SPACEHOLDER’s new mobile RPG, Little Battle (リトルバトル) is an interesting combination between Collectible RPG and Tower Defense. Players can collect characters through the gacha and train them up as they progress further into the game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is relatively simple. Players build a team of six which they will use for stage mode, events, and PvP.
Stage mode and Co-op is basically Line Rangers with three lanes. On each side, there is a castle, left being the enemy’s base and right being the player’s. Players can summon characters to advance each lane by spending mana which is generated automatically over time.
Characters will automatically engage in battle when an enemy is in range. when they reach the castle they will automatically attack the castle. So yeah, Line Rangers with three lanes. PvP works in the same way as stage mode, only instead of an AI enemy, players compete against another player.
Little Battle does include a few extra elements that make the game different. Starting with the interesting features, Little Battle has a Relic system which requires the players to complete certain milestones (i.e. unlock x amount of characters). Completing these milestones will unlock permanent buffs for the player. The less interesting features include character evolving, character gears and items which can be equipped by player’s castle to give buffs to the entire team.
Graphics
To be fair, the graphics aren’t bad, but they aren’t especially good either.
The in-game illustrations are quite decent. However, the character models are created in the same anime-esque style which makes them look subpar at best when compared to other games of the genre.
The character designs also tend to lean towards the childish side. Animal-based character designs can be quite adorable, but Little Battle features an almost ridiculous amount of kemonomimi-girls, which closely resemble each other, giving the game a somewhat sloppy feel, as if the designers just simply changed a base mode slightly and slapped on new colors to make it a new character…
Audio
To match their art style, the audio of the game has a bubbly impression. by this I mean the game’s audio has a cheerful almost childish. Yet, when you piece it together with the rest od the game, it fits surprisingly well.
Little Battle, Yay or Nay?
Whilst there are parts of the game which makes it fun, there really isn’t much of an incentive to make players leave a game of the same genre to play Little Battle. In-terms of PvE, Line Rangers has a quicker pace which makes it enjoyable for a mible game. For PvP, Little Battle lacks the sense of competition that Clash Royale has.
From my experience with the game, despite being new, there doesn’t seem to be enough players to make co-op work well. Unlike most other games with co-op, Little Battle seems to have taken away the co-op function for event stages, which is beyond my comprehension.
Although the game itself isn’t bad, it doesn’t add anything unique to make it something that is worth investing a lot of time in. so Nay. If you’re looking for something casual then Line Ranger is a better option. If you’re more competitive and enjoy challenging other players then there are a few choices, from Clash Royale to SMITE Rivals (schedule for release in 2017).