Rimelands: Hammer of Thor

I was searching for "turn based RPG", trying to find something final fantasy-esque in a platform choking on action RPG's (despite the fact that the interface is never great for that genre). Rimelands came up, and it is definitely not the game I was looking for, but a game I am so glad I found! It's more in the D&D school of gaming, with dungeon crawling and dice-rolling. It is, however, delightfully turn-based and offers excellent gameplay, a good leveling up system, and a great experience. The story is great, if you compare it to it's IOS peers. Compared to the world at large, it's spotty. Enjoyable, but with plenty of gaps. Sometimes you jump from one thing to another with no logical gap, or someone will send you somewhere to do something (Loki Vault) and nothing in particular happens there, plus you don't circle back with the person who sent you. Still, better than its peers. The skill tree is great - small and manageable but full of desireable skills. And those skills, along with "mana" management, provide a great strategic challenge going into battles. Each conflict is a one-off, as you heal immediately after battle, which makes each confrontation exciting (as opposed to the long, drawn out battle of attrition you get in a long dungeon full of weak enemies). Despite the gaps - too many useless items, jumpiness in an otherwise good story, lack of multiple saves despite the inability to backtrack - this is an excellent game and a unique breath of fresh air in the cluttered mass of mediocrity one finds in the app store.

This one should be 5 stars but the 'ending' and the possibility that you can get stuck in certain areas with no hope of winning the battle leaves this well designed game in the 'frustrated' folder. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good game, lots of fun ... But after battling thru many many bad guys you sometimes end up in a dungeon with no way out and your uber character no match for the boss. Sad ... If we had more than one save slot, this dungeon dilemma would be solved. Tactically you MUST go ranged weapons not magic. (made a flamethrower from blueprint, cool) I have tried many characters but the only way to 'beat' the game is to max out your ranged weapons as 'young' magic characters just die to easily making it near impossible to develop a winning Mage character. Still worth the price of admission, but a lot of folks are going to go feel ripped off with no definitive ending to the game and the 'do overs' because of the lack of save slots. Sad, but only 4 stars ... Robert9001

From the usual grind. It took me a while to get into it because the dice-rolling system is a bit confusing (for those of us unfamiliar with tabletop games, at least) and doesn't seem worth the trouble at first. But later in the game it gets really tactical and the advantages are clear. It's really cool and different from generic level-up-and-bash RPGs. The skill trees and variety of equipment are good too and provide replay value. The game is a bit unforgiving during the learning curve. Trying out a variety of skill types at the start went badly for me; characters have a hard time in battle unless they specialize immediately and stick with it. Enemies don't respawn so there is only just enough exp if you plan well. You can't make up for bad choices with a bit of extra hunting. Only after one specialty is really solid can one play around at all. Likewise, don't leave any area without exploring thoroughly and getting all the exp there is! There is no going back. On the other hand, if you plan (easiest to stick with one specialty) the balance is really nice, with enemies neither boring nor frustrating. The storyline is good enough. Characters aren't too fleshed out and sidequests are minimal, but the pace is quick enough I didn't get bored. There are a few quite good one-liners. The engineering system has great potential but I rarely use it. By the time I have parts and the blueprint, most things are obsolete. I would have liked it better if more items had transfer codes and parts were a bit more generous. SPOILER ALERT: I love that there is an epilogue!! I haven't finished it yet but am really hoping it will provide some closure about what becomes of Gallante!