Hero Emblems released just four days ago and I have already put in nearly five hours! It’s quickly growing to be my favorite game on my iPhone. I owe all the credit to Graev who found the game on the day it launched, before a single review hit the web, and told me I would be stupid not to get this game that quote, “Feels like the quality of a full 3DS game.”
Hero Emblems is an amalgamation of RPG, sidescrolling, tile-matching, beat’em up games. The basic gameplay revolves around trying to combine tiles to match 3 or more. You can match into different combinations and shapes to drive combos. The purpose of matching is to execute abilities for characters assigned to the tiles you are matching. For example, to execute a basic attack with my sword and shield wielding warrior I need to match three swords. Enemies take their turn to attack based on a simple turn counter, so the combat starts to feel like something out of a Final Fantasy game.
In your party you have a Warrior, Cleric, Paladin, and Sorcerer. Each of these characters executes special attacks based on their skills, Hero Emblems, and the tiles you are matching. Visiting towns allows you to purchase upgrades, or you can find them in chests. Equipping new items actually changes the visual appearance of your characters!
Exploring the world is story-driven, but you are free to roam different areas and randomly encounter enemies on the over-world. Roaming back and forth around the map has proven extremely beneficial for me as I have needed to farm coin and levels in order to upgrade my characters before taking on tougher foes.
There are a few tiny flaws. Hero Emblems is available in a couple of languages, but I feel like the native language is Japanese since the english version contains a few odd word choices. I did chuckle when the first boss made a statement about taking an arrow to the knee. Another slight flaw, albeit not really a flaw at all, is the spike in difficulty. The game gets very hard very fast, and requires a lot of thought before simply trying to match just three tiles. There are definite JRPG elements at play here.
Hero Emblems is a full game. For $2.99 you’re getting a game that could easily have launched on the 3DS for $40. I can see spending at least 50+ hours and probably still struggling to make my way through the game. Hero Emblems really does flawlessly execute this style of play on this type of device. I highly recommend it.
Got to admit I’m finding myself more attracted to easy to play tablet games than any MMO or otherwise ATM. I think this probably says as much about the point of my life, and hectic nature of it, than some games, but I still find it surprising.
Sure, I enjoyed WoD but now that I’m at the point where the only progression is through raiding, NO THANKS! I’ve ran a few raids, normal only, and no way do I want to continually grind out the same fights over and over.
These mobile/tablet or whatever you want to call them can have a surprising amount of depth and tend to be light on the pocket.
I’m considering getting a new large tablet just for the main purpose of gaming. Not saying I won’t play other PC games, but mobile games a very satisfying, which is something I didn’t think would happen.
Thanks for the suggestions Keen, and keep them rolling.
I like how I can play them for 5-10 minutes at a time and watch how much that time adds up. I played a little during lunch, some at church, while waiting for the wedding tasting to begin, etc., and suddenly I’ve put in 5 hours. True gaming on the go is something I want for the future — to be able to play a full UO style game on my phone would be really cool!
This one in particular is like a full complete game on a 3DS. Unlike some of those In-App purchase games that make you wait 3 hours or spend cash shop currency, this one is a complete game without any of that. Play at your pace.
It’s a great ADDITION to the PC/Console gaming I love.
Speaking of UO, a fresh player run shard is starting this coming weekend. I probably won’t play but UO being my favorite game it has enticed me some… The shard is An Corp, uoancorp.com and has some past staff from the IPU shards if anyone remembers those.
I had a blast on UO Forever shard, but realize these usually don’t last forever. The best times are in the beginning so I may jump on this weekend and mess around.
This looks like it has the same type of gameplay as some of the In-App-Purchase games I’ve played and while fun, those cash shop traps suck the life out of the game. This looks like a solid game though. I love the artwork. I would much rather pay for a real, full game than have some cash shop trying to lure me in. And at $2.99 that’s so cheap. How can you go wrong?
Very cool! This sounds a bit like Puzzle Quest, which I absolutely loved. I hope it makes its way to Android eventually, so I can check it out 🙂
Doesn’t seem to be available on Android. Sad Panda.
Purchased!
Been looking for something like this for a while 🙂
Thanks for the heads up!
That IS a fun game. I wonder if I’m not very good at them, though, since I am stuck in the Crystal Caverns.