character, although each character is in someway similar. Beyond that equipment acts in much the same manner as skills.

We’re going on a quest

In Devil Book, you go on quests as the main mode of moving the game forward. These are typically found by talking to NPCs in the game’s hub world, a small medieval town. Each quest gives you a certain objective.

Gameplay-wise, the object of nearly every quest in Devil Book is identical. You talk to an NPC, get a quest, then you must do one of two things: kill monsters or find items. Since items are dropped by monsters both types of quests end up being one and the same. The only real difference is what you are killing. This is something of a problem, as the game can become repetitive. Because of this structure, Devil Book is actually more of an idle game than an MMORPG.

Idle hands

For those interested in idle games but looking for an experience with slightly more gameplay, Devil Book delivers. As with most of the game, everything can be done with a single tap of a button. This makes the game simple to learn and progress in.

With this setup, Devil Book respects the player’s time. This is found not only in its structure but also in time-saving aids like quest skipping tickets. These features greatly enhance Devil Book’s overall experience.

Too many numbers, FOMO, and other issues.

While Devil Book is a good timewaster with a number of convenient features it also struggles in places. The main issue here is that there are simply too many numbers to raise. Devil Book has at least six base stats, weapon upgrades, skill upgrades, and character levels to deal with. This spread makes it difficult to determine what you need to do to make your party stronger. Additionally, the game refuses to explain any of it.

Devil Book is also propped up on a feeling of “Fear of Missing Out.” There are many ads in-game selling gems to use the game’s gacha feature. These ads bombard players upon opening the game. This feature feels bad and even goes so far as to tell the player if friends have acquired rare characters. That said, this can be ignored without marring gameplay.

In all, Devil Book is a polished little game that combines idle game and MMO mechanics in a way that is both fun and functional.