An amazing feat in gameplay, but undermines its own success....
Background:
This is a MMO-RPG created for cross-platform mobile gaming. There are 3 main character types consisting of a ranged, a fighter and a magic user. You come together to save the world,etc. All the fighting is instanced, so you have immediate access. The only open world areas are the towns and quest gathering areas, which usually have a portal to jump to the instance. Groups of up to 5 are allowed and are immediate on entering an instance. Each World area spans about 5 levels. To get to some of the more unique areas they must be purchased with platinum that you buy online or get by doing certain online tasks.
The Good :
Cross Platform – This runs on Iphone/Ipad/Ipod/Android, which opens a large community of players to connect with. Just look at active groups and you'll see hundreds playing the game.
Gameplay – My hats off. The gameplay comes across as a polished MMO, just on a miniature scale. The 3 simple classes still have a good amount of skills to utilize. Grouping is easy and instantaneous. You feel like you're running through a mini-WOW, which is quite a feat for mobile gaming. Everything is an instance, so no running around in open areas, which for mobile gaming makes access to the action much easier.
Item maintenance – No repairing is necessary, bonus. Furthermore, the trash items you pick up, you can automatically sell without going back to town.
Graphics – They are solid for the scope of the game and what is to be expected from mobile gaming. If things are running slow, there are decreased quality graphics allowed as well.
PVP – This does exist, not in open world but in instanced play. It can be fun and has a CTF variety as well.
The Bad :
Experience – You get the same amount of xp for a solo kill as you do for a group kill for the most part. This almost makes grouping mandatory for level progression, which unfortunately at the high levels is hard and for the high level instances you're supposed to buy, nonexistent.
Story – Honestly like many an RPG, its lost along the way. There is some degree of area progression, but loose at best. This to some degree is necessary to cut time out for more accessibility.
Battery – It's an MMO. Think of how many hours you might put in at a time to grind your level up. Battery power becomes a big issue as this mows right through. You'll probably have to plug in if you're interested in a lengthy leveling session (if your thumbs can handle it).
Grouping – The advantage is that you can do quick grouping. The disadvantage is that groups are usually falling apart within a level. Just as you start making some progress, you'll find you jump to the next level and no one comes along. You can friend people but I've found little success in that helping. Furthermore, your groups automatically disband on completion of an instance, so even when you had a good one, it disappears.
The Ugly :
Money – This is the ultimate failure of this potentially amazing game. You can buy both gold and items, not from farmers but from the makers. This undermines the very main aspect of MMOs, which is incremental progression of your character. Yes I didn't buy gold but it sure seems like a pointless venture when the market is imbalanced and you find the first epic item you want to sell.
Overall:
Overall I would give this game a 7.8 (8.0 by rounding up). The scope of what Spacetime took on is rather an impressive feat for mobile gaming and this is reflected in the mechanics of the gameplay. For this alone I have to give it a decent score; however, any RPG you can buy gold or items destroys the concept for which it is made. Because you lose that sense of accomplishment for finding that epic weapon, that's really not that epic, the game just turns into a pointless grind. The imbalance of experience in the 30s really starts to weigh as there is only a couple types of enemies to kill and you do it over and over and over. This game is good for the first 20 hours, then tapers off quickly as its flaws become apparent. They are coming out with a new space related MMO-RPG that I hope they learn their lesson and use the great game mechanics they developed to take Star Legends to a new level.