I agree with nearly every positive thing Hobbisan said about EP. That said, I really don't understand the hate that this game gets. I'm STILL playing it. In fact, it's one of a few games I truly want to come back to and play where most other games I play gets lost in the sea of new games being bought. Sure the game has dual currency. I know that's a bad word/term around here. But several hours in (5-6) at level 15, the emblems are decently given out and to be 100% honest I rarely use them. Occasionally you get a chance after completing a level to spend 5 emblems on opening a chest. Every time I've opened one (which is nearly every time since I have plenty and never use them in any other way) I've received money which is earned through levels anyway. The game is super engaging and deserves to be played by anyone looking for a super polished Phantasy Star Online-like or a sci-fi Diablo type game. Seriously, you owe it to yourself. There isn't a point I've run into where the game ask you to spend real money, nor has it ever been tempting to. If you hate games that have IAP, I can understand where the thought process comes from, but it isn't an issue here. I hate games that manipulate you into buying IAP as much as the next person and refuse to participate in them, no less recommend them, but with several hours under my belt, I can safely say this is not the case with Echo Prime. If it changes in later levels, I'll be the first person to scream witch. With the amount of time and enjoyment I've experienced so far, it's been worth the money. As far as the update, its pretty badass. They've added even more skills to obtain and the difficulty seems to have been tweaked. I still stand by this game and have kept it on my device despite the larger size. The only negatives I can say is the above mentioned size (790MB installed), the nature of the controls which requires you to tap and swipe directly on the enemies somewhat blocking your view, and the levels are are within space stations with very little variation. None are deal breakers and the controls are easy to get used to. They don't annoy me anymore. Although this is a great candidate for controller support. With the amount of time Ive put in, the entertaining experience I've had, I would have to say this is recommended. If it doesn't look like it's for you, spare your money, I don't want to over hype this.
I need to play longer to verify but it appears they removed the use of emblems to open caches. I haven't played long enough to notice anything else different yet.
You have more hours than I, it's nice to know it keeps it real. Thank you for your impressions. I felt the TA review was quite unfair.
Cool! That would be a welcome change and greatly level the experience. Thanks for the reply, and if you notice any other significant changes, be sure to come back and post! Thanks again! DBC
Quick question. Can anybody tell me if this game has an option for a dpad controller scheme (or vpad in this case). I find it way to troublesome with the tap to move mechanic while I have to spam attacks and powers, aim at different enemies, while all the while tapping in the opposite direction to avoid being hit. Honestly this game is right up my bowling alley (I love Sci fi action/adventure games) but I just can't get used to that control scheme yo.
There is only the one control setup and I would agree that it would be nice if there was an alternative control setup with a d-pad and buttons, even though that might make using the gun a little more difficult.
Follow-up, some sad notes So, I've said previously how I've enjoyed the game. Unforunately, after playing some other games and having seen XCOM on sale, I decided to temporarily delete Echo Prime from my iPad to clear some space (seriously, why did I buy an iPad with just 16 GB...). It's a multiplayer game where people can use your Echoes and see your Game Center name associated with them. So the progress must be linked and saved on servers somewhere, right? Well, wrong. After hearing about the update, I've managed to scrounge a bit more free space... only to meet disappointment of being lvl 1 again. In a game where the point is to slowly progress through the game, having your save on the cloud would have been extremely useful. But yet... you left me a sad face. I'll play it again in the future since the game was fun, but perhaps I'll also await Android release to play it on my phone instead. Perhaps for Android release they'd have some sort of account sync where I could play on both my phone and iPad and keep same progress, just like with Hero Academy. Dreaming a bit, but I'd put it on my wishlist.
Used to crash tons on my ipad 2 ios7 but that's been greatly reduced and only happens when I reach level 20 in a survival game. Never crashed on my iphone 5. I use icloud too
Thanks... guess I'll just delete + do a re-install... **edit** K... I deleted the game, did a hard reset, then a soft reset, re-installed the game, and now it's still crashing on the main menu. iOS 7.0.4, iPhone 5... No clue why... **2nd edit** I also tried turning off and deleting the iCloud save, deleting the game, then doing another re-install, and it's still crashing on the main menu, right at the spot where, at the bottom of the screen where the text is scrolling, it says 'Welcome' right after the 'update to iOS 7.0.3 for the optimal experience' message...
K... So I re- installed the game again and it plays, but only when I'm offline (in airplane mode). When I turn airplane mode off, no matter where I am in the game, it crashes. I installed the game on my wife's phone and the game ran perfectly, with my cloud save intact. No idea what's wrong with it on my phone, but it sucks... At least I'm able to play the game again. =o/
A little bit grindy to collect every single weapon similar to infinity blade's equipment mastery but not unforgivingly freemiumy. All you really need is a weapon that works and you're set. You get enough credits to buy those at a good pace as you level. The 'premium' currency is finite but more than enough if you aren't OCD in amplifying every echo. It can be used to buy exp/credit boosters but that's merely for convenience. Amplifying echoes is also just for convenience and cosmetics.
No. It is not. It drives me bonkers when I see people say this. Hours in, Level 16, not once have I needed IAP. It's all earned in game.
Echoen sums it up quite well, and without sounding blindly apologetic. If you want to enjoy the complete experience without IAPs, good luck to you. I hope you fare better than others have. If you just want to "play through," you'll likely be able to do so, albeit with some grinding. For me personally, it was more frustrating than it was worth to keep feeling like I was playing a small portion of the "complete" game, but some have apparently learned to settle for far less and thus enjoyed the experience. I mean, why bother putting all the cool weapons and Echoes and such into the ("Premium") game if I cannot even obtain or use most of them without IAPs? Oh, wait... never mind. Considering how many games I have to choose from and play without worrying about how many aspects of the game are essentially inaccessible to me, I would have ended up playing through and not even enjoying the experience, so it was ultimately deleted. How well will it work for you? Who knows, but again, it's all a matter of perspective in the end, right? DBC
