I bought this at the 4.99 sale which came around the time Alphadia was released. This game is good, combat isn't too difficult nor is it much different from start to finish. The only major issue I had was that if I took like a week off due to another game or just not having time, there is no real way to know where to progress again. The NPCs are Barely helpful in sparking my memory usually. Other than that, I hesitated at 8.99 I didn't hesitate at all for 4.99 so for .99 go crazy!
I'm a huge RPG lover, primarily from the DS games like The World Ends With You, Radiant Historia, SMT: Devil Survivor, etc. I'm wondering if this game holds up? And how is the story? A bland story shuns me away from a story-heavy game.
Don't think I've seen your name around these parts. Any relation to syntheticvoid? JK. Anyway, I haven't played this one yet, but if it's anything like Alphadia, then I'd say it would be up your alley. Alphadia has a pretty good story and, can't speak for syntheticvoid, but he had recommended that game to me after being very impressed with SoE. And I think SoE is even stronger in the story department. Don't think you can go wrong for $.99.
In short, no. This is a highly conventional and traditional, but well polished JRPG affair. It's partly due to your own fault though. Seriously, those games you've mentioned are critically acclaimed and just mindblowingly awesome in every aspect that his game have no chance in comparison. The story is not bad on its own terms, but compared to the above mentioned games, it doesn't stand a chance. Characters have personality and are genuinely interesting though there are some cliches and tenacious conversations on the topic of love interest. It's by no means bland, but predictable and fails to excite when mentioned along with the legendary titles. Also, the gameplay is traditional Final Fantasy 1-4 affair, having mixes of elements in all the games. The towns are boring FF1 style locations, world map carries severe deja vu and combat plays out like turn based FF4 (imagine battles with turns but char acting on speed stats). There are some interesting battle elements to spice things up so, it's all good. How much you end up liking the game will heavily depend on your expectations. If you still want to enjoy this, forget that you played TWEWY, RH and SMT for the best results. Also, convince yourself that you're playing a very good FF inspired game.
To add to gunxsword's comments, I don't think you're going to find anything on the iOS that lives up to the classics you mentioned (save for any Square Enix ports). But as an RPG on the iOS, again I haven't played it, I would imagine that it would up there with some of the best on the system. And while you shouldn't always compare games based on price, this is just $.99 and I think you probably would enjoy it as long as you check any lofty expectations at the door.
