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iOS Gaming Dec/Jan: GET

M

More_Badass

Member
And it's yet another round of "I don't know that was coming to mobile!"

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPho...:+Murder+in+the+Hotel+Lisbon/news.asp?c=63338

Murder in the Hotel Lisbon is one of the few point and clicks I really enjoyed. Zany, silly, good writing, and a nice art style.

Posted these inpressions a year ago
Playing as the (in?)famous Detective Justin Case and his wisecracking robot sidekick Clownbot, you find yourself engrossed in a strange and hilarious abstract suicide case. How strange? Well it's a man who "committed suicide with 14 stabs to the back while at the same time he peacefully drank his coffee." I really don't want to delve too much into the story because it's best experienced for yourself, but the zany characters and the witty dialogue and plot twists make for a fun charming narrative. The banter between Case and Clownbot is great and the developers loved poking fun at the genre mechanics as well as other game elements. Besides the funny narrative, you'll be exploring various locations, gathering evidence, and interrogating witnesses. That aspect reminded me slightly of LA Noire, in that you need to select evidence you've found with accusations during the suspect interviews. The game's pixel art gives the whole game a whimsical cartoony atmosphere that really adds to the experience
Click to expand...

637x358.resizedimage
 
A

awp69

Member
Now that I've gotten to the meat of the game, Unpixelate is pretty fun. Takes some getting used to the controls, but once you do, it's clever and devious. Difficulty ramps up very quickly. This is not a ball rolling game as much as it is a puzzle platfomer. You have to plan carefully how to traverse the courses with platforms that disappear and may if you don't plan correctly you may be stuck with no way to get to the exit.
 
T

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Just as a note, I will most likely not be able to host a February iOS thread, new work commitments and such outside of the GAF-O-SPHERE leaves me little time to manage these for now.
 
D

Dog Problems

Banned
I don't know if anyone is familiar with indie developer Tom Sennet, but what he's most known for is a series of platformers called RunMan. This week he put out a short mobile version on iOS called RunMan the Great. It's free and only a single level but he seems to have more in the works for it.

runman.gif
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Dog Problems said:
I don't know if anyone is familiar with indie developer Tom Sennet, but what he's most known for is a series of platformers called RunMan. This week he put out a short mobile version on iOS called RunMan the Great. It's free and only a single level but he seems to have more in the works for it.

runman.gif
Click to expand...
Runman! I remember those. N and Fancy Pants were my main indie platformers during high school, but I played tons of Runman as well. Definitely checking this out now
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Really?
http://www.148apps.com/reviews/socioball-review/
My only significant concern with Socioball is its price tag. It’s free of in-app purchases and stylishly constructed, but $2.99 is going to be off-putting to some. Don’t worry about that, though.
Click to expand...
If we shouldn't worry about it, why even mention it in the first place. I know, I know, this is mobile gaming we're talking about, but it's still disappointing that a $3 price tag is a "significant concern"
 
F

Flunkie

Banned
More_Badass said:
Really?
http://www.148apps.com/reviews/socioball-review/

If we shouldn't worry about it, why even mention it in the first place. I know, I know, this is mobile gaming we're talking about, but it's still disappointing that a $3 price tag is a "significant concern"
Click to expand...

wow

also Hero Emblems feels like a F2P game with its grind but I appreciate the absence of IAP. It just started out way too hard and I'm having to walk back and forth to grind experience so I can actually kill things. Fat Princess is good too, though. Kind of similar games, really.
 
A

awp69

Member
Flunkie said:
wow

also Hero Emblems feels like a F2P game with its grind but I appreciate the absence of IAP. It just started out way too hard and I'm having to walk back and forth to grind experience so I can actually kill things. Fat Princess is good too, though. Kind of similar games, really.
Click to expand...

See I don't think of Hero Emblems as feeling like a F2P game. I just think it's old school hard. There's been several bosses I had to fight more than once but I've put in over eight hours so far and haven't really grinded. Just took different approaches and put more thought into what matches I was making in order to set up things for the boss fights.

Sure I may need to grind. I just appreciate the difficulty. It's nice because I know that I can beat the game if it put my mind to it. Guess it helps actually enjoying the gameplay too. If I didn't like the gameplay, maybe I'd feel differently about "grinding".

EDIT: Okay, I'm now at the point where I'm grinding, but I still love it, 😋
 
K

KingKong

Member
Beat Gunbrick, fun little game. The Toucharcade review was kind of harsh, I actually appreciated the fact that it didnt have that 3 star crap and would just load the next level right away
 
C

colinp

Banned
Tunesmith said:
Just as a note, I will most likely not be able to host a February iOS thread, new work commitments and such outside of the GAF-O-SPHERE leaves me little time to manage these for now.
Click to expand...

No worries Tunesmith, we appreciate all you've done for this thread over the years. You definitely have earned a break!

Any volunteers to take over for a bit?
 
P

pa22word

Member
Hello all, in currently stuck on my ass after surgery with nothing but my phone and was wondering if I could get some recs in some fun simple games that don't require much in terms of active motions. Anything will do, really.

Also am wondering if there's any good wizardry like games on iOS to play.

Also sorry if I come off as barely understandable. Autocorrect + oxy = lol me :p
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Flunkie said:
wow

also Hero Emblems feels like a F2P game with its grind but I appreciate the absence of IAP. It just started out way too hard and I'm having to walk back and forth to grind experience so I can actually kill things. Fat Princess is good too, though. Kind of similar games, really.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say it feels like a F2P game, but rather that it doesn't hold your hand. It follows the Dark Souls school of design. If you go to an area, and you get killed fast, you're probably not ready for that area yet. Go back, replay areas you defeated already, improve and level up, until you can handle it. There's a grind, but it's a balanced grind. It's a wall designed around challenge and difficulty rather than pushing you to buy IAP.
 
A

awp69

Member
More_Badass said:
I wouldn't say it feels like a F2P game, but rather that it doesn't hold your hand. It follows the Dark Souls school of design. If you go to an area, and you get killed fast, you're probably not ready for that area yet. Go back, replay areas you defeated already, improve and level up, until you can handle it. There's a grind, but it's a balanced grind. It's a wall designed around challenge and difficulty rather than pushing you to buy IAP.
Click to expand...

That's a good way to put it.
 
A

awp69

Member
KingKong said:
Beat Gunbrick, fun little game. The Toucharcade review was kind of harsh, I actually appreciated the fact that it didnt have that 3 star crap and would just load the next level right away
Click to expand...

I completely disagreed with the TA review. I thought the game itself was brilliant and there was plenty of content. As someone in the comments section said, why does a game like Monument Valley get stellar reviews and is short? And Gunbrick really isn't short. Some of the levels themselves were pretty long.

It's one of the best games so far this year.
 
A

awp69

Member
More_Badass said:
Hero Emblems deserves an OT given the amount of discussion going on here and the quality of the game. Any title suggestions?

Also I made threads for Shadowmatic, Pry, and Stratolith
Click to expand...

I dunno. Not clever with titles. Maybe Hero Emblems: The Dark Souls of Match-3 RPGs?

What's funny is as much as I have tooted my own horn about it, I read some of the TA thread and am totally lost with some of what they're talking about. Eight hours in and still on the first continent. I could probably use some help myself. Yet I can't even think of the last time I spent that many hours on a single iOS game in a week.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
awp69 said:
I dunno. Not clever with titles. Maybe Hero Emblems: The Dark Souls of Match-3 RPGs?

What's funny is as much as I have tooted my own horn about it, I read some of the TA thread and am totally lost with some of what they're talking about. Eight hours in and still on the first continent. I could probably use some help myself. Yet I can't even think of the last time I spent that many hours on a single iOS game in a week.
Click to expand...
Nah, mention Dark Souls and people will only be disappointed when they check out the thread
I was thinking "A True Match-3 RPG Successor to Puzzle Quest"
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Mayday! Deep space is a brilliant idea in a flawless package.
Really really engaging.
Bought in a impulse after having watched Alien for the 100000 time.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Anyone know if Capsized+ has any issues due to IOS 8? Was thinking of getting it but the last update was in 2013, so I'm wary

And damn, who would thought that a GOTY frontrunner would release so early in the year? Hero Emblems is that good
 
A

awp69

Member
More_Badass said:
And damn, who would though that a GOTY frontrunner would release so early in the year? Hero Emblems is that good
Click to expand...

+1

Also still feel that Gunbrick is under appreciated. As of now, obviously early, it also would be on my GoTY list.

No matter what comes out this year, I doubt enough would come out to knock Hero Emblems out of my top 10 for the year. It's already one of my favorite iOS games of all time.
 
F

F-Pina

Member
More_Badass said:
And it's yet another round of "I don't know that was coming to mobile!"

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPho...:+Murder+in+the+Hotel+Lisbon/news.asp?c=63338

Murder in the Hotel Lisbon is one of the few point and clicks I really enjoyed. Zany, silly, good writing, and a nice art style.

637x358.resizedimage
Click to expand...

Hey dude! Thanks for the impressions.
Yes, we are launching on Thursday the 22nd. I was gonna post it here but now it's done :D H
ere is a NEW promo screen made specially for the launch.

j8wJ7j1CLss05_xs.jpg
 
T

Tschis

Member
Just passing by to recommend Crusaders Quest.

It's addictive, fun, with a lot of funny little heroes short backgrounds, pretty visual style for those who like low bit graphics.

Also, you can go far without having to donate, so that's a plus.

And collecting all heroes has a pokemon-like feeling of "gotta catch em all" =)

Appstore
 
M

More_Badass

Member
In case someone got a shiny new iPad and thought Capsized+ looked like a cool game to get, don't. Game is broken due to IOS 8 and turns out the devs went out of business
 
K

killercow

Member
M

More_Badass

Member
JCho133 said:
Hero emblems is too much of a grind
Click to expand...
Nah
More_Badass said:
I wouldn't say it feels like a F2P game, but rather that it doesn't hold your hand. It follows the Dark Souls school of design. If you go to an area, and you get killed fast, you're probably not ready for that area yet. Go back, replay areas you defeated already, improve and level up, until you can handle it. There's a grind, but it's a balanced grind. It's a wall designed around challenge and difficulty rather than pushing you to buy IAP.
Click to expand...
At least that's my take on it. Have you defeated the Red Demon yet?
 
O

okno

Member
JCho133 said:
Hero emblems is too much of a grind
Click to expand...

It really isn't. I have only run into two spots where I had to grind at all, and all I had to do was level up once to be able to move on.

I finally beat that damn boss in the Cloisters (after doing said one level up), and the game after that was a total breeze. Managed to earn enough gold at the end of the first continent to purchase two 2000g emblems, then the second continent was a complete cake walk (where I also received Elsa's second emblem upgrade as a drop, whoop!) until I reached the area with the road block where I got my ass handed to me roundly. It was late in the night and I was pretty tired, so I'm sure I lost due to me not paying attention and not because of a sudden spike in difficulty.

In the time between beating that boss I hated so very, very much, I have leveled up at least another five times by just moving forward, and things, as a whole, feel a lot easier and less of a headache. The second continent has some interesting new enemies, as well, I like the variations in mobs. Another thing I noticed on the second continent is the fact that enemies tend to drop more silver coins which are worth double, so I'm starting to really earn a ton of coin!

I'm turning around a bit on the story, as well. The characters are cute and funny, and I'm pretty positive that Lord Sage is behind all of this and is just stringing along the team. I also thought that the witch was yanking my chain when sending us on the quest and was going to take over Cloyd Town behind my back. I'm pretty skeptical on everyone's motives in this game, heh. I just feel like I can't trust anyone!
 
M

More_Badass

Member
JCho133 said:
No killed me in one hit
Click to expand...
Yeah, you'll want to level up some more and get Trista's Purify skill to deal with debuffs. Focus on using the 5-Emblems for Alston's barrier skill to shield yourself from damage and use buffed tiles to unleash fiery attacks from Howard and Elsa while protected

The game really is reminiscent of Demon's Souls in terms of its difficulty curve. Like in that game, if you go to a new area and the enemies are too much to handle, that's a sign that you need to return to areas you defeated before and level up.
 
J

JCho133

Member
okno said:
It really isn't. I have only run into two spots where I had to grind at all, and all I had to do was level up once to be able to move on.

I finally beat that damn boss in the Cloisters (after doing said one level up), and the game after that was a total breeze. Managed to earn enough gold at the end of the first continent to purchase two 2000g emblems, then the second continent was a complete cake walk (where I also received Elsa's second emblem upgrade as a drop, whoop!) until I reached the area with the road block where I got my ass handed to me roundly. It was late in the night and I was pretty tired, so I'm sure I lost due to me not paying attention and not because of a sudden spike in difficulty.

In the time between beating that boss I hated so very, very much, I have leveled up at least another five times by just moving forward, and things, as a whole, feel a lot easier and less of a headache. The second continent has some interesting new enemies, as well, I like the variations in mobs. Another thing I noticed on the second continent is the fact that enemies tend to drop more silver coins which are worth double, so I'm starting to really earn a ton of coin!

I'm turning around a bit on the story, as well. The characters are cute and funny, and I'm pretty positive that Lord Sage is behind all of this and is just stringing along the team. I also thought that the witch was yanking my chain when sending us on the quest and was going to take over Cloyd Town behind my back. I'm pretty skeptical on everyone's motives in this game, heh. I just feel like I can't trust anyone!
Click to expand...

Ok I'm sorry, I'll give it some more time.

And yeah so far I'm pretty impressed with the story, all the characters are pretty interesting and all the dialogue is enjoyable
 
A

awp69

Member
Jcho -

The focus on 5 emblem matches is especially important and making sure to save them for the boss battle.

Also take your time killing off the grunt level enemies prior to the boss battle. Instead of focusing only on attacks. Make sue you continue to heal and match shields because you want those to be full or close to full when you reach the boss.

This way you can also try to save healing and shield potions for the boss fight, which can be used as needed and not take away a match turn.

While having corresponding emblem upgrades for boss weaknesses are good and probably become even more important as you go on, I've found repeating boss levels focusing the strategy can win fights as much as "grinding" for higher levels and emblems.

Just saying strategy can be just as, if not more important, than levels and emblems.

I mentioned before that I defeated every boss on the first continent with just the 300 coin level upgrades and didn't buy a single skill. The first level emblems, potions and strategy worked. So don't think you need to grind for the 2000 coin emblems (at least for the first continent).
 
J

JCho133

Member
Yeah, I killed the graveyard boss in two hits because I used 2 S-emblems in conjunction with each other ;-)

I'm not finding it that difficult other than the fact that I just got slaughtered in one hit by the red demon yet I had full health and shields practically the whole dungeon. I'll just need to use on S-emblem with my shield guy to make a force field next time like has been said.

Most of my grind complaints are that I just want to buy a bunch of items and stuff because they're cool but you earn money pretty slowly

Also, I want to listen to my own music while I play. I mean cmon guys this is 2015

;)
 
O

okno

Member
I officially have "Tetris eyes" when I close my eyes. Constantly swapping pieces and trying to make those 5-match emblems whenever I lay down @_@
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Don't worry about money in Hero Emblems.
By the time you will be in third continent, you will have over 30K gold always.

Third continent is amazing btw....constant skill switching and many decisions to be had.

20 hours and counting.
Stuck since 2 hours in the Tower of Deity.
I'll try again later tonight...I feel I have now the perfect skill/Emblems combo.

Pro tip: if you ever see a possible 4-match...DON'T.
Try your best to make it a 5 one...usually there is a way.
Getting to a boss with adjacent emblems is the best thing ever.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
PittaGAF said:
Don't worry about money in Hero Emblems.
By the time you will be in third continent, you will have over 30K gold always.

Third continent is amazing btw....constant skill switching and many decisions to be had.

20 hours and counting.
Stuck since 2 hours in the Tower of Deity.
I'll try again later tonight...I feel I have now the perfect skill/Emblems combo.

Pro tip: if you ever see a possible 4-match...DON'T.
Try your best to make it a 5 one...usually there is a way.
Getting to a boss with adjacent emblems is the best thing ever.
Click to expand...
Seriously, the time:cost ratio is incredible. What was the last time you could say you spent 20+ hours on a mobile game that wasn't a console or PC port? And those are 20 hours of actual progress, not trying to get a high score or get 3 stars
 
J

JCho133

Member
I just realized how emblems work. I thought it was a simple buff but it buffs how much your stats increase when leveling up.

This is cool
 
H

HamsterPackage

Member
Quick question guys, Can the ipod touch 5th gen run most/all games on the app store?

Can get a good deal on one just wondering if it's capable. I might just get a ipad Mini, but then it isn't very portable for music on the bus/train.
 
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