Lacking all of the extra bulk included in normal role-playing games,
Swordigo
($1.99) focuses on the main forte of said titles of similar breed:
hacking and slashing through arsenals of respawning enemies. Though it
doesn’t boast an inextricable system of deciding from one of three
classes, choosing from a seemingly endless plethora of weapons, armor
and magic, level grinding or the most realistic 3D assets, arguably for
better or for worse, Touch Foo’s newest flawlessly combines platforming
with RPG elements to bring you an overwhelming amount of enjoyable
content.
Like most, Swordigo begins with introducing you to the
back story while also explaining the basics along the way. There’s not
all of that not needed jazz regarding picking a character or a class,
like we’ve mentioned above. Instead, you’re stuck controlling the
spiky-haired dude you’ll see in all of the following screenshots. After
learning that a fellow villager has gone missing in a nearby forest, you
go out in search for him.
As
you traverse through the initial level setups, you’ll slowly be
introduced to the controls. Left and right buttons will control left and
right movement. The worlds are composed of many platforms for which
you’ll need to jump and double jump to reach. There’s also an attack
button and a magic button, which uses one of four spells that you’ll
collect throughout the whole game. Once you reach the lost villager who
has unfortunately passed away and ha snow become a wise ghost, you’ll
discover that there’s no light at the end of the cave. In other words,
evil is approaching.
Beyond this initial introduction, the game
opens up with quests. You’ll navigate through a ton of areas, each
differing from one another with unique environments including
wastelands, forests, caves, snow peaks and more. A grid map will show
the areas you’ve since discovered and will also display the amount of
treasure chests located in each area; these will often hold valuable
items such as the in-game currency that can be used at local merchant
shops, items and also sacks of experience, and they’re always in
peculiar areas that take strategy or the use of puzzles to reach.
Portals in each area can also be used to quickly travel to other areas
with portals that you’ve visited. They’re further used as checkpoints as
such for when you die.
Swordigo also has the usual RPG leveling
up system. As you kill enemies, you’ll gain experience points. Leveling
up allows you to increase your skill in one of three areas. You can
either increase your attack, your health or your magic energy. You’ll
also notice that opposing enemies will have levels and a health bar that
decreases with each blow.
As Swordigo aims to simplify the
otherwise complex backend used for RPG titles, it pays homage to similar
games of past day. One example that clearly comes to mind is the Zelda
series. Environments, character sprites and sound effects resemble those
of Zelda. Swordigo is a universal application, and it flows fluidly on
both the iPad and the iPhone. While the artwork isn’t anything to be
greatly complemented, it has its own style that’s hard to miss.
Though
the story lasted a good 7-8 hours in total, it never felt like the game
was being dragged on too long especially with the variation used with
level design, included puzzles, many enemies with unique perks and
fairly-occasional boss fights. Regardless of your playing level,
hardcore gamer or casual, Swordigo has enough to whet your appetite and
keep you coming back for more. It doesn’t have much replay value once
you complete the story, but it takes time getting to that point; a few
hours, at least, and ever minute is packed to the brim with action and
fighting. Similarly, you can level up afterwards by once again killing
bosses and can also go back to discover all of the chests hidden around
the game’s large world.
If there’s anything that Touch Foo
successfully proved with Swordigo, it’s that an RPG without the usual
elements incorporated in games of comparative breed doesn’t have to be
trite, to say the least. Swordigo still manages to please and introduces
a new take on the common genre that I’m certainly looking forward to
experiencing again in the near future. There’s surely no better option
for the same $1.99 price tag.
