Captain Tsubasa Ace is here, putting the characters and moments from the beloved manga in players’ pockets. Here are our first impressions of Captain Tsubasa: Ace
The Good
- The game feels a lot like Captain Tsubasa: Rise of the Champions but feels lighter in depth. Fans of that game will instantly notice that this entry has a slightly slower pace that takes getting used to.
- Refreshingly, this gacha game avoids the usual heavy fanservice, a common element in the genre. Maybe this isn’t so surprising though considering the source material.
- It features a solid starting roster of characters, including some fan favorites from the manga. Of course, many of the best characters are locked behind gacha (duh).
- It stands out as one of the few sports-themed gacha games available, filling a niche left by games like Venus Eleven.
The Bad
- The controls lack precision, a significant issue for a soccer game reliant on touch controls. The addition of controller support would be a game-changer.
- Progression can sometimes feel sluggish and functions akin to an idle game, limiting active playtime without monetary investment.
- The necessity for character duplicates for maximum potential veers the game towards a pay-to-win model. For those who are used to predatory gacha games, this is more severe than most of the popular games that are somewhat F2P friendly. For those who aren’t familiar with gacha and just want to play a mobile game with their favorite manga characters, this will be jarring.
- This one is likely to be dominated by players who spend heavily. You know, the whales.
- The music falls short of expectations, with some tracks being borderline annoying.
The Mixed Feelings
- The pull rate stands at 2%, not terrible but could be improved.
- The separation of PVE and PVP characters into different gachas is an unusual design choice.
- PVP characters can be earned through PVP shop currency. Based on my experience, unlocking the best characters requires approximately 10 hours of PVP gameplay.
What are your thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments!
