Tag: First Impressions »

Death Stranding has wandered its way onto iOS, and considering it is yet another beefy and demanding title for iOS devices to handle that seem to be trickling out as of late, I took the liberty of trying the game out for myself, recording my first stretch of gameplay with it, and drawing up some impressions to share with anyone who might be interested in picking it up.

Read on below for some detailed analysis and info of the game at first blush, otherwise feel free to watch or scrub through the video posted above to see for yourself what it seems like.

Apple talked a big game about bringing bigger (ahem) games to mobile at last year's WWDC, and the first title they touted as part of this effort is finally out. Capcom's Resident Evil Village is out now on the App Store and is a complete mobile port of the original game.

I've gotten my hands on it and put a decent amount of time into the spooky survival-horror game, getting just a bit past the title's "free-to-start" section and I recorded most of that experience in the video above. Because of Capcom's rules about sharing gameplay, the video also has editorial captions about what I think of the game, but I'll also outline some more thoughts below.

At the end of last year, I had the opportunity to test out Omega Strikers while it was still in beta. Fast forward to now and the game is officially out with some marked improvements and changes. It'll take some time to solidify thoughts on the game into a fully-fledged review, but until then I can share some impressions and recommendations about this exciting new kind of multiplayer game.

If you aren't up-to-date on what Omega Strikers is, it's a 3v3 competitive game about a fake sport that most closely resembles hockey. Teams all control hero characters with special abilities that they can use to hit a puck around (or each other) as they try score goals. In press releases it's commonly described as "Rocket-League-of-Legends," which is accurate enough, though I'd say a more apt comparison would be to games like Windjammers and Pokémon Unite.

Just before Christmas, Odyssey Interactive brough their fast and fun 3v3 knockout striker title, Omega Strikers, to mobile in the form of an open beta. The game had previously been available to play in beta on Steam since September, but when the game was announced the developers were very clear about their intent to bring the game to smaller screens.

I had been previously dabbling with Omega Strikers on PC, but only truly dove in head-first once I could get my hands on it in mobile form. Since release, I've poured a ton of time into it and can shed some insight on future plans for the game in addition to some tips to help you get started if you want to pick it up yourself and try it out.

Diablo Immortal only came out a little over a month ago, but it's not the only splashy action rpg making big promises on mobile. Torchlight is a series that has always been an interesting offshoot of Diablo in that it was originally co-designed by the same people who worked on the first two Diablo games, and now it seems to be making its way to smaller screens courtesy of XD Network in the form of Torchlight: Infinite.

I finally got some advance access to the game in its current, early stages and have to say I'm pretty impressed with what I've seen so far. You can check out almost an hour of gameplay in the video above and read on below for some more detailed analysis.

The next big battle royale game on mobile is finally here. Yesterday, Apex Legends Mobile dropped onto iOS and serves up a modified version of Respawn Entertainment's smash multiplayer hit that is custom tuned for touch and mobile play. I have not played a lot of the console and PC version of this game, but in my limited time with Apex Legends Mobile so far it does, in fact, seem to capture a lot of the original game's spirit, tension, and flow.

To check out the game in action from the initial boot, through the tutorial, and on to real matches, check out the video above. For some more detailed impressions, read on below.

This week, one of the absolute best real-time strategy games for mobile got a big new update. Kingdom Two Crowns now offers a new campaign type for purchase, and it puts you in the saddle of ruling over a Norse kingdom. I spent quite a bit of time with this new expansion, entitled Norse Lands, to see what kinds of things it offers beyond the base game. For the most part, it gives a new coat of paint to what is already a fantastic game, but there are a few twists it puts on the base game to make it a worthy pickup for anyone who enjoyed it.

The first thing to note about Norse Lands is it isn't free. This expansion is the first paid add-on for the game and it costs $ 3. For that price, you unlock access to start a new kingdom inspired by Viking culture and lore. A couple of things to note about this unlock before you even start playing it: This introduction of a fourth biome to the game doesn't coincide with expanded save slots, so if you've been managing kingdoms in all three of the base game's modes, you'll have to get rid of one to start Norse Lands. Secondly, the minimal UI in Kingdom Two Crowns might make it difficult to understand how to start a game using the new expansion. To access it, make sure to swipe over to Norse Lands when you see the new game title card to make the switch official.

Earlier this week, Pokémon UNITE released on the App Store, bringing the formerly Switch-exclusive MOBA to mobile devices. We dove in to check it out, and have some key takeaways you might want to know before deciding to pick it up yourself. Read on below, or feel free to just scrub through our comprehensive overview video above.

We were obviously big fans of Genshin Impact when it launched last year, so much so that it grabbed our Game of the Year award. Since that time, though, the game (and our enthusiasm fo it) had gone somewhat quiet.

You see, Genshin Impact is a service game, but since last winter there had been precious little added to the experience. Post-Dragonspine, a couple of story quests showed up and a trickle of new characters came and went, but there was nothing really new and exciting for players to latch onto--regardless of whether they played daily or dropped off months ago. This summer showed a glimpse of excitement with a temporary archipelago being added to the game, but the whole experience felt like stopgap effort designed to prevent more of the player base moving on to something else.

iOS has always been a great place to play card and board games digitally, provided the game selection available was to your taste. I've made bunch of great discoveries over the years by trying out titles like Root and Lords of Waterdeep, but what I always secretly wanted all this time was a way to play Dominion on the go.

Thankfully, it seems like I'll be getting exactly what I've been waiting for soon, as Temple Gates Games is currently finishing up a digital version of Dominion for mobile and PC. In a certain way, I already have it, as this version of the game is already in open beta and you can play it right now. If you have any interest at all in Dominion or deck-building games, you should sign up right away.

Out of nowhere, Konami decided to remind everyone that they used to make video games by releasing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for iOS this week. Widely celebrated as one of the greatest games of the 32-bit era, Symphony of the Night basically solidified the gameplay formula for “Metroidvania”-style games.

Because this release came as a surprise, I haven’t had the chance to put the time in for a full-on review, but here are some things you should know about this mobile version of Symphony of the Night.