Netmarble's surprise new title, 'Pearl in Blue', was revealed for the first time at TGS 2026, held at Makuhari Messe from September 17 to 21.
'Pearl in Blue' is a subculture collectible RPG themed around "Monthly Rom-Com," developed by Netmarble N2. While Netmarble N2 previously demonstrated its skill in character modeling and presentation through 'Tower of God: NEW WORLD', expectations and concerns were mixed this time since it is an original title without source material. In particular, given that Netmarble's past record with original IPs fell somewhat short compared to its success with established IP-based games, making an impression with characters and story right from the start—beyond just graphics—was bound to be crucial.
With those curiosities in mind, the approximately 20-minute hands-on demo was not structured as an overall breakdown of 'Pearl in Blue's systems. Instead, it followed the prologue, tracing how the protagonist—abandoned at birth and unable to awaken a Pearl—aspired to be a blacksmith and came to forge swords, up until meeting the squad of four Knights including Nika. Yet, the way this story unfolded felt a bit different from typical mobile collectible RPGs.
When thinking of a prologue or tutorial in a mobile collectible RPG, one usually expects a setup explained through cutscenes or dialogue before moving to a combat stage to learn basic controls step by step. In contrast, 'Pearl in Blue' continues its narrative through in-game cutscenes, introducing QTEs during fights for player interaction. Rather than a tutorial where players press skill buttons one by one, the experience felt closer to an interactive anime where players lend a hand along the way.
Of course, not every development early on felt entirely seamless. The setup where an ordinary protagonist moves to the mega-city of Geoman-do, suddenly becomes a blacksmith, and starts crafting swords felt somewhat abrupt. To top it off, monstrous entities called Baroques appear and rush to devour the protagonist, creating a sense of rapid-fire events unfolding before players can get a grasp of what this world is like.
The narrative flow began to settle into place when 'Nika', the girl who ordered the sword, made her appearance. It followed the familiar boy-meets-girl setup where a girl appears before the endangered protagonist, kicking off a new journey. However, while such scenes typically feature the heroine resolving the crisis with overwhelming power and guiding the protagonist into a new world, Nika was an intriguing exception. Although part of the Knights, she had not yet awakened her inner power, the 'Pearl'. That was precisely why she had custom-ordered a sword from the protagonist. From there, QTEs were incorporated into Nika's struggling fight, drawing the player into overcoming the crisis together.
Pushed back, the protagonist ends up on the verge of falling off a cliff; Nika catches him, but both risk plunging to their deaths. At that moment, as the protagonist attempts to sacrifice himself, Nika's Pearl awakens. Driven by the desire to save someone, her dormant power awakens—a classic, royal-road trope.
Matching this pivotal moment, the demo shifted from QTE-focused segments to actual combat. The flow involved automatically exchanging basic attacks, activating skill icons when ready, and pressing guard in time with heavy enemy attacks to perform a parry. While a single battle wasn't enough to gauge strategic depth in team comps or progression, linking the moment the character gains power directly with the moment the player uses it felt natural. Rather than displaying the combat system upfront and tacking on the awakening sequence as a cutscene, the game showed a desperate struggle first before changing the control scheme itself.
After combat ended, the Commander briefly explained the nature of 'Pearl'. Drawing an analogy to how an oyster coats an external foreign object to form a pearl, it was described as power gained through pain, hardship, and external catalysts. Suggesting that the protagonist might have been that catalyst for Nika, the Commander told them to return to the dorms together, transitioning the story into another familiar genre: a rom-com dormitory narrative. Signs of this tone shift appeared on the way back. Though ambushed by Baroques again, this time an empowered Nika fought with relish, accidentally destroying the car lent by the Commander in the process. Shifted from risking their lives to save each other just moments ago, the atmosphere turned lighthearted as she stood flustered over the mess she made.
Nika's rich emotional expressions played a major role in making this transition convincing. From joy and anger to embarrassment, shyness, and tsundere antics, the game rendered a broad spectrum of emotions with manga-like exaggeration while delicately capturing dramatic shifts in expression, enhancing immersion. In doing so, it vividly conveyed the classic rom-com feel of a heroine blurting out all sorts of reactions as she gets dragged into chaotic situations.
Upon arriving at the Knights' dorms, that direction became even clearer. The protagonist is cautious because it is an all-female dormitory, but heads to the bathroom after being told to take a bath first. However, due to a lack of warning signs, the timid Yotsuba walks in on the protagonist and freezes, only for other members to join in and spark a full-blown commotion.
By this point, it is easy to picture where things are heading. It follows the setup of a protagonist entering a new environment, starting communal life, and discovering each character's personality and relationships through mishaps around the living space. Rather than avoiding that familiar formula, 'Pearl in Blue' faithfully embraces it through character reactions and in-game staging. Although the initial events rushed in somewhat abruptly, the flow—from meeting Nika and overcoming a crisis together to the dormitory chaos—clearly conveyed the kind of fun the game aims to deliver.
That isn't to say the demo consisted solely of watching cutscenes and hitting QTEs. In sequences where players flee from Baroques, there were scenes exploring the map from angles reminiscent of classic adventure games. As this was only seen during a brief escape segment, it remains uncertain whether such mechanics will extend to slice-of-life segments. However, tied with the rom-com dormitory theme, it opens up intriguing possibilities. If interactions or antics in the dorms were handled through this adventure-like structure alongside dialogue windows and cutscenes, it could enhance the feeling of living together even further.
Of course, as a collectible RPG, there is still much to verify about 'Pearl in Blue'. The demo provided only a single battle experience, and it remains unseen what content players will engage with after collecting and nurturing characters. Judging how the "Monthly Rom-Com" theme will be structured moving forward is also difficult based solely on the prologue.
Nevertheless, this 20-minute demo offered a clear sense of the characters and atmosphere 'Pearl in Blue' aims to deliver. It connected a boy-meets-girl encounter amid crisis to an awakening of power and combat, followed by lighthearted dormitory antics. While the story itself was not radically new, the intention to bring that familiar rom-com formula to life was undeniable. It will be exciting to see how 'Pearl in Blue' builds on this initial encounter through everyday life and adventures when it officially opens to players following its TGS 2026 debut.
