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| Mike Salbato |
And one of the platform's premiere RPGs is 50% off!
07.15.11 - 1:14 AM
Apple's iOS-based devices have - regardless of your feelings on the matter - become a major player in the game industry. There's often so much to talk about weekly with game releases and announcements, it's hard to keep up. It makes me glad we only cover RPGs! We're going to try something new this week, which may or may not become a standard feature: Weekly wrap-ups for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad games. While we'll still run regular stories like our Emissary of War announcement, these wrap-ups will try and highlight game releases, news snippets, price drops or noteworthy updates for iOS games. We hope you like this approach: Let us know via Facebook, Twitter or our forums!
(Oh, and all prices are in USD. You'll want to check your own country's App Store for pricing and availability.)
Pocket RPG (iPad Only)
by Crescent Moon Games
$2.99 [iTunes link] (40% off launch sale)
A long time in coming, Pocket RPG finally released this week. In development since last year by Tasty Poison Games, the game has been hotly anticipated. Eventually, Crescent Moon Games stepped in to bring the game to market, as the company did with Galoobeth Games' Aralon: Sword and Shadow.
Pocket RPG is a dungeon crawler with dual-stick controls, and features three character classes: Blade Master (melee specialist), Dark Ranger (essentially an archer) and Battle Mage (who wields elemental magic). As you'd expect from a dungeon crawler, looting is important: not only so you have better gear, but your characters' skills and stats grow based on your equipment.
While the game is iPad-only for now, word is an iPhone/iPod touch version is coming in the not-too-distant future. Below is a gameplay trailer for Pocket RPG via Touch Arcade, along with a selection of screen shots:
Avadon: The Black Fortress HD (iPad Only)
by Spiderweb Software
$9.99 [iTunes link]
About two months ago, Dave Yeager reviewed Spiderweb Software's Avadon: The Black Fortress for PC and thoroughly enjoyed it. That same game is now available for the iPad as of late June, so if you have an iPad and have a penchant for old school, you might want to take a look at Avadon.
Fantastic Knight (Universal)
by Minoraxis, Inc.
$2.99 [iTunes link]
To say there's an abundance of Korean RPGs on the App Store is an understatement. While several are clearly ports from smaller-screened devices and feel shoehorned into Apple's devices, some, like GAMEVIL's Zenonia series make a better transition. Minoraxis' Fantastic Knight released last month, and reception seems mixed depending on your source: Some folks seem to love it and others feel it's more of the same. If nothing else, Fantastic Knight features a nicely-polished interface and visuals, and appears to be a fun - if simple - hack-and-slash-based action RPG. That the developers chose to release a single Universal app as opposed to separate iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions should be respected as well. Take a look at the game in its official trailer below, and see if it's up your alley. (And chuckle with me at the visual of a floppy disk icon to "save" - something that probably needs to go away; Microsoft, I'm looking at you too.)
Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD (Universal)
by Crescent Moon Games
$4.99 [iTunes link] (50% off; formerly $9.99)
Speaking of Aralon, it's 50% off right now! It's been $4.99 for about a week now, but there's no telling how long the price will last. if you're on the fence, check out John Tucker's review of the title.
