Universal Angel Sword (by DVide Arts Inc.)

MrAlbum · Sep 1, 2015

Lickzy said: ↑

Wow, how thorough, good work. Question... How many iOS games have you developed ?
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None, but I've played somewhere over 200-ish by now. Like I said at the end, make of my thoughts whatever you will.

Edit: Double-checked my purchase history; it's something closer to 1,000 games total I've purchased/played.

Amenbrother · Sep 1, 2015

MrAlbum said: ↑

None, but I've played somewhere over 200-ish by now. Like I said at the end, make of my thoughts whatever you will.

Edit: Double-checked my purchase history; it's something closer to 1,000 games total I've purchased/played.
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I agree with the boring parts you stated in your last post man I bought it for the 99c sale and wow I cant even bring myself to play it anymore.

Repulsa · Sep 1, 2015

Some people will like it some will not everyone has their own standards/tastes I happen to like it I mean yeah it's a little generic but I'm enjoying my 99 cents worth I sure as heck wouldn't buy any of the way overpriced costumes/pets I think they really messed up there

spader623 · Sep 1, 2015

I'm not surprised the game sucks. Look at the pictures. It's literally buzzwords. It didn't show off the combat or locations or stuff, it just had images and huge 'this game has this in it so buy it naoooo'

AppWhore · Sep 1, 2015

I've given up after lvl 15. After lvl 10 or 12 and one new quest/puzzle there's nothing but grind the same enemies to lvl up to the next benchmark of 20 and likely one new quest/puzzle.
As said better in an earlier post: It's a solo and linear 'rpg' that soon runs out of tropes to use.

Boobi · Sep 1, 2015

AppWhore said: ↑

I've given up after lvl 15. After lvl 10 or 12 and one new quest/puzzle there's nothing but grind the same enemies to lvl up to the next benchmark of 20 and likely one new quest/puzzle.
As said better in an earlier post: It's a solo and linear 'rpg' that soon runs out of tropes to use.
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Same feeling here.

Repulsa · Sep 1, 2015

I am done for now as well hopefully they add more to a future update and fix the issues with multiplayer and maybe I'll come back to it

scottsoapbox · Sep 2, 2015

MrAlbum said: ↑

I think I can see why folks had such a low initial opinion on this game. I'll try and detail my reasonings below. Know that these are based on only a couple hours of gameplay, as I lost interest after that (I got to level 5 before I called it quits).

1.) People are skeptical of IAPs.

If the game asks for a price upfront and then offers options to buy more stuff with money in-game, even if it is cosmetic, folks get suspicious. Why did the devs feel like this cosmetic stuff requires another purchase separate from buying the game? Why didn't they just go with a more expensive upfront cost and ditch the IAPs entirely? In theory, the amount of money earned is the same either way. Surely there's a way to implement cosmetic items in a game without locking them behind a paywall.

Not only that, but folks have pointed out that some of the IAPs give stat boosts to your character, and that means shelling out for the best gear is apparently the most effective strategy. This adds more to the cost of the game beyond its up-front selling point, and there are folks who believe that doing this is unethical because it advertises an initial price but then surprises you with other costs that you did not anticipate. Sure, you could argue that buying the IAP is unnecessary. But if you want it, you have to pay for it, and that on top of an initial price is often seen as unfair and anti-consumer.

2.) The game's controls are bad.

Sure, they function, but being functional is not the same as being fun to use, a judgment which is more subjective but will lead to satisfaction for the player more often than not. Panning around with the camera is janky as all heck, as holding the camera to a certain viewpoint while moving around with the thumb stick causes the camera to "shiver". Not only that, but you can't examine around your feet, even when you are in the air, as the camera locks itself to a select few degrees of motion up and down. Sure, there's a toggle for first-person perspective, but you can't move/attack/do ANYTHING while in that perspective, making it impossible to use when things are intense, and useless for everything else other than occasionally taking screenshots if you're one of those folks. Also, don't get me started on the indoor camera; being indoors seem to amplify these problems more than you would think.

Also, the flying system is kinda borked: try tapping the fly button (DO NOT hold it down) as you are walking around the ground, and try not to get motion sickness. Also, you recover flight stamina while you are hovering (in the air, but not moving). This means that, with patience, you can fly anywhere you want, as the only penalty for using up your flight stamina is a few seconds of doing nothing. As Egoraptor put it in one of his Sequelitis videos: "Waiting is the bane of exploration." Having to constantly interrupt yourself as you are flying around makes flight tedious and boring, rather than an interesting combat/platforming challenge.

3.) Even with good controls, the game would still be boring.

The quests are variations on MMORPG quests, which go something like this stereotypically speaking:

"Go kill/collect X monsters/items for Y reason."
"Go here, talk to this NPC, do their tasks."
"Go here with this item and do Z with it."
"Get B item and bring it to me."

The quests in the game do not deviate from these broad templates, meaning that they become monotonous as you progress through the game, as you encounter the same kinds of quests that ask you to do the same kinds of things over and over again. Sure, they add flavor text to try and disguise that fact, but it becomes apparent the more you play.

The central storyline isn't compelling. New characters are dumped into the main town and then given an info-dump about where they are and why they are there, with zero clue as to why all these words thrown at them are as important as the NPCs claim they are. Then you're let loose to do whatever you want, and it isn't as exciting as that sounds (see the last paragraph).

Character progression is uninspired. Nothing from the Angel tree feels tailored to, well, Angelic things. There are no abilities that feel like only an Angel could do them, which was odd because the character is supposed to be an angel. Why not tweak animations or rename spells to make them seem more angelic? Any wizard could cast lightning bolts, and any human could swing a sword. What makes your character so special that they absolutely have to be summoned to fight the 'big bad evil thingymajigger' (The game doesn't call it that, but it felt like that, so I call it that ) other than maybe-sorta having wings? If there was an explanation, I must have missed it, because again nothing showed me why it was so important to pay enough attention to make sure I not miss details like that.

Also, there are no unique suffixes or rarities to equipment, meaning that character progression in terms of armor is highly linear: does X new piece of equipment have better stats than yours? You better swap it out, even if it clashes with your current wardrobe, otherwise you won't keep up with the damage output from enemies. Also, it seems that the only available armor/weapons/etc. is found in the shops, never as loot drops from defeated enemies. This takes the enjoyment out of looting enemies, as you will either get trash to be sold at a vendor or a quest item (again, see the paragraph on quests for my thoughts on those). Why should you bother with loot if it is almost worthless outside of generic quest stuff?

Last but certainly not least, the game plays like an MMORPG, and you really feel it in the combat. You tap the icons as you fight to use your abilities and attacks, just like the hotkeys in any MMO... yet the game gives you only three buttons at a time to slot abilities to. Sure, you can cycle between each set of three, but only three at a time?! Not only that, but the buttons are small, so it is possible to wonder why your character is doing nothing and only realizing you were missing the tiny button when you double-check where your finger was landing. The tap-to-target is also deceptive: sure, you can target them, but each ranged ability has its own range to it. Of course, nothing in the game tells you if your target is in range until you finally guess correctly and your character does their ranged attack. That could have been easily eliminated by changing the targeting reticle color once your character was in range to attack, or maybe even highlighting the buttons once they were in range.

The non-stacking items and super-limited inventory have already been mentioned by other folks. Also, you will get destroyed if you engage enemies that are one level higher than you, no matter how well you play.

4.) Even if all that was fixed, the game does not hold up in terms of graphics.

Sure, your character model is pretty detailed, which makes your character stick out like a sore thumb among the other lower-resolution townsfolk and enemies. Also, the environments are flat in their geometry, with low-resolution textures over everything from buildings to grass to trees to the stone towers. Heck, the graphic that plays when it rains is the quality of a random .gif meme on the Internet; it looks bad and glitches awkwardly. Not only that, but there is zero personality given to these models and textures. Your face is always a dumb blank stare regardless of whatever else is happening, and the townsfolk are even worse, as their faces are often flat textures rather than the detailed model of yourself, giving them even less room for personality.

5.) Aralon: Sword and Shadow did this better.

If anything, the game is similar in some respects to Aralon: Sword and Shadow, but this game doesn't have the strong art direction or the better writing quality of Aralon to be a fair comparison. Everything about Aralon is better, even though you don't get to fly around using wings. If you want a fun and expansive RPG of this type, go play Aralon. It's almost guaranteed to be a better time than this game....

....except, well, if you happen to be one of those people who enjoys playing through bad games and getting a kick out of how bad they are. On occasion, there is a moment of neat quest design (the steps needed to find the Song of Time stick out in my mind as the most memorable thing of the first couple hours of play time), and the way you learn new songs once you get the harp is a neat idea that could be implemented better in future games. If more work was put into everything else about this game, then more folks would enjoy it more. But then again, the standard is Aralon, or Ravensword: Shadowlands if you happen to like that game over Aralon. For a mobile RPG, that can be a high standard to beat. Perhaps the devs should have tried something less ambitious to build their skills; they have a couple neat ideas, but they are not enough to salvage this game IMHO.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Make of them whatever you will.

Sincerely,

Mr. Album

P.S. I think the game deserves a 1-star rating, not a zero-star rating. They tried, but ultimately failed, in my humble opinion.
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Nice detailed review. I appreciate it. And no you don't have to make your own game to review the fun level of a game so ignore that other guy.

Alexythimia23 · Sep 14, 2015

Man i feel bad for the people who paid full price as its only just been launched really, i got it for 79p on sale but to free this quick!

Amenbrother · Sep 14, 2015

Alexythimia23 said: ↑

Man i feel bad for the people who paid full price as its only just been launched really, i got it for 79p on sale but to free this quick!
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Thats nuts I bought it on sale for 99c too.

Lickzy · Sep 14, 2015

Free already? Wow

smegly · Sep 14, 2015

Keeps crashing every time I try to exit the starting village.

taiga97 · Sep 14, 2015

I had a feeling this would go free, but didn't think it would go free this quick. I feel bad for everyone that payed.

kenken11 · Sep 14, 2015

8.99 to free. Hahahahahahaahahahhahaha

Shiatama_0 · Sep 14, 2015

Lol i saw this coming, glad i waited.

Repulsa · Sep 14, 2015

These developers really dropped the ball with this one ...look guys just because you made it free does not not mean more people are going to feel like purchasing the ridiculously high in game currency. This game is too short to even enjoy the upgrades and at ten bucks for the cheapest stuff...come on. Apple should refund everyone who paid full price for this. I'm glad I only paid .99 when it went on sale .

Jxsgamer · Sep 14, 2015

Got this not so long ago at 99c and havent even played it yet... this game is so mean ;(

Alexythimia23 · Sep 14, 2015

Amenbrother said: ↑

Thats nuts I bought it on sale for 99c too.
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Nuts is right! Seriously this was like nearly a $10 dollar game on release just a few weeks ago....they might have reasons and i love a good deal....but man that aint right..

iCarlosBR · Sep 14, 2015

Free?!?!?!?

:-/

Andritz · Sep 14, 2015

I now know who not to buy from in the future

Universal Angel Sword (by DVide Arts Inc.)

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