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]
Pros
- Great gameplay
- Good story
- Awesome graphics
- SquareEnix quality we love
- Hidden dungeons
Cons
- Battle system could be deeper
- I can't wait for the iPad version!
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Reader comments
Chaos Rings for iPhone- app review
Easily the best game on the iPhone yet, in my opinion.
I'm waiting for them to put Final Fantasy XIII (or some variant of -) on the iPhone.
wow never even heard of this. Looks amazing
Actually, you're given the choice of 4 pairs of characters, and you have to beat the game with all 4 pairs before you can fight the final monster and truly beat the game. It makes the length of the game very long but also very fresh as you get to see the storyline from 4 different perspectives. I've never been so engrossed in a mobile game on any platform, including PSP.
why does this game get a review after two months of its release ...? Old game .. XD
Great game. Leveled up like crazy then killed bosses with one strike. Battle system could've been deeper but I guess it was compromised to allow casual play. Too short too. I wish they'd bring FF7 to the iPhone. That would've been 1000000x better than that Farmville/Guitar Hero announcement at the keynote.
@Calculus II: too short?? I think the fastest I've heard of someone getting 100% completion was 35 hours. You can actually get 108% completion. The game just keeps going and going.
@Shane
Your right. I only played through with the one set of characters. Plus I didn't count the hours I spent mindlessly leveling up.
@Calculus II
If you enjoyed the first set of characters you should definitely keep going. The storyline develops more and more and becomes very involved. Action does get a bit repetitive, though. The final (final, final) boss is pretty challenging. I barely beat him with my level 76 characters (and still haven't beat him with the other groups).
Also, totally agree with you about Farmville/Guitar Hero. Let's get some more games like CR and other in-depth games that were designed for the iPhone. I mean, I love GH, but isn't the point to be holding a guitar while you play? Not sliding your fingers across a tiny phone screen.
I beat the official final boss... And when i looked at the scenarios i realize theres a hidden boss for all of the characters. Im talking past the qualia... Anyone know any info on that? I do not mind spoilers
finished everything at 34:20. all level 100 and new game+ for 1 couple (too lazy to do for other characters). highly recommended.
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