Actually really liking this game so far, good controls, gets challenging, good upgrade/item/skill diversity, can see me playing a while. I've noticed you have all slated the music, glad I play in silent anyway then lol. What sort of upgrade stance is everyone taking? Leaning towards the items more (e.g. Attack power, def power etc) or going down the more powerful skill route? I've mainly done items but have been hammering the clerics heal all spell and alphonses fire all spell. Brought an IAP just to support devs, only the $.99 one, made me way op first level after upgrades lol
I played for about an hour, and I have some thoughts about the game. Instead of using multiple currencies and timers, the game allows you to blow all your money on upgrades for everything. Armor, weapons, skills, trinkets, if it can be equipped/used it can be upgraded. You earn coins by finishing/replaying levels, although there was that one time where I exited a level by accident and the game gave me the coin and XP I had earned up to that point. A nice touch, sure, but just begging for exploitation. However, there is the equipment shop, and this is where I can see the devs making some money: Equipment rarely, if ever, drops in-game, usually as a level completion reward, which means that if you want new equipment you have to use the shop. However, there is a grand total of TWO pieces of equipment on sale at any time. You can pay a small fee to refresh the store and switch out the two items being sold, but there is never more than two pieces on sale. Thus, you either have to upgrade your starting equipment, or spend that money on what is, in essence, a lottery, and pray that not only a better piece of equipment drops, but that you can afford it when it shows up. The shop auto-refreshes after completing a level, so you don't have to pay that refresh fee, but it means grinding. So that's that. Another thing I would like to bring to attention is the rest of the game as a whole. The Battleheart combat system is an interesting system; it is essentially a PC Real-Time Strategy system smaller in scale and tailor-made for iOS devices. I can see why it would be popular among game devs. However, there is not enough to distinguish the combat in this game from the combat of Battleheart, other than pretty DS-style graphics and some name-changing. This means that, yes, this game is fun to play and has a cool combat system, but only because the Battleheart combat system is cool and fun to play. In short, there is nothing truly original about the combat in this game. Sure, it can be enjoyed, but it is so similar to Battleheart with no unique mechanics of its own that I am at a loss to say "Yay" or "Nay" in terms of a recommendation. If you want more Battleheart-style gameplay, this'll do it, but if you want something more than that you will be disappointed. And then... The story. I have barely gotten much into the game, so I do not think I am that qualified to judge the story, but I would still like to mention a couple subjective metrics I hold a game's story to: 1.) Is it told through gameplay, I.e. can you picture what happened in a certain level just by interacting with the level? The answer is a resounding "NO!" for this game. All story was told through dialogue and/or scripted events, with the only interactive bits being the combat sections, and it is impossible to put into context why the combat sections are happening without the dialogue/scripted events. This means that the combat sections by themselves cannot carry the story, and thus the interactive portions where the player plays the game hold no meaning except to move from one cutscene to the next. 2.) Are the characters relatable and do they avoid stereotype? This one is tricky: Stereotypes ARE relatable, which is why we happen to see them again and again; familiarity breeds understanding, which helps players connect with the characters. However, there must be more than the stereotypes to the characters in order for them to be well-written; Familiarity ALSO breeds contempt, as the saying goes In any case, I have not seen much of anything about these characters that is truly unique, that elevates them beyond the stereotypes that make their mold. This may not be the case later on in the story, but the initial impression is that these characters are stereotypical and not well-written. Correct spelling, punctuation and grammar does not a good writer make 3.) Is the art direction unique enough to have it stand out from other games in its respective genre? Sadly, the answer is NO here, once again. This chibi-fantasy style was pioneered by the Final Fantasy series and its spinoff, FF Crystal Chronicles, at least to my knowledge. Sure, no actual assets were lifted from those games, but the art is so faithful to that style that one could be forgiven for implying that such a thing happened. Why do I stick this overall concept with good writing? Because the art style influences the storytelling. For example, Mark of the Ninja, an indie game on XBLA and Steam, tells TONS of story with just its art direction alone, and in many cases the art changes the approach to gameplay. Defender of Texel's intricate pixel art tells a story with every hero summoned, every enemy defeated, without the dialog that moves the core story forward. This game has none of that depth because the derivative nature of its art style has nothing that we have not seen before. 4.) How's the audio? I haven't heard the audio for this game yet, so I cannot judge; I put it here for similar reasons that I put the art style here. In short, this game does not hold up in my eyes. Even with the parts that I am not truly qualified to judge, the parts that I have seen do not suggest much that is positive. I'd give this a pass if you want something different from Battleheart and with a more engaging story; if for some reason you WANT more Battleheart and don't give two craps about story or characters, then this is cute, pretty, shallow and MOAR BATTLEHEART, for better or worse. I personally will be passing on this game. 2/5 stars.
Well battleheart you upgraded by shop and no drops hardly ever. Plus final fantasy wasn't the only game using chibi graphics look at the Nintendo ds libary. The battling is more sefirah really then battleheart but does have that feel. I bet this was ment to be dsiware from the feel of it. I still say its a great game even mentioned it to sanuku who was gonna pass this off till I mentioned it to him I believe. Yes battleheart is the winner but hey for free this and sefirah can hold us till battleheart 2
Isn't that pretty much what anyone who would consider this game, does want? Except that I'm not really convinced that Battleheart-style combat is "shallow". There's a fair amount of depth in the form of control and choices to make.
Oops, I never meant to imply that the Battleheart-style combat is shallow; I meant to say that this game USING Battleheart-style combat is shallow, not the combat itself. My bad People do have differing view points, thus it is impossible to truly define "what ALL people want" in anything other than extreme generalities. That is an incredibly subjective thing, and in terms of my analysis, I tried to stay away from that and focus more on what I saw within the game itself. I also tried to be honest when my subjective opinions showed themselves. It was in my recommendations that I began to factor in what people stand to expect from the game, and who it may or may not appeal to. It's standard Reviewing procedure, but if there was anything reviewing-wise I would change it would be the star rating; I just slapped one on there because it was there to be used, and it's an extremely broad summary of how I personally see the game, but if I was publishing this in a magazine I would not use a rating period because it is a SUBJECTIVE representation of my SUBJECTIVE opinion mixed with some SOMEWHAT OBJECTIVE BUT NOT QUITE OBJECTIVE facts, and I recognize and understand that, and if I failed to communicate that then I apologize. Hope that clears things up, and good catch on my mistakes! The Internet is the most cruel editor ever made Also, Sci Fi Heroes wasn't THIS unoriginal; the whole sci-fi parody angle was brilliant. The game had a bunch of other problems, though >_<
It is a Battleheart clone done right. Not as good as Battleheart, but better than most clones. Im sure your review is your opinion, but i do have some things to point out in your review. 1. On your question, NONE of the Battleheart-esque games have cinematic sequences. At least this one has animated entrances during gameplay and within missions. This is a very unfair statement. Some games have auto-battles that never make sense, some games only want you to move from point A to point B and put a crapload of enemies in between. This game, adds the extra of inserting dialogues in between battle areas. 2. Im sure youre right about the characters being stereotypes. But i find the main character just too retardedly positive. His character is too good making him too predictable down to the dot. What i like about the characters in general is that they at least try to give the different characters "character" that distinguish them from each other. 3. I think your third criteria makes TONS of game look like crap. Chibi art existed even before FFCC titles but that didnt stop those from being fantastic because, well, of its high production values. 4. Well... i think the audio was somewhere in between average and somewhat bad. Im not saying you're wrong or anything because reviews are opinions. I just thought they'd rate at least a 3 as a 2 is pretty much an "avoid it" rating. The game is free, and the IAP is not needed at all. Im at 4-x and i never even needed to replay a mission to progress. And in some ways, it's still a decent clone, in which some already even found it really good. I have a question though... are these your criteria for rating all the games you review?
Just want to note that the item store changes every time. I just went in and it offered 7 equipment and 5 items. Also, by upgrading after +5 you get the next level of equipment at half price. And on another note about this battleheart clone thing...because there is a lot of what reads to me like negativity about BH cloning: On the one hand, battleheart is just double dragon (going back 20 years here!) with rpg elements (class, skill, equipment, levels) and limited to one screen and no story. It's all been done before we are just adding variations on a theme. Different formats, like touch change the equation a little bit. With touch you can easily control multiple character that would have been clunky even with a mouse, let alone a controller. There are games which really and truly are shameless rip-offs and deserve to be called such. Calling a game a clone is, to me, calling it a rip off or near rip off. this game, to me, is not a clone but just in the same genre as battleheart.
1. True, the cinematic sequences are there, but I was focused on storytelling within the actual gameplay. Watching a cutscene is not gameplay; it is a completely different form of storytelling in many respects. And from a cinematic perspective, the cutscenes are very lazy. The camera never shifts angle once, only the position shifts when absolutely necessary. Always the same angle, even when there are plot elements happening that are important to the characters. There are no establishing shots of the individual characters that allow us to get a really good look at them; there is no application of the gilm techniques and styles that we have associated with film-making; we only see the characters on-screen from the required distance for gameplay, which is pretty far away. It de-emphasizes the characters and makes them seem as merely playing pieces... which they are, but for the sake of telling a good story, shouldn't the characters be given higher visual significance? Thus, you are right that the cinematic sequences are something different from Battleheart, but it was a completely different style of storytelling and it is possible to skip them entirely. Thus, from a gameplay perspective, do the cutscenes help the game play better by investing us in the characters? If they are skipped, then no. If they are not, then we have to see just how uninteresting the cutscenes are. In a standard KRPG, you can get away with the constant static angle because such a game emulates the sprite style of the SNES, which required the static angle. But this game is not sprite-based. It uses what appear to be CG 3D models. So why not make the cutscenes more engaging? I'm sure there is a reason for the static angle, but it seriously hurts the storytelling capacity of the game. Let me give an example of storytelling via gameplay, for the sake of comparison: Skyrim. The entire world is free for you to explore, to either follow the main quest or goof off and do whatever you want. You decide what you do when, and control of the character is never taken away from you, with the only exception being the beginning of the game, but since that weaves in character creation (and the fact that you regain control as part of the in-game tutorial) so control is never taken away for long. You, the player, are free to experience whatever you want to experience from the game: want to plunder every dungeon? Check. Hunt dragons? Check. Help the folks of Skyrim with their problems? Check. Join the Dark Brotherhood? Check. All these stories are waiting to be uncovered, but only if you, the player, want to uncover them. This means that once you uncover a particular story, you own that story far more than if someone put a story in front of you with no input from the player, which is what cutscenes do. If I was in any official reviewing capacity, I have to keep these facts in mind. This is because storytelling can be very powerful if done right, and to see this game make such a poor job of levying the natural storytelling strengths of the mediums of film ala the cutscenes AND video games ala the gameplay is kinda sad. Yes, many games either have no story, or do not care about/do not need a story. But this game does have a story, so why should I turn a blind eye to it if the game is going to put that story in front of me after every battle sequence? If the game goes out of its way to put player focus on the story, then the game is trying to tell us that the story matters. Therefore, the story is not something to be looked over in an objective analysis in this particular case. In that perspective, I fail to see how criticizing the storytelling in the game is unfair. You do have a point, but I fail to see how it applies in this specific case. 2. You have a point; at least the characters do have a little color to them. 3. ...You have a very good point. I will have to rethink my stance in this criteria, possibly along the lines of "Does it do something unique with its chosen art style, and does the chosen art style enhance the storytelling in the game?" Along that line, I fail to see how the game's chibi-style art enhances the story. The story itself is quite serious, yet the art is so un-serious that it puts the look of the world at odds with the story within that world. Sure, if done right it can create a contrast that could be interesting ala the Oddworld games, but if not then it just puts people off. I do not know if this game does something unique with the chibi art; someone more knowledgeable than me would have to decide that. 4. Still haven't listened to the audio, and I am not sure I want to at this point. Yes, these are the criteria that run through my mind as I play a game, when it comes to its storytelling, if it has a story to tell. There is a separate set of criteria for gameplay, since storytelling is not always gameplay and vice versa; sometimes an apple is just an apple, and not a Braeburn or a Golden Delicious (^_^) As for this game, I took a star off for the lazy uninteresting cutscenes, one star off for a poorly written story with colorful but stereotypical characters, and a third star off for unoriginal gameplay that adds nothing new to a tried-and-true formula. I left a star on because, well, Battleheart combat is fun, and this game has essentially the same combat system in fact if not name, so yeah, you can enjoy playing the game. Therefore, two stars remain; whereas a one-star rating would mean the essence of garbage, two stars mean that at least something about the game can be enjoyed. Again, ratings are subjective, and I pointed out that I only put one on there to show what I personally thought of the game in my OP, which I explained in the above paragraph. As a result, I strongly recommend that you ignore my star rating, and focus more on the logic and criticisms/ideas that went behind the rating. Thanks for catching the problem with #3, and for highlighting that, yes, these characters do have some character to them. Also, thanks TA folks for pointing out that there are more than two items per store refresh; the number must increase the further you get into the game, or maybe I was just really unlucky As to the stigma of calling something a clone: you have a good point. Then again, the combat in this game is Battleheart in fact, if not in name, so it could be reasoned that this is a FUNCTIONAL clone, but not a TOTAL clone. Yes, they are within the same genre, and yes, it could be said that the combat of this game was inspired by Battleheart. Thanks for helping me get my opinions straight and for pointing out where I was wrong; as an amateur writer, I really appreciate the debate and the constructive criticism of my analysis. Sincerely, Mr. Album
Hey Exact & Album, nice posts, and good points ! To me calling a game a clone is not only the core is the same but the art style too. Sci fi heroes is clearly (a bad iap) clone of Battleheart, Same core, same style , just futuristic Here the gameplay is the same but , all other points (gfx, sounds, design, story etc.. ) are differents and i appreciate the effort. it's the same for sefirah, BH like, but ambiance , graphically (Korean godesses with boobs :b hahem , a dark fantasy approach.) Those two games have a 'soul' despite based on a same gameplay system. A clone is more a rippoff in mechanics and textures of a successful game and let make a game similar to attract a type of people... Gameloft is the best cloner out there (gta clone, halo clone...)
I just realized something. Taken on an iPhone 4S (should be attached to the post) Anyone seeing the black bars to the left and right? That's kinda odd to see on a 4S....
Its also on touch 4. Hasn't bothered me and truthfully haven't noticed till now. Guess because the screen is not stretched or squeezed in.
Liking it so far. My main beef with Battleheart is that you have to target with an actor-to-target swipe. Here I can just tap instead if I want, making the UI a lot more appealing to me than in Battleheart.
Yeah I also like that when you tap on the healer you can just + another character to heal them, and it also shows you who is currently being healed. You can also see when skills have refreshed. Also, the three items provide nice bonuses. I just got to level 20 and I think the characters skins and titles change. Now I have a "wolf king" for instance. And the story is showing a little more spice. Not a whole lot, but the game is better for it.
I never did say that the game could not be enjoyed, you know ;3 I said that it had a lot of bad things about it that I cannot ignore. Then again, Troll 2 has a lot of bad things about it, and people somehow still enjoy it XD
Same here I don't care if its similar to another Game or not, to me it has it's own individuality so to me it's a different game. Every game out there is similar to another in some way or another, just enjoy the difference ey Yes u get different skills and titles throughout at different levels, ie 10 and 20 which I think is a nice touch. Which chapter and mission are I on dude? ----------------------------------------- On a seperate note I've just figure something out that I thought of share with everyone. As u all know there are many characters available throughout with different ones becoming available at different times an levels. Now I'm not sure about u lot but I've tended to not use all of them but instead find out which four can work together the strongest and focus on building them up. Obviously u can swap certain equipment between certain characters but the upgrading of passive and active skills can cost a hell of a lot (I've probably spent 200k+ on them so far) which is why I don't want to play with all, however I have u locked all. Now here's my little tip, even if u don't want to play with the characters it is worth unlocking them (apart from wolf which I use anyway) as u call remove all of their respective equipment and sell it back to the shop and make a profit. Just as an FYI the four I use are Roland, Charlotte, night fang and night wind. My reasons for this are: Roland is far stronger in attack than hilde, with hilde being far stronger in def, I aim to kill quick not linger and be beat on. Charlotte as I like to always have a healer and I find her stronger than Claude plus I have her passive and active skills all maxed, which would cost another small fortune to do on Claude. Night fang (wolf) I like due to his high attack, combo rate (for quick kills) and leech life so u don't HAVE to heal him most of the time, his movement also helps with having no range unit. And finally night wind, I prefer her because she is far stronger than bright moon, infact she is the strongest attacker I have at nearly 1000 attack, add that to her combo rate, movement and leech life she is incredible. These four together eliminate targets swift and powerfully, with even the bosses being trounced before the other units that appear even have chance to so much damage. U can set one to each side of the map and they can hold their own even against tough opponents. I did used to like the ranged units, especially delphonse's combo rate from range, that was exceptional, but the the lesser power is what drew me away from them, although I cannot comment on archers as I never used either of them Anyway enough of my rambling, just thought some might benefit from that info, off to complete the game now Edit: sorry couldn't help but add a couple more things, u prob all know but will help any new players starting out. 1) upgrade passive skills, they are essential. Just don't waste cash on ones u might replace later on 2) when an enemy is going to use a skill, if u kill him before the 5 seconds elapses the skill won't strike (slightly obvious but maybe not to some) 3) make sure u try and end all levels with all party members alive, if any die u receive a lesser rating at the end (good instead of perfect) and less rewards. U will always get one final treasure chest less, with the one u lose possibly containing a vital item such as rings, statues etc
