Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Battleheart: Legacy

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/battleheart-legacy/id666508823?mt=8
4.99usd, universal, 433mb download, gamecenter enabled.


Sequel to a genre inventor, battleheart legacy improves the first in just about every way and makes some changes to the basic mechanics I found abit suprising. The original game was more of a strategy title, you controlled four or so adventurers that you built as you saw fit from class to equipment. In battle you controlled all at the same time, choose who attacked what, who healed who, what abilities were used, it felt like a more action driven baldurs gate 1 or 2.

This sequel dosen't do any of that. This is a touch screen optimized action rpg, you control one character and have access to every class in the game. Some classes are given from the start, others earned through discovery and questing. Moving between the classes seems to be a fluid process, choose the abilities you want to use, if you have the required stats to do so you will be good to go. Combat does feel very much like the original though. Tap on enemies to attack, tap on abilities to use them. Tap on loot to pick it up, tap on ground to move around, par for the course.

Leveling up your hero grants you attribute points. Attribute points are necessary for learning new class abilities and using weapons and armor.

Questing is as simple as talking to npcs with ! marks over their head, completing quests is as simple as going on the map, heading to the quest target area, adventuring through that area and then returning to the quest giver once your finished.

All areas of the map are infinitely repeatable, even chests in the areas refill each time you go back in. On top of that when traveling around on the map random encounters occur. So far mine have been optional, sleeping ogres holding keys to chests nearby, etc.

Almost all conversations have multiple choices, many quests have several outcomes based on your decisions... and consequences do follow heh. Example, The drunk in the first town told me of a witch in the nearby woods. I went out there, found the witch, asked her to train me (unlocks witch class). She told me to retrieve a book for her, I went back to town where I found out the king's guards had confiscated this book. At this point on the map if I stood where the town was I now had two choices, town or dungeon beneath town. The dungeon is where the king's men keep everything illegal apparently. So I went down there, spoke to the guards who told me to buggar off unless I wanted to bribe them 400gold. Well I exhausted every conversation option and then said f--k it and attacked both guards. Of course this resulted in every guard in every section to go hostile on sight to me, I faired well enough heh. Eventually I found the book and a new situation presented itself, the book was intelligent and didn't want to go back to the witch. In fact, if I burned the book instead, the book would reward me a decent chunk of experience. I went for the exp, burned the book, leveled up and then returned to the witch who got REAL pissed and killed me. Literally, she hit like a mack truck heh.

Definitely consequences here.

Graphics are simple but really charming. Game loads quick on my air. Sound is effective, nothing to write home about or complain about.

This is a really really really good game, I highly recommend it to anyone with a taste for rpgs. Gamecenter achievements, yes. Leaderboards, no. There is no multiplayer here that I've seen so far. Zero IAP, though to be honest I wouldn't of complained one bit if there had been a coin doubler in here somewhere. So far coin has been pretty stingy in its drop rate, most seems to be coming from occasional chests and quest rewards.

The mechanics in place leave this game wide open for expansions, dlc, that sort of thing. Fingers crossed but to be honest even if nothing else was added, this game is still well worth the asking price@

o7

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