I wish somebody would answer that. I found Aralon incredibly unfun for the above reasons, please someone tell me this game is not like that.
I'm playing on an ipad mini, so I cant experience the high texture quality. Overall, in my opinion this game look about as good as some early Xbox 360 games (in terms of the 3D models), which is really good for a mobile game. Also some of the effects, are as good as current open world console games. It's too bad we don't see more games like this on iOS. When put into the right hands, the iPad and iPhone really have the potential to be great gaming machines. If more AAA quality hardcore games were release, the ipad mini could have the power to kill off the PS Vita and put a good size dent in 3DS sales. I can't wait to see what 2013 brings for iOS games. If things keep going this good, I may have to retire my 3DS for a bit and use my ipad mini as my main handheld gaming device. It would also be nice to see the PS4 have some connectivity with iOS games.
If you like this game, you owe it to yourself to play skyrim. That is hands down, one of the best games of this console generation. I'm not too far into the game yet, but so far this game reminds me a little of skyrim. It would be a dream come true to see a Bethesda produced sandbox RPG for iOS.
Great game so far, but here's what I'd like to see looked at... 1st person slashing is slower than 3rd person slashing... No idea why. Stop sheathing my weapon automatically - when you're in a cave full of trolls it's quite easy to take a few hits because you've git to draw your weapon again... Controls - bottom right for looking is essential. Custom button placement and sizing would solve any problems. Ipad 4 doesn't have real time shadows for me either, just a round blob - no big deal as the game looks stunning anyway.... I'd like to be able to get the local map full screen, and be able to add waypoints on it... Also the compass should have a directional indicator to tell you where to head next on your tracked quest. Other than than - stunning!
Actually you are rigth boths weapons just are super stiff, the should move the same as in third person camera Thats my only complaint of the first person camera
Found one more small issue. The default character movement speed is sometimes a bit too fast for some environments (like houses) and some actions (like trying to pick up something). It would make things easier if we had the ability to walk slower by moving the control pad only slightly. Hopefully the developers can push out a quick update before the lockout, or right after the lockout ends. Also, has anyone heard how long it takes to finish the main quest? I heard 40 hours, but I'm not sure if that was including side quest. Ok, back to playing (though I should really get some sleep).
I see where he's coming from. When you're a PC gamer used to much higher resolutions and textures, every Xbox game looks like crap.
Yes it does look pretty bad. It's pushing in sub 720p, yet my iPad is running an open world game at 1536p. There is absolutely no comparison. Graphics aside, the game is a ton of fun. The quests are well done, you have different ways of going about completing them with differing dialogue (do I pay the guy off or raid his house for the evidence). The issues I'm having are with the camera/controls (manageable but please give us more options in the next update) and lack of realtime shadows (I'm a tad peeved about that, but hey, just fix it in the next update please).
Anyone whose on the fence about this don't even bother. I'm wondering how the hell can a developer release a game with such handicap controls and figured it would be ok with everyone. And why the hell does my character sprint ALL THE TIME??! I don't need to run inside a damn house. How does crap like that make it to the final stages of development????? I won't even mention the many freaking bugs that are so obvious that there's no way the dev didn't notice any of them. It time to ask apple for a refund. This is beta software, not final product. Yet somehow it gets a five. Even the reviewers are fanboys. I recall Infinity Blade 2 with all its save progress issues at launch, also received a perfect 5.
Very nice game. It's really annoying that there's no easy way to see where the objective is. It does show when the map is activated but it gets shows off-map most of the time and sometimes it's nowhere to be seen. There should be a compass like in skyrim with the objective arrow on the various levels and/or permanently show it on the mini-map's corners. It's just a waste of time running around until the symbol finally shows up.
Quest direction Is there a marker to show where to go? I have no idea where to go in this game. What is the point of "tracking"? Thanks in advance
Kind of, it shows on the mini-map but only if it's actually ON the map. If it's too far away and goes off map, there's no way to know where it is.
One question in this thread remains unanswered, but maybe this has to do with the fact many players are still exploring the "vast and large" world. This brings me to my question: Just how big is this open world? Is it truly big enough to feel immersed in versus it's larger consoles brethren such as Oblivion, Skyrim etc? I just remember playing Gameloft's Gangstar Rio game and couldn't really get immersed in the idea it's a big city, because... well... it wasn't. GTA 3 has removed this claustrophobic feel entirely, but originally this was a PC / console game to begin with of course. Continuing on the subject regarding immersion: How does the engine handle the world in terms of continuity? When looking at Sanuku's video, I was surprised at the zero loading time when leaving the house into the open world (village.) Does the engine stream new landscape data as you explore or does it need to load when -for example- leaving a mountain area and entering a forest area?
Game Impressions Man, this is bad. The controls are a huge step backward. Gigantic non customizable buttons that force me to hold my ipad with my hands obscuring most of the view because I can't move the camera anywhere close to my right hand. Zoom randomly resets so I have to zoom out all the time if I don't want the game to feel totally claustrophobic (the very restrictive camera makes this even worse, I wish this wasn't limited to very close OTS, but even that's fail because the game tends to force you to look slightly up and the amount you're allowed to zoom out is tiny). There also seems to be no follow option for the camera, but to be fair that's only annoying because I can't adjust it with the bottom right corner of the screen. Looting, opening doors, talking to NPCs and so on requires me to aim very precisely (head of a fallen enemy often won't do, need to aim squarely at the body) and then tap the centre of the screen, wtf happened to touching things I want to interact with? Menus are similarly un-touchscreen-like, especially the side scrolling lists of huge items instead of a grid showing more of them. You'd have thought the feedback Skyrim got on that would have been a tip off, but nooooo it had to be a gamepad UI again... on iOS! Buttons in dialogs at the top left corner mean I have to stretch my left hand to say bye or initiate trade (I hold my ipad upright when playing). None of this is adjustable in settings. Frankly the game feels like it desperately wants to run on a PS Vita, not on a touch device. There's nothing in the controls that wouldn't work equally well or better with dual analog sticks and a few buttons, and all the problems of console/handheld ports are there as well. Even the hallmark four slot hot bar of console games is there. Melee combat is okay-ish but very heavy on the button mashing. Almost all early enemies can be defeated by mashing the attack button until you're the last man standing (at least with a sword). Ranged combat feels powerless in contrast, and shooting randomly doesn't work when there is a clear line of sight between my eyes and the enemy (but maybe not between our feet). It would be nice if there were an indicator for being able to hit an enemy in ranged combat. Aiming is a little hard as well as you're limited to analog stick like movement using the attack button, there's no camera based free aim mode (well you can use the camera to aim, but not with the bow drawn). There's some smaller things that are annoying as well. I set the difficulty to max before the tutorial, and found out dying means I have to watch the entire intro again. I'm also not sure how to defeat the troll on this setting anyway, but it turns out if you wait behind the wall, the other soldiers will kill it before you even see it. Very clumsy first impression. My character apparently tries to draw his weapon automatically when hostiles are near, but I keep getting into situations where he draws, sheathes, draws, sheathes, etc., just from me walking around. OTOH I've been attacked by fast enemies before he could draw, and I was aware of them too and would have had the sword drawn anyway if putting it away was manual instead of automatic. When enemies spawn you can see them fall from e sky. Yeah I know that's how it works, but you can't sell this as immersive when, the instant you step out of the town, boars start raining down. On top of all these, about every third or fourth time I save the game, it crashes. (I'm playing on iPad 4, iOS 6.0.1.) I'd also count the lack of selectable gender as a huge negative, but that was known ever since the game was announced IIRC. Anyway it's one more thing that makes me think "why can't you be more like Aralon" when I'm playing instead of "wow, these graphics have come a long way". This is not a game I would recommend to anyone except the most hard core RPG fans and even those might be upset by how much this experience is dumbed down compared to classic CRPGs.
Finally some actual gameplay impressions, thanks a ton danny! Been looking forward to the game for a long time, but I got cautious after seeing virtually no talk of the gameplay in over 30 pages of this thread. That's rarely a good sign. Glad I waited.
Great game although i would love to see more options for camera in the future. Also i noticed you level up skills Skyrim style but im either blind or there is no way to see all stats at once. And as much as i loved Aralon this game is wayyyyy better.
Playing this makes me want a Vita and this and more other iOS games on it. The better the graphics, scope and general production values of iOS games get the more I start missing physical controls - at least for everything that is first or third person. Not really a bad effort at all, but yes, I confirm many of Danny's gripes.
Should a game with bugs in get a five star review?? I know all games have bugs but when some are so obvious then four star is correct until they have been squashed and the rating can be amended imo
Honestly, the map is not that big at all. This is why I really hope the developers update the game once in a while to include FREE expansions. An extra island or two and some new quest lines would really give us our money's worth. Also the game is currently only 817mb when installed. I hope the developers can at least give us another gig worth of content. As for the loading, most of the time you will not see a load screen when going from inside a house into the city. So far I have only seen a load screen when going from one area to another (for example exiting the city to go to the forest) and when loading a save game when I die. Unfortunately, a lot of the complaints on this forum are true. The camera is probably the worst issue. At first, the camera system will seem like more of an annoyance, but as you progress, the camera will become more and more of a problem. I literally died 6 or 7 times in a row due to problems with the camera. Also the mini map won't show your objective until your close and the compas won't tell you what direction to head in. So you have to really pay attention to what the characters say (NE, SW, ect). The thing to keep in mind is that no game is perfect and this game is much higher quality than most games on the App Store. I'm sure the developers will fix the issues soon.
