Sports Games

The action-RPG fans will find many interesting titles on the App Store, not least quell' Aral on: Sword and Shadow who has reaped great acclaim, is by far the most comprehensive and fascinating response to those who apply for an extensive, long-lasting and deep. Some months later it is the turn of Game loft, which true to its policy of homage’s to classic offers more or less recent Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden. This is a title much less deep Aral on: Sword realistic and Shadows on the side, but sharing the game with different aspects of Crescent Moon Games and crosses them with other historical sagas like Zelda (with an homage to Mr. Miyamoto equine) and Grandma.

Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden certainly has many elements typical of dozens of other action-RPG, fantasy-like atmosphere of magic (the centrality of crystals and other artifacts), saved the princess from the beginning in a bucolic village in Green, the tragic event that triggers the reaction of the protagonist, the horse as a means of transport, chests to open, people turn to for missions (could not miss the yellow question mark above their head?), side-quests, rocs and goblins to combat, flying ships to navigate in the various regions of the map and the usual dungeons.

A festival have already seen that in the first minutes it seems in fact a shameless recycling of the most abused clichés in the genre, but actually propose a structure less banal than you think. For one thing puzzles in three dungeons that make the game play a very important role in the game play, and among speakers and mirrors to move from the east, are a pleasant diversion hack'n'slash usual (which still does not fail). The same boss at the end of the dungeon can be overcome only in a certain way, finding the weak point and not just slashing beating like crazy, to the benefit of a sufficiently mature and varied game play as not to tire after the first hour of play.

Unlike what happens in other action-RPG, there is then a shallower aspects realistic. Ayden, our alter ego involved in the usual mission against the evil in the lands of LaSalle, for example, can not level up. And there are no skills or characteristics like strength, dexterity and endurance. In their place we find some weapons (including a powerful punch to break the ice and a cobra gold) and various power-ups, but these elements do not have a great significance and even the fights (except bosses) are quite simple. Also thanks to the automatic lock on enemies Ayden, just press the icon of the weapon and occasionally use the shield to parry or dodge attacks, but in fact it is almost impossible to die at the hands of the enemy "common", even in final stages of the game. This, combined with the scarcity of items to collect and buy, do not give much satisfaction to those who enjoyed titles such as Dungeon realistic thicker Hunter 2 or the aforementioned Aral on: Sword and Shadow, for which Game loft has opted for a ' atmosphere more relaxed and at times almost goliardic, as perceived by some dialogues. Nevertheless, Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden never get to use very tiring and makes the brain more than other hack'n'slash perhaps the most extensive and complete but also more "ignorant" and one-sided. We can also count on a respectable longevity (about five hours solving all quests also) and controls without serious uncertainties. Only the side-swipe to manage 360 degrees is not the most fluid, but the analog stick to move and the icons in the contextual style Game loft work properly and even the camera behaves decently, too crushing the view only in the fighting very small areas.

For the rest we also enjoyed the other elements. The horse, for example, you can activate at any time (just like in Aragon: Sword and Shadows) and we can fight even when we ride. The voice acting is well done and graphically, while not touching the top of the latest jewels arrived on the App Store (from Infinity Blade in Dead Space ), we can count on detailed models and animations convincing. Apart from some very short loading from one area to another (two seconds maximum) has explored the field of play without a real break and fluidity, at least on our iPad is always steady at high levels.

On the downside convincing, in addition to those already reported, we also lack the variety of enemies, the frequent backtracking and overall personality and as often happens with Game loft is reduced to next to nothing. We have not found the one cringing Zelda a bit 'all support and in any case, given the very narrow limits within which he moves the action-RPG today, it's almost impossible not to recycle items from the past, scenarios and mechanical game. Final note for the new distribution method for the French; Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden makes it possible to play for free the first two or three missions (in practice the initial 10-15 minutes) and then decide whether or not to buy the entire game directly from the main menu. An interesting idea which we hope to find in all the upcoming games for the French, albeit with a trial period of a little 'fatter you to at least 20-30 minutes.