iPhone/iTouch app and game thread

[Gratch]

Not sure what Elven Legacy is. 

I'm guessing he means Eternal Legacy, which is Gameloft's Final Fantasy rip-off.  For me, it was yet another example of Gameloft trying to copy another series and not doing a very good job of it.  That's kinda their MO now (Dungeon Hunter=Diablo, Eternal Legacy=Final Fantasy, Let's Golf=Hot Shots Golf, Hero of Sparta=God of War, etc.), and while they typically manage to get the individual pieces right, their games always feel very sterile and soulless.  They never manage to capture whatever charm or character made the originals so great, and end up feeling exactly like what they are:  cheap knockoffs.

[The Grue]

Not sure what Elven Legacy is. 

I'm guessing he means Eternal Legacy, which is Gameloft's Final Fantasy rip-off.  For me, it was yet another example of Gameloft trying to copy another series and not doing a very good job of it.  That's kinda their MO now (Dungeon Hunter=Diablo, Eternal Legacy=Final Fantasy, Let's Golf=Hot Shots Golf, Hero of Sparta=God of War, etc.), and while they typically manage to get the individual pieces right, their games always feel very sterile and soulless.  They never manage to capture whatever charm or character made the originals so great, and end up feeling exactly like what they are:  cheap knockoffs.

Right, this is exactly what I am talking about.  I've played Hero of Sparta as well and it just isn't as good as God of War.  I always feel like many of these games are trying to be like their handheld console brethren and fail to be as good.  Really, the best games for me on iOS that aren't ports of the game from another system, Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, World of Goo (though this one does play better than the Wii version due to the touch pad), are only Cut the Rope, Angry Birds, and Infinity Blade (I could also be wrong about Angry Birds or Cut the Rope originating on iOS...might have been a Flash game first).  Oh, I guess another one would be Flight Master, which was pretty fun as well.

I also hadn't mentioned it before, but any games using virtual joypads just don't control as well as a DS or PSP.  I've even played that Space Miner game, which is among the best use of the pad, but not as good as having a physical joystick.  I've tried playing platformers on the thing and it just isn't the same.

[CeeKay]

Shinobi 3 is out, but apparently the SEGA games don't port very well to the iPhone.

[rittchard]

Heavily addicted to Dungeon Raid now.  Anyone else still playing?  I'm playing in Normal mode and generally score in the 800-1000 range, my highest is still only 1535.  Curious what others here are scoring as open feint seems to have people in the 10s of thousands, so I wonder do I really suck that bad lol.

Anyway, this is a tough, unforgiving game, much as I mentioned earlier, more in the vein of a Rogue-like RPG (you build and level up and keep going til you die) mixed with Bejeweled/Match-3.  Much rougher than I recall Puzzle Quest being but possibly the most fun (and most challenging) matching type game I've personally played.  Every time I think I have a handle on the game or have a smart working strategy, or a lucky/smart collection of gear and spells, something comes along and turns the game on its ear and smacks me down.  If you are having trouble in the game, here are some comments/tips that might help.  Some may have been obvious but I didn't realize up front.

- Matching shield icons not only regens your shield stat, but is also on its own "level up" cycle (along with coins and XP), so you want to balance out saving up to regen your shield with levelling up for better upgrades

- Unlike most other matching games, in this one it can often be risky to take too many of a given type.  You do get bonuses when you grab more, but you can also invite down more bad guys.  If you weren't ready for them this can be bad news.  Still, there are times when you have no choice but go for a "hail mary" and grab everything you can; the risk/reward ratio in the game is part of what makes it fun.

- When I'm fully loaded (full health and shield), I generally go for: coins, shields, health, swords in that order.  I always try to save swords as long as possible, as Gratch mentioned they can go scarce in a hurry.  I wish they'd have a level up on health, as that's the one I end up wasting the most. 

- When attacking (I just realized this after like 20 games, so stupid), you'll see a dmg stat as you grab more swords, but with armor factored in you might not know if you are only going to dmg (vs kill) a skull; if a red X goes through the skull, that means you are doing enough dmg.  The dmg is applied universally to all the skulls, so you can kill 2 skulls with a single sword as long as you are doing enough dmg.

- Best spells in the game so far:  Banish kills a boss, pretty much a no-brainer.  Teleport resets the whole board, so it's like a get out jail free card.

- Best upgrades: Not sure yet, but I like health regen and spikes (basically thorns) as they both give effects that aren't on a cooldown timer or need you to collect anything

- Boss Monsters are the killer factor of the game.  There are many different types (Teleporting, shifting, poisoning, acid, thief, etc) and they can pretty much decimate you if you aren't ready.  You can be full health/shield and a single boss comes along and ruins your game.  Definitely the most creative (and frustrating) part of the game.  My advice, do whatever it takes to get rid of them as fast as you can.  If I have Banish I use it immediately.  Teleport I generally hold til it looks fairly hopeless.  If I have neither spell I try to build shields and then attack as best I can.  If you get an early boss with low swords, pretty much the game is over. 

If anyone has other thoughts or strategies to share, I'd appreciate it.

[Gratch]

Heavily addicted to Dungeon Raid now.  Anyone else still playing?  I'm playing in Normal mode and generally score in the 800-1000 range, my highest is still only 1535.  Curious what others here are scoring as open feint seems to have people in the 10s of thousands, so I wonder do I really suck that bad lol.

I got on a roll yesterday and racked up 4,265 on Normal.   Typically in the 1,000 to 1,500 range though.

Anyway, this is a tough, unforgiving game, much as I mentioned earlier, more in the vein of a Rogue-like RPG (you build and level up and keep going til you die) mixed with Bejeweled/Match-3.  Much rougher than I recall Puzzle Quest being but possibly the most fun (and most challenging) matching type game I've personally played.  Every time I think I have a handle on the game or have a smart working strategy, or a lucky/smart collection of gear and spells, something comes along and turns the game on its ear and smacks me down.  If you are having trouble in the game, here are some comments/tips that might help.  Some may have been obvious but I didn't realize up front.

- Matching shield icons not only regens your shield stat, but is also on its own "level up" cycle (along with coins and XP), so you want to balance out saving up to regen your shield with levelling up for better upgrades

- Unlike most other matching games, in this one it can often be risky to take too many of a given type.  You do get bonuses when you grab more, but you can also invite down more bad guys.  If you weren't ready for them this can be bad news.  Still, there are times when you have no choice but go for a "hail mary" and grab everything you can; the risk/reward ratio in the game is part of what makes it fun.

- When I'm fully loaded (full health and shield), I generally go for: coins, shields, health, swords in that order.  I always try to save swords as long as possible, as Gratch mentioned they can go scarce in a hurry.  I wish they'd have a level up on health, as that's the one I end up wasting the most. 

- When attacking (I just realized this after like 20 games, so stupid), you'll see a dmg stat as you grab more swords, but with armor factored in you might not know if you are only going to dmg (vs kill) a skull; if a red X goes through the skull, that means you are doing enough dmg.  The dmg is applied universally to all the skulls, so you can kill 2 skulls with a single sword as long as you are doing enough dmg.

- Best spells in the game so far:  Banish kills a boss, pretty much a no-brainer.  Teleport resets the whole board, so it's like a get out jail free card.

- Best upgrades: Not sure yet, but I like health regen and spikes (basically thorns) as they both give effects that aren't on a cooldown timer or need you to collect anything

- Boss Monsters are the killer factor of the game.  There are many different types (Teleporting, shifting, poisoning, acid, thief, etc) and they can pretty much decimate you if you aren't ready.  You can be full health/shield and a single boss comes along and ruins your game.  Definitely the most creative (and frustrating) part of the game.  My advice, do whatever it takes to get rid of them as fast as you can.  If I have Banish I use it immediately.  Teleport I generally hold til it looks fairly hopeless.  If I have neither spell I try to build shields and then attack as best I can.  If you get an early boss with low swords, pretty much the game is over. 

If anyone has other thoughts or strategies to share, I'd appreciate it.

Good tips.  I tend to steer clear of both regen and spikes, as they don't seem to do enough damage/regen to make a big difference.  My perfect set of skills would be Teleport (resets all the tiles), Disarm (converts all skulls to swords), Heal (grabs all healing potions), and either Banish (auto-kills one boss) or Double Heal (doubles effect of all healing potions).  That set, combined with a couple very lucky runs, was what allowed me to get that huge score during my last game.

Success or failure in this game really depends on what skills happen to pop up when you level, as some are devastating and some are pretty much worthless.  Same thing goes for bosses, as some are pretty much game-killers (the one who converts a sword to a skull every turn is especially bad) and others are pushovers.  The random nature keeps me from completely getting on board with this game, but it's still pretty fun. 

[godhugh]

Give spikes another shot. If you get enough of them on your items they can be devastating. I think at the end of my last game I had 25 spikes, that's 25 points of damage to every enemy, every turn. Blunt is also really nice.

Highest score so far is 14,219, good enough for #94 on the gamecenter leaderboard. The strategy really is more about the skills, upgrades, and spells you select then what matches you make.

[Harkonis]

wow, Dungeon Raid is fun.  First game I got 5101 on Normal and I'm definitely hooked.

Game Center and Open Feint Id is Harkonis FYI

[Misguided]

My complaint with it is that it takes too long for things to get interesting, but it's a decent concept. I wish there were some sense of progression beyond setting a high score.

Edit: progression, not profession

[wonderpug]

That's my biggest complaint as well.  Other games like Lumines or Tilt to Live give me the same annoyance, and dying is often a matter of fatigue more than actually getting outmatched.  Putting the difficulty up does help, but I wish there was some kind of fast-start on the normal setting.

I don't know about that recommendation to get the skill that insta-kills a special enemy since you lose the big rewards for getting the kill. 

[Gratch]

I don't know about that recommendation to get the skill that insta-kills a special enemy since you lose the big rewards for getting the kill. 

Defeating that one boss (depending on his particular skill) is often the difference between dying or not.  Hence the recommendation.

[godhugh]

That's my biggest complaint as well.  Other games like Lumines or Tilt to Live give me the same annoyance, and dying is often a matter of fatigue more than actually getting outmatched.  Putting the difficulty up does help, but I wish there was some kind of fast-start on the normal setting.

I don't know about that recommendation to get the skill that insta-kills a special enemy since you lose the big rewards for getting the kill. 

I usually get the skill as an emergency bailout. Typically, I'll only use it if a really dangerous boss shows up and I don't have many swords. Otherwise I focus on killing the boss using the skill that doubles your attack for one turn.

[whiteboyskim]

I now have a raging addiction to Dungeon Raid. So much fun until the vampire shows up. That one and the acid one are the two bosses who invariably hose me. But I like the strategy and it's crazy fun.

I'm alternating leveling up hitting power with defense. Hitting hard is great but you need to be able to withstand massive damage later. Trying to find the right balance is part of the fun though.

[Bob]

Best score so far is only 4,894.

492 turns, 1,236 XP, 1786 gold, 1080 upgrade.
Think I had Teleport, Banish, and one that strips special monsters of their specialness but leaves them with huge HP.

Basically, 3 different ways to get out of trouble.  Also was loaded up with poison damage, so I'd hit a row of monters and then they'd die over the next few turns.  Nice, but hard on my own HP too.

[Harkonis]

on normal my high is 13818 with 665 turns.  I had a ton of spikes and blunt along with good defense.  Key in this one was Enchant, Repair and Heal along with mana potions to keep the Enchant coming back frequently.  3318 upgrade score on that one. 

[Gratch]

No idea how you guys are racking up these 10,000+ scores.  That's craziness...but gives me something to shoot for.    Kind of annoying how you can tell early on whether or not the game is going to be a good one.  If you get crappy skill choices on your first few levels/upgrades, seems like you're pretty well hosed.  I have to admit the game has grown on me quite a bit now that I'm starting to figure out some of the strategic aspects.   BTW, you guys have totally sold me on using spikes.

What does "quick" do?  I've seen a few upgrades that say "quick" after the description (i.e. "+10 HP, quick") but have no idea what it does.

[Harkonis]

I think that's the abbreviation for the cooldown reduction, so it should lower all your cooldowns by 1.

[wonderpug]

Beat that, Hark!

[rittchard]

I don't get it, am I doing something horribly wrong when I play Dungeon Raid?  I've played a LOT of games now and I still routinely score in the 1000ish range.  Best score is still only around 2500 (I think).  For those of you with your uber scores, are those far out of the norm?  Or more accurately, what are your typical/normal scores?  Can you give me some tips, like do you always pick +dmg over +def (or vice versa)?  Do you go for alot of match/removal or smaller ones? 

I don't feel like I'm doing anything stupid, but maybe I'm missing something.

[wonderpug]

In general, I go for the biggest chains I can unless there's an emergency situation.  Saving swords for incoming fights may sound like a good idea, but it limits the size of your shield or coin bonuses.  If I want to play it a little bit safe, I might leave some swords in the top row, but other than that I try to clear the board of whatever tile type I'm hitting.

That last run's success was almost entirely due to having a combination of the treasure chamber spell that makes all new tiles appear as coins, and another that doubles coins collected for one turn.  I also went heavy on coin-related abilities when levelling up. As the treasure chamber neared being ready I'd try and dominate the board with one tile type, and then I'd be able to have almost an entire screen of coins the next turn, which would count as almost two full screens of coins.  I'd often get 3-4 item shop upgrades in a single turn.

Most of my scores are in the 2000-3000 range.

There's kind of a tipping point where you're almost unstoppable.  You can fill up 80 points of armor with just a 3-in-a-row shield capture, you're getting something upgraded almost every turn, and you can usually one-shot a boss.  There were a lot of mind-numbing turns until the very end in that last run, when the regular skulls started being threatening again, and the special enemies were appearing almost every other turn.

[Harkonis]

now I'm torn at trying to beat your score or going on to Harder level.  On Normal it's almost possible to play indefinitely with the perfect setup.  I think the Enchant ability is a bit too good though, all of my 10k+ scores are when I have it.

[rittchard]

Thx Pug, I tried it more aggressively and first score was over 4000.  The odd thing is I don't even know what killed me at the end, everything was going great and something just instakilled me.

[Misguided]

Perhaps a boss w/ spikes on it?
What the heck are mana pots? I'm guessing they're blue. Saw those once but no idea how I got the or what they were for.

[wonderpug]

There's a spell that turns red health potions into blue mana pots.  When you collect them they make your spells get closer to being ready again.

[wonderpug]

The developer is actively posting on toucharcade as 'fireflame.'  Good to see he's very active about getting feedback and implementing changes, so I think we can look forward to good balancing changes and new features. 

[Harkonis]

he also takes suggestions and runs with them, so let him know if you have any good ones.

[Gratch]

I swear I'm developing a blister on my finger from this damn game.  So freaking addicting.    Set a new high last night of 6,504, but was expecting it to be higher than that (wish it kept a running score as you played). 

Does anyone else use the Gamecenter app?  I don't do any MP gaming on my iPhone, but it might be fun to see GT/OO'ers comparative scores on games like this.  I'm Skinypupy, if anyone cares to link up.  BTW, I checked out the leaderboards for Dungeon Raid, and the top score is just over 196,000.   

[wonderpug]

I have this game tied to both Gamecenter and OpenFeint, but that megascore I got seemed to only synch with OpenFeint.  With problems like that (I mean, what's the point if it doesn't actually update the leaderboard correctly) and their move to broadcast your real name with new Gamecenter invites, I'm probably going to be avoiding Gamecenter and sticking to the third party versions going forward.

[Bob]

BTW, I checked out the leaderboards for Dungeon Raid, and the top score is just over 196,000.  

That guy can go to hell.

[rittchard]

BTW, I checked out the leaderboards for Dungeon Raid, and the top score is just over 196,000.  

That guy can go to hell.

lol yeah.  This damn game is so addictive, I keep finding myself trying to sneak in play time anywhere and everywhere.  Still only at around 4500 though.

[Gratch]

Hate to interrupt the Dungeon Raid discussion, but has anyone tried The Pantheon Cycle:  Shrouded Aspect?  A very intriguing celtic-themed TBS game that's gotten some very good feedback.

The TBS whore in me is feeling an impulse purchase coming on...

[Gratch]

Finally had my Dungeon Raid breakthrough last night, and hit 15,978.  Fired up a quick game before heading to bed, and finished over an hour later.  I got the magic combination of skills with Dazzle, Enchant, Mana Potions, and Teleport, which allowed me to constantly level up my equipment and have an out when things got hairy.  I think I'm pretty well done with it though, as the early game is simply too boring now.  Nothing gets interesting until at least the 1/2-hour mark anymore.

On a side note, if the person playing was on the same pace as me, that 196K score would have been a single 13+ hour long game.  Uh...no thanks.   

[wonderpug]

You should try the harder difficulties as they finish up in much fewer turns.  Your decisions about what to do each turn also become much more critical; don't really have room for throwaway turns.

[rittchard]

My "breakthrough" game got me to 8186 (I'm now #398 of 4577 in Game Center!) - interestingly I played 644 turns to Wonderpug's 499 and my score was far lower.  Played out over a number of sessions and I have to admit I was a bit careless toward the end and was hoping for it to end so I could see my score.  I thought I had over 10k since it lasted so long. 

[whiteboyskim]

How exactly does Enchant work? I understand it boosts the power of a weapon but when you hit it what happens? I've seen it as an option before but haven't picked it up.

[wonderpug]

It prompts you to add an upgrade to the item in the same way that happens when you fill your shield bar.

[Gratch]

Hate to interrupt the Dungeon Raid discussion, but has anyone tried The Pantheon Cycle:  Shrouded Aspect?  A very intriguing celtic-themed TBS game that's gotten some very good feedback.

The TBS whore in me is feeling an impulse purchase coming on...

I took the plunge yesterday, and can pretty confidently tell everyone to stay away, or at least wait for a $.99 sale sometime.  The graphics are extremely rudimentary, the UI is annoying (everything seems to take one more tap than it should), and the entire thing is simply just...boring.

[Bob]

I took the plunge yesterday, and can pretty confidently tell everyone to stay away, or at least wait for a $.99 sale sometime.  The graphics are extremely rudimentary, the UI is annoying (everything seems to take one more tap than it should), and the entire thing is simply just...boring.

I find the graphics kind of charming. They are unanimated sprites. Like playing with real miniatures. I haven't played too long yet, about half an hour, so I don't know if the boring will stick, but part of it is that each scenario is fairly isolated.  At the end of each scenario you spend any skill points you have, and change up characters equipment (sword, armor, shield) with loot from the battle.  There's no taking extra stuff and selling it, just choosing whether to swap out what you have for the new loot.

I haven't looked down the skill-trees yet, but so far, the flow of combat has been simply: move, attack, move, attack.  No healing or support abilities yet.

I don't have any trouble with the interface.

Unless there's a lot of content, $5 is a bit steep in the iTunes app economy.

[Gratch]

So I've decided to give Dungeon Hunter 2 another look.  DH2, Eternal Legacy, Infinity Blade, and Aralon all came out within a week of each other back in December, and I don't think I really give DH2 a fair shake.  I'm actually liking it a bit more than I was expecting, and it does a pretty decent job of capturing Diablo's loot whore aspect.  It does suffer from being an uber-generic rip-off (like all Gameloft titles), but there is certainly some fun to be had.

[Misguided]

I had scored roughly 4k in every game until I started treating it more like I would a roguelike. Then I came close to 9000. Think I'll try a harder difficulty.

My "breakthrough" game got me to 8186 (I'm now #398 of 4577 in Game Center!) - interestingly I played 644 turns to Wonderpug's 499 and my score was far lower.  Played out over a number of sessions and I have to admit I was a bit careless toward the end and was hoping for it to end so I could see my score.  I thought I had over 10k since it lasted so long. 

[CeeKay]

woohoo!  Tapper is coming!