An ambitious foray into the world's first true MMORPG on a mobile gaming platform, and it doesn't fall short!
Pocket Legends takes the mobile gaming genre one-step further by introducing us to what is likely the first true MMORPG on a mobile platform. An MMORPG is a massively multiplayer role-playing game, where you take the role of a character that grows over time. You play in a persistent game world alongside other gamers, often times making friends and joining together to overcome obstacles such as dungeons and big monsters.
Pocket Legends is a free-to-play MMORPG available for the iOS and Android phones, which means that its most basic features are free, but additional elements of the game cost money. But would you want to pay for it? My answer is a resounding YES.
Pocket Legends is extremely well-done, and has all of the basic features you would expect in a free-to-play MMORPG on the PC, except it's on your phone. You create a character from one of three different classes: warrior, archer, and enchantress. Each has strengths and weaknesses. You venture forth and after a short tutorial stage, you're placed into a persistent game world surrounded by other gamers like yourself, who are all hanging out, chatting, and fighting together against the monsters in the game.
Like World of Warcraft, you pick up quests, complete them, and turn them in for rewards. There are also merchants and other non-player characters in the game that you can interact with. Many quests require you to jump into a portal that teleports you to a dungeon, where you fight with whoever automatically joins your party. You'll be battling alongside others against monsters both big and small. There's typically a boss at the end of each dungeon, and you'll complete the quest by the end too. You can jump back to town to turn in quests and sell goods, and then you're ready to start new quests in new dungeons.
While the game doesn't have a huge world that you travel across like in World of Warcraft, that makes complete sense; on a mobile gaming platform, you wouldn't want to be running for 10 minutes just to cross the landscape to get to a dungeon. Like most other mobile platform games, Pocket Legends is designed for sporadic gaming sessions, tailored to a "10 minutes here" and "20 minutes there" gaming style. Don't be mistaken, though, as there is a lot of fun in playing an hour or more marathon session like I did. Just be aware that it will drain your phones battery and you'll find it much harder to comfortably play with the power adapter connected.
The graphics are surprisingly good considering the platform and the small screen, and you'll even see the new weapons and armor you put on your character. You can buy vanity clothing items, too. The music is stylish and does a great job of enhancing the atmosphere of the game. Unless you play with headphones on, you probably won't really notice the music all that much. Each part of this game just really works well as a whole.
While I do enjoy this game, there are a few limitations. There are only three classes, a small number for anyone used to MMORPGs on the PC, and the game doesn't do a good job explaining the new skills you get as you level, so you may find yourself wondering what they do. Additionally, you only get four gestures that your character can do within the game without paying for more.
Overall, I cannot recommend this game enough. It's a free download from the Apple Store or the Market, and it's a great introduction for new gamers to the MMORPG genre, as well as a great way to get your MMORPG kicks on while away from your PC. I give Pocket Legends a Fox Fun Factor, of 5/5.
Hopefully, it'll only get better from here.