At the risk of being "that guy", is there any chance of this getting a universal build or an iPad version? This looks very interesting, but being iPhone only I hate to say it would be a no buy for me no matter how good the game looks unless there was a version suited for this iPad gamer...
Well, bloody hell...Void pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. I haven't sunk as much time as I had hoped into this awesome little game yet, but I'll post some impressions soon. As far as a universal build and IAP goes, I hope the guys at BoxCat don't mind me answering those questions in brief, but if we want to see this on iPad, we've gotta make sure this sells well and right now the game doesn't have IAPs, but they will be implemented in an update but the game's balancing won't be touched. I know this is becoming a cliché, but think of it as a donation.
It’s pretty surprising that in a store filled with freemium/paidmium IAP pushing games, there’s still a few developers out there that are willing to release games without any in-app-purchases at all. Unfortunately, a lot of these games go pretty much un-noticed, and it really is a shame, especially with so many gamers clamoring for IAP free titles. Well, the most recent ZERO IAP title to hit our devices here at The App Shack? Nameless: The Hackers, developed by BoxCat. Not only is it completely devoid of IAPs, it’s also an incredibly well made game. I was a little skeptical at first, judging by the screenshots, it didn’t look as though the game had what it needed to grab my attention, but after about 5 minutes with the game, it was clear that this was something special, and definitely deserving of every bit of attention and support it could get. Nameless: The Hackers is an RPG that focuses on a group of 2 hackers who have been contracted to help find a missing programmer. As you progress through the game, 2 more members will join your squad, and you’ll start to unravel a conspiracy of mass proportions and wind up on a list you definitely don’t want to be on. While you’re following along the main story, you’ll be able to help out people around the globe by carrying out side-quests as well as take down some pretty formidable opponents. While you’re taking out other hacking groups and completing side-quests, you’ll be earning the game’s dual currencies; ByteCredits and Research Points. ByteCredits are used to purchase just about everything in the game from new skills to HP upgrades, Boosters (Defense, Attack, HP, Energy; up by 10% for 15 minutes) and Items (HP refills, energy refills, virus cleaners, ect), while Research Points are used primarily for upgrading (researching) skills. Starting off, you’ll just have a couple of basic hacking skills. But fairly quickly, you’ll be given access to the Mt. Fox store where more skills will become available once you hit certain points in the story. Not only will you be able to purchase skills, but you’ll also be able to upgrade them. Upgrades unlock as you collect cards. Cards are collected by taking out various groups of hackers across the world, and by completing certain tasks. A very cool aspect of the cards is that they’re randomly generated. While the type of cards that you get may be pre-destined, the stats that accompany these cards are all left up to luck. Each card has 4 segments attached, get a card with 1 segment unlocked, and the card will be a 25% card, 2 segments, 50%, ect. With each percentage increase, the stats that are locked to the card will increase. For instance, a 25% card might tack on 2 to your attack strength, while a 50% card could increase your attack by or 5. Not only are there random card generations, but there’s also different rarities of cards. A rare 25% card could very well be more powerful than a 50% or even 75% card. On top of all this, you’re also able to re-roll cards. In the menu, you can view the cards that you’ve unlocked so far. From this menu, you can select to re-roll cards for a cost. Even cooler? You can pay for a re-roll with either of the two currencies, though re-rolling with Research Points instead of ByteCredits will give you a slightly better chance of rolling a better card. As far as the user interface goes; everything can be done while using one hand/finger. Taps to execute moves and navigate the game while swiping to move about the world and select targets has been set up perfectly. The menus are very well designed and uncluttered, while everything else is simple to navigate and very responsive. To access your inventory, you simply tap on your health/energy numbers that are next to the character icons. To access your characters skills, you tap on the character. Underneath the character icons is the menu where you can quickly access the Mt. Fox shop, your inventory, view your collected cards or enter the options menu where you can save your game and adjust the music and sound effects (separately). If you ever get stuck, or need a refresher, there is a help/tutorial section in the Mt. Fox shop area. However, with everything being shown to you in a very simple and straightforward manor at the beginning of the game, chances are you won’t need to use this help section. But it is there, and easy to access, if you ever need it. Unfortunately, right now the game is only designed for the iPhone/iPod, and you’ll have to play in 2X mode on the iPad. Luckily, it doesn’t look too pixilated on the bigger screen, and fans of the RPG genre (as much as it sucks) should be use to playing games in 2X mode, considering most RPGs in the AppStore are designed for the iPhone and not made Universal. Nameless: The Hackers is, however, supported by the iPhone/iPod 5’s widescreen, and it looks fantastic on the smaller screen. The only negative thing I can say about Nameless is that the choices that you make don’t really effect the outcome of the game. There are some multiple choice decisions thrown into the mix, but the only thing they really effect is whether or not you get a couple of items or a few bonus ByteCredits. It would have been amazing if the developers threw in multiple story arcs depending on choices that you made. But with basically no RPGs featuring mechanics like this, it’s hard to hold this against BoxCat, especially with the amount of polish and how well Nameless plays, and even how great the story is minus decision based effects. With an incredibly supportive development team, great artwork and animations, a well thought out and engaging story and surprisingly deep customization systems, Nameless: The Hackers is a steal at it’s current price of $1.99. It is on sale for launch, and the price will rise to $3.99 soon, which does feel like a very appropriate price for a game of this caliber. BoxCat has done an outstanding job creating a fresh and original RPG for the iOS, and better yet, even with the dual-currencies, there are NO IAPs! It’s hard not to get excited about that these days. I’m hoping that Nameless sells well and that we can see more games from BoxCat. As their first outing, they’ve definitely hit the ball out of the park and are a dev team that I will be keeping a very close eye on in the future.
You can think of them as money and experience, since you level up your cards instead of your characters.
Here's a couple of screens in 2X mode on the iPad, just in case anyone is curious to see how it looks...
The only thing that's missing is Game Center and achievements Are you guys ever going to add achievements to this game? It's a pretty rarity these days for games not to have them, what are you reasons for leaving this out? I always think achievements add to the games longitivity, least to me anyways I will play a game longer to complete some of the achievements E.g I will also go back to really old games to finish off achievements that I have missed
Your combat power, your "mana", so to speak. Skills use energy, but the energy refills very fast outside battles - or you buy and use energy packs.
Energy is what you use for skills - it's like mana... and your female character (character #2) has a skill that steals energy from opponents - and the male character (character #1) has a skill that costs 0 energy points to use (until later in the game after you upgrade the skill a bit). Pretty much, you'll never be stuck not being able to attack. But you can also purchase energy from the shop - it's VERY cheap - 10 bytecredits for 60 energy points (5 for 600 HP)
Personally, I think it's a rarity that achievements add to replay value or push gameplay. Most of the time, they're just things that you'll normally do when completing the game (eg; complete world 1, level up a character, beat the game, start the game, ect...) there's not many with achievements that actually drive gameplay alongside the actual game.
Thanks got the quick answers, Vovin and SV. I was afraid it was some kind of sick system with timers where you need to wait, but luckily it's not. It sounds like a steal at 2 bucks, I can't wait to try it.
E.g I will most likely move onto the next game before I collect all the cards or upgrade them, that's two achievements right there that would have me coming back to complete them 1. Collect all the info cards in the game 50 points 2. Upgrade all info cards 100 points (You can also add the super difficult achievement and upgrade all cards to ultra rare) Along side the usually play and complete achievements There's always at least a few achievements in every game that's a little bit harder to achieve And spending a little bit more time trying to complete them
I don't care about archievements. It's the game I care about. It's ok to have archievements in games where they actually make sense. But I see no use in this game. But that's a matter of taste and just my opinion. @syntheticvoid: first! But both used "mana" to describe. Great minds think alike, lol.
Agreed. Like 'void, I got a code from the dev (thanks again), so keep that in mind as you read my comments. (Then again, I was planning to buy the game before the dev contacted me). I can't really add much to 'void's assessment, except to make it clear that this is a very much a JRPG, even if it's wearing mirrorshades (old time cyberpunk fans should get that reference). The story progression, the turn-based combat, and the overall visual aesthetic should be plenty familiar to JRPG fans (without coming across as ripped off). One welcome surprise is how polished the whole thing feels, from backstory to dialogue to combat effects -- it reminds me a bit of Devil Survivor without the SRPG aspects of that game. An easy recommendation.
