5 Quick tl;dr iOS Game Reviews / Recommendations (Episode 153) : iosgaming

Glad Friday, everybody 🙂 Hope you’ve got had an excellent week – and welcome again to my weekly cellular sport advice roundup based mostly on essentially the most fascinating video games I performed and that have been lined on MiniReview this week. Hope you may get pleasure from it 🙂

Assist these posts (and YouTube content material + growth of MiniReview) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NimbleThor <3

This episode features a distinctive arcade platformer, a enjoyable roguelike racing fight sport, an informal indie technique sport, one other tackle the reverse bullet-hell style, and an enormous Motion RPG journey sport.

Disagree with my opinion? Let’s have a pleasant dialogue beneath.

New to those posts? Try the primary one from 152 weeks in the past right here.

Let’s get to the video games:

OVIVO [Game Size: 189 MB] ($1.99)

Style: Platform / Arcade – Offline

Orientation: Panorama

Required Consideration: Full

tl;dr evaluation by AlexSem:

OVIVO is an uncommon black-and-white platformer by which we information a small sphere via a collection of surreal ranges by altering its shade to alter the route of gravity.

Every degree incorporates a complicated black-and-white picture with numerous slopes, shapes, and graphics objects, one in all which serves as our beginning location. We navigate these ranges utilizing left and proper motion buttons, whereas a 3rd button permits us to merge with the closest impediment to alter shade.

So long as our sphere character is black, it falls straight via white areas, whereas black objects function obstacles. As soon as we alter to white, we begin “falling” upwards, with white objects now changing into the obstacles.

This easy mechanic creates an fascinating platforming gameplay expertise – and particularly as a result of momentum is conserved between black-white transitions, permitting us to succeed in seemingly inaccessible locations by switching shade at simply the precise time. Using that is wanted not solely to progress but additionally to assemble all of the collectibles, a few of which require numerous ability and precision to seize.

To make issues even trickier, we have to keep away from sharp objects, as they destroy our sphere and pressure us to restart on the nearest checkpoint. Happily, we’ve an infinite variety of retries, so the sport by no means turns into too hardcore or irritating.

OVIVO is a $1.99 premium sport with out advertisements or iAPs. It takes time to get the grasp of the bizarre management mechanics, however after taking part in via a few ranges, it turns into pure and fairly stress-free to only breeze via the degrees whereas listening to the sport’s calm, meditative music.

App Retailer: Right here

Highway Redemption Cellular [Total Game Size: 1.2 GB] (Free Trial)

Style: Racing / Arcade / Roguelike / Fight – Offline

Orientation: Panorama

Required Consideration: Full

tl;dr evaluation by NimbleThor:

Highway Redemption Cellular is the port of a brutally violent roguelike fight racing sport the place we experience throughout the US whereas taking down opposing bikers utilizing gory melee and ranged weapons. The PC model was initially developed as a non secular successor to Highway Rash.

The sport is structured as one lengthy fast-paced race break up into separate randomized missions, comparable to beating others to the end line, or eliminating quite a few bikers by pushing them into oncoming visitors, decapitating them with our sword, and even utilizing explosives to blow them up.

Each time we end a mission, we get some money and XP to spend on gadgets and power-ups that final till we die. Since well being is persistent throughout missions, we’ve to be very cautious to not take harm – which is simpler stated than finished because the slightest fallacious transfer sends us flying via the air.

After we die for good, we get to spend our XP on an enormous ability tree that makes it simpler to get additional the subsequent time. A few of these upgrades even allow us to skip the primary few missions.

The art-style is clearly impressed by arcade racers, and it’s an excellent match for the gameplay. The maps are additionally curiously designed, with a number of difficult shortcuts. I’ve seen some complaints that the sport is locked to 30 FPS, but it surely didn’t negatively affect my expertise.

The controls take some getting used to, however I discovered them to work effectively as soon as I turned on “auto handbrake” and began utilizing buttons as an alternative of the joystick or tilt choices. There’s additionally Bluetooth controller assist.

Highway Redemption Cellular is free to strive, with a single $7.99 iAP to unlock the total marketing campaign and one other game-mode. Whereas it lacks the multiplayer it sports activities on PC, it’s positively value a strive for any fan fight racers.

App Retailer: Right here

S-kladom [Game Size: 10 MB] ($1.99)

Style: Technique / Informal – Offline

Orientation: Portrait

Required Consideration: Full

tl;dr evaluation by Pete McD:

S-kladom is a minimalistic real-time administration sport the place we use robots to effectively set up a warehouse and ship items as shortly as attainable, with extra packages showing at common intervals.

The twist is that we don’t instantly know which items should be delivered first, so to succeed, we should attempt to set up the whole lot in essentially the most accessible means attainable.

That is a kind of video games the place I used to be continually trying on the countdown timer with a sinking feeling. There’s a time restrict to get our packages to the related supply pipes, and if the instruction is to ship 19 brown smiley-face bins, we’re in massive bother if we’ve left them on the reverse finish of the warehouse.

Our bots can solely transfer three crates at a time and may simply get caught behind bins – or one another – except we plan effectively. And simply to make issues tougher, there’s even a ‘fog-of-war’, which means we are able to’t see what a number of the bins are till our bots get shut sufficient to look at them.

Regardless of the issue – or possibly due to it – S-kladom is quite a lot of enjoyable.

The minimalistic graphics work in its favor as a result of they permit us to see issues clearly. And if the issue is an excessive amount of, there are a great deal of settings, comparable to eradicating the ‘fog-of-war’, including a grid as a visible assist, and better of all for me, rising the timers. All of this helps to tailor the sport so the problem is extra enjoyable than irritating.

S-kladom prices $1.99. Individuals who get pleasure from logic puzzles will certainly benefit from the problem this sport provides.

App Retailer: Right here

DarkSurvival [Game Size: 189 MB] (Free)

Style: Reverse Bullet-Hell / Bullet Heaven / Arcade – On-line

Orientation: Portrait

Required Consideration: Full

tl;dr evaluation by NimbleThor:

DarkSurvival is a reverse bullet-hell motion sport the place enemies storm at us from all sides whereas we use our customary assault and automatically-triggering skills to beat the target of every sport mode.

Our first character’s weapon is melee, forcing us to get dangerously near the enemies. Fortunately, each time we degree up throughout a run, we get to choose one in all three random skills that make it simpler to outlive. And though these aren’t as fascinating as in 20 Minutes Until Daybreak, it’s enjoyable to experiment with totally different capability combos.

Throughout the style, DarkSurvival falls nearer to Survivor.io than Magic Survival, which implies equipable loot, upgradeable gadgets, and stat factors spent on bettering every of the distinctive characters – but additionally day by day login rewards, free and paid battle passes, and quests.

What actually units the sport aside, nevertheless, are the various sport modes. Whereas the conventional mode provides us of 12 minutes to defeat two bosses throughout numerous issue tiers, the countless mode has us survive for so long as attainable, and others present various kinds of experiences by altering the principles and aims.

Sadly, there is no such thing as a information on how a lot harm skills deal, the English translation is a bit so-so, and an power system limits how lengthy we are able to play. On the brilliant facet, the countless mode doesn’t require power, and we are able to simply play for an hour with out working out.

DarkSurvival monetizes via iAPs for beauty skins, a season go, gadgets, and an expensive $7.99 buy to take away the incentivized advertisements. Fortunately, none of those really feel strictly essential to progress.

With so many enjoyable sport modes and quantity of everlasting development, DarkSurvival has a really excessive degree of replayability, in order a darkish, extra gritty, model of Survivor.io, it’s value a strive.

App Retailer: Right here

Torchlight: Infinite (Sport Measurement: 4.7 GB] (Free)

Style: RPG / Motion – On-line

Orientation: Panorama

Required Consideration: Full

tl;dr evaluation by NimbleThor:

Torchlight Infinite is a loot-heavy 3D motion RPG with a fantastic open world, a deep ability customization system, and fast-paced hack’n’slash fight.

After deciding on one in all 5 character lessons, we’re dropped straight into the in-game world, the place we full quests and slay hundreds of enemies whereas creating our character via expertise timber.

The sport has nearly the whole lot you’d count on from a high-quality ARPG, comparable to loot that drops to the bottom, pets, occasions, and a player-to-player market. Every thing besides co-op, sadly – though we are able to nonetheless see different gamers on the town and chat with them.

What units Torchlight Infinite aside is its deep ability system. Not solely can we purchase 200+ totally different abilities, however additionally they degree up the extra we use them and will be drastically personalized through ability modifiers. For instance, a modifier may decrease the harm of a ability however improve its variety of projectiles. This and the quick expertise tree upgrades created a way of fixed development that I actually loved.

Sadly, the early fight is very easy we are able to simply stand nonetheless whereas attacking enemies. To be honest, plowing via hundreds of monsters is enjoyable in its personal proper, and the bosses do ultimately develop into tough sufficient that dodging is important.

The brilliant sci-fi-meets-fantasy artwork fashion seems improbable, however the loot we equip doesn’t seem on our character, and most ability animations really feel a bit underwhelming. And whereas the controls are good, there’s no Bluetooth controller assist.

Torchlight Infinite monetizes through a battle go, limited-time gross sales, and iAPs for a gacha system with auto-looting pets that additionally give very giant stat boosts. Whereas the pay-to-win isn’t as heavy as in Diablo Immortal, it’s not nice – so do not get sucked in. On the brilliant facet, there’s no PvP.

It’s a sport that will get near being nice, so so long as you don’t count on it to be something just like the PC Torchlight video games, you may have the ability to get pleasure from it for some time (till you end the story half).

App Retailer: Right here

Particular because of the Patreon Producers “marquisdan”, “Misplaced Vault”, “Farm RPG”, and “Mohaimen” who assist make these posts attainable via their Patreon assist <3

Google Sheet of all video games I’ve performed thus far (searchable and filter-able): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bf0OxtVxrboZqyEh01AxJYUUqHm8tEfh-Lx-SugcrzY/edit?usp=sharing

TL;DR Video Abstract (with gameplay) of final week’s video games: https://youtu.be/F5uJojUMvTo

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