I told you guys last week we had picked up some new team members, and if you haven’t noticed, we’ve been on fire this week. Tons more content across the board ranging from more reviews, developer interviews, more guides, and way more news. I even had to change the front page to display more stories at a time just so we weren’t bumping our daily load out off the front page. A good change overall, I’d say. Anyway, here’s our top scoring reviews we published this week:
FINAL FANTASY Record Keeper, Free
[Review] – I have to admit, since the travesty that was Final Fantasy: All The Bravest (Free), I lost all hope of seeing a good mobile Final Fantasy game that would not only embrace some of the unique intricacies of the platform but do so in a way that didn’t make the whole experience feel sleazy. Yet, here we are with Final Fantasy: Record Keeper, a collaboration between DeNA and the folks at Square Enix and a title has single handedly restored my faith as to the potential of this franchise and genre on mobile.
Taichi Panda, Free [Review] – In a follow-up to our 2014 E3 preview and just a few days before a major update, we sat down to see the furry martial artist in action. Taichi Panda (Free) from Snail Games was released in the US on The App Store earlier this month with an Android release also available. It is a free-to-play dungeon crawler with an RPG feel and some extensive online multiplayer features that make it a stand out from other titles in the genre.
Tales from the Borderlands, Free (Episode 2) [Review] – “Atlas Mugged" mostly has the duos of Rhys and Vaughn and Fiona and Sasha separated, so while interaction between the four of them is limited to the beginning for the most part. Rhys is trying to deal with having Handsome Jack in his brain – and the consequences of trying to convince others that he’s not crazy, he actually is seeing Handsome Jack, and either giving in or resisting to his influence, as per your choices. But there’s great moments here between the duo, and even the Loader Bot returns. Truly, they are all bros.
Silly Sausage in Meat Land, Free [Review] – Every time Nitrome announces a new game, I get excited for two reasons. One is that I love pixel art games and Nitrome specializes in them. Second is that their games are usually pretty cool in some way, have some twist to them that’s interesting to discover. Silly Sausage in Meat Land (Free) is their latest and one of their best games that I’ve played yet. It’s a goofy and challenging game that does some really cool things.
The Trace: Murder Mystery Game - Analyze evidence and solve the criminal case, $3.99 [Review] – One of my favorite gaming experiences back in the late 1980s was playing the fantastic Police Quest series by Sierra Entertainment. I had perhaps too much fun playing the cop and roaming the streets as an incompetent instrument of justice. So, I was quite happy that The Trace ($3.99), the new game by British award-winning games developer Relentless Software, out now for iPhone and iPad, brought me back to my glorious crime-solving days. As Detective Sam Pearce of Baltimore PD, you get to follow a long trail of bodies in the hunt for a killer. Relentless Software has developed the game from the ground up for tablet and mobile devices, and it shows both in the game’s influences and its controls. If you’ve been gaming on mobile devices the last few years, you’ll easily recognize the genres that make up The Trace.
SwapQuest, $2.99 [Review] – When done correctly, I feel like there’s no better mix of genres than the puzzle/RPG combination. Adding character progression and some exploration elements to a good puzzle mechanic has the potential to really turn a neat game into a full-on adventure. SwapQuest ($2.99) has managed to do just that by combining classic Pipe Mania gameplay with some great RPG mechanics. Add in some cool retro visuals and awesome music and SwapQuest is an experience that shouldn’t be missed.
Additionally, we reviewed a few other games this week. As always, you can dig into all of our reviews by clicking here. Alternatively, you can hit up specific scores by using these links:
