iPhone/iTouch app and game thread

[rittchard]

A 10-minute developer walkthrough of Aralon:  Sword & Shadow, the open world 3D RPG due out in a couple weeks.  Looks pretty awesome.

That game just looks so generic to me. It looks like every other 3rd person rpg. Right down to the fetch quest and boy with the lost puppy in the beginning.

Maybe... but then again, how many 3rd person 3D rpgs have you played on a phone?

[Caine]

I fell in love with Galaxy on Fire over Thanksgiving. Totally old schoolnspace trading/fighting sim. Takes about an hour to open up the galaxy. The galaxy is freaking huge too. Repetitive to be sure but so were these games back in the day. Lots of fun and free at the moment.

Galaxy on Fire 2 is so much better in so many ways.  I liked the first one, but the second one is really fantastic.

picked up both today and i agree, even on a lowly 3g iphone where the lack of power stands out more.  the game just feels more fleshed out and less like a 1st gen gameloft rip-off.

[Gratch]

A few big-name new releases today:

-  Eternal Legacy is Gameloft's Final Fantasy-ish JRPG.  Hadn't even heard about this one until today, but some of the early impressions have been very positive.  Sounds like it's an exact clone of the later Final Fantasy games, which sounds awesome to me.  Some additional hands on footage.

-  Dungeon Hunter II.  The first DH was a quite fun Diablo clone, looks like this one is MOTS.

-  Infinity Blade brings the Unreal Engine 3 to the iPhone.  Looks amazing, but as I learned from Rage, that doesn't necessarily mean it's any fun to play.  Will wait for impressions.

-  Puzzle Quest 2

-  Dead Rising Mobile

Between Eternal Legacy, DH2, Avalorn (next week), and the new Golden Sun DS game, I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in RPGs.  

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Eternal Legacy and Infinity Blade look like some serious battery killers. Hell, Ash is pretty low tech but my Ipod Touch (3rd generation) can't play it for much more than an hour or so without needing a recharge.

[Gratch]

Eternal Legacy and Infinity Blade look like some serious battery killers. Hell, Ash is pretty low tech but my Ipod Touch (3rd generation) can't play it for much more than an hour or so without needing a recharge.

Wow.  I thought my battery was bad, but yours is way worse.  I can get a good 2.5 hours out of Ash before I need to plug in.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Eternal Legacy and Infinity Blade look like some serious battery killers. Hell, Ash is pretty low tech but my Ipod Touch (3rd generation) can't play it for much more than an hour or so without needing a recharge.

Wow.  I thought my battery was bad, but yours is way worse.  I can get a good 2.5 hours out of Ash before I need to plug in.

 

This gives me another reason to buy the new Ipod Touch...  

edit: I should be clear, though. That one hour comment is when I have Wi-Fi going as well. If I turn that off I might be able to get closer to 2 hours on a single charge.

[denoginizer]

I'm looking forward to trying Infinity Blade later tonight.

[Daehawk]

The Witcher is coming to iPhone and Ipod

[CeeKay]

Dead Rising 

[whiteboyskim]

OK, Game Dev Story has its hooks in me. Made a Samurai Racing game called "Chopsocked" that sold suprisingly well to the disbelief of my staff. Very fun.

[Bob]

Liking Infinity Blade quite a bit.

Yes, it's medieval fantasy Punch-out.  But it's good medieval fantasy Punch-out.

[Gratch]

I couldn't resist the Final Fantasy comparisons, and grabbed Eternal Legacy this morning.  Early impressions (i.e. 30 minutes) are very good.  It looks absolutely incredible, has an ATB combat system very similar to FF 7 or 8, and has a futuristic vibe similar to FF X or XIII.  Story seems pretty generic, but I'm used to that from Gameloft titles by now.  Very impressed early on.

EDIT:  One caveat as I've gotten further into it.  Certain areas just chug on my old 3G iPhone.  I imagine this probably isn't an issue on the new phones, but the slideshow graphics sometimes do make things a little tough to play

[denoginizer]

Liking Infinity Blade quite a bit.

Yes, it's medieval fantasy Punch-out.  But it's good medieval fantasy Punch-out.

Agreed.

It's pretty shallow.  But still damn impressive for a phone based game.

[Clanwolfer]

Liking Infinity Blade quite a bit.

Yes, it's medieval fantasy Punch-out.  But it's good medieval fantasy Punch-out.

Agreed.

It's pretty shallow.  But still damn impressive for a phone based game.

I actually think the 'bloodlines' design is a clever way to handle a real issue for phone games (graphical fidelity requires more storage space, which is in shorter supply). I'm all for a short, beautifully rendered game, and given the fact they probably were developing in a real hurry to get it out during the holiday buying season, I'm impressed with how it turned out. By no means is it perfect, but I think it certainly says that iOS gaming is in the 'big leagues' now.

[rittchard]

Did anyone mention this one?  Dungeon Hunter 2 now with online MP!!!!  What's up with all these games coming out at once, it's awesome!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/09/first-impressions-of-dungeon-hunter-2-now-with-online-multiplayer/

[Gratch]

Did anyone mention this one?  Dungeon Hunter 2 now with online MP!!!!  What's up with all these games coming out at once, it's awesome!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/09/first-impressions-of-dungeon-hunter-2-now-with-online-multiplayer/

Ahem...  

I'm actually going to grab this one today, as Eternal Legacy is going to have to wait until I do my iPhone upgrade.  It's completely unplayable on a 3G.  Hopefully DH2 works better...the original did just great on my 3G.

EDIT:  Looks like DH2 is also unplayable on my 3G.  :sigh:   Funny thing is, I never had any problem running games until I did the OS4 upgrade.  Ever since then, my iPhone has gone to complete shit.  Never thought I'd be needing to upgrade  my phone for new games, but that might be in the cards today. 

[godhugh]

Did anyone mention this one?  Dungeon Hunter 2 now with online MP!!!!  What's up with all these games coming out at once, it's awesome!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/09/first-impressions-of-dungeon-hunter-2-now-with-online-multiplayer/

Ahem...  

I'm actually going to grab this one today, as Eternal Legacy is going to have to wait until I do my iPhone upgrade.  It's completely unplayable on a 3G.  Hopefully DH2 works better...the original did just great on my 3G.

EDIT:  Looks like DH2 is also unplayable on my 3G.  :sigh:   Funny thing is, I never had any problem running games until I did the OS4 upgrade.  Ever since then, my iPhone has gone to complete shit.  Never thought I'd be needing to upgrade  my phone for new games, but that might be in the cards today. 

FYI, if you're eligible for an upgrade Radio Shack has a great trade-in deal on iPhone's until Saturday. Depending on the condition of your phone you might be able to get an iPhone 4 for $25-50.

[Gratch]

Did anyone mention this one?  Dungeon Hunter 2 now with online MP!!!!  What's up with all these games coming out at once, it's awesome!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/09/first-impressions-of-dungeon-hunter-2-now-with-online-multiplayer/

Ahem...  

I'm actually going to grab this one today, as Eternal Legacy is going to have to wait until I do my iPhone upgrade.  It's completely unplayable on a 3G.  Hopefully DH2 works better...the original did just great on my 3G.

EDIT:  Looks like DH2 is also unplayable on my 3G.  :sigh:   Funny thing is, I never had any problem running games until I did the OS4 upgrade.  Ever since then, my iPhone has gone to complete shit.  Never thought I'd be needing to upgrade  my phone for new games, but that might be in the cards today. 

FYI, if you're eligible for an upgrade Radio Shack has a great trade-in deal on iPhone's until Saturday. Depending on the condition of your phone you might be able to get an iPhone 4 for $25-50.

Thanks for the heads-up, but it looks like the trade-in/upgrade deal doesn't apply to iPhones.  Bummer. 

[godhugh]

Did anyone mention this one?  Dungeon Hunter 2 now with online MP!!!!  What's up with all these games coming out at once, it's awesome!

http://toucharcade.com/2010/12/09/first-impressions-of-dungeon-hunter-2-now-with-online-multiplayer/

Ahem...  

I'm actually going to grab this one today, as Eternal Legacy is going to have to wait until I do my iPhone upgrade.  It's completely unplayable on a 3G.  Hopefully DH2 works better...the original did just great on my 3G.

EDIT:  Looks like DH2 is also unplayable on my 3G.  :sigh:   Funny thing is, I never had any problem running games until I did the OS4 upgrade.  Ever since then, my iPhone has gone to complete shit.  Never thought I'd be needing to upgrade  my phone for new games, but that might be in the cards today.  

FYI, if you're eligible for an upgrade Radio Shack has a great trade-in deal on iPhone's until Saturday. Depending on the condition of your phone you might be able to get an iPhone 4 for $25-50.

Thanks for the heads-up, but it looks like the trade-in/upgrade deal doesn't apply to iPhones.  Bummer.  

It does, you just have to go into a store. I've had a couple friends who've been able to trade in their 3G's and 3GS's.

[Gratch]

It does, you just have to go into a store. I've had a couple friends who've been able to trade in their 3G's and 3GS's.

Groovy, will head over there in a few minutes.

EDIT:  Bummer, not a single one to be found in the entire Salt Lake valley.  Oh well.  May still try and trade in my 3G for store credit towards something else.

[Gratch]

Amazing the speed difference between a 3G and iPhone 4.  Eternal Legacy, DH2, and Infinity Blade (yeah, I broke down and grabbed it) all run smooth as silk and look amazing.  I have a ridiculous amount of handheld gaming to do this weekend.

[rittchard]

Amazing the speed difference between a 3G and iPhone 4.  Eternal Legacy, DH2, and Infinity Blade (yeah, I broke down and grabbed it) all run smooth as silk and look amazing.  I have a ridiculous amount of handheld gaming to do this weekend.

Yeah I tried all 3 and like them all for different reasons.  Infinity's graphics are just flat out amazing on the iPad.  The other 2 are iPhone games but look decent on the iPad in 2x, and I'm enjoying the gameplay in both of them thus far.

[Purge]

Genius Scan is a pretty cool app, and it's free.

[Gratch]

I'm not sold on Eternal Legacy yet.  Once you get past the "OMG I'm playing FF X/XIII...on my phone!!" aspect, it seems to be a very mediocre JRPG.  Dreadful voice work, a so-so story, utterly generic combat system with some major issues (party members seemingly auto-attack enemies at random, no way to direct attacks at a single enemy), and few other issues.  Will give it another couple hours before writing it off entirely, though.

I like Infinity Blade, but wish there was more to it.  Fighting the same sequence of 6-7 enemies in the same location over and over and over again is going to get old pretty quickly.  That said, the combat system is very unique, and it looks absolutely incredible.  Much like Rage, I think this will be a good tech demo, but not much more.

[Gratch]

Another shiteload of good-looking games are hitting the iPhone tonight:

-  'Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD'
-  'Real Racing 2'
-  'World of Goo'
-  'Dungeon Defenders: First Wave'
-  'N.O.V.A. 2'
-  'Geared 2'
-  'Battlefield: Bad Company 2'

I swear, this gorram phone is going to bankrupt me. 

[rittchard]

Yeah it's crazy, I guess today is the last day or something for Christmas releases?  But man there are some great titles coming out.

[Gratch]

Guess who just dropped their 4-day old iPhone in the parking lot and shattered the screen?

FUCK!!!!    

[ras752000]

Guess who just dropped their 4-day old iPhone in the parking lot and shattered the screen?

FUCK!!!!    

Damn, sorry dude.
My 3GS had an otterbox slapped on it day 1 and it's never coming off.

[wonderpug]

Another shiteload of good-looking games are hitting the iPhone tonight:

-  'World of Goo'

I am not going to be able to resist that one. 

[CeeKay]

they just put up The 7th Guest,

[kathode]

Guess who just dropped their 4-day old iPhone in the parking lot and shattered the screen?

FUCK!!!!    

Ugh, I did that a few weeks back.  15 minutes and $99 in an Apple Store will fix it right up.  Still, sucks to pay out on something so new.

[Gratch]

Guess who just dropped their 4-day old iPhone in the parking lot and shattered the screen?

FUCK!!!!    

Ugh, I did that a few weeks back.  15 minutes and $99 in an Apple Store will fix it right up.  Still, sucks to pay out on something so new.

Called the Apple store last night, and they said it typically costs $199 to do the repair.  However, they told me to make an appointment to bring it in today and they *might* replace it since it's only a few days old.  Keeping my fingers crossed...

[rittchard]

Guess who just dropped their 4-day old iPhone in the parking lot and shattered the screen?

FUCK!!!!    

Ugh, I did that a few weeks back.  15 minutes and $99 in an Apple Store will fix it right up.  Still, sucks to pay out on something so new.

Called the Apple store last night, and they said it typically costs $199 to do the repair.  However, they told me to make an appointment to bring it in today and they *might* replace it since it's only a few days old.  Keeping my fingers crossed...

OUCH!!!!  Sorry to hear that Gratch and hope they treat you well.

- - -

In other news, Dead Rising mobile came out too.  I am completely overloaded with iOS games, I barely got to touch Dungeon Defenders and I can't wait to try Aralon.

[Gratch]

Phone is replaced, they were totally cool about it.  Apparently they're cool with doing it once, but made it very clear that it won't be replaced again.

Needless to say, I left there with a brand new case as well. 

[Gratch]

In other news, Dead Rising mobile came out too.  I am completely overloaded with iOS games, I barely got to touch Dungeon Defenders and I can't wait to try Aralon.

Then whatever you do, don't look at this.

[Gratch]

Against my better judgment (I already have 4 other handheld RPG's that I've barely scratched the surface on), I picked up Avalon this morning and spent a couple hours with it.  Technically, it's quite a remarkable achievement.  The environment looks fantastic, the animations are great, the music is good (although it's very annoying that the track starts over every time you enter or exit a room), the UI is very user-friendly, and the whole package is incredibly polished.  It really does feel like you're playing Oblivion on a handheld.  The world seems huge and there's plenty to do, although the map isn't the best and it's easy to get lost without any sort of quest marker.  Especially in the dungeons.  I got a call about halfway through a dungeon, got completely turned around, and it took me forever to find my way back out.

That said, it's such a completely and utterly generic "Ye Olde Fantasy" world that I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I also found myself fighting with the camera more often than the enemies until I switched to a 3rd person fixed perspective.  I'd highly recommend doing that right off the bat.  It's also incredibly easy so far (I can one or two hit nearly every enemy), but I'm sure that will change as I get further on.

I'd give it a cautious thumbs-up, depending on what sort of game you're looking for.  It's definitely grown on me the longer I've played today, and looks like it will be a fun ride.  It still blows my mind that I'm playing something like this on a phone. 

[CeeKay]

Against my better judgment (I already have 4 other handheld RPG's that I've barely scratched the surface on), I picked up Avalon this morning and spent a couple hours with it.  Technically, it's quite a remarkable achievement.  The environment looks fantastic, the animations are great, the music is good (although it's very annoying that the track starts over every time you enter or exit a room), the UI is very user-friendly, and the whole package is incredibly polished.  It really does feel like you're playing Oblivion on a handheld.  The world seems huge and there's plenty to do, although the map isn't the best and it's easy to get lost without any sort of quest marker.  Especially in the dungeons.  I got a call about halfway through a dungeon, got completely turned around, and it took me forever to find my way back out.

That said, it's such a completely and utterly generic "Ye Olde Fantasy" world that I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I also found myself fighting with the camera more often than the enemies until I switched to a 3rd person fixed perspective.  I'd highly recommend doing that right off the bat.  It's also incredibly easy so far (I can one or two hit nearly every enemy), but I'm sure that will change as I get further on.

I'd give it a cautious thumbs-up, depending on what sort of game you're looking for.  It's definitely grown on me the longer I've played today, and looks like it will be a fun ride.  It still blows my mind that I'm playing something like this on a phone. 

you know, I spent about 15 minutes trying to find Avalon on the app store.....

[Gratch]

Against my better judgment (I already have 4 other handheld RPG's that I've barely scratched the surface on), I picked up Avalon this morning and spent a couple hours with it.  Technically, it's quite a remarkable achievement.  The environment looks fantastic, the animations are great, the music is good (although it's very annoying that the track starts over every time you enter or exit a room), the UI is very user-friendly, and the whole package is incredibly polished.  It really does feel like you're playing Oblivion on a handheld.  The world seems huge and there's plenty to do, although the map isn't the best and it's easy to get lost without any sort of quest marker.  Especially in the dungeons.  I got a call about halfway through a dungeon, got completely turned around, and it took me forever to find my way back out.

That said, it's such a completely and utterly generic "Ye Olde Fantasy" world that I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I also found myself fighting with the camera more often than the enemies until I switched to a 3rd person fixed perspective.  I'd highly recommend doing that right off the bat.  It's also incredibly easy so far (I can one or two hit nearly every enemy), but I'm sure that will change as I get further on.

I'd give it a cautious thumbs-up, depending on what sort of game you're looking for.  It's definitely grown on me the longer I've played today, and looks like it will be a fun ride.  It still blows my mind that I'm playing something like this on a phone. 

you know, I spent about 15 minutes trying to find Avalon on the app store.....

   Sorry dude.

[Caine]

Against my better judgment (I already have 4 other handheld RPG's that I've barely scratched the surface on), I picked up Avalon this morning and spent a couple hours with it.  Technically, it's quite a remarkable achievement.  The environment looks fantastic, the animations are great, the music is good (although it's very annoying that the track starts over every time you enter or exit a room), the UI is very user-friendly, and the whole package is incredibly polished.  It really does feel like you're playing Oblivion on a handheld.  The world seems huge and there's plenty to do, although the map isn't the best and it's easy to get lost without any sort of quest marker.  Especially in the dungeons.  I got a call about halfway through a dungeon, got completely turned around, and it took me forever to find my way back out.

That said, it's such a completely and utterly generic "Ye Olde Fantasy" world that I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I also found myself fighting with the camera more often than the enemies until I switched to a 3rd person fixed perspective.  I'd highly recommend doing that right off the bat.  It's also incredibly easy so far (I can one or two hit nearly every enemy), but I'm sure that will change as I get further on.

I'd give it a cautious thumbs-up, depending on what sort of game you're looking for.  It's definitely grown on me the longer I've played today, and looks like it will be a fun ride.  It still blows my mind that I'm playing something like this on a phone. 

you know, I spent about 15 minutes trying to find Avalon on the app store.....

   Sorry dude.

care to share?

[CeeKay]

Against my better judgment (I already have 4 other handheld RPG's that I've barely scratched the surface on), I picked up Avalon this morning and spent a couple hours with it.  Technically, it's quite a remarkable achievement.  The environment looks fantastic, the animations are great, the music is good (although it's very annoying that the track starts over every time you enter or exit a room), the UI is very user-friendly, and the whole package is incredibly polished.  It really does feel like you're playing Oblivion on a handheld.  The world seems huge and there's plenty to do, although the map isn't the best and it's easy to get lost without any sort of quest marker.  Especially in the dungeons.  I got a call about halfway through a dungeon, got completely turned around, and it took me forever to find my way back out.

That said, it's such a completely and utterly generic "Ye Olde Fantasy" world that I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I also found myself fighting with the camera more often than the enemies until I switched to a 3rd person fixed perspective.  I'd highly recommend doing that right off the bat.  It's also incredibly easy so far (I can one or two hit nearly every enemy), but I'm sure that will change as I get further on.

I'd give it a cautious thumbs-up, depending on what sort of game you're looking for.  It's definitely grown on me the longer I've played today, and looks like it will be a fun ride.  It still blows my mind that I'm playing something like this on a phone. 

you know, I spent about 15 minutes trying to find Avalon on the app store.....

   Sorry dude.

care to share?

it's actually Aralon, not Avalon.