The day is finally upon us– Ravensword: The Fallen King [App Store] is here. To say this collaboration between Russ Menapace of Human Powered Games and Josh Presseisen of Crescent Moon Games has been highly anticipated among our community would be a bit of an understatement. The thread in our upcoming games forum collected thousands of posts, we had the eccentric developers on our podcast and nearly 100 comments from upset fans when Ravensword and many other Unity-powered games were rejected last week.

Ravensword is an open-world roleplaying game that begins with a mysterious cut scene that mentions strange creatures wandering the countryside at night, villagers gone missing, and a king who hasn't been seen in years. Your character was found at the edge of the forest, and was brought to the nearby town of Aven where a friendly woman named Beatrice attempts to answer some of your amnesia-induced questions.

She mentions a nearby castle filled with evil, but obviously recommends you you stay away, and instead head down to the nearby Rat Donald's stand to take your first quest: Collecting five rats for the "dinner rush". He arms you with a club and then sends you off to the nearby forest to bash the surprising amount of giant sized rats. The rest of the game continues as you hop from quest to quest, leveling up, collecting items, and discovering more about your mysterious identity.

Ravensword has both third person and first person views, and the game's controls work a lot like the many first person shooters on the platform. A virtual joystick on the left side of the screen controls your movement, and swiping anywhere on screen with your right thumb allows you to look around. Swiping with two fingers changes your view much faster, and is useful for when things sneak up on you from behind.

Combat uses a lock-on system where you can tap an enemy, then start swinging by hitting the attack button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Double tapping an enemy brings up their statistics, and to see your own stats along with viewing the map, changing settings, or looking up your quest log is just a matter of tapping the backpack icon in the top right.

The graphics and music in Ravensword combine very well to create a whimsical fantasy atmosphere that permeates the whole game. Forum members have also reported that Ravensword even performs well on the first generation iPod Touch, but you can squeeze even more performance out of the game by toggling off shadows and foliage in the game's settings if you prefer a higher frame rate to visual effects. Ravensword runs like a dream on the iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation iPod Touch, a surprising feat given the level of detail in game and the fact that they're using Unity and not some highly optimized custom game engine.

The developers haven't been modest in their comparisons between Ravensword and other games, and have mentioned long-standing series like Elder Scrolls and Zelda as inspiration behind the game. While the game does have its limitations, it's an amazingly impressive effort for a two man development team.

Some of its shortcomings are things like lack of any real character customization, when you level up your attributes are assigned automatically and there aren't any skill trees to speak of– two features that have become somewhat expected in most modern RPG's. There's also no secondary skills or traditional magic you can cast, so in its current form you will be limited to swinging your melee weapon and (when you get it) shooting your bow.

Later in the game, things do start to feel a bit limited, but more because of the lacking diversity in weapons and armor than the inability to customize your character's skills. In games like Dungeon Hunter or Underworlds, different loot flows like water, and it seems like you're constantly upgrading gear– something I feel like I'm missing from Ravensword. Despite that, the game world itself and the plot line of the main quest kept me sucked in throughout and the impressive 3D engine gives the game an open-world feeling otherwise unmatched on the iPhone.

Overall, Ravensword is a great addition to the somewhat scarce landscape of RPG's on the iPhone. It has some flaws, but it's a lot of fun and at the end of the day that's really all that matters. With an estimated 6-8 hours of gameplay, and side quests to keep you busy long after that, I can't help but recommend Ravensword.

App Store Link: Ravensword: The Fallen King, $6.99

Fans of Rogue Touch or other roguelike games may be interested to see Tecmo's latest App Store release, The Isle of 8-bit Treasures [link], a turn-based adventure.

The Isle of 8-bit Treasures is more or less Rogue, wrapped up and packaged with a retro look and feel that seems more at home on an NES than an iPhone. But whereas Rogue is entirely set in a dungeon world, The Isle features a number of environments to play through, including dungeons, caverns, forests and ruins, across more than 60 missions. It has a feel that's somewhat reminiscent of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

The game lets you choose between three different characters — Swordsman, Witch and Hunter, each with their own gameplay characteristics. Different areas of the island game world are accessed from a central map, some areas and weapons of which are randomly generated using songs in your iTunes library as seeds. The various play areas are full of roving creatures with which you must do battle, and three different types of objects — stones, powders and crystals — that can be collected to enhance your capabilities.  Each game area is completed when the heart shaped Valor icon is collected from the area's final floor.

The Isle brings an interesting twist on the weapons systems of most games of its sort. To the right of the on-screen play area is your vertical Weapon Reel. The Reel contains a light smattering of power icons by default and scrolls downward with each attack you perform. If a power icon appears in the window at the bottom of the Reel during an attack, your weapon delivers more damage than normal. Crystals collected along the way can be dragged onto your Weapon Reel to deliver a series of high-damage attacks in battle.

The game features colorful, whimsical, retro-inspired graphics and feels very smooth to play.  But don't let the graphics fool you, this is a rather difficult / challenging game.  Many's the time I've found myself slaughtered by a cartoonish enemy after just a few minutes of play. And while this presents a notable challenge, some readers in our forums lament the small number of floors in some of the levels (some just 3 or 4 deep), as compared to Rogue's far deeper dungeons. More troublesome, perhaps, is the lack of a mid-dungeon save feature. Tap out to the home screen or get on a phone call and it's back to the island map.  Hopefully Tecmo will address this unfortunate omission in a future update.

Despite its shortcomings, early adopters are enjoying it on the whole. The Isle of 8-bit Treasures is an interesting new take on a solid formula and should appeal to many iPhone adventure fans. Let's hope an update will make things less frustrating for an interrupted gamer.

See our brief video of very early stages of several game areas to get a feel for the game.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

App Store Link: The Isle of 8-bit Treasures, $4.99

Last month Wisp Games released a sprawling galactic role playing game set far in the future, known as Flatspace [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch.  An adaptation of the well-reviewed 2003 PC release, Flatspace is a large scale, open space trading game in the spirit of the legendary Elite, Galaxy on Fire [App Store] for the iPhone, and others of the sort.

The distant future. Space has expanded to such an extent that stars and planets can no longer hold form. Humanity still lives and works in space stations and ships, islands of light and technology in an otherwise cold and flat void.

Such is the backstory of the Flatspace game universe.  Upon reading the title of this game along with the backstory, I must confess that I was anticipating an amazingly clever and wholly new type of game experience that might harken back to Abbot's Flatland, or something like the same, but this is not the case.  Not that Flatspace is a let-down, but it seems the "flat" backstory is simply justification for a game of galactic proportions being rendered in top-down 2D (well, 2.5D) as opposed to 3D.  I just wanted to clear that up, directly.

At the start of a new game, you create a captain for your ship, choosing from among a variety of professions: Trader, Mercenary, Bounty Hunter, Space Pirate, Police Officer and Scavenger.  You're then equipped with a rather meager spacecraft and dropped into a random spot in the game universe.  From there you're out to amass wealth by way of completing various missions and trading items between space stations — that is, if you're on the straight and narrow.  Another approach is to basically become a space pirate, raiding, stealing, and killing in order to bring in the loot.  Whatever your approach, there are plenty of other space pirates out there to keep you on your toes — watch out for them.

Your ship has the ability to target and scan both space stations and ships.  This reveals important information about the nature of these vessels, so that you can decide whether to interact with them (and in what fashion) or to pass them by.  Your craft is armed with lasers, but available weapons upgrades, which include cannons, missiles and tractor beams, add to your abilities and are necessary to complete certain missions.  Control of your ship is handled via accelerometer for steering, as well as on-screen touch for control of weapons and various other ship features.

Flatspace for the iPhone features three different playmodes.  First off, there's the Standard Game, which lets you create a captain and begin amassing your fortune.  The Custom Game mode gives you control over the types of people in the universe (pirates, no pirates, etc.), the quantity and visibility of space stations, the numbers of asteroids and nebulas, and so forth.  The Arcade Game just throws you straight into the heat of battle, where the emphasis is on action rather than strategy.

Even with my abbreviated time with the game, it's clear that Flatspace offers significant play time to those who fancy a large-scale space RPG.  While more approachable than the seminal classic Elite, Flatspace is one of those games in which you can (and must) invest a lot of time.

The accelerometer-only steering can seem imprecise and the interface, a bit unpolished, perhaps reflective of it being a port of a PC game, but Wisp Games indicates that the first update is almost ready, which will include the option of non-accelerometer steering, video tutorials, and the ability to choose your initial bankroll for Custom Games.  And those who remain undecided can check out the free, demo version of the Windows release to get a feel for the action.

App Store Link: Flatspace, $2.99

Last month we posted a brief preview of Chillingo's upcoming hack and slash RPG, The Relic. Originally described as "Gauntlet on steroids", this latest gameplay video does a great job showing exactly what they mean by this. Here is Chillingo's latest description of the game:

Long ago, craftsmen of legendary art conceived an artifact of immortality; an engine of life to overthrow death and usher in the rule of peace. Yet one thousand years the Quinotaur reigns and fills the holes of the earth with horrors. Ascend from the deep where he has buried you, end the tyrant and destroy the source of his power – The Relic.

Play alone or with friends the intense hack and slash game that pits you against hordes of skeletons, spiders and evil wizards. Live the story, consume potions, collect spells and complete quests through a number of levels to uncover the secret of The Relic and finally restore peace to the world. Enjoy stunning graphics, animation and music that make the world of The Relic come alive.

The Relic will be playable with up to two players via bluetooth, and if you're on WiFi up to four players will be able to slash their way to victory.

While still under development, The Relic is looking very interesting.

Gamevil's latest epic RPG got its own lite version today, Hybrid: Eternal Whisper Free [App Store] offers a brief look at the world of Hybrid through three included battle stages where you will be able to master nine different fighting skills.

Hybrid is an adventure roleplaying game with an extensive skill system all wrapped around a brawler-style fighting game. You play as Grey, a kid with a mysterious past protected by an equally mysterious guardian named Fairy through a quest that will take you numerous hours to complete that touches on a number of RPG cliches along the way.

With every enemy you kill, you gain experience points and in-game currency which can be spent on an impressively deep character customization and upgrade system. The combat is the star of the show in Hybrid, and as you fight through each level you eventually gain more moves, techniques, and magical attacks to dispatch your enemies. These attacks can be chained together to form massive combos, and fighting entire gangs of baddies at once can be fairly satisfying.

Like Zenonia, there are a lot of people who love Hybrid, there's a thread on our forums filled with fans of the game. I do appreciate all the work Gamevil has put in to the game, and as you level up and gain more abilities, watching Grey fly around the screen killing enemies is fairly spectacular.

Where the game fell short for me, however, was in the seemingly endless amount of button mashing and thumb swiping required to kill all the enemies on a level only to watch a cut scene with tons of dialog, then get back to mashing the attack button. Regardless, I still recommend trying the free version, because opinions on this game seem divided, and you could find yourself amongst those who can't get enough of Hybrid.

App Store Links:

• Hybrid: Eternal Whisper Free, Free
• Hybrid: Eternal Whisper, $5.99

I first got a look at Five Minutes to Kill Yourself [App Store] as part of an oddly secretive preview from the folks at Adult Swim. With the game's impending release in the near future, now is finally the time to pull the cover off Adult Swim's latest iPhone adaptation of yet another one of their flash games.

As the title may imply, in Five Minutes to Kill Yourself, you've found yourself fed up with working in your monotonous office environment and have decided to off yourself. Utilizing various objects found around your office, you only have five minutes to do enough damage to put yourself out of your misery.

It isn't that simple though, as your bothersome coworkers often initiate unskippable conversations with you. Much like working in a real office, these conversations accomplish nothing other than wasting your time. In some instances, through dialog choices you might get a coworker to attack you, but most of the time they just pester you about lunch.

You can staple your forehead, drink toilet water, pee on computers, and countless other things. The amount of objects that you can interact with and the objects that can be combined with others for even more lethal damage is pretty amazing. The following video shows the game's tutorial, selecting clothing, and finally, killing yourself:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself is also available as a free flash game on the Adult Swim website. It plays exactly the same as the iPhone version, the only difference is instead of using your mouse you use your finger.

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself should be available on the App Store very soon.

Update: Wow, we weren't kidding about it being available soon. It was just released moments ago.

App Store Link: 5 Minutes to Kill Yourself, $2.99

Rake in Grass recently released their latest iPhone game Undercroft, an old-school styled turn based RPG. The game has been receiving only positive comments in the release thread.

The developer describes the game:

Undercroft is a dazzling, epic adventure set in a fantasy world full of magic and monsters. It combines the atmosphere of classic role playing games with plenty of new features, and brings it all together with cool graphics and sophisticated level design.

The game features multiple environments, hundreds of items, and over 20 hours of gameplay. The developers have provided a lite version to try which will give you a feel for the game before committing to the full version.

App Store Links: Undercroft Lite, Free, Undercroft, $4.99

A couple weeks back we posted a sneak peek of the v1.1 update to Meridian's zombie shooter with RPG elements Alive 4 Ever [App Store].   Late last night the update went live, brining a new level of carnage to iPhone gamers looking for action and gore.

The developer lists the following features in this update:

• Survival Battle (Single and Multiplayer) — Try to stay alive for as long as you can. You will be rewared a new weapon – Golden Desert Eagle – if you can stay alive for 10 minutes or more.
• Horde Battle (Single and Multiplayer) — Slaughter wave after wave of zombies. You will be rewared a P90, M4 Super 90 and Golden AK-47 if you can clear wave 8, 16 and 24 respectively.
• Powerful New Weapons — Altogether 5 new weapons, 4 can be unlocked in the Survival and Horde Battle; 1 can be bought in weapon shop.
• Bonus Indicator — Bonus indicator has been added for scenes with challenge completed.
• Dual-Stick Transparency Setting — Player can choose from 3 levels of transparency – None, Half and Full.
• New ranking for Survival and Horde Battle
• Profile name length increased to 8 characters
• Reduced the detection area of Briefing Button
• Bug fixes

Meridian provided us with the following trailer showing gameplay in the v1.1 release.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

A planned v1.2 update will add Wi-Fi multiplayer gaming to the mix.  See our review of the initial release, posted in late August.

App Store Link: Alive 4 Ever, $1.99

Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter [App Store] is a hack and slash RPG easily comparable to either the Diablo or Dungeon Siege series. In the game you play as a prince who was recently resurrected to vanquish evil from your once glorious kingdom. The story doesn't come off as particularly deep or original, but it more than gets the job done.

Your quest (and associated subquests) will have you venturing across the land and killing (almost) everything that moves in a variety of different environments. The dungeons and villages you come across are beautifully rendered, greatly adding to the fantasy atmosphere and dark mood of the game. Just like the rest of the games that Gameloft has been releasing lately, there were several moments where I experienced a "Wow, I can't believe this is running on my phone" feeling as dimly lit corridors lead into giant expanses lit by candle with legions of skeletons to be slain.

Your character movement can either be handled using an on-screen virtual joystick or touch controls. The joystick is self explanatory, but with the touch controls enabled a small red cross will appear anywhere you touch in the game world and your character will run there. I've found myself preferring the virtual joystick, although touch controls work just as well once you get over the learning curve of figuring out the nuances of the pathing your character chooses to take to reach the point that you touched.

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Gameloft's Diablo-like action RPG Dungeon Hunter [$6.99] has returned to the App Store with a new version update.

The game originally appeared a couple of weeks ago but was pulled due to a major bug preventing game progress past the Forge level. This update offers a fix for this issue and brings the game back to the App Store.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The game is now available for $6.99.

App Store Link: Dungeon Hunter, $6.99