TouchArcade.ru

Like the bad boy that every girl finds impossible to resist, Frontier Developments‘ sequel to their platform-adventure LostWinds [ $3.99 ] from last year isn’t always easy to control. Precision is not LostWinds2: Winter of the Melodias’ [ $3.99 ] best feature. With the sheer amount of things that LostWinds2 can occasionally demand of its players, this would normally be almost unforgivable but much like the hypothetical rapscallion, LostWinds2 is just too charming to give up.

Set shortly after the events of the first game, LostWinds2 follows the continuing adventures of the chubby-cheeked Toku, a brave and impossibly adorable young boy, and his companion Enril The Wind Spirit. After a brief introductory sequence, one that features a number of piscine-looking critters, you find yourself in control of Toku. His mother Magdi has somehow gone absent and it is your duty to go look for her. This eventually segues into an exploration of some phenomenally gorgeous places, the acquaintanceship of some new friends and an encounter with old evils.

Have I mentioned the fact that LostWinds2 is absolutely stunning? Yes? The music, the character design, the visuals – they all come together to make LostWinds2 beautiful with a capital B. The lush visuals are informed with such attention to detail, they would probably bring a tear to Walt Disney’s eyes were he still alive. Every swipe of a finger will cause grass to bend and petals to cascade from trees. When Toku slides across icy terrain, he bobs and sways, looking for all the world like the wide-eyed child that he is. Even the parallax backgrounds are more than magnificent-but-static pieces of eyecandy. Here, the backgrounds are rife with stuff like the occasional lurking enemy and behemothic reformed villains out to make our life easier. (You’ll understand in the first five minutes. Trust me on this.)

Shameless, wanton gushing aside, LostWinds2 is, I’m happy to say, more than a pretty face. For those unfamiliar with the original, much of Toku’s herculean tasks are, in fact, accomplished by the intangible Enril. Being a rather formidable Wind Spirit, Enril is kinda awesome at doing things like guiding flames from a torch into an icy wall, smashing Gloops into hard surfaces, relaying Toku from one ledge to another and snowballs. Not much is needed to accomplish these feats. Most of the time, all the game will require from you is a careful swipe of a finger or a well-timed pinch. Control of Toku works on a similar premise. In order to move him from one end of the map to another, you simply tap on the corresponding side. It’s that simple. Mostly.

Eight times out of ten, you will be able to hit that switch, drag that torrent of flame into that wall of brambles, flip Toku across the ravine and beat down that Gloop all in one glorious show of hand-eye coordination. Those other two times? You’re going to have to pick yourself up and try and try again. Toku will inexplicably float along with an updraft that you manufactured in spite of the fact he should be too far away to be affected. A hard swipe will occasionally cause an enemy to sit on the wall instead of exploding into blob-like bits. From time to time, things will just go wrong. There’s no better explanation for it. Fortunately, however, it’s an infrequent occurrence. So long as you’re willing to deal with the initial learning curve, your experience with LostWinds2 will be mostly favorable. That is, of course, if you are willing to brave this final caveat.

If you want to play LostWinds 2, you should probably be okay with a little bit of Metroid in your life. Frontier Development’s sequel to the original is not a game that exemplifies instant gratification. Backtracking will happen. Those who must simply acquire every collectible (a lot of the tale is told through scrolls that have been scattered across this lovely world) will find themselves wandering the game’s many nooks and crannies. If you can’t stand the idea of revisiting locations repeatedly (never mind the fact that you can change the seasons on whim, something that helps alleviates the tedium), you may want to consider giving this one a miss.

Everybody else? Buy it. You won’t regret it. LostWinds2: Winter of the Melodias is a beautifully presented bit of childlike magic and irrefutable proof that wholesomeness does not necessarily have to be boring.

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]

Today Retro Dreamer, developers of such titles as the awesome arcade shooter Velocispider [$1.99 / Free ] and the adorable Sneezies [$0.99 / Free / $2.99 (HD)], have announced a new game is on the horizon. In a post over on the Retro Dreamer website, the company has divulged that this latest title will be called Duckers, and then they went on to explain… well, absolutely nothing actually.

Yes that’s right, they’re giving us the old tease treatment. But on the bright side there is the promo art attached to this very post which is both extremely cute as well as intriguing. What’s in that jar? Did it crash land to Earth? Why does that duck have flight goggles on? Can ducks even fly?

In the end we’re left with nothing but questions, however, Retro Dreamer states that Duckers is just about ready to go and should be hitting within a month’s time, possibly even by the end of May if everything goes absolutely perfectly. Until then they’ll be pushing out all sorts of new promotional stuff over the next few weeks for the impending Duckers launch, including a trailer that should hit sometime this week, so stick around to find out more about this mysterious title soon.

[source]

After seeing Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels [ $2.99 ] for the first time, you might be wondering why another dual stick shooter is necessary on iOS, considering the hundreds of others already available. The answer isn’t always an easy one, but let’s just say that Monster Shooter shows why we shouldn’t just be writing off the genre altogether.

Monster Shooter tells the story of alien battles from one planet to another, all with the ultimate goal of saving a kitten with a runny nose. These naughty aliens want to wreak havoc and torture the poor kitty, and are even traveling anywhere in the galaxy as to not be captured.

As the kitty rescuer, you travel from planet to planet in a level-based format, and are shooting down enemies in a dual stick style shooter. The controls of a shooter are of the upmost importance, and they work well in this game especially with the multiple options available. If you’re finding the aiming to be a difficult affair, you can turn on the auto aim option and then you’ll only have to tap when you want to shoot, rather than where. Having the option of a fixed d-pad is also a nice touch, meaning you can play in whatever way suits your style best.

One of the most polarizing topics of discussion on our forums is the game’s option to pay for additional upgrades and weapons through in-app purchases. As you play each level, you will consistently pick-up in-game cash that you can spend on these items anyway, and fortunately there seems to be enough cash in each level to purchase the items during the natural progression of play, making the actual buying of cash through IAP feel largely optional.

The upgrades and power-ups available in the shop amp up the gameplay in glorious fashion too, providing you with nukes, grenades, or stim-packs that could make all the difference when you’re caught in a tough situation. You can even buy a few select items while in the heat of battle, if you didn’t prepare well enough.

Even more interesting than the power-ups you can buy are the abilities you can only earn by leveling up, which range from a higher fire rate, more damage, or more cash dropped by enemies. These abilities are fantastic and can help out greatly while playing, but the way of unlocking them could use some work. The problem is that you can only unlock them while playing the game, meaning you have to stop mid-level, potentially costing you precious health or combo momentum.

Where Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels differentiates itself from other shooters on iOS is in its tight control, and cartoonish graphical style. The animation is fluid, and each planet has a distinct look to keep things fresh. Being on both iPad and iPhone as a universal app also helps, as the larger screen of an iPad lends itself well for keeping track of enemies, and a larger d-pad area for better control.

Packing in over 60 levels across 3 distinct planets, Monster Shooter is likely to hold on to your attention for quite a while. This is not even including the endless survival mode, which could potentially last you forever. Adding even more to the longevity are the in-game side missions (of Jetpack Joyride [ Free ] fame) that you can complete along your path of destruction. Game Center achievements and leaderboards should be standard fare by now, and are included.

Exploding alien faces with an awesome new weapon you just purchased almost never gets old, meaning you’ll probably keep playing Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels for hours on end. Packing in a huge amount of content and little in the way of problems means that you should probably grab this one on your next iOS shopping spree.

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]

Simplistic controls are a staple in creating a competent iOS game these days, seeing as how Angry Birds [ $0.99 ] soared to heights never expected, in part due to its easy pick-up and play format that anyone can enjoy.

While This Could Hurt [ $0.99 ] capitalizes on this trend, it’s nearly to a fault to where the game is almost too much on autopilot, leaving you yearning for more control of your fate in the long run.

In This Could Hurt, your main goal is to get to the end of a winding path, avoiding any and all of the obstacles along the way. You’ll have to dodge spikes, fire holes, shooting darts and more. Your only control when it comes to not being hit by these obstacles is when your character stops, as he will continue on down the path automatically otherwise.

This automatic control, only allowing you to control when the character stops, has both positive and negative connotations. It’s good because it doesn’t require any complex maneuvers and allows you to even play with just one hand, but it also weighs the game down a bit in a way that can be frustrating. Without having total control, your character will jump right into harm’s way, with much of it feeling totally out of your hands.

With more control over the character’s movement, you’d be able to turn, jump, or change direction to avoid the obstacles. The saving grace for the one-button approach is that it may allow you to achieve the time goals a bit easier, if you can somehow master it.

Spicing up the gameplay a bit are the power-ups you can buy in the in-game shop if you’re feeling up to it. These power-ups can be bought with acorns you can either earn by playing the levels, or (you guessed it) by purchasing them with real money. The acorns are definitely cheap enough if you choose to go that route, at least.

Unfortunately, the power-ups only last for one use, meaning you will have to buy them over and over if you want to keep using them. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it does make the game a bit more challenging in a way that seems fair.

Despite its flaws, This Could Hurt looks absolutely stunning on any device you play it on (Universal apps continue to be fantastic). It also helps that there’s four different level themes to choose from (three must be unlocked), each with their own unique obstacles to overcome and conquer. The game also sounds great, with a full soundtrack to accompany each level and theme.

Leaderboards round out the feature set nicely, providing you additional incentive to use those acorns to boost your previous times and take on your friends.

This Could Hurt isn’t quite what we’d been hoping for when it comes to the next generation of iOS platformers. That said, the game still plays great and you could still get at least several hours of enjoyment out of it, just set your expectations accordingly.

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]

One glance at Jumping Knights [ $0.99 ] ought to pretty much explain the premise – it’s Doodle Jump with a tokidoki-inspired art style. I was expecting to pick it up, go a few rounds, and be able to name it as a clone and get on with my day. Except hours went by, and I was still playing, and thinking with tinges of guilt about the To Do list that I was ignoring. A little more time spent, and I had forgotten completely what a To Do list even was. Responsibilities? Don’t be silly, I just got sight of the princess, which means I’m getting closer. Who cares about grocery shopping?

Jumping Knights might share a lot of format similarities with Doodle Jump, but one can’t help feel it’s embroidered on the concept. In fact, Jumping Knights is actually one of those genre hybrids that I always tend to be so crazy about, a la Puzzle Quest. It takes a cute, cartoonlike world and puts you in the role of a determined little knight,  jumping from platform to platform with a trusty sword in hand. Just like Doodle Jump, control is managed by simply tilting the phone left and right.

As you go, the aim is to avoid falling, collect power-ups along the way that make your ascent easier, and to beat the bosses you meet at the top of each level in order to save a princess. It’s an action game, but it also has a taste of RPG spliced in since your character can gain levels. It also racks up items as you collect them, so you have a little inventory to use at will. There is no shortage of items either, so it’s a waste to try to hoard them in wait for the boss at the end. You’ll have more than enough to go around.

One area that Jumping Knights improves upon Doodle Jump is variety. Every time I played, I saw different power-ups, and I quickly learned that some were more rare than others. I looked forward to getting items like the kiss, which turns your eyes into hearts and sends you hurtling upwards into a momentary love frenzy. Or the dragon egg, which sets you upon a winged companion that soars towards the goal much more quickly than you can leap. Accompanied by basics such as shield power and weapons power-ups, it keeps you always aware of what’s coming next and what powers you always want to have at your disposal.

There are creepy crawlies in the world too, but they can be avoided fairly easily if you aren’t in a sword swinging mood. Bosses are a bit harder, but I wouldn’t call them difficult. “Suitably challenging” is probably a better descriptor, which means if you don’t defeat them, you don’t feel too frustrated to try again right away (which I consider to be a very good thing). The game is connected to Game Center as well, so you can go there and check out how many other players are whipping your ass.

Bouncy music, crisp and colorful graphics and a basic but effective formula make Jumping Knights the kind of thing that I immediately considered to be one of those games that I will never delete from my phone. When an entire game lasts 25 seconds, it’s all too easy to say “just one more round” and keep going. I did that about thirty times, until I realized that it had gotten dark outside and I had been trying to beat my high score for way too long. Not a deep experience, but when you need something to play for your commute or while you waste ten minutes waiting for your take out order, Jumping Knights is sure to please.

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]

We all saw some sort of legal drama incoming, right? The creator of Dragon Shout [Free], a brilliant map app for Bethesda’s radical open world RPG The Elder Scrolls 5: Sykrim, has received a copyright infringement notice from ZeniMax Media. In an e-mail to us, Blalock says that Apple isn’t making him remove the app, as “ZeniMax didn’t specify what the app is specifically violating.” Blalock hasn’t received a C&D yet and notes that he’s e-mailed ZeniMax several times to try to clarify what the app is violating.

“I did my best to ensure the app was not violating anything,” creator Blalock tells TouchArcade. “I looked up US trademarks and copyrights for ‘Dragon Shout’ and at the time there wasn’t any. I had the map hand drawn. I intentionally didn’t use any graphics or wording that would possibly be owned by Bethesda. So, I’m still not sure what they say the app violates.”

And it’s hard to tell from what Blalock says he’s received so far. But, ZeniMax does its best to protect its brands. Earlier last year, the publisher squabbled with Mojang over the name “Scrolls.” This April, ZeniMax filed trademarks for the phrase “Fus Ro Dah,” Skyrim’s most Internet-popular dragon shout.

In much lighter news, Dragon Shout is now freer. In version 1.5 , the social add-on — which includes database searching, marker sharing and chat — is available free of charge.

[source]

There’s an overabundance of cute things on the App Store, as anyone who takes time to prowl it knows. Whether or not something will be equally as fun as it is cute is always a mystery, but in this case, Pinch Peeps [ $0.99 ] has managed to pull off that oh-so-desirable perfect balance between sickeningly adorable and fun to play.

The retro gamer in me loves when games are pared down to the absolute basics, and that is the case with Pinch Peeps. There is one gameplay mechanic, which you’ll simply repeat for the whole of the game: pinching your fingers together. In each of the two modes (Timed and Endless), you’ll be faced with the challenge of matching pairs of cutely-shaped blobs with eyes (called “peeps”) to rack up points.

In the case of Timed mode, you’ll have one minute to get matching. There are bonuses for matching quickly and for matching enough in a row, and since this mode is timed you’ll want to make sure you match as fast as your fingers can fly. You’ll also notice that a “perfect” pinch earns you more points. Also, matching clusters of peeps earns you far more than matching those lone singles, so make sure you prioritize those dudes.

Timed mode makes for a good quick game, but in my opinion Endless is far more challenging and fun. In this mode, you have three hearts that symbolize your lifespan, and every time you miss a match or hit an obstacles, you lose one of them. You will also see more bombs in this mode, which you need to flick apart instead of together to keep them from exploding. Obstacles come in the form of thin bars that change in shape and move around your screen. These are truly difficult to avoid when they get rolling, so you’ll want to be a master level flicker by then.

As you complete each section of Endless, you see a big peep surrounded by little peeps you’ll have to touch in a certain order to get a bonus. If you do so successfully, you’ll make it to the next round, which promises to be harder than the one before it.

Pinch Peeps is worlds different than Everplay’s last title, Spellsword [ $0.99 ], but it has that same quality feel to it. I can’t help but be reminded of past arcade titles that have the same simplicity and instant gameplay hook (Doodle Jump [$0.99 / Free / $2.99 (HD)], anyone?). By giving the player a single mission and simply allowing them to hone it well by repetition, you have the chance of making something great. But that one thing you have to do over and over has to be really fun.

Colorful graphics and great music accompany the solid gameplay to make this one a winner. It’s hooked up to Game Center as well, so you’ll have a nice handful of achievements to shoot for (some of them quite challenging). If you’ve been craving that simple arcade experience, Pinch Peeps is the way to go. Plus, there’s just something I can’t resist about the way they giggle when you match them together. All they want to do is be together, you know?

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]

It seems my favorite board games are about the end of the world. We’ve talked about my love of Elder Sign [$3.99 / $6.99 (HD)], the game about stopping (or failing to stop) the rise of the ancient ones. And now I have a new sweetheart: Yggdrasil [ $5.99 (HD)], a game about stopping the forces of evil from destroying the world tree and changing the fate of Ragnarok. While it has a decidedly more Norse spirit than its eldritch cousin, Yggdrasil is more familiar than it first looks.

That first look might be a killer, though. Like so many board games before it, Yggdrasil makes the mistake of data dumping all over the player on the first glance, which left me completely confused about what lightning strikes had to do with anything, how elves were even involved, and why on earth I’d want to take anything from the World of the Dead. But it’s not nearly as confusing as it seems. One game’s worth of flailing around Yggdrasil was more than enough for me to learn how to play—from there on out, it was all about learning how to win.

Let’s not break this down too far. If the game designers can’t explain it clearly, I don’t expect to have much more luck. But here are the basics: you begin with your choice of up to six Norse gods—you know, Thor, Odin, Freyja and the like. You can play any combination yourself or you can split them up for a cooperative pass-and-play experience; there is no online multiplayer so far. The more gods you add the longer you’ll need to survive. If that’s not enough of a challenge you can also throw yourself a few extra handicaps.

Good and evil take turns. On your god’s turn, you have to complete three actions (though some gods have unique talents that alter that total). Each of those actions must be done while visiting a different world, any of the nine that can be reached from Yggdrasil. In Asgard, for example, you’ll fight your enemies and push them back. In Midgard you recruit more vikings to die for your cause, and so on.

After each god takes his or her turn, one of the evil gods takes one too. One is drawn from the deck, be it Loki, Hel, Fenrir or any of the others, six in total. That one moves forward in Asgard, getting one step closer to Odin’s stronghold and the end of the game. Each enemy also takes a single action as determine by its card—Jormungand, for instance, destroys one of the islands where your Valkyries collect viking souls, and Fenrir requires you spend actions to calm him. Asgard has three lines of defense. If five of your enemies pass the first line, three pass the second, or one passes the third, you’ll only have one final turn to push back back or lose. This is complicated by the substantial strength they gain as they trek across the board.

All this together makes for an intensely strategic experience. Since the enemy is moving inexorably forward, every time you fail to push one back you’re losing ground permanently. So each turn you have to plan your three actions carefully. Elves and vikings can help guarantee your success in combat by lowering the number you need to hit on your dice rolls, but they’re a semi-limited resource and recruiting them costs actions. Weapons are similarly necessary and similarly costly. Early on you might be able to get away with a few full turns spent building up your strength, but if you don’t dig in and hold back the advance you’ll lose before you know it.

There’s quite a bit more to it. You have to manage the flow of viking souls, and move your valkyries across islands to recruit them. You have to defeat Loki’s ice giants as he summons them or they’ll cut you off from whole worlds. And at every step, you’re at the mercy of the cards and dice. Will Fenrir get drawn multiple turns in a row, eating away your actions? Will the dice give you the numbers you need to defeat your enemies? And do you have a backup plan? You’re definitely going to need one.

For all its tension, Yggdrasil isn’t actually extremely difficult to win. Putting together a good team and using their godly powers to their limits isn’t a guarantee, but it improves your odds substantially. And ultimately all you really need to do is survive long enough to wear down the enemy and empty its deck. Once you do succeed, there’s a single Game Center leaderboard to compete on, but no achievements. You’ll be well-rewarded for good performance nonetheless—as you win more games by wider margins you unlock new gods and new Ragnarok scenarios. These can increase the game’s difficulty substantially, so you can customize the game to your skill level.

For the most part, I’m impressed. The Norse theme comes through with surprising depth as each element of the game takes its place in the overall story of Ragnarok. And despite a slightly slow start, the game gets immensely tense. If you’re passing the iPad around to play, expect long discussions about strategy. The evil gods come on like a tide, impossible to hold back forever. Carelessness can mean a loss before you have any idea that you’re failing.

There are a few small quirks of the iPad adaptation, which has some errors in the text and instructions that seem to be written for the physical board game. On the technical side, it’s a bummer that the game isn’t Retina-ready. It multitasks, thankfully, but it doesn’t have any longer-term saving. Longevity might be a problem, too; it seems that once you get a good strategy down it will be up to you to push for harder scenarios.

Those things aside, Yggdrasil is giving Elder Sign a serious run for its money in the field of board games I most like to play solo. It plays beautifully on iPad, and looks nearly as good as it plays. Most of all, I enjoy Ygdrassil because it’s a game that gives me a good measure of control over my fate, and the fate of the world by extension. You’ve gotta be lucky, but the game rides on much more than luck. Board game fans would do well to pick this one up, and maybe pop in to our discussion thread for some tips when you do.

TouchArcade Rating:

[source]