Hack and Slash Your Way to Glory in Pocket RPG
I have always loved a good dungeon crawling slash ‘em up game, and Pocket RPG for the iPad delivers everything you could possibly hope for in an iOS-based RPG. Be warned though, once you download this game, prepare to lose countless hours to slaying your way through hordes of monsters, collecting treasure, and defeating bosses.
You can choose between playing a blade master, a dark ranger, or a battle mage. The blade master is a melee sword-wielding class, while the ranger and the mage are ranged classes, using arrows and spells, respectively.
Pocket RPG uses two joysticks, one in the left corner of the iPad and one in the right. One stick controls movement, while the other controls aiming and shooting. You can view your inventory by tapping on the treasure chest, and the menu options can be accessed by tapping the book. Health and mana are monitored with bars on either side of the screen. The controls aren’t fantastic, but they work okay.
The game is divided into multiple quests, and each quest has several progressively difficult levels to fight through. At the beginning of every quest, you restart at level one and work your way back up, but each quest will reward you with both money and skill points. Every piece of loot, every kill, and every achievement is translated into cash at the end of a long quest, rewarding you with both gold and skill points.
Gold can be used to purchase new item types, which will then show up in future quests. For example, while the game starts off with simple items like a bonus to arcane magic and magic missiles, you can eventually unlock more powerful item attributes like life drain and frost/fire boosts.
Quests and levels are basically a constant fight with enemies. This isn’t a puzzle type RPG, but innovative monsters and abilities make the game a challenge that will definitely take some skill to beat. I played the mage, and Pocket RPG can be brutal at times. I was often swarmed with monsters and low on mana, which required quite a bit of kiting and maneuvering.
Battles will include multiple mini bosses and a final boss fight. Boss fights are tough, and losing is devastating. You’re awarded with one ankh, and there is an additional item that will revive you in a fight, but if you exhaust those two options, it’s game over. You have to restart the entire quest from the beginning, and some of these quests are pretty long.
Luckily every time you lose you still get cash and skill points to improve your character and hopefully win the next round. The game also automatically uses both health and mana potions, so there’s no saving them up for tense situations. I had to restart quite a few times because I played the fragile mage, but it was never too much of a big deal because levels are dynamically generated.
What I liked: Pocket RPG is addictive and hard to put down, thanks to lots of great fights and plenty of loot. This hack and slash RPG will provide you with hours and hours of entertainment, and is definitely on my list of must have iPad games.
What I didn’t like: I’m honestly not thrilled about the concept of losing gear and starting at level one every time. I got used to it, but it’s a different concept for an RPG, which may not be to everyone’s taste.
To buy or not to buy: If you’re a fan of RPG games, this is definitely a game that you won’t want to skip. Even if you’re not, this is a solid game that is worth downloading for hours of fun.
- App Name: Pocket RPG
- Version Reviewed: 1.06
- Category: Games
- Developer: Crescent Moon Games
- Price: $4.99
- Score:
