Dungeon Raid

Dungeon Raid
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dungeon-raid/id403090531?mt=8
Cost: $2.99
Developed by Fireflame Games
Last Updated on May 3rd, 2011


Dungeon Raid is a cross between three genres; puzzle, strategy, and role playing. What it doesn't have in mind-blowing graphics it makes up for with solid game play and mechanics.

Yay! A menu!

 The Story Begins

Or should we say lack of story. Unfortunately Dungeon Raid does not feature much of a story. The only thing it has is a small paragraph at the start of each new game explaining why you have to kill the monsters. You get a different back story each time you play and its usually worth it to give it a quick read.

This story is deep yo.

 Game Play

 Dungeon Raid is a match-3 puzzle game incorporating strategy and RPG elements. Your goal is to link a combination of 3 or more skeletons together and kill them. It starts off fairly easy as you will be able to kill the skeletons off with one-hit. However, as the game progresses the skeletons get more powerful. In order to combat this you can link together 3+ hearts which will heal you, or 3+ shields which will protect you. You also need to collect coins which will allow you to buy new gear, increasing your defense and damage. As in all match-3 games the more you can match together at one time the more xp/health/gold you will get.

Shielding up!

When I first picked up the game I found the gameplay quite boring, it took awhile before I was able to really get into it. Once you level up and get spells the game becomes much more interesting.

Ahh yeah Explosive Potion!

It's important to always keep an eye on your health bar, I didn't and ended up dieing. A lot. make sure you focus on and take down the special monsters quickly, they can put out a ton of damage.

Not again...

Conclusion

The Good

• Addictive game play
• Great replay value
• Excellent upgrade and spell systems

The Bad

• Lack of a proper story mode might be a deal-breaker for some (I personally really liked the funny background stories)
• No tutorial or help section, you have to figure out most of the game for yourself (Again, a pro to some a con to others)
• No save system, dead is dead. Perhaps a hardcore option?

Should I buy it?

Dungeon Raid is an excellent puzzle game that fluidly incorporates RPG and strategy elements. If you need a story driven game then this probably isn't for you. Also, if you need graphics and flashy spell effects then you should probably skip Dungeon Raid as well. If you enjoy well made games that feature solid mechanics and a great upgrade/spell system then I think Dungeon raid is for you.

Sword and Board Rating: 4/5


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Solomon's Keep

Solomon's Keep
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/solomons-keep/id365183754?mt=8#
Cost: Free!
Developed by Raptisoft
Last Updated on June 2nd 2011

In Solomon's Keep you play a young wizard about to graduate from Wizarding College. Known as Sirius, your teachers have given you one final test. To defeat Solomon Dark, one of the greatest wizards to ever live. Your quest will be fraught with death, peril, skeletons, and bad RPG jokes.

The Story Begins

When you first enter the game you are in the town of Dead Hawg, the towns inhabitants include Sirius (you), and four professors from the Wizarding College. The professors are there to offer aid during your quest. They sell equipment, potions, experience and a number of other things. They can also offer advice.

I feel that a lot more could have been done with the professors. They could have offered side-quests, challenges etc. Hopefully this area will be expanded upon in later patches.

The Professors of Wizarding College

Combat

When they made Solomon's Keep, Raptisoft went for a fairly simplistic combat system. You have one primary spell which will be your main damage dealer. This spell is controlled by the bottom right virtual analog stick. You can also have as many as 2 secondary spells, which can be activated by pressing their icons along the right side of the screen.

Game Control Scheme

The true genius of Solomon's Keeps combat system is your ability to upgrade and combine spells. When you level up you are presented with three upgrade options. These options could be a new spell, increased mana or health regeneration, increased gold or xp, and spell upgrades.

Your Main Spells

Spell upgrades are where I really got a lot of enjoyment out of the game. You can upgrade your spells to slow enemies, to jump from target to target, to do splash damage or damage over time, and many many more. I was able to upgrade my lightning bolt attack to the point where I was able to hit every monster in a room instantly. Having a couple dozen monsters explode all at the same time is extremely satisfying.

Upgrade Menu

 One area where I found the game lacking was in gear and item upgrading. In Solomon's Keep you have three item slots; one staff and two rings. Options for these items are severely limited and I found myself wanting more variety and customizability, similar to how the spell upgrading system was done. I think that the addition of more gear slots, like robes, necklaces etc. would have added addition depth to the game.


Conclusion

The Good

• Excellent spell and skill upgrading system.
• Fairly simplistic combat system leaves more room for fun.
• The game doesn't take itself too seriously and pokes fun the the whole fantasy genre.

The Bad

• Lack of side-quests or story leaves little motivation to complete the game.
• Lack of gear customizability is a letdown, especially after the spell upgrade system.

Should I Buy It?

Solomon's Keep is a fantastic game and continues to provide me with many hours of gaming pleasure. The spell upgrade system is tonnes of fun to play and experiment with. The combat mechanics at times feels somewhat bland but yelling "Lightning Bolt!" while exploding enemies somewhat makes up for it. Also, since its free you've got nothing to lose. Download it!

Sword and Board Rating: 4/5

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Epic Dragon

Epic Dragon
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/epic-dragon/id321929119?mt=8
Cost: $0.99
Developed by Dracosoft
Last Updated on July 31st, 2010

An old favourite of mine, Epic Dragon is a 2D, turn-based RPG in which you will fight legions of goblins, masses of zombies, the all-powerful Counsel of Dragons, as well as some jelly things and a couple of wooden mannequins.

Menu

When you first open up the game you are greeted by the Epic Dragon menu, as you can see from the picture below the game features slots for three games, this is nice as it allows you to play around with the different character classes and builds. To start a new game you simply click on an empty slot.

Class Selection

In Epic Dragon you can choose from 13 classes to play, each has their unique strengths and weaknesses. the classes range from hard hitting warriors to lightning fast rogues to fireball flinging wizards. For this review I chose the always fun "guy with a massive axe" class.

The Story Begins

Once you've chosen your class and picked out a name you are greeted by a blue-robed wizard that we will call Steve. Steve tells you the story of the great King Thanatos, ruler of Arcadia, who everyone loved until one day he ran off into the woods and was never heard from again.

Tutorial

After learning of Thanatos you are once again greeted by Steve (old guy in blue robes) who informs you that you will be playing the Hero of this tale and that he will be taking up the mantle of Narrator. He then graciously explains how to kill stuff, after which you will be thrown into an epic battle in which you must defeat the three evil wooden mannequins.

If you were able to defeat the three swordsmen of wooden devastation, you will be notified that your prowess in battle has been rewarded and that you have leveled up. You will have one point to place in either Attack, Defend, Magic, or Speed and another point to place in Fire, Water, Earth, or Air.

Post-Tutorial

Once you have completed the tutorial you are brought to the main screen of the game where you will find quests that are currently available, a shop to purchase gear upgrades, and a status menu where you can view your inventory and stats.

In order to progress the story you must complete, you guessed it, story quests, these involve fighting boss monsters that are a much more substantial test than regular monsters. But fear not, you may have help...

Combat

Combat in Epic Dragon is time-based, which means that you will be able to attack once every x seconds. The more Speed you have the less time you have to wait until you attack. Each character has their basic attack and a power attack. Each time you attack you gain one power, and each power attack takes from two to five power to use. Power attacks are much stronger than standard attacks and have powerful properties, such as doing equal damage to all enemies, or allowing you to instantly attack again.

Touching an enemy will put an arrow above their head, forcing your Hero to attack them. This is useful for when you need to bring down a dangerous foe quickly. Unfortunately this is all the game really offers in terms of in-battle strategy.

Conclusion

The Good

• Simple game mechanics make it easy to pick up and play
• Fun, comic styled story telling
• Decent replay value with all the different classes

The Bad

• Simple game mechanics makes it hard to get really into the game
• Lackluster combat leaves much to be desired
• The lack of variety in enemies and bosses leaves the game feeling very "grindy"

Should I Buy It?

If you enjoy building and leveling characters I highly recommend Epic Dragon, it can be extremely rewarding at higher levels . But, if you enjoy games with lots of strategy and intricate combat systems I would save my money and look elsewhere.

Sword and Board Rating:  3/5


Thanks for reading!

Welcome!

Hey All!

Welcome to Sword and Board, a blog dedicated to reviewing and recommending Role Playing Games for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

I've always been a huge fan of the genre and have played everything I could get my hands on. Now with the incredible mobility offered through the iOS platform I can take my addiction everywhere.

When I'm not playing games on my iPhone I'm hunting for the latest and greatest RPG offerings from the App Store. Now this is where you come in!

The purpose of this blog is to allow me to share the games that I've found and enjoyed in the hopes that you will go out, download them, and have a good time.

Thanks for reading!