Rise of Mana Hands-On Impressions: A Little Bit MMO, A Little Bit P&D

Posted 17:58 EST on 07MAR2014 by: tim walker in hands-on » android, iOS, rise of mana, secret of mana, seiken densetsu, square enix

Seiken Densetsu: Rise of Mana was just released yesterday in Japan for iOS (coming later for Android), and I’ve been able to spend a few hours playing around with it. Though a little rough around the edges, it’s a pretty enjoyable game that tips its hat to Mana games of old while firmly embracing many of the modern-day conventions of mobile games like Puzzle & Dragons.

The game begins with you selecting the names and genders for your characters: One member of the Lasta tribe (angels), and one member of the Darka tribe (demons). Once this has been completed, things are kicked off in dramatic fashion with your two leads fighting to end each other in heaven. Unfortunately, the apparently-mystical Mana Waterfall has other plans for them, knocking both down to the human world. Neither tribe can survive long here without perishing, so a deal is hastily struck between the two to merge into a single body, giving them the chance to survive.

     

Once this is complete, you’ll take control of the merged beings, and are able to switch between your angel and demon forms at will. The main advantage to this during the action sequences of the game is that the swapped-in character starts off with a fuller lifebar, allowing your better half time to regenerate in the void. This ability also becomes useful in the city of Miste (the game’s central hub), where swapping forms can allow you to read the thoughts of certain villagers for more information.

Before taking you into town, the game gives you a quick tutorial on the basics of combat. Like many of its predecessors, Mana is action-based at its core. Unfortunately, unlike past titles, the action controls are all touched-based, a mixed bag to be sure (to be fair, the game supports physical game pads for later versions of the iPhone as well, but we only had a chance to test it with touch controls). The default setup allows you to move your character both by dragging your finger around the screen and by tapping a fixed point for them to walk to. Whenever combat begins, your character locks on to the nearest enemy automatically, and tapping the screen will cause them to strike. Tapping a different enemy will allow your character to switch targets, and sliding your finger across the screen in the middle of battle allows them to dodge.

     

In theory, this setup should work well, but I definitely encountered input confusion while playing. Tap too excitedly during combat to strike, and your device will often misinterpret your motions as swipes instead of taps. In non-combat situations, while you can guide your character to a set point, they’ll rarely stop there, instead continuing on in the general direction that you tapped or else walking in place forever. There is a virtual pad option as well, but since it’s completely invisible (an in-game guide explains roughly where it’s located), it can be frustrating to use. (as an added bit of frustration, it’s impossible to swap between the two setups while you’re in the middle of a quest) Hopefully these issues will be corrected in a future update.

During combat, you have a few other options available to you. You can perform special attacks with the weapon you’re currently using by tapping an icon in the lower-right corner of the screen. You have a limited number of these per combat session, and there is a cooling off period of a few seconds between uses. After the tutorial, the Familiar (a fairy, essentially) will inhabit the body of a doll found on the road, creating an ally to assist you in combat (she’s effectively the first “monster” in your party, and can later be replaced with others). Another player’s character can also be selected prior to starting a quest to beef up your team.

     

During the tutorial, your character wields a sword, but you’ll also gain access to a bow and a spear once you’ve moved onto the main game. You’ll find more variants on these three weapons as you play, and you can use your spares to strengthen other weapons in the same manner you would with monsters in Puzzle & Dragons. You can upgrade your pet monsters (allies) in a similar manner. One odd trapping of Mana is that upgrading and even swapping are not done from a pull-down menu: Not only must both actions be done in town, each must be done at a specific, separate location in town. The absence of the ability to swap from the pre-quest menu is a particularly odd game design decision.

The town of Miste is pretty small, but there are a few other things that can be done here. As noted earlier, you can speak to villagers and read their thoughts, which often allows you to gain access to new quests, MMO-style. Maybe I’m just anti-spoiled by the lack of substance in modern FtP games, but Mana seems to have a lot more dialogue and character development going on here than the typical FtP titles out there. I appreciate the fact that Square Enix actually put these elements into a game that they’re giving away.

     

Before you leave town, Nikita (known as Niccolo in Western releases of past Mana titles) shows up to let you take part in the requisite lottery for a shot at a rare monster. There’s also a vendor selling jewels for real-world money that have different effects, such as refilling your Stamina (Rise of Mana is FtP, so naturally quests “cost” in-game currency to take part in).

The typical quest you go on lasts around 3-5 minutes. It normally consists of you leading your party down a path to the next combat encounter, taking out the monsters that get in your way, and moving on. The action aspect keeps things fun, but I would have preferred a bit less linearity in the setup (most “alternate routes” are blocked by hulking monsters that cannot be attacked). I’m just getting started though, so hopefully the layouts will improve as I get further into the game.

That should wrap it up for my initial thoughts on the game. While I wish that the touch controls worked a little better, I’m still having a lot of fun playing Reign of Mana, enough to forgive it for its flaws. Check out the gallery below for more screen captures (we took quite a few). I may revisit this title with some further impressions soon, so be sure to check back with us!

(Seiken Densetsu: Rise of Mana is available on Japanese App Store for iOS devices)

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Gamebiz Japan Releases its Android Year in Review

Posted 21:05 EST on 30DEC2013 by: indie navi news staff in news » android, line, mixi, monster strike, puzzle & dragons

Gamebiz Japan has released its overview of the Android operating system’s 2013 performance in Japan. The review sheds light on how the Android platform is expanding in popularity in Japan, and on the apps and features driving that growth. Below are some highlights.

Google released its final sales statistics of the year for its GooglePlay storefront on the 29th of December. The statistics reveal that GungHo’s Puzzle and Dragons topped the charts in downloads — for the 64th week in a row. Meanwhile, Puzzle and Dragons Z for the Nintendo 3DS has already moved over a million units in Japan since its official release on the 12th of December, cementing the series as a phenomenon in Japan.

In 2013, statistics made it clear that an increasingly large number of Android owners had at some point in the recent past put money toward in-game item purchases. This spurred an increase in the number of high-quality titles released for the OS.

Publishers also demonstrated a willingness to pony up for television commercials once their titles reached a certain sales threshold, and the movement was away from registration requirements to download titles. This, coupled with the ease of use of the GooglePlay storefront, prompted huge gains of market share for Android smartphones and tablets. The result was that 2013 was the year Android finally caught up to Apple’s App Store in overall sales, according to statistics released by App Annie in November of the year.

Toward the end of the year, Google also began to air commercials for its OS on Japanese television stations, and oversaw the expansion of sales of GooglePlay cards to convenience stores and other locations throughout Japan.

On the basis of this growth, big-name publishers known for their home console releases threw their hats into the ring. Whereas in 2012 only three of the most downloaded titles were by big-name publishers, in 2013 thirteen of the top 50 titles were games released by major Japanese games publishers. The three publishers with a title in the top 50 in 2012 were Bandai-Namco, Sega, and Square Enix, their 2013 representation in the top 50 jumping to five titles, three titles, and three titles, respectively. Konami, another Japanese games stalwart, was also able to crack the top 50 with one title.

Publishers from outside of Japan also availed themselves of the surge in Android market share in Japan, with games titles released by foreign publishers jumping from only two of the top 50 in 2012 to five of the top 50 in 2013. Two of these titles were released by Finnish publisher Supercell, prompting Japanese media giant SoftBank to snap up a 51 percent controlling share in the company

Toward the end of the year, Candy Crush publisher king purchased ample television commercial airings, releasing Candy Crush into Japan with great fanfare, indicative of increased foreign interest in the Japanese smartphone and tablet games market.

Looking at new publishers to have cracked the top 50 with their titles in the past three months, one particular trend stands out: several top social application and platform providers have created games publishing branches (and in some cases games development branches), going on to shoulder their way into the top 50 club. Examples include Cygames, Akatsuki, Asobism, and Mixi, with Mixi in particular seeing explosive growth in its share prices in response to the popularity of its title Monster Strike, which many investors see as the “next Puzzle & Dragons“. (Related)

LINE Corporation, most well-known in the West for its LINE instant messaging and Skype-like services for smartphones, has also met with success on expanding operations to include publishing games for Android (and iOS). Although its fortunes bounced a bit and declined from four titles in the top 50 in June to zero in September, the company rebounded, putting LINE DOZER Coin-Drop Game and LINE Fish Island in the top 50 in December.

Gamebiz postulates LINE Corporation’s aggressive use of its own social platform as a main cause for the company’s rebound in games sales. LINE has rotated its titles in and out of its “Top Titles for LINE” section of its platform, also offering free in-game currency to encourage users of its platform to download its game titles.

Overall, the healthy number of titles in the top 50 published by newcomers to the market indicates there is still ample opportunity for other companies looking to claim a share of the Japanese Android games market. This is further evidenced by the number of companies with titles in the top 50, which grew from 25 such companies in June to 29 in September, finishing the year at 26 in December. Among these 26, games released by social platform providers turned publishers total 18 titles, indicating a huge change in the nature of the market.

Finally, Gamebiz points out that with the hike in sales tax being implemented in Japan in March of the coming year, companies are expecting a burst of sales in electronics and other big tag items just prior to the tax hike, which will no doubt benefit smartphone and tablet manufacturers.

News and image source: Gamebiz Japan

Square Enix Announces Follow-up to Song Summoner for iOS, Android

Posted 17:08 EST on 19DEC2013 by: tim walker in news » android, guns n souls, iOS, song summoner, square enix

Square Enix has announced a new RPG entitled Guns N’ Souls for mobile devices in Japan. The game is a continuation of the story started in Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, a tactical RPG they released for the iPod back in 2008.

While the new game looks to be just as full of references to both Japanese and Western music as its predecessor, it will be an action-based RPG rather than a turn-based one. Players will once again take on the role of protagonist Ziggy (we’re assuming in reference to Ziggy Stardust, rather than to the Tom Wilson comic strip), who has apparently been set up for the murder of his brother, Zero, by an entity known as Kill The King.

Song Summoner had a unique feature where it created troops for you to command based on the tunes stored on your iPod. One element of Guns N’ Souls is equipping cards with different abilities to your weapons, including special Song Cards, which cause a specific tune to start playing during combat.

Guns N’ Souls is being developed by Shift (God Eater 2), and is being written by Yukinori Kitajima (Chaos Rings, Okamiden, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies). Song Summoner character designers Yusuke Naora and Roberto Ferrari have both returned to work on this game as well. The title theme “fire just do it” (which can be heard in the trailer on Square Enix’s official site for the game) is written and performed by J-pop group Larval Stage Planning, and I’ve Sound leader Kazuya Takase is composing music for the game as well. The voice cast includes Yuichi Nakamura (Cid in Final Fantasy XIII) as Ziggy and Maaya Uchida as an unnamed heroine character.

Guns N’ Souls will be released for iOS very soon, according to the official web site. The Android version is slated for Summer, 2014.

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(News Source: Dengeki Online)

Puzzle Bobble Comes to LINE for iOS, Android

Posted 12:51 EST on 10DEC2013 by: tim walker in news » android, bubble bobble, bust-a-move, iOS, line, puzzle bobble, taito

Taito has released a version of long-running Bubble Bobble spin-off Puzzle Bobble for the LINE service in Japan on both iOS and Android platforms, and the Android version appears to have been released in English as well (just follow the link). It is not available on the U.S. iTunes store yet, though past LINE service releases have shown up there before.

The new version is free to play (with in-game purchases) and features over 90 stages, unlockable power-ups, local leaderboard rankings, and special “Friend Bubbles” (based on your Friends’ List) that can be popped for special items. It also includes a cameo appearance from pre-Bubble Bobble platform hero Chak’n from Chak’n Pop.

Puzzle Bobble made its debut in Japanese arcades in 1994 on Taito’s B System hardware and on the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It was followed by numerous ports and sequels, many of which have shown up in the U.S. and Europe under the name Bust-A-Move (a title change that complicated things when a certain other game was brought stateside).

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MMD Releases the Results of Its Poll of Japanese Android Users

Posted 19:08 EST on 05DEC2013 by: indie navi news staff in news » android, mobile marketing data laboratory, smartphone

The Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory has released the results of its survey of Japanese Android smartphone users. The survey was conducted between November 25th and 27th with 1,000 users who had purchased an Android smartphone between the months of January and November in 2013. The purpose of the survey was to determine the level of satisfaction of Android users with the smartphones, and to compare this to the expressed level of satisfaction with their previously-owned mobile phones. The survey also questioned users on the mobile phones they looked forward to buying in the future.

Points that stood out in the MMD’s report:

• The number one factor in model selection was the largeness of the smartphone’s screen.
• The features users most hope for in future smartphones purchased were longer battery life, water resistance, and a large screen.

The translated information released by the MMD were as follows:

Owner satisfaction

As indicated by the above results, although most users are satisfied with the size of the screen of their smartphones, there is room for growth in establishing customer satisfaction with battery life, and a surprising number of users would like stronger resistance to the elements.

Factors in determining unit purchased

The below images address factors in determining the unit purchased, how satisfied users were with their new units in comparison to their previously-owned units, and features users intend on taking into consideration when making their next smartphone purchase.

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In the above data, a similar pattern emerges: although customers are generally satisfied with the size of the screens of their new smartphones, the top result for what users will look for in a future smartphone purchase is longer battery life. This is followed only by sturdiness and resistance toward the elements, highlighting a surprising interest in sturdier smartphones.

The Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory is a private firm engaged in research into smartphone and social media usage and trends.

Source: IT Media Co., Japan

Double Dragon Trilogy Released for iOS, Android

Posted 15:58 EST on 05DEC2013 by: tim walker in news » android, dotemu, double dragon, iOS

DotEmu has released Double Dragon Trilogy for Android and iOS devices. As reported previously, the compilation includes ports of all three Double Dragon arcade games, and features customizable controls, support for many Android and iOS controllers, 2-player co-op via bluetooth, and the option to choose between the original soundtrack and a remixed version. It’s available today for $2.99 on the iTunes App Store and on Google Play.

PS Vita Platformer Dokuro Now Available for iOS, Android

Posted 11:18 EST on 05DEC2013 by: tim walker in news » android, dokuro, game arts, gungho online entertainment, iOS

GungHo Online Entertainment has released a version of former PlayStation Vita-exclusive puzzle platformer Dokuro for both Android and iOS platforms. The game appears to be available worldwide, and is currently only $0.99 in the U.S.

Originally released for the Vita last year, Dokuro essentially asks, “What if a sympathetic Goomba attempted to save Peach from Bowser in Super Mario Bros.?” As a henchman-turned-hero, your character is tasked with guiding the princess to safety by solving puzzles and clearing obstacles. The game was developed by Game Arts, famous for their work on the Lunar and Grandia RPGs.

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Story and image source: Famitsu.com

Dragon Quest VIII for Smartphones Gets Release Date, New Trailer

Posted 12:37 EST on 02DEC2013 by: tim walker in news » android, dragon quest viii, iOS, square enix

Hot on the heels of the release of the original Dragon Quest on Android and iOS, Square Enix has announced that their port of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will be available for both platforms on December 12th in Japan.

Those used to shelling out a buck or two for a game on smartphones might be in for a bit of a shock: Thanks to the Square Tax, the game will retail for 2,800 Yen, or roughly $28 USD. Ouch.

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Also, while Square Enix’s new trailer for the game is pretty impressive (see below), it doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. It still looks like a solid port; just make sure to have that copy of War & Peace handy to peruse while you’re waiting for the next battle sequence to load.

Images and news source: Dengeki Online

Download Dragon Quest in Japan For Free on iOS or Android

Posted 20:57 EST on 27NOV2013 by: tim walker in news » android, dragon quest, dragon warrior, iOS, square enix

If you happen to live in Japan and have a mobile device (or if you have access to a Japanese AppStore/GooglePlay account), today’s your lucky day: Square Enix just released the original Dragon Quest for iOS and Android, and they’re giving away the first 1 million copies for free! Once the game has been downloaded 1 million times total between the two storefronts, it will revert to its regular price of 500 Yen (~$5 USD).

The game is actually played in a shell app entitled Dragon Quest Portal App. In addition to providing users with the latest information on the DQ series, it will also serve as the portal for downloading future DQ titles (II and III are mentioned specifically in Square Enix’s press release, posted at 4Gamer).

As seen in the pictures above, the game is played with the screen in vertical mode, and the graphics have been enhanced significantly from the original release.

Dragon Quest was originally released in Japan for the Famicom in 1986, and in the U.S. on the Nintendo Entertainment System three years later as Dragon Warrior. No word yet on when this will be getting a U.S. release and if we’ll get the free download campaign as well, but we have been down that road before, so here’s hoping!

Mysterious Tweet From Sega Points To Sonic on Android?

Posted 17:11 EST on 25NOV2013 by: tim walker in news » android, sega, sonic

The picture on the left was just posted to Sega of America’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Although we’d initially taken this as a sign of Fat Sonic* finally getting a release date (*Not an actual Sonic game. -Ed.), or at least more Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade shenanigans, close inspection shows that the image of Sonic shown here certainly looks quite a bit like the Android mascot, so we’re guessing that Sonic is Android-bound. We’ll post more information on this once we’ve heard more from Sega.

Gree Accepts Voluntary Layoffs for 12% of Its Workforce Due to Economic Woes

Posted 22:15 EST on 05NOV2013 by: tim walker in news » android, GREE, iOS

Major Japanese smartphone social game publisher GREE has announced that 205 of its employees have applied for voluntary layoffs in response to the company’s request last month. This represents about 12% of their workforce as of the end of June. The layoffs are to take effect November 30th.

The company will incur about 600 million yen (~$6 million U.S.) in losses for compensation for the outgoing employees, but the move is predicted to result in a cost reduction of 1 billion yen (~$10 million U.S.) by next June (the end of their fiscal year).

GREE modified its billing system after public criticism over its past practice of awarding rare in-game items in its mobile games only to users who had made certain in-game purchases, and its revenue has been on the decline. It had announced on October 2nd that it was seeking 200 of its employees to apply to take voluntary layoffs between October 9th and 28th in order to offset its current economic woes brought on by decreases in income during the previous fiscal year.

GREE had a total of 2,364 employees at the end of the previous fiscal year, but it only had 1,762 employees in its main workforce as of the end of June. The pending layoffs represent 11.6% of its workforce.

(Source: Sankei Shimbun, via Yahoo Japan)

Double Dragon Trilogy Headed to iOS, Android

Posted 16:15 EST on 30OCT2013 by: tim walker in news » android, dotemu, double dragon, iOS

Retro game specialists DotEmu have announced that they will be bringing Double Dragon Trilogy to iOS and Android platforms. The compilation includes ports of the three original arcade games in the series: Double Dragon, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone.

In addition to an Arcade game mode for each title based on each game’s respective arcade incarnation, there will also be a Story mode, which will allow players to unlock new stages and earn achievements. It will also include customizable controls, support for many Android and iOS controllers, 2-player co-op via bluetooth, and the option to choose between the original soundtrack and a remixed version.

It looks like DotEmu has done a decent job at making these ports as iOS-friendly as possible. Our only real qualms are the odd decision to redraw the onscreen display in the first two games (see photo below), and the even stranger decision to call Double Dragon 3 a “legendary arcade beat’em up.” (even if you’ve never played it, watching the (arcade-accurate) character animation in the trailer should immediately tell you that it’s the ugly duckling of the series)

No release date for Double Dragon Trilogy has been announced at this time. While you’re waiting, be sure to check out Double Dragon Neon on XBLA or PSN from WayForward; it’s the physical manifestation of your faulty memories of what was great about 80′s brawlers.

Konami of Japan Working On Two Online Battle Games for Mobile Platforms

Posted 19:18 EST on 28OCT2013 by: tim walker in news » android, iOS, konami

Konami of Japan has announced that they are planning to release two new titles for smartphones in the future. While they have not revealed the titles of these games yet, they have announced that both games will be centered around allowing large groups of players to battle online simultaneously.

Though there are few details at this time, Konami has released a couple of pieces of concept art, and has also set up a teaser website for the games.

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Source: 4Gamer.net.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy Launches on Android in Japan

Posted 18:25 EST on 28OCT2013 by: tim walker in news » android, final fantasy, pictlogica, square enix

Square Enix has released Pictlogica Final Fantasy for Android in Japan. The game is free-to-play with in-game item purchases. A version will be released for iOS in the future.

Pictlogica is a puzzle game where players solve picross-style puzzles in order to drive their attacks in the Final Fantasy-style combat that’s happening on the screen above. The speed at which you complete the puzzle determines the power of your characters’ attacks. It includes conventional FF elements like character-leveling and summon spells.

To commemorate the game’s release, Square Enix is offering an extra 200 gems (the in-game currency) to anyone who downloads the game between now and 11:59pm on October 31st.

(Source: 4Gamer.net).

Avabel Online Gets Major Update in Japan

Posted 19:59 EST on 25OCT2013 by: tim walker in news » android, asobimo, avabel online, iOS

Asobimo’s free-to-play smartphone MMORPG Avabel Online has just received a major update in Japan. The main new feature added is the Seige Tower Battle, an evolution of the game’s existing GvG (guild vs. guild) system that accomodates a large number of players. Players can form alliances between multiple guilds, wager tower ownership rights, and engage in massive battles that support up to 1,000 players simultaneously.

The update also adds seasonal events to Avabel for the first time (where special avatars are awarded for completing quests), randomly-generated quests where bosses must be found and eliminated, and increases to the maximum levels for weapons.

Avabel Online is a 3D action MMORPG that allows for cross-platform play between iOS and Android users. There is no information on when the update patch will become available to users outside of Japan.

(Source: Inside-Games).