Mobius Final Fantasy guide for beginners

It took some time, but mobile devices are finally starting to get their own Final Fantasy games. Mobius Final Fantasy is one of those, complete with lush graphics, mysterious characters, and plenty of the expected trappings.

Even better, it's free to play, breaking away from the series' console ports, which were pretty expensive for mobile titles. With turn-based gameplay, it's not hard to pick up, though there are some details that may not be obvious even after going through the very thorough tutorial.

Happily, those kinds of details are our stock and trade here at 148apps. Take a journey through our Mobius Final Fantasy guide for beginners and you'll be more than a Blank before you know it.

Tap to attack, and do other stuff too

Early battles may give you panic attacks thinking that speed is important in Mobius Final Fantasy because of the fluid animations that take place during combat, but it truly is turn-based. Your character always has the chance to perform a certain number of actions each turn, indicated by a number [fill in].

A basic attack uses up just one action, and is done by simply tapping on the targeted enemy. You can change targets if you want, but it's a little involved. Tap the 'Target View' button at the bottom of the screen, wait for the view to switch to the overhead view, tap on the new target, and hit the button again.

Play those orbs

Every successful attack will cause the enemy hit by it to drop small orbs that your character automatically collects. These serve as fuel for your special abilities, which can be triggered by tabs on the right side of the screen -- or left, if you chose that option when you launched the game for the first time.

The total number of orbs you currently have is displayed across the top of the screen, but the abilities helpfully track them by type as well. When an ability can be triggered, its tab will enlarge and glow, signaling you. It's a good idea to use them often because of ...

Breaks -- not just for dancing

It probably wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game without some kind of 'break' concept involved. In this case, it refers to breaking down an enemy's defenses, as indicated by the meter underneath their health.

Fully depleting that meter activates a break, which essentially gives you some free shots at the opponent that don't count toward your normal activity limit, and thus allow you to do a lot more damage before the enemy gets to attack you. The key to breaks is to use abilities as often as possible, since they get the secondary meter down much faster.

Upgrades are in the cards

Mobius Final Fantasy takes perhaps its biggest departure from series orthodoxy by using a card-based system to control your character's 'job' -- which more or less refers to his combat specialty -- and which abilities he knows. Cards can be won in battle but also make up the bulk of the game's monetization scheme.

Mastering the cards could (and probably will!) be the subject of its own guide entirely, but suffice it to say for now that you'll need to acquire different cards if you want to change abilities, and that your overall power level depends on the total strength of the cards in your deck.

Other beginner's tips

• Don't want to fight your way past weak enemies? Tap the 'auto' button at the bottom of the screen and let the game do it for you.
• Like many games of this type, the elements have an effect on your fighting. But it's not a rock-paper-scissors deal. Rather, Fire and Water are stronger against each other, as are Wind and Earth. Using like elements against themselves always leads to lesser effect.