Chaos Rings for iPhone- app review

Chaos Rings is the ultimate RPG thus far on the iPhone. Square Enix has done a fabulous job bringing the console RPG experience we have come to love on to our beloved Apple devices.

Our story begins with several pairings of unlikely partners thrust into a battle they do not wish to fight in a tower competing for rings. Starting the game you are given two choices for characters. Both teams include two people and you are always a party of two. When beginning, you are given a choice of two pairs and both have a similar story but different dialog. Each team has a stronger "fighter" type of character and the other is more of a support/magic character.

As the story evolves, you roam around the world presented to you in tiers. You often have a choice of what tier you would like. This way, you can always go back to an earlier level and gain more experiment for your characters (recommended) or continue on and enjoy the progressively harder battles.

The battle system in Chaos Rings is fun and does not seem to ever get old. Every battle allows you a few different attack options. You can defend, attack solo or as a pair. Defend is obvious, but solo and pair start to get interesting. If you choose solo, each character attacks individually and all attacks and damage are their own. If you decide to attack as a pair, you have a more combined powerful attack, but if attacked, both characters take damage. Of course you have the usual itms to revive fallen comrades, but instead of magic you collect "genes". Genes are basically spells that you collect randomly after defeating an enemy. After a battle your HPs are restored but not your magic points for genes. You have to exit the level or use an item to restore.

In between battling monsters you have to solve the occasional puzzle. This typically involves collecting crystals or moving blocks in a particular order within a certain number of moves. These puzzles can become frustrating as many are required to progress through a level. However, persistence usually pays off.

Once you make it back to the lobby level, there is a merchant to buy sand sell items. As always this comes in handy to sell stuff you don't need and buy stuff you do. The good news for a portable game of this nature is that you can save anywhere. Whew, it sure makes life easier.

But how does it look? I would equate it to Final Fantasy VIII on the PlayStation. Better textures and more polygons, but generally, that is the look in feel which is fine by me. The monsters are big and animated and lots of diversity in color and textures.

Should you get this game? If you even remotely like RPGs, this is a 100%' must-buy, no-brainer. Good story, fantastic gameplay and graphics, it is a dream for any RPG fan. Check the video and screens after the break!

[$12.99- iTunes Link]