Posted on Feb 14, 2011 under iphone |
They say it’s a man’s world, but in the case of Wild Frontier’s Chris Noah, he’s not the one wearing the trousers.
Instead, his feisty girlfriend Lamia is the one calling the shots, so when she announces she’s boarding a ship in search of a new continent, Chris reluctantly tags along.
When the ship is wrecked and the two lovebirds arrive in a new and mysterious land, the adventurous Lamia is forced to break up with the inexperienced Chris, kick-starting the events of what is easily one of the most appealing and unique action role-playing games to hit iPhone in some time.
Go fetch
We’ve been critical of the genre in the past, citing the repetitive gameplay, poor translations, and fetch quest gameplay that typifies this particular breed of role-player. With that in mind, high hopes were not in evidence when approaching Wild Frontier, but I’ve come away pleasantly surprised. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Jan 09, 2011 under Android |
As the title suggests, Zenonia 2’s super-deformed citizens appear to have lost their memories.
Appropriately enough, then, the strongest sensation while playing Gamevil’s action-RPG sequel is a distinct case of déjà vu. While that includes the warm, fuzzy feeling of familiarity, there are clear signs that it’s also beginning to breed contempt.
Zenonia 2: Lost Memories follows an almost identical template to the first game. You wander around a fantastical world, talking to villagers, exploring new areas and fighting beasts.
Familiar moves
As before, combat is something of an intensive grind used to mould and shape your hero. Defeating opponents grants you experience points, which in turn enable you to level up, which in turn lets you spend points on improving your skills and attributes.
The one key difference now is that your hero is one of four embarking on the quest, so you can choose which one to play at the outset. Yet while this grants you a slightly different perspective and fighting style, the core mission to retrieve some mystical crystals remains the same.
And unfortunately, so does the primitive mission design. Characters continue to send you on arbitrary fetch quests, tasking you with slaying a set number of enemies or collecting certain items.
This repetitive format was forgivable in the first Zenonia, which proved to be a refreshing return to RPG staples. It’s less so the second time around, which should have been an opportunity for Gamevil to push the formula into new territory. Read the rest of this entry »