While there are those who wish for nothing
more than a juicy RPG that compels them to
spend hours mastering skills or defeating
labyrinthine dungeons, the iPhone and iPod
Touch are arguably not well suited for such
epic tales. This hasn't stopped developers
from making or fans from loving attempts at
bringing classic RPG features to the App Store,
but when a developer like Crescent Moon Games
thinks outside the box to try something new
I have to admit I get a little excited.
Pocket RPG iPhone Edition should be familiar
to those of you who sport iPads as it's the
shrunk-down version of the game released back
in July, but if you missed it the first time
around, here's the breakdown.
For the most-part, Pocket RPG looks and feels
much like your average Diablo-clone with its
top-down view, hordes of enemies and Action-RPG
elements that promote jumping in to the fray
instead of strategically avoiding combat.
What makes this game so special though is
its system of starting the player off at level
'0' at the beginning of each randomly generated
dungeon. This may sound harsh, but the player
can opt to craft each one of the three available
classes to their style by investing cash and
'stars' towards unlockable skills that specialize
their chosen warrior; these carry on between
dungeons, eliminating a sense of 'grinding'
while also promoting an aggressive play-style
as you try to gain levels to do more damage.
Items are also scrapped at the end of each
dungeon (item-hoarders may feel a bit put-out)
but the upshot is a sense of joy at every
item drop instead of casually shrugging it
off knowing it can't be better than your 'uber
wand of destroy everything'.
Although the game doesn't clearly indicate
it, you can play each of the character classes
without overriding the progression of another,
giving you a chance to wield their unique
powers as well.
Ultimately Pocket RPG feels like a stripped
back version of your typical hack'n'slash
dungeon crawler, but the way in which it messes
with RPG conventions makes for a game that's
much harder to put down. If you love your
Action-RPGs, definitely take a look at this
game.
