I got home and bought this game an hour after it released, and have been playing almost nonstop since. It's almost everything I expected it to be plus much more. I'll try and provide my two cents. I think a lot of the issues people are having stem from either not understanding the type of game DC and DC2 are, or from being so used to the hundreds of games in the app store that require IAPs that they assume DC as another one. This couldn't be further from the truth. Keep in mind that Defender Chronicles 2 is a Tower Defense RPG, and its no exaggeration that it is by far the best one app store with only one close contender I know of... that being Defender Chronicles 1. Maps: A- - I really like the maps in this game, and frankly my only real problem is that there aren't as many shorter ones. I felt as if DC1 had maps short enough to finish during 2-3 minute breaks as well as longer ones like helegom or siria to cover the longer 8-10 minute breaks. Frankly, this could be because I have yet to unlock 4x speed, but overall, no complaints on the visual or the strategical aspects. Content: A+++ - The one thing I have always loved about DC was the ridiculous amount of content. Plenty of unlockables, skills to unlock, equipment to receive, etc. DC2 took that and basically blew my mind with the sheer amount of additional things to do, medals to get, upgrades, choices, etc. Absolutely love it. Soundtrack: A- - I mean, I really like the soundtrack, and I find it catchy enough, but I mean, game soundtrack has never been a big deal to me. I've heard a few better ones, I've heard a lot more worse ones, but this is up there. Edit: There's also unlockable music, another plus IAPs: A- - I think they are very fairly priced. DC1 had IAPs, and they were priced almost equivalently in value. This isn't a game that's trying to scam players. If you don't like them, don't buy them. That simple. The equipment ones are purely for fun, they won't help you beat the highest difficulties, but they do have neat little effects that are very fun to watch. For those who assume that the 2x experience or 2x token is a huge advantage, keep in mind two things. Firstly, this isn't an MMO. You aren't out to be the best. You aren't even competing. You're playing for fun. Secondly, even if you are competing to be best on the leaderboards, from my experience, you really don't have room to equip 2x token IAP artifacts in legendary onwards. The equipment slot that it takes up really is better used for equipment. Therefore, if the hardcore guys can still make due without IAPs, so can everyone. Yet, they exist to add a twist and value to the game for those who feel like supporting the small development crew. Community: A+ - The game has one of the friendliest communities I have seen. For anyone who registers on the forum, they have a nice chat shoutbox up top where you can chat with developers, moderators, and any other players. They are all very friendly, very willing to help, and simply all around great guys. I'm sure once the game picks up, the community will come together to discover the best strategies to beat certain levels, which is even more exciting. Strategy: A+++ - I will be honest. I thought I was an excellent strategist, and maybe I am, but this game showed me how in depth and rewarding good strategy can be. DC2 is so complex, it is ridiculous, yet so much fun. I can probably get through Heroic alone, and most likely Legendary with enough time, but the sheer beauty of the game is working with others to discover ways to win. If the higher difficulties (Mythic, Immortal, etc.) have been implemented, I can't wait until there. [Placeholder for other categories - tired from lack of sleep playing DC2 ] Basically, the only reason it seems people are complaining is because they can't unlock everything right away. DC has never been a game you play for two days, clear completely, and then put away. The first one wasn't and this isn't either. The very point is to play bit by bit, working your way through the medals and unlocks. Sure, the 3rd and 4th heros cost a fair deal of tokens. Yes, it may take a couple plays through some maps... but same with the medals, right? I feel as if some of you guys are complaining for the sake of complaining that there are too many unlockables. I didn't feel like buying the 3rd hero for a while, so I played the general until I had enough for it. Now that I have it, I'm still playing the general because I want to. He's great. I'll try out the 3rd hero when I finish the general. Yes, there are IAP; but they are purely for fun. The best equipment in the game comes through good strategy and well balanced characters, not through IAP. There is no way to buy your way to the top. Yes, there are some that speed up some aspects of the game, but overall, the guy that plays daily is still going to have the advantage over the guy that buys all the IAP in the hope of easily clearing the game. It is a very tough game at higher difficulties, and it's meant to be. It has more strategy than any other tower defense game on the market. That's what makes it so damn brilliant. Overall, buy this game if you like tower defense OR rpgs, you won't be disappointed. Hell, buy this game if you don't like tower defense OR rpgs, you still won't be disappointed. It's worth 2.99. Easily. Buying DC1 was the best mobile decision I ever made since getting an iPhone, and it seems like DC2 will surpass it.
Ahh ok that makes sense, thought I got poison for my archers haha! I thought to myself "that was much easier than in the first game!" lol
Just tried my hands at some freestylin' on Taric, and I must say that those little flying beasties absolutely devastate me. I was fine the first 20 waves or so, not a single enemy got past my two buildings at the top of the first incline, and then the little bewinged buggers flew right past all my archers and took away half my life points. Ten waves later, they returned, and even though I had then built a gauntlet of six max-leveled archer buildings for them to fly past (and broken the first rule of DC: never sell buildings ), enough thundered past to defeat me. Considering that even at wave 29, 9 waves after the first wave of flyers, not a single enemy made it past my first two or three buildings on foot, the strength of the flying dudes seemed a little out of place. It only took two warrior's guilds and a mage to stop hordes and oceans of gnolls and orcs, but six max-leveled archer towers could not even put a dent in one wave of bats. Might this be an issue of balance worth looking into? In other news, the blue iOS-default style confirm dialogues upon item and library secret purchases (for tokens, not the IAP. No idea if the IAP purchases bring up the same kind of confirmation) seem very out of place, and pulls me right out of the game, immersion-wise. Might we see these replaced with pop-ups in an in-game graphical style, Gimka? Well, right there you are talking to a moderator, which might give reason for some pause, introspection and reflection...
Will the price of the 2 other heroes be tweaked at all? The current price of them seems a bit overkill.
-_-' ----------------------- I think this game needs to add a 'start next wave' button. Btw, I don't really like the lack of iPod music player support. The integrated iPod function is honestly, unintuitive so allowing the player to play music straight from iPod (or better, another music player app) in the background would be a lot better. Also, what does it take to remove the attention grabbing red arrow pointing towards the IAP store on the campaign map? Do I have to buy something? How many IAP items (the 4th tab) can a hero equip at once? How beneficial is the second effect of Wolf Guardian? What exactly does it do? Not a statement against IAP by any means, the arrow just seemed out of place so I felt like asking. The decision to buy IAP is preformulated so I'm not being forced at all. -------------------- Tapping the iPhone screen for item info is quite unresponsive for me. Could their register area be increased?
Trade Shop? I accidentally bought the "Trade Shop Discount" at the Library. Any idea what the Trade Shop is?? It apparently is not the Elf Hut, as I'm not seeing any discount there...
Also, just my two cents on the debates above: I played DC1 quite a lot, so I expect grinding to get top equipment. But requiring tons of grinding to unlock the other two heroes is ridiculous. You advertise in the game description that there are four heroes. This is a lot of what got me excited about the game. Now it turns out I'll have to grind for hours and hours just to get the hero I'm excited to try out (Elwen)?? If you're going to tell people there are four heroes, let them play with four heroes. I mean, you could unlock the latter two after they finish the campaign, or whatever. But as it stands, your game description should really say, "Play as two heroes, or pay extra to unlock two others."
Probably it hasn't appear on your map yet. I don't have it yet either. But in the first one there was a Trade Shop where you could get fighter type equipment. Elf Hut for Melwen, Trade Shop for the general. I think this is true for this one as well.
After playing some more last night, I have to say that there's more depth to this new release than I previously realized. The medals upgrade multiple times and they're different for each hero. Looking through the help text gives a lot of insight into the depth of this game. I think this is where things really shine, since the previous game was all about depth of playability. Also, the level backdrops and parallax scrolling is a big improvement over the original. The few things I'd like to have seen fixed from the previous release made it over to this one also, such as having to enter and leave the shop to refresh it's contents (there should just be a refresh button in the shop UI itself). It should be possible to turn off the cut scenes and "tutorial" markers + zoom in. However, a lot of the things we asked to be fixed back in the first version are still there (I just bought the 4x speed upgrade, which was added later in the original game - can we get an 8x speed upgrade also?) I'm eager to try the new hero classes, but I'm going to spend time re-levelling my Melwen and General first to relive those old moments for a while
Aw man i got a one time offer to buy7000 gold for the price of 4000, but i wasnt near a wifi spot at the time. Now i dont want to pay for the 4000 because it feels like a waste. Great game though, but the new heroes are like crazy expensive, and having to pay for the 4x speed boost feels a bit off to me. But generally the IAPs dont seem anywhere like as bad as some here are making them out to be.
The original game was THE reason that I went from an iPod touch to 2 iPads 2 iPhones 2 touches and a mac (if only Apple paid you a commission). Im playing the new one on an iPad 3 and the most disappointing thing for me is the lack of animation. It makes it feel more like a korean freemium game (the ones with graphics that make beautiful screen grabs but no animation). Now I havent had time to play it much but where does it tell me about the unit types (whats the difference between a lizard and an archer for example?) and what an upgrade will do (was expecting the upgrade to increase the radius on the lizardmen and increase the number of swordsmen for example) etc?
There is quite a lot of information in the in-game Game Manual (Main Menu -> Extras -> Game Manual), Between that and the Academy you'll have a pretty good picture as to ranks of the different guilds and what they can do, weakneses and so on. But very briefly put: Lizardmen has higher Attack than Archers, but have shorter Radius. They get fire at level 3. And they can also research better improved Attack and Radius for all bowmen (by unlocking a secret in Great Library). Archers have longer Radius and can be upgraded to a higher rank (Marksmen or Rangers).
There are six shops in DC2, which unlocks as you progress in the game: Elf Hut, Trade Shop, Archer Shop, Temple, The Black Market and the Imperial Store. Each have their own different potential for your different heroes. More information about the shops, which unique items they have, and more, can be found in the in-game Game Manual (Main Menu -> Extras -> Game Manual)
Not at all, the Arrow indicates that your daily free token game is awailable You can at any one time equib five items: head piece, armor, weapon and two artifacts, like rings, orbs or wards. It increases the value of the items you get as Spoils of War (the loot you win after each battle) If you mean; holding your thumb/finger over an item to read info? The area is actually from rim-to-rim of the icon.
I saw the game manual buried in the Extras. I haven't looked into it yet; just wanted to jump in and play with what little time I had on a weekday night. More feedback: It took a while to figure out how to sell an item. That's wasn't intuitive, imho. The pop-up window to confirm the buying/selling of an item is the default idevice's popup window -- just very jarring and out of place. It isn't game-breaking but if one is to think the worse of it, it might give an impression that it is unfinished in that aspect.
