iPhone review: The Quest

March 11th, 2009 •
Tags: 3D, games, Gaming, iPhone, mobile, RPG, The Quest

The Quest is a first-person Western RPG in the vein of Daggerfall and probably some older titles I don’t recall. RPGs on the app store are few and far between. Most of those are JRPGs which are often characterized by cookie-cutter save the world/princess storylines and strictly linear gameplay that rarely strays from the main storyline. The Quest, like other Western RPGs, is open-world nonlinear and contains many quests that are off the main storyline which can be completed in any order. This game is something of a throwback and may not appeal to new gamers who have only joined the fray in the last five or so years but veterans like myself will find much here to appreciate. The graphics are serviceable but nothing particular special to look at. However, the depth of this game is unmatched by anything I have seen thus far. The game includes a robust inventory system along with in-game shops that will sell you new items and buy your old ones. The game includes a magic system in which spells can either be cast from scrolls or learned from books. There are projectile and melee weapons at your disposal.

You will not find yourself running out of things to do here. At any given time, you will probably have multiple quests which can be completed in any order. There are townspeople to talk to. The game employs a day and night cycle which will actually have bearing on what you may do in the game. There is so much here it would be impossible to cover it all.

The game’s interface is a success in some areas and a failure in others. Movement can be accomplished in one of two ways: via the on-screen arrows or by gesturing on the actual viewport. The game recognizes six different movements: forward, backward, sidesteps left and right, and turns left and right. Arrow movement is straightforward; there is an arrow for each movement type. Gesture movement is less obvious but still fairly intuitive; swipe up to move forward, down to move backward, left or right for sidesteps, and diagonals for turning. Navigating the world is pretty easy using this system. Games like this are obviously better suited to a mouse and keyboard, but this is a good implementation given the platform. The inventory system is a bit unintuitive. When shopping or picking up an item,  the game allows you to switch between viewing your own items and the other party’s items (be that party a seller or the ground) by way of a pair of curved arrows. Unfortunately, it is not immediately obvious (at least to me) which arrow is which. The green arrow pointing up will display the other party’s inventory while the yellow arrow pointing down displays your own.

Combat is turn-based and simple enough to execute. Simply face your target and tap the attack button to perform a single attack after which the enemy will have an opportunity to either move or perform an attack on you. There is a little luck involved and health potions are strongly recommended.

I can’t recommend this as a game for the masses. Not everyone will enjoy it. It appeals to a small albeit devoted audience. However, for RPG gamers, this is a game that is hard to find on the go. A game with the depth of The Quest on a mobile platform is a real treat. It’s not without it’s problems, but those can easily be overlooked by anyone looking for a substantial RPG to play on the go.

Jonathan Blow working on a 2D RPG

January 24th, 2009 •
Tags: Braid, games, Gaming, Jonathan Blow, RPG, video games

I was happily cruising through my feed reader at typical breakneck speeds when a Kotaku post latched onto my eyeballs and forcibly sent them to a Gamasutra interview (That’s right. If you’re reading it on my blog, you’re now three levels deep.) with Jonathan Blow of Braid fame. Apparently, his current project is a 2D RPG. I hope he can breathe new life into this genre as he did the 2D platformer. Once upon a time, I loved RPGs unequivocally. Now, I don’t think I could stomach another $60 animated choose-your-own-adventure book. Having played Braid, I’m confident it won’t be just a skin on top of those old RPG tropes.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix playable demo

January 21st, 2009 •
Tags: demo, flash, puzzle, Puzzle Quest, RPG

The original Puzzle Quest pioneered the puzzle/RPG hybrid bastard child genre. The game quickly became available on a multitude of platforms and was critically praised.

A couple of days back, a Flash-based demo of the next game in the PQ series—Galactric—which is playable in any browser that supports Flash. In case you were in your hole for the past day or two and missed the news, you can now try one of the puzzle battles for yourself to check it out without even having to download and install a program. The puzzle part of the game is very similar to the original. The blocks are not square so the movement of blocks after clearing a group isn’t as immediately evident as it was in the original. I’m sure I will come to understand which blocks will fill in the holes as I continue to play. It’s certainly enjoyable, but I hope the RPG elements of the game have some new twists over the original to really bring this sequel into its own. Check it out and post your comments on the demo!

If you still haven’t checked out the original Puzzle Quest, it is definitely one of the most addictive gaming experiences conceived in the last several years (possibly only bested in the addictiveness category by Peggle). My favorite edition is the Xbox Live Arcade version which offers online play and excellent graphics. I have heard the PSP version is an excellent mobile version, but some of the mobile versions suffer due to the fact that the game puts so much information on the screen. It is sometimes difficult for feeble mobile displays to cram everything onto the screen. Sad since it is perfectly suited to mobile play!