The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Battle Chasers: Nightwar
While there are a ton of great original mobile games, a bulk of the best stuff for mobile devices comes in the form of ports of existing games from other platforms. It makes a lot of sense really as mobile devices are just tiny but very capable computers, and as long as the controls make sense on a touchscreen, why not bring your game to an additional platform with a few billion potential customers? Sometimes though, even knowing full well that a game originated on a major gaming console or PC, I just can’t help but be impressed with the quality of game I’m playing on my little iPhone. That’s exactly the case with Battle Chasers: Nightwar ($9.99), a game originally developed for consoles and PC by Airship Syndicate a couple of years ago but brought to mobile this week thanks to HandyGames.
Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a turn-based RPG based on the Battle Chasers comic book series which ran during the turn of the millennium. It features a cast of characters from the comic that are immediately likable: Gully, a young girl who wields her father’s magical gauntlets; Garrison, a swordsman and friend of Gully’s father who has sworn to protect her; Knolan, an aging mage with a sharp tongue; Calibretto, a war golem with a heart of gold; and Red Monika, a rogue who you’re not quite sure about upon first meeting her. The game opens with an animated, fully-voiced introduction which shows the group’s airship getting shot down, and the game begins with you taking control of Gully as she awakens on an island below.
I’m not a big RPG person but every once in a while one really grabs me, and Battle Chasers: Nightwar has done exactly that since the moment I fired it up. Once you get past the initial exposition and introductory stuff, the game’s core loop becomes clear, and it’s a lot of fun. The gameplay is split up into two main types. One where you’re exploring a huge overworld, tapping to move down set paths and generally covering a ton of ground. Then there are smaller dungeons you’ll play through where you have direct control over your characters via a virtual analog stick. In both styles you’ll encounter enemies in turn-based battle, find NPCs to talk to, come across all sorts of loot and treasure, and basically advance the story by completing quests.
Battle Chasers: Nightwar’s main criticism on other platforms was that the difficulty was imbalanced which required the player to grind at certain points to beef themselves up enough for the next leg of the journey. The happy accident about being on mobile is that the grinding portions are actually a perfect fit, as this is a fun game to hop into for a few minutes and knock out a couple of battles or sit down with for hours at a time. You can save and quit at any time, and there’s multiple graphical settings to save on battery if you need, which makes Battle Chasers: Nightwar a really great experience on mobile. If you enjoy RPGs and are looking for a new adventure, I’d highly recommend giving Battle Chasers: Nightwar a try.
