At first glance, Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle looks like another uninspired copycat of Yu-Gi-Oh!, right down to the over-the-top hairstyles and the sports stadium dedicated to card games. This isn’t a misleading first impression either, but based on both the original mobile Shadowverse and its trope-filled anime spinoff, this adaption combines the best qualities of both into a game that does everything a little better than expected. Fans of both card game complexity and light-hearted storytelling will find a lot to like in Cygames and Xseed’s full-sized JRPG adventure.
Players quickly create a character at the start of Champion’s Battle and enroll in Tensei Academy, befriending Hiro Ryugasaki and his friends and joining the Shadowverse Club on campus. A combination of full cutscenes and visual novel conversations tell the story, with each line fully voiced in English. There are pages of dialogue between each card battle, much more than might be expected from a game aimed primarily at the middle school set. Despite that, the scenes command attention and never get overbearing, although there is an option to skip for those just looking for the card game. Anyone even remotely interested should bypass that option, however – some of the side quests and character moments can be charming even to someone who’s seen it all before.
Speaking of quests, Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle has an entire world to explore outside of its card battler gameplay. Between scenes, players can roam around the school and the surrounding area in a good number of fully 3D environments. There are collectibles to grab, side characters to chat up, and a few bonus objectives hidden around each map. On top of that, there’s a Persona 4-style set of quests that lets players dive deep into their relationship with each of the main characters, and it’s all done surprisingly well considering the source material. It’s a real effort at worldbuilding that pays off in a big way, especially when compared to the typical gaming adaptions of Yu-Gi-Oh! and other card game anime. Instead of just mindlessly deck editing and grinding through tournaments, the story part of the campaign plays out like an authentically enjoyable Saturday morning cartoon with the player as the star.
The card game side of Champion’s Battle plays out in a similar fashion, outclassing what initially appears to be a simplistic take on the formula. Much of the gameplay feels inspired by Blizzard’s Hearthstone, but it combines well with complexities taken from Magic: The Gathering. It’s true that there isn’t much innovation here, but the combination of mechanics proves intriguing. For someone coming from Magic, the biggest difference is the lack of blocking in combat. Creatures (here called Followers) can attack the opposing player freely no matter how many threats they’ve laid down. Early games make this setup seem too chaotic, but as the game introduces more complex cards and decks, everything clicks into place. At its core, the entire game is a balancing act between rushing in for big damage and disrupting potentially deadly strategies.
Players know their strategies as soon as they choose what type of deck they want to play. There are seven archetypes, each with its own mechanical focus. Dragoncraft decks cheat their way into huge summons while Swordcraft decks rely on stat boosts provided by synergistic creatures. Each one has a different way of filling the board and making an opponent think twice before going all in. Champion’s Battle is great at laying all this out step by step for new players and opposing NPCs even provide decklists that can automatically construct their stack of cards from the player’s collection. It’s a great simulation of how popular decks spread for other card games in the real world and a fantastic option for players who don’t want to worry about optimal card choice and balancing out their curve.
Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle isn’t going to be remembered as a game of the year candidate, and fans of the original game will likely have more fun continuing to play on phones rather than giving this a shot. However, for fans of the anime and those who enjoy a good family-friendly JRPG, Cygames has put together a well-rounded experience that shouldn’t be ignored. It’s fun to spend a few dozen hours remembering how engrossing an absurd story about a group of friends saving the world with card games can be, and Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle does that better than most.
Shadowverse: Champion’s Battle is available now on Nintendo Switch. A copy of the game was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.
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