9th Dawn [Valorware + Made With Marmalade] - $2.99

It’s kind of surprising that as popular and loved as Ultima is, that there’s not more iOS games influenced by this genre defining old-school RPG. However this does make finding one all the more special. This is something we’ve just recently had the pleasure of experiencing while diving into Valorware’s 9th Dawn, published by Made With Marmalade. And while some players have already completed the game, others are finding out that taking your time and exploring every single nook and cranny within the game is an incredibly rewarding experience. Especially since the world is so vast and is a complete joy to roam around in.

9th Dawn gives you the option of playing with 1 of 3 classes; Knight, Archer or Mage, each having drastically different ways of playing as well as different quests, different NPC interactions and loads of loot for all 3. The knight has heavy armor and strong attacks but is pretty slow and pretty inept when it comes to magic. The archer is great for quick movement and medium range attacks while the mage is pretty week when it comes to defense but can dish out a whole slew of magical spells and abilities and is probably the one character with the most depth when it comes to the customization of spells and stats, as well as the most difficult to complete the game with. 

Starting off, you awake on the continent of Montelorne with no idea how you got there or where to go. Luckily, there’s an NPC right outside of where you wake up and he gives you some basic directions as well as warnings. Then off you go to explore the world, learn about the lay of the land, the empires, the characters, what makes everyone tick, ect. The one thing that wasn’t really explained too well in the beginning was how to interact with objects. When it comes to characters, a hand icon usually appears right above your attack stick which you can tap to talk to them but, as you’ll soon find out, this icon does not always appear. Going into the first shops, you can’t get close enough to the shopkeepers to trigger the hand icon from appearing and here is where you’ll either figure out on your own, or just avoid the shops for now, that you can tap directly on the NPCs to interact with them. The same goes for everything else in the world of 9th Dawn. Tapping on barrels, enemy’s dropped items/silver, buckets, chests, ect, all of these can be tapped on while some of these things, like dropped items and silver, will trigger the hand icon above your attack button, but that’s about it. I wound up dying 4 times before finding out that I could search through barrels for loot and items because of this. 

But once all of that becomes apparent, the gameplay really opens up and 9th Dawn turns into the huge, exciting, exploration RPG beast that it’s meant to be. The controls are flawless, using dual sticks for movement and attacking in 360 degree fashion is a huge plus, giving you great control over what your character does and how he does it. The attacking stick can take a little fiddling around to get comfortable with if you’re using the Mage or Archer, as you’ll need to pull the stick in the opposite direction of your enemy. After getting use to it, it does play very nicely but if you’re still having troubles with it, you can switch this in the options menu so that your character fires in the same direction of your stick movement as well. You can also enable aim assist if you’re still having troubles, which is a nice little addition. There are also options for ‘tablet mode’, ‘large thumb pads’, ‘floating stick’ and you can re-position the sticks as well, which makes the gameplay comfortable on any device no matter how you might hold it. 

This, combined with the depth of customization makes for one hell of a gameplay experience. Leveling up, like most RPGs, is done by defeating enemies. Once you level up, you're awarded 5 stat points which you can distribute how you see fit to either Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence or Wisdom. You'll also unlock more skills and spells as you level up and progress throughout the game. Being able to assign these to hotslots at either the bottom of the screen, or 'fold-out' slots above the attack stick allows for quick integration of skills and items to the heat of the action while in the midst of gameplay. It all really comes together quite nicely with a fluid and easy to navigate user interface. Quests can also be called up from your Quest Log, found in your inventory, which can also be assigned to a quick-slot for easy reference. 

Aside from the slight tutorial issue, 9th Dawn has been a pure joy to play. There’s always a new place to explore and the graphics and gameplay will take you back to the days of playing Ultima while reminding you how much gaming has grown with the super smooth animations, gameplay and huge open world. Priced at $2.99, 9th Dawn is a steal, especially considering how much gameplay you’ll get out of it and how enjoyable your gameplay experience will be. The few issues I might have with the game are extremely easy to overlook when presented with so much greatness. And considering this is only version 1.0.0, there’s plenty of hope that the game will only get better. If you’re a fan of the genre, I really can’t recommend this one enough, and even if you’re not, 9th Dawn might just make you a fan. 

**EDIT**

We did originally state that there was no quest log. Thankfully, PSJ3809 over at TouchArcade clued us in as to where the Questlog could be found. We apologize for any mis-understanding. 

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Scurvy Scallywags [Beep Games] - $0.99

Match-3 RPG’s have gained quite a bit of ground in the AppStore. Games like Puzzle Quest, Puzzle & Dragons, Tower Of Saviors and many more put you in control of adventures or a warrior and have you match tiles to attack, defend, cast spells, ect. While there are plenty of fantasy games within this genre, developers rarely break from this mold. Here’s where Beep Games comes in. Their new title, Scurvy Scallywags, has you playing as a pirate. Not only are you playing as a pirate, but you’re playing as a pirate in an on stage play. Within this, there’s quite a few more branching off that Beep Games has done from the typical ‘tried-n-true’ mechanics that can be found within this fledgling genre. 

Scurvy Scallywags starts off with the director telling you that the house is packed and that the future of the theatre is riding on your performance and the play being a huge hit. From here, you get to pick the look of your character. As you progress throughout the game you’ll unlock more costume pieces, some of which have extra stats to boost your character’s strength. You’ll be able to choose different hats, faces, shirts, shoes and weapons and once you unlock a few of the costume pieces with stats attached the customization becomes something that you’ll be messing with quite a bit. 

After you choose your initial clothing items, the play will begin and you’ll face off against the evil pirate captain who has stolen treasure and hid it around the world. Sailing from island to island you’ll start to do battle with enemies on the laid out tiles. Making matches of 3 or more can earn you gold, attack points or other various items which you can also sell once you complete the stage, helping you to earn more and more cash to put towards power-ups and other items. As you make matches, the board will shift depending on which way you swipe the matching piece into place. If you swipe from right to left, the empty spaces will fill in from the far right side of the screen, swipe top to bottom, and pieces will fall from the top and so on. Enemies will randomly appear on the board as you get further into each stage, and it’s up to you to try and match enough sword tiles that you can fight the enemies without taking damage yourself. Each enemy has a number above their character showing their attack strength. With your attack strength shown in the upper part of the screen, as well as your hit points, experience and earned gold. 

Defeating an enemy will give you a special treasure. Collect it and you’re given the chance to spin a wheel which can either get you pieces for your ships or bits of gold. While you’re moving the pieces of the board around, as well as yourself while trying to either move towards enemies or away from them, you’ll be able to collect special items like presents which give you another spin on the wheel, band aids which restore HP, or items which are needed to complete objectives. Point being there’s a whole lot going on, and it’s great having this much depth alongside the story and RPG elements. 

Once you get enough ship pieces, you’re able to build a ship which will give you some extra stats and generally help make life a little easier. Stronger ships are unlocked as you level up. Leveling up also unlocks special abilities which you can use mid-battle, like having an extra fighter to help you take out the enemies, turning all of the most common piece on the board into gold, extra turns that do not effect the movement or attack of the enemy and much, much more. 

If you don’t manage to make it through the game, no worries. Dying does put you back at the beginning, but you’ll keep all of your items, gold, upgrades and clothing, making it easier to get further each time you play. Even after completing the game, each of the game’s island’s produce randomly generated levels giving you pretty much endless replay value. On top of that there’s also a whopping 52 GameCenter achievements to try and unlock. 

With Scurvy Scallywags priced at $0.99, it’s an incredible deal. While the game’s mechanics aren’t incredibly original, there are a lot of them and quite a few do make the game feel very fresh and new. It’s like Beep Games took every Match-3/RPG and meshed all of their mechanics together and wrapped a great story around them, giving the game loads of depth while making it insanely fun. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, or have lost interest because of all of the ‘clones’ hitting the AppStore over the last year or so, this is one title that might just get you into, or back into, the genre. If you are still a fan of the genre, Scurvy Scallywags is a must own, and easily one of the best within the Match-3/RPG genre. I really can not recommend it enough.

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Gemini Rue [Wadjet Eye Games + Joshua Nuernberger] - $3.99

I will admit that I’m not a huge fan of Point & Click games, but there are a few that have grabbed my attention over the years. Of course, the classics; Myst, Riven and The Last Express, but also a few that I had the chance to play primarily because of their appearance in the AppStore; Machinarium, Another World, Yesterday and The Walking Dead. Well, now I can add one more title to this very short list of games that have completely blown me away. Gemini Rue. Originally released for the PC back in 2011, Gemini Rue has made its way to the touch screen and, even on the smaller iPhone/iPod screens, it’s a perfect fit. 

Developed by Joshua Nuernberger and published by Wadjet Eye Games, the same developer/publisher team that released the PC version, the iOS port is basically an exact copy of the original. Aside from the controls, iOS gamers now have the option of playing one of the best Point & Click titles to date. Gemini Rue has won multiple awards, being named Gamespy’s Adventure Game of the Year, Aggies awards for best story, best setting and best independent adventure, as well as winning the AGS Awards for best gameplay, best original story, best player character, best background art, best character art and best sound effects, not to mention being named PC Gamer’s Adventure Game of the Year, all in 2011. If that isn’t enough to push you into dropping the measly $4 for the game, I don’t know what is. Even gamers who are not fans of Point and Click Adventure games have a very high chance of falling completely in love with Gemini Rue. 

It is surprising that no awards were given for the games soundtrack, as it’s one of the best compositions I’ve heard in a video game. Nathan Allen Pinard composed the BGM, and it’s fantastic, adding immensely to the dark and dreary atmosphere found within the game. The dark buildings and rainy cityscapes definitely add to the tense feeling and cyberpunk themes found throughout the story. Even the brightly lit hospital like areas of the game have a creepy feeling of solitude, even when other characters are present. This also fits in with the plot, as you never know who you can trust or what the NPC’s are going to do or how they’ll react to you, helping to make it feel like you are completely alone in the world of Gemini Rue. 

The game takes place in the 23rd century in the Gemini System. A system that’s recently been torn apart by war, and is under the control of the Yakuza, referred to as the Boryokudan (meaning ‘Violence Group’, which is what the media and police call the Yakuza). Throughout the game, you’ll control multiple characters; Azriel, an ex-assassin turned lawman who is searching for his brother, Daniel, Azriel’s brother who is also referred to as Alpha-Six and Matthius, one of Azriel’s old friends from when he was an assassin. I won’t get too much into the story, as the plot and how it unfolds is a major part of the game, but essentially, you’ll be searching for Daniel, who’s been kidnapped by the Boryokudan, with Matthius’s help. 

One of many notable aspects of the game is how the tutorial is presented. Instead of just having a help section, or giving you a brief ‘how-to’ at the beginning of the game, you’ll learn how to do things as you need to. But these actions are also flawlessly woven into the story, adding another layer of evolution into the game. Another aspect that’s not too common in Point & Click games; gunplay. You’re able to duck behind cover deciding when you want to point your head out so that you can fire. There’s also a breath-holding mechanic that gives you the ability to one-hit-kill enemies with a headshot if pulled off right by shooting when your breath gauge is in the green. 

Graphically, Gemini Rue does look a little blurred, but the retro feeling of the graphics mixed with modern graphical techniques is pulled off perfectly giving the game a ton of atmospheric qualities. As we already said, the soundtrack also helps complete the atmosphere giving the game a feeling within the setting that would be a perfect fit for any one of William Gibson or Neal Stephenson’s novels. The animations however, are a tad bit clunky. I can’t help but feel like if the animations were a little smoother, it would have added yet another level of immersion to the gameplay. That isn’t to say that the animations are not noteworthy, because they are still well done, it just so happens that they stand out because the rest of the game is so unbelievably polished. 

Aside from the animations, the only other negative thing that I can say about the game is the lack of GameCenter. Achievements would have been a great addition for this mobile port. However, like the animations, this isn’t something that takes away from the game at all. I never found myself saying ‘I’d be more inclined to play this game if it had GameCenter integration’, it just would have been an added little plus if it was included. Being Universal and priced at $3.99, Gemini Rue is a steal (especially taking into account that the PC version is $9.99), and we really can not recommend it enough. I know we say that a lot here, especially lately, but Gemini Rue is one of very few games that has secured it’s spot on our Game Of The Year list. It’s a title that every iOS gamer should experience. We also hope to see more of Wadjet Eye Game’s published titles hit the AppStore in the future, especially if they’re anywhere near the same level as Gemini Rue. 

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Nameless: The Hackers [BoxCat] - $3.99

It’s pretty surprising that in a store filled with freemium/paidmium IAP pushing games, there’s still a few developers out there that are willing to release games without any in-app-purchases at all. Unfortunately, a lot of these games go pretty much un-noticed, and it really is a shame, especially with so many gamers clamoring for IAP free titles. Well, the most recent ZERO IAP title to hit our devices here at The App Shack? Nameless: The Hackers, developed by BoxCat. Not only is it completely devoid of IAPs, it’s also an incredibly well made game. I was a little skeptical at first, judging by the screenshots, it didn’t look as though the game had what it needed to grab my attention, but after about 5 minutes with the game, it was clear that this was something special, and definitely deserving of every bit of attention and support it could get. 

Nameless: The Hackers is an RPG that focuses on a group of 2 hackers who have been contracted to help find a missing programmer. As you progress through the game, 2 more members will join your squad, and you’ll start to unravel a conspiracy of mass proportions and wind up on a list you definitely don’t want to be on. While you’re following along the main story, you’ll be able to help out people around the globe by carrying out side-quests as well as take down some pretty formidable opponents. While you’re taking out other hacking groups and completing side-quests, you’ll be earning the game’s dual currencies; ByteCredits and Research Points. ByteCredits are used to purchase just about everything in the game from new skills to HP upgrades, Boosters (Defense, Attack, HP, Energy; up by 10% for 15 minutes) and Items (HP refills, energy refills, virus cleaners, ect), while Research Points are used primarily for upgrading (researching) skills. 

Starting off, you’ll just have a couple of basic hacking skills. But fairly quickly, you’ll be given access to the Mt. Fox store where more skills will become available once you hit certain points in the story. Not only will you be able to purchase skills, but you’ll also be able to upgrade them. Upgrades unlock as you collect cards. Cards are collected by taking out various groups of hackers across the world, and by completing certain tasks. A very cool aspect of the cards is that they’re randomly generated. While the type of cards that you get may be pre-destined, the stats that accompany these cards are all left up to luck. 

Each card has 4 segments attached, get a card with 1 segment unlocked, and the card will be a 25% card, 2 segments, 50%, ect. With each percentage increase, the stats that are locked to the card will increase. For instance, a 25% card might tack on 2 to your attack strength, while a 50% card could increase your attack by  or 5. Not only are there random card generations, but there’s also different rarities of cards. A rare 25% card could very well be more powerful than a 50% or even 75% card. 

On top of all this, you’re also able to re-roll cards. In the menu, you can view the cards that you’ve unlocked so far. From this menu, you can select to re-roll cards for a cost. Even cooler? You can pay for a re-roll with either of the two currencies, though re-rolling with Research Points instead of ByteCredits will give you a slightly better chance of rolling a better card. 

As far as the user interface goes; everything can be done while using one hand/finger. Taps to execute moves and navigate the game while swiping to move about the world and select targets has been set up perfectly. The menus are very well designed and uncluttered, while everything else is simple to navigate and very responsive. To access your inventory, you simply tap on your health/energy numbers that are next to the character icons. To access your characters skills, you tap on the character. Underneath the character icons is the menu where you can quickly access the Mt. Fox shop, your inventory, view your collected cards or enter the options menu where you can save your game and adjust the music and sound effects (separately). 

If you ever get stuck, or need a refresher, there is a help/tutorial section in the Mt. Fox shop area. However, with everything being shown to you in a very simple and straightforward manor at the beginning of the game, chances are you won’t need to use this help section. But it is there, and easy to access, if you ever need it. Unfortunately, right now the game is only designed for the iPhone/iPod, and you’ll have to play in 2X mode on the iPad. Luckily, it doesn’t look too pixilated on the bigger screen, and fans of the RPG genre (as much as it sucks) should be use to playing games in 2X mode, considering most RPGs in the AppStore are designed for the iPhone and not made Universal. Nameless: The Hackers is, however, supported by the iPhone/iPod 5’s widescreen, and it looks fantastic on the smaller screen. 

The only negative thing I can say about Nameless is that the choices that you make don’t really effect the outcome of the game. There are some multiple choice decisions thrown into the mix, but the only thing they really effect is whether or not you get a couple of items or a few bonus ByteCredits. It would have been amazing if the developers threw in multiple story arcs depending on choices that you made. But with basically no RPGs featuring mechanics like this, it’s hard to hold this against BoxCat, especially with the amount of polish and how well Nameless plays, and even how great the story is minus decision based effects. 

With an incredibly supportive development team, great artwork and animations, a well thought out and engaging story and surprisingly deep customization systems, Nameless: The Hackers is a steal at it’s current price of $1.99. It is on sale for launch, and the price will rise to $3.99 soon, which does feel like a very appropriate price for a game of this caliber. BoxCat has done an outstanding job creating a fresh and original RPG for the iOS, and better yet, even with the dual-currencies, there are NO IAPs! It’s hard not to get excited about that these days. I’m hoping that Nameless sells well and that we can see more games from BoxCat. As their first outing, they’ve definitely hit the ball out of the park and are a dev team that I will be keeping a very close eye on in the future. 

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Aeon Avenger [Kemco + World Wide Software] - $8.99

A couple weeks ago one of our favorite Turn-Based RPG publishers, Kemco, released a new title in the English AppStore. Ever since we got our hands on Symphony Of Eternity, we’ve been hooked on Kemco’s releases, and even though they all look like very well made retro-RPG games done  with something like RPG Maker, there’s no way we can overlook the crazy amount of work, effort and love thrown into each and every title that Kemco has published. This time, WorldWide Software has brought us the awesome Chrono Trigger-esque title, Aeon Avenger. 

Aeon Avenger follows the story of Lake, a young, jobless slacker type who’s more obsessed with gunism than anything else. At the beginning of the game, Lake’s entire town, as well as his family, is killed by a mysterious man in black. This drives Lake to seek revenge. As his journey becomes more and more ‘complicated’ (as Lake likes to say), a woman named Rean who has the power to travel through time joins him in a quest to stop the man in black by going into the past and changing the sequence of events that led to the destruction of Lake’s village. Other party members also join up for short periods of time helping Lake and Rean figure out a way to stop the man in black from ever possessing the power to control monsters by going back in time and finding out how the monsters are able to be controlled. Toss in some Gods, a secret War and quite a bit of time travel in order to progress through certain areas of the story, and it does get a little ‘complicated’. 

Probably the biggest thing that fans of Kemco, and RPG gamers in general, are wondering about is the game’s equipment, leveling up and battle mechanics, as these are different in each and every one of Kemco’s titles (minus Alphadia and Alphadia 2). First off, there are 8 different weapons (Gun, Rod, Bow, Knuckles, Sword, Staff, Flail and a Whip) that you can choose from and each character, though proficient in one weapon, is able to equip them all. You can also equip clothing/armor with some able to be equipped with every character, while others are only for male or female characters. Along with your weapon and armor, you’re also able to equip two accessories. These range from slight perks, like a bump in stats, HP or MP, to preventing the wearer from suffering from various magical effects like confusion, sleep, poison and more. Now, most likely the biggest thing you’ll be worried about are bits. Bits are gems which you can attach to weapons adding on special perks, stats, spells and attacks. This is how your character uses skills and spells. Each weapon has a certain number of bit slots which you can equip bits into. These bits can also evolve, which we’ll talk about in a second, but how many slots a bit takes up is dependant on it’s strength. Unfortunately, you are not able to learn spells or skills, which means that you will not be able to use things like ‘Heal’ unless you have the bit that allows for the healing spell equipped on your current weapon. Because of this, switching out bits and finding out which ones are best against what monsters and bosses will be something you’ll be doing fairly often. This isn’t so much of a hassle, as in most weapon shops, there’s usually another NPC that will let you know what weapons are best for the monsters that can be found in the next dungeon area. 

Another mechanic that’s definitely worth bringing up is the time travel aspect of the game. A lot like Chrono Trigger, Aeon Avenger will have you traveling from the present back to the past and into the future, all to learn more about the world around you, solve puzzles, open areas and generally just progress through the story. One of the features that takes advantage of the time traveling mechanic, making it more than just a nifty part of the story and progression, is that you can evolve bits by placing them in a special area in the past, along with a magic evolution stone, and then traveling to the future to retrieve and equip them. Not all bits can be evolved, but most of the ones that can will play a huge roll in how you battle enemies. 

Graphically, Aeon Avenger looks like your typical retro RPG that Kemco has become known for publishing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless you’re just sick to death of the style. Growing up exposed to the NES, SNES and SEGA, I personally love ‘retro’ graphics. Also, after spending hours upon hours messing around with RPG Maker, I have a newfound respect for how much work actually does go into the making of an RPG, even when given pre-rendered assets (which I’m not saying is what has been done here, as far as I know, World Wide Software placed every single pixel within the game themselves), it’s one hell of a task to take on. Along with the retro graphics, the animations are smooth, and the BGM adds to the retro feeling of the game as well. 

The user interface is reminiscent of Eve of the Genesis, which is no surprise considering EotG was developed by WWS as well. You’re given a menu button in the top left of the gameplay screen which will take you to a menu where you can access your tools (inventory), skills, status (equipment), map, help, settings, title, save and guide. All of the interaction with the menus is pretty straight-forward. It’s not cluttered, and is very easy to navigate. In the settings menu, you’re able to adjust the sound, battle rendering speed, movement speed, text speed, turn the mini map on or off and adjust the virtual control settings. You aren’t able to move the controls anywhere on the screen, but you are able to move them from the bottom corners to the middle of the screen. 

Now, not only are we incredibly excited that we have another Kemco title to add to our collection, but also, this is the first Kemco title that has been released as a Universal app. That’s right, no more 2X mode on the iPad! Along with being Universal, Aeon Avenger also supports the iPhone 5’s widescreen (even though it is not stated as optimized for the iPhone 5 in the game‘s description on iTunes). Priced at $8.99, it’s another great Final Fantasy-esque retro Turn-Based RPG at a fraction of the price of Square’s FF titles. If you’re a fan of the genre, Kemco’s releases are definitely worth checking out and we can’t wait until their next publication hits the AppStore. 

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Mauv [Forge Vault] - $1.99

There’s not a whole lot of Action/Adventure games that completely consume my free time. Pretty sure I can count the number of iOS titles in the genre on one hand (Shadowgun, Samurai II, Dead Space, Waking Mars… that’s about it). But over the last week or so, I’ve gotten sucked into another title. Now, with all of the nods to Metroid and Zelda, it’s no real surprise that it’s sucked me in, but keeping me playing is something only the game’s originality and story could have done. The game? Mauv, developed by Forge Vault. 

First off, let’s set things straight. Unlike quite a few iOS titles, Mauv doesn’t directly steal mechanics or gameplay from Metroid or Zelda, but while playing, it’s clearly apparent that they were inspirations for the developers somewhere down the line. It’s a fairly deep sci-fi adventure title that merges both top-down type sections as well as side-scrolling areas together in one huge explorable world. It might sound like something that would just drive some people crazy, but as you progress throughout the game, the mix of Metroid style exploratory platform action and Zeldaesque exploratory adventure filled with plenty of side-quests as well as a main story, leveling up, blocked off areas that require special abilities to cross into and much, much more, the changes between side-scrolling and top-down areas will start to seem natural, and perfectly fit into the gameplay as another feature that makes Mauv all the better. 

Starting the game off, you’re given a short intro; A long time ago, Gorm seized control of the Magna Spyre. In response, the Kingdom of Yora called for warriors to take out the enemy and regain control of the Magna Sypre. You‘re on a quest to become one of the strongest warriors in Yora, and head off to jump on the airboat heading into battle. However, in the beginning of the game, you’re basically helpless. You’re given 3 rechargeable action points which you can use to perform rolls and break open crates and bushes. You‘re also able to use your wings to glide. But once you start to progress into the game, you’ll be given a weapon and further along, you’ll be able to get a shield and other items that will allow you to progress into different areas and just become a real pain for the enemy to deal with in general. 

Control-wise, you’re given a joystick for movement and buttons on the right side of the screen for actions. Your action button changes depending on what type of section you’re in (top-down or side-scrolling) and can either cause you to roll or jump. Gliding is done by tapping the action button while you’re already in the air and will keep you going in the same direction as when you press it (ie; pressing it when you’re still in the upwards swing of your jump will cause you to glide slightly upwards, pressing it when you’re at the very top of your jump will cause you to glide forward and slightly downwards and gliding when you’re coming down from your jump will pretty much send you straight into the ground). You’ll also use the action button to talk to all of the NPCs around the world. Your action button is placed in the middle of the buttons that will pop up as you gather equipment. You’re also given a button to fire your weapon and another for your shield. The buttons are static and are not customizable, which does kind of make playing on the iPad a bit uncomfortable as the buttons are a little further inside the screen than what I’d personally like. It doesn’t make the game unplayable, and is nowhere near bad enough to keep me from playing, but it would be nice if we could move the buttons around, or they were placed more appropriately on the larger iPad screen. On the iPhone, the buttons are decently placed (though maybe a bit high) and fairly comfortable. One thing that did bother me at first was the fact that you’re unable to fire your weapon while you’re in the air. This means that you can not jump and shoot your weapon. I’m not too entirely sure if it would even make much of a difference if you could, but it did take a while to get use to. 

Now, in order to fire your weapon, you will need to collect magna. Each shot that you shoot requires 3 magna. Luckily, there is magna scattered everywhere, and you should never be at a loss. However, if you ever are, you can leave an area and re-enter it with all of the collected magna available for collection again. You also do not need to kill enemies in order to progress throughout the game, but killing enemies does earn you experience which you will need if you want to level up. You’ll also be able to collect hides and trophies from enemies that can be exchanged for items (like boots that allow you to walk through sludge without slowing down, and other accessories) and more magna. Leveling up does not have any effect on your stats like attack, or action points, but it does increase your hit points which will definitely come in handy later on in the game. 

The graphics are well done, especially the background environments and the whole foggy look throughout the game. Unfortunately, there’s not much change in the environments which does make the world seem like one huge level. I don’t really consider this a bad thing. There are enough changes  in the plant life and other minor aspects of the environment to give different areas subtle differences and put together with the various enemies that you’ll encounter do help to make it not get boring or feel ‘samey’ throughout the entire game. The animations do feel a bit stiff, but this doesn’t take much away from the immersion of the game. There are a few graphical things that stick out, like the plant life and objects in the background, that do give the game a great feeling. On top of that, the BGM is also very well done and fitting for the gameplay. 

Even with the minor grammatical errors, lack of GameCenter achievements and kind of slow start, when you consider how incredibly huge the world is, especially if you’re interested in exploring and completing the side-quests, how much love and care was clearly put into the development, Mauv being Universal and just how much fun it is to play, the price point of $1.99 is a very good deal. Mauv also supports the iPhone/iPod 5’s widescreen, which is a huge plus. As I said, there’s not many Action/Adventure titles on the iOS that have completely won me over, but Mauv is definitely one of them. Fans of Zelda and Metroid should feel pretty much at home while playing, and even if you’re not really fans of either of those, if you’re into exploration and adventure games, Mauv contains a huge world to check out. There is also a lite version if you’re interested in seeing what the game plays like before making a purchase, but you should keep in mind that as you make your way in to the real meat of the game that it gets a whole lot better. This is one Adventure title that I have no problem whole heartedly recommending. 

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Review Rewind: Fantasy Chronicle

If you haven't guessed it yet, Kemco is one of our favorite RPG publishers here at TAS. With titles like Alphadia, Symphony Of Eternity, Grinsia, Dark Gate and others, they've secured their spot in our hearts right next to the old-school Square titles like Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Evermore and others. However, there are certain titles from Kemco that definitely stand out above the rest, and Hit-Point's Fantasy Chronicle is easily one of those titles. With it's depthy equip and skill systems along with it's well thought out and incredibly charming and immersive story, Fantasy Chronicle is one Kemco title that will never leave our devices. This is a rare thing, especially in the RPG genre, but personally, I've played through FC 3 times now, and have every intention of playing through it again in a couple more months. It's just one of those games that reminds you why the iOS gaming platform is so great, and how lucky we are to actually have developers that treat the platform with the utmost respect. If you have yet to check out Fantasy Chronicle, we highly recommend you do so as soon as possible. It's one Turn-Based RPG that every fan of the genre should experience. 

**Note; This review was written after playing through Version 1.1.0

Kemco, a Japanese development company specializing in Turn Based RPGs, has just released their newest iOS port, Fantasy Chronicle. If you’re familiar with Kemco’s last releases, Symphony of Eternity, Alphadia and Eve of the Genesis, you probably already know that Kemco is right up there with Square Enix when it comes to the quality of their stories, combat mechanics, depthy equip+upgrade systems, the music used in their titles, and, of course, the gameplay. Fantasy Chronicle is no exception, and, in fact, is their most polished, and well thought out English translated iOS release to date.

STORY: 5/5

Fantasy Chronicle tells the story of 8 characters; The main character, Light, his foster sister, Fina, their ‘Grandma’, Ohma, Alterbo, a sargent in the army, Holos Over, a young girl, Corona, a magical rabbit, Mr. Poo, a girl who looks a lot like Fina, Retea, and Ray, a woman from the Dark Clans. There are other minor characters which you’ll come into contact with throughout the game, but these are the 8 that play a major roll throughout the majority of the game. I don’t want to give too much away, because like Kemco’s previous releases, the story is a huge part of the game. However, in Fantasy Chronicle, the story is a bigger part of the game than any of their previous English iOS ports. There’s a lot more going on with the characters, a lot more growth with each of them, as well as more twists, turns, drama, conflict, obsession, revenge, and everything that makes fantastic dramatic writing. The translation is also superb, as we have come to expect from Kemco. No Google Translations here. There are a couple of words that shouldn’t have been capitalized, and maybe a comma missing here and there, but aside from that, the story, and everything every single one of the characters within the game says is understandable, and grammatically correct.

Light, the main character that you will start off playing with first, is an orphan, being raised by a woman named Ohma. Living with Light and Ohma, is a young woman named Fina, who is about Light’s age. Light, wanting to follow in the footsteps of Alberto, a friend of the family, and presumably someone whom Ohma has also raised, joins the volunteer army known as Holos Over. After a couple days of training, the village in which Light has grown up in, Selka, is destroyed, with no trace of Ohma or Fina left behind, and all that’s certain is that whoever destroyed Selka is the same person or group who destroyed another village because of the symbol found amongst the ruins. You’ll go on Light’s journey to find out what happened to Fina and Ohma, and discover the truth behind who’s at fault for the destruction of his village, as well as the destruction of other villages throughout the land.

Gameplay, Controls & Music: 5/5

The gameplay in Fantasy Chronicle is typical of Turn-Based RPGs, in that you’ll be able to wonder around in towns, and other areas, as well as having a world map. You’ll start off being able to visit your hometown, and then as you explore through forests, and go down other paths, you’ll start to unlock and open up other areas within the world map that you’ll be able to jump to. Each town has a handful of places which you can visit, the Inn, Item Shop, Workshop, Town Square, Guild, Private House, Church, ect. But you will spend most of your time within the Workshop and Guild, as this is where you’ll get your missions, and upgrade equipment. Most of the time, the game plays like older Final Fantasy games, with your characters needing to speak to certain individuals in order to progress through the story, so you will also be spending a lot of time talking to the people in each of the towns, learning about the world, and triggering more story sequences.

There are some areas which do have quite a bit of grinding, but as you’ll quickly learn, what grinding there is is heavily rewarded with the story sequences that break it up. In relation to Kemco’s previous releases, the grinding is not as heavy as it is in Alphadia, but it is there. Good thing about it, though, is that with the extremely well designed combat system, the grinding could actually be considered a welcome addition, with the game having very few battles that can be won by pressing the ‘auto’ button. As for the controls, you can choose between using the touch controls, or having a virtual button set-up on the screen. There is a quick button change between the two in the lower right corner of the screen. This control set-up is great, and should really be used more in iOS games, as there are certain sections which feel better with the touch controls, and others that are better with the virtual buttons. For instance, the virtual buttons are great for exploration, and moving throughout the menus, as well as jumping from place to place on the world map, where as the touch screen controls are fantastic for the combat, upgrade, shop, and mission screens, and being able to switch between the two just by touching the lower right corner makes deciding what controls you would prefer for different sections extremely easy. The music is exceptional, and fits with the game to a “T”. There is not one section of the game where the music does not fit the mood for what’s happening. Numerous times multiple musical selections are used for one dialogue sequence, changing as the mood does.

Graphics: 4.5/5

The graphics are typical of your usual retro looking RPG. In fact, you could say it looks extremely generic. However, the up-close character images during dialogue, and their models, as well as every single one of the enemy sprites/models, is done exceptionally well, adding a lot to the feel of the game. Each of the environments that you’ll traverse through are put together extremely well. With some places given a nighttime look, and others being underground, it really would have been nice to see some lighting effects used, even if in a 2D fashion. However, what the classics have shown us is that graphics are a very small part of the genre as a whole, and even though showing off some new insane graphical style would have added to the game in a cosmetic sense, it’s really the story, combat, upgrades, equips, and music that make an RPG game great, though graphics are a big cherry on top, they are not required. Don’t get me wrong, Fantasy Chronicle does, in no way, have bad graphics, in fact, I think almost all of the enemy’s models, as well as the characters hand drawn images all look fantastic and add a lot to the feeling of the game, but if you’re tired of the typical 2D “retro” RPG look, Fantasy Chronicle will in no way impress you.

Combat, Upgrade & Equip System: 5/5

This is where Fantasy Chronicle really shines. The combat, upgrade, and equip systems and mechanics. With the combat, you’re able to choose 3 characters from your party to fight, with each of the three characters able to have with them, a guardian beast. These beasts grow stronger, accumulate experience with each of the characters, and also grow a bond with the characters which you pair them up with. The longer you have a beast and character paired up, the stronger the bond between the two. This bond is used in combat, as you can set each of the guardian beasts to attack, share the damage from enemies, or focus on healing. You are also able to pair up characters, having them join special attacks for a set amount of SP (magical power), increasing the attack that you can use. With the upgrade system, you are able to collect minerals from each of the areas that you’ll explore, from both exploring, as well as from defeating monsters. After you open up a little bit of the game in the beginning, you’ll also be able to use more characters in the Workshops to go and mine for minerals while you’re out exploring, fighting, and in general, progressing throughout the game, and be able to collect it when you come back to the Workshop in each of the visited towns.

Using these minerals, you’ll be able to upgrade items. There are also books scattered throughout the world of Fantasy Chronicle, which you’ll be able to collect, and use to turn current items into different, more powerful items. Along with the minerals, you’ll be able to find swords and armor scattered throughout the world, which you can then bring back to the Workshops, and have them disassembled so that you can gain materials that way too. With the upgrade system, your characters, as well as guardian beasts, become stronger with each level, as well as learn certain spells as they level up. The bond you create with the characters and the guardian beasts also grows, making the extra skills your guardians have stronger as well. Once you start experimenting with the whole combat and equipping systems, you’ll learn how deep they really are, giving you a lot of control over what happens in battle, and what items you equip your characters with. Planning within each of the areas for what types of enemies you’ll face and what elements they might have will also become a big part of what you use to upgrade your equipment, and what equipment you take along with you into battle.

Overall: 5/5

Kemco has shown that they know and have what it takes to compete with the best of the best within the Turn-Based RPG genre, and Fantasy Chronicle is probably their best release to date, being the most polished, well-presented, title they’ve ported to the iOS as of yet. Right now, with it’s price at $2.99, it’s a must buy for RPG fans. The combat system is one of the best I’ve seen, the story is amazingly well written, extremely engaging, and well translated with characters that you’ll become very attached to. Once you start playing, don’t be surprised if you find it hard to start up any other games on your device until you reach the end. Kemco has shown what they’re made of with their previous English iOS releases, but with Fantasy Chronicle, they’ve managed to set a new standard; not only for what fans of the genre should expect from other companies, but for what Kemco can truly bring to the table.

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