First, the game is broken up into Chapters and Zones (4 per Chapter) and you have to unlock previous zones to get to the next. Levels are randomly generated. Each zone culminates in a boss battle. This is pretty standard stuff and upgrading your hero is necessary to defeat progressively tougher mobs. Story is minimal and although I usually like some background and story to interest me in why I am running through dungeons, the lack of a real story didn't bother me. Like most crawlers, I am more interested in loot. Speaking of loot, there is gold and cards that you can collect in each run-through. These are found on mobs and in treasure chests where you can find them. The card mechanic is interesting because you only get to take 3 with you per run and they are chosen randomly from your stack. You can also upgrade the cards if you get duplicates. The mechanics I love about this game that set it apart are: the time element. When you start a level, you have a timer counting down in which you have to complete the levels. The only reprieve from this timer is when you finally reach the last boss. You can upgrade your timer (via hero stat) which gives you more seconds but it is balanced really well as I have not found so far that I have enough time to have a leisurely walk through. The rush is awesome and leads to interesting choices such as, 'Do I have time to pick up that gold over there or do I just keep going to make it to the end of the level?!'. Often I found myself doing a kamikaze through mobs trying to get to the end before the timer ran out...which is a lot of fun. the card element is an extra layer of randomness that makes every run slightly different, making the runs less a grind and more enjoyable. mobs randomly spawn in the level so you never know where they are coming from. They also continuously spawn in front and behind you so you can't just hide behind something or chill out as they will find you. The things so far that I don't like: the controls have cannot be moved around the screen. I would like to be able to move the sticks to where I want them or to have dynamic dual-sticks as they are slightly awkward. a large part of the gameplay strategy is using the weapon drops wisely. They mainly drop from crates and boxes in the level but when you have auto-aim on, they will only target them last which is frustrating. At one point I switched to manual aim but found it to be even more frustrating. A directional auto-aim would be a nice addition. for some reason, you have to wait until you die (as opposed to finishing a level) before you receive your chests and gold. I hate waiting lol. Gems are necessary for card pack draws (the second currency) and although you can draw good cards during the play through (I already have 3 epic purple cards), I am uncertain about the drop rates for higher cards and/or their necessity to survive at higher difficulty dungeon levels. Performance: the graphics are crisp and although the cartoony aspect is not to my particular taste, they are well done. Weapons and explosions are nice. no lag was noticed on my IPad 4, the game runs smoothy. it works fine offline. unless I have missed something, there are no GC achievements or online leaderboards. There is no endless/survival dungeon. - size is minimal...good for space-starved IPads like mine.
The game is really good, its worth the price, IAP just are rares cards or legendary cards , but the game really seems to be quite worth to buy it
Bought this game. Def worth $1.99. Lots of fun. Great graphics. The timer mechanic is unique. The card mechanic is a fun addition. IAP is totally optional. A fun little game.
Aw, cel-shaded graphics, yay. I might hit the buy button later the day. Looks rly good. This is played with dual sticks, right?
Hmm, why do I have to start the tutorial over and over everytime I open the game? Getting all these tutorial messages over and over and over (...and over...) is really annoying! I mean, I know how it is meant to be played after the first tutorial playthrough. Is my game broken or is this the way it is? Nearly kills it for me. Otherwise great graphics, mechanic and controls. edit: just realised it wasn't saving my game progress. Works after re-installing.
Game Impressions Storm Casters is a game that gets it. Like Prime World: Defenders, Man At Arms and Dream Quest before it, it gets just how much appeal a strong sense of progression can add to an otherwise rather plain title, and how that progression is expressed so well through the principle of card collection. The game is really a rather plain dual stick shooter, with hardly any of the (small) attempts at innovations in the genre. No manual evasion or blocking, no cover, no platforming, no in-depth storylines, no tactical elements, no varied enemy behavior, no semi-open worlds, no in-depth RPG layers, no swipes and gestures, and no, no, no groundbreaking principles that do not fit into previous categories. But then there's the cards. They are about all there is to the game, but it is nearly enough. As you progress, you unlock cards with active and passive powers. You bring three of these cards into each dungeon, which allows you to find these powers in summarily smashed containers. Attacks, regen, extra xp, and probably a lot more. And you can fuse for more powerful cards (and to tighten up your deck to ensure you bring preferred cards into dungeons). It stops there. Had it gone a bit further, this could really have been one of the most entertaining dual stock shooters.
The game is very great and I played like 2-3 hours already since I got it today ! One thing though, I always feel sad when I got a new junk card, because they will lower my chance to get my epic or legendary cards in the next runs. If you could think of a system to improve this aspect, that might makes this game better! Keep up good work!
What are the symbol things on the character main page? There are three that have "10", "25", and "40"
Very good impressions! Thanks for taking the time to write them. The only thing that scares me away from the title is the timer. I really don't like timers in my games but obviously this is a core function on this game's design. While it might work well for this title, I'm just not a fan of being on the clock in a game
The games amazing! It's a great dungeon crawler. Crisp visuals, smooth controls, beautifully fun gameplay. An extremely polished dungeon crawl experience!
There are two characters to choose from, but they aren't different classes. Player abilities come from the cards you collect. Thanks for the fantastic break-down of the game, and your thoughtful commentary. We concentrated on distilling the game down to core elements, but there is certainly room for interesting new features, abilities, mechanics and improvements. We're taking notes! Yep, auto-aim or true dual stick depending on how much control you want. Thanks for your well-considered comments on the game - this kind of feedback will only help to make the game better. We're collecting all this feedback and it will really help inform how the game evolves from here. This is an interesting one. From many, many playthroughs we feel that this gets organically balanced by finding more powerful cards to balance the weaker cards, by the shuffle mechanic, and by fusing, which will make even common cards more useful. There certainly might be room for improvement, so we'll keep an eye on it! We renamed the game to avoid confusion with a Transformers game that's also out on the App store. In the end we felt Storm Casters fit the magical theme better anyway! Those are the levels at which you can evolve your character. The first time you can evolve your character is at Level 10, then at Level 25, followed by your final evolution at Level 40. Each time you evolve, your Attack Power and Portal Time caps are increased, and your character will take on a more powerful form. We spent a long time balancing the timer. The timer is upgradeable and doesn't make the game feel that frantic. You also get bonus time every time you enter a new room. It's much less pressure than you might think, and you can jump right back into the game after the portal time runs out, with new cards, so it helps o give a nice rhythm to the game, we feel. Thanks so much! We're super happy that you guys are enjoying it so far!
Finally got a chance to play, and I'm loving it! Kinda reminds me of Solomon's Keep It's a fun dungeon crawler, especially suited for quick bursts of play. The Battle Card system is very cool and unique, and IAP definitely feels unneccesary. I'm enjoying it a lot, I can't wait to dig in more!
