Probably the best RPG I've ever played on an iPhone or iPad. Seriously, this is a worthwhile investment from Square Enix
Now that's over, the game is based a bunch of groups of heroes thrown into this random arena and forced to fight for their lives in exchange for immortality. The game has some interesting plots and character development, easily something on par with Square's old days of Final Fantasy. These aren't 1 dimensional cardboard cutouts, but actual characters with a personality and character development. The story starts off very mysterious and is basically a "Why are we doing this? Because some scary dude who will kill us otherwise said so" story until more of the plot is uncovered and you learn some of the character's true motives. For instance Escher has amnesia... but only for about the first 10 minutes of the game. Then you find out hes a real jerk.
Anyways, story aside, graphically this game is easily on par with Final Fantasy 8 or better in terms of colors, textures, models, shading, etc. Probably the best looking iPhone game I've ever played from a technical artistic standpoint.
There is no voice acting, but the music is great and I love the boss theme. The sound effects are quite good but without headphones on, you probably won't get the maximum range of sounds out of the phone/pad's speakers.
As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, press anywhere on the screen and a little thumb stick will appear that controls your characters movement. Pressing the pad anywhere else will initiate actions like hitting a crystal or opening a door or what not.
Combat is simple. You have only two characters (this is part of the story plot as well, but works out well in the gameplay). You have the option of Solo or Pair. Solo allows you to target multiple enemies, or heal or cast, etc. Pair forces your characters to perform the same action on the same target for more than double the effect. This is very efficient at damaging opponents and is necessary to damage hard defense bosses. But it comes with a price. First off it's generally slower, and in a turn based combat system, that means you go last. Second, if an enemy attacks, BOTH of your characters get attacked.
Enemies hit for like 500 damage even an hour into the game and you only have about 1000 hp at that point, so it's imperative to be smart about things. Tactics are QUITE important in this game. I've actually had my party fall in battle twice from regular enemies, so this game is challenging.
After the solo/pair thing, you get basic attack, and genes (aka magic/skills), defense and items. The last two are self explanatory. Genes basically give you skills and magic spells. But they are aquired from fighting enemies of a certain type and applying them to your gene plates. Sorta like Materia. That's the best way to describe them.
Other than that, the only other game play features are puzzles where you have to use little green crystals to teleport and collect them all with a number of turns to unlock the passageways to the next area. Most at the start are quite easy, some get more challenging, but they are a worthwhile part of the game.
Last comment to make. You can save ANYWHERE. Haters cannot complain about that.
So in all this is a quality JRPG from the guys at Square Enix no matter how you slice it and is easily one of the best, if not the best game on the iPhone or iPad.
Pros :
+ Amazing visuals
+ Excellent combat
+ Great music
+ Interesting characters and story
+ Great use of the iPhone/Pad's touch function.
+ It's only 12.99$...
+ It's actually a considerable game, not light and fluffy and short
Cons :
- It's 12.99, which may be tough for cheapskates to swallow
- No voice acting