=== Mobile Game Review -- I Monster - RPG Adventure - 6/10 ===

What Are We Reviewing?
Today we have I Monster by DreamSky.

Last Updated: December 20, 2019
Price: FREE
Genre: RPG / Adventure
Rating: Teen

I Monster is available on Google Play and currently has over 100,000 downloads. I'm having a bit of a hard time with this one because I both love it and hate it at the same time. There are good things about it, and there are bad things bad things about it the rest is rather... meh. I do enjoy RPG-type games because it's fun to progress into a powerful super-being and this definitely is one of those games... though I think maybe the balance is off somehow because something just doesn't feel right about it. Let me explain...

Gameplay:
Beginning from what I would call the hub we can see an ominous tower in the distance which is where we will be doing our adventuring. Nearby is a large rock upon which sits a bird with a diamond. This rock seems to deliver quests to complete with each adventure while the bird gives advertisements and pays for your time with diamonds.

Before heading off on our adventure we'll check out the Equipment Store for possible new equipment and of course be sure to keep anything of importance in the Warehouse... which I suppose is just a different way of describing a chest. There's also a village area nearby where more services can be given, though at this early point in the game we have only unlocked the blacksmith who is able to upgrade equipment to be stronger.

We begin what is for us yet another adventure into the tower starting from the first level. At this point it is quite easy to complete these early levels of the tower thanks to some equipment which is quite strong for the early spaces as well as having at this point reached level 7 in experience.

Each battle is rather simply done by tapping on a target which causes our character to approach and fight said target. Longer fights are somewhat more interesting by being more back and forth trading blows as well as giving opportunities to use abilities. In our case we've chosen a lightning strike ability which of course uses some mana to do so.

That... is really it. I'm not sure if this game is supposed to get more interesting as the game goes on, but it seems to just be a simple kind of RPG game. Movement is done on a grid and not everything must be fought, only what is in the way or what is required due to being a boss. So I mean, the thing about this game is that I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with the gameplay... it's just... not all that interesting.

I Monster works as a game in that there seems to be a goal and a progression into a more powerful state as there should be in an RPG, but I just don't feel like what's happening in this game is good enough to keep my attention. I'm not driven to want to explore more into this game than I have at this point. Watching advertisements gives Diamonds which can be used to reset the equipment shop as well as unlock more backpack pages. But really it feels more to me like it only wastes time and interrupts gameplay.

Graphics / Sound:

Sort of a cartoony type of style. I really like the hub screen and the menus are nice to look at, but maybe it's because of the combat being so fast... or maybe it's because of the advertisements interrupting gameplay (because we all know getting as much of that special currency is highly important in any free game)... but in any case, there just isn't anything all that special to note. The graphics are nice, no glitches, nothing to complain about; just really nothing special.

The sound is a similar situation where there isn't truly anything special about it, but I have noticed that there is a sound or two "borrowed" from Diablo II when using a health or mana shrine.

Replayability:

Well, I suppose as long as you enjoy exploring the same sort of thing with different layouts over and over again... this can be replayed forever and ever and ever. So far as I've been able to experience, the only thing stopping a player from continuing to continue forever would be the boredom of experiencing the same thing with little to no difference.

SUMMARY:

I don't know, maybe I'm being a little harsh on this game. It seriously isn't a bad game, I just find it doesn't have much special going for it and that really is a bit of a drawback these days. I suppose I'll give it a bit more go and see how I feel about it from there. But at this point my feeling is that the score I'm giving will be 6/10.

Points would be lost for sound being taken from another WELL KNOWN game as well as gameplay not being all too interesting. All in all, I would still recommend this game to try out if you're looking for something ENGAGING; bonus points for not having the entire game be played by turning off the game as many other free games tend to do. I suppose I would say I Monster is average with a recommendation to at least give it a try, which is why I've decided upon this score.

~ DaemonVirus

=== PC Game Review -- Dungeon Siege - Action RPG - 7/10 ===

What Are We Reviewing?
This is a game dear to my heart as one of the older games I got myself into back in my younger years. This game is the original Dungeon Siege developed by Gas Powered Games back in 2002. So keep in mind that I'm reviewing a game from a while ago by how it holds up (in my opinion) by today's standards on today's technology.


Gameplay:
As an action RPG game, you start as a tiny character and build your way up through combat and experience gaining great power and equipment along the way. Dungeon Siege differentiates itself from games like Diablo by having a party system of up to 8 characters. Each character can level up in different skills including Melee, Ranged, Combat Magic, and Nature Magic. In this game, the way experience works is that experiences is gained each time an enemy is hit by the character, so in theory... a single character would have tons more experience than a party of 8 due to being the only character hitting all the targets would generate much more experience on one character. Unfortunately other than the spells which I believe have a max scaling to their skill level, melee and ranged attacks seem to be unaffected by the skill level.

It is certainly possible that one could beat the game as a single character without a party... though I'd think that would be quite the challenge even for the seasoned veteran of these types of games. I personally enjoy doing fun challenges in games, but even I think that would be an insane thing to try to do.

The game can be paused and unpaused at any time and commands can be issued in either state. Most of the commands required outside of having the right weapon or spell equipped is only to move the characters around to avoid damage rather than standing and fighting strong monsters or getting hit by projectiles. This starts off pretty nice, but I found it started to get rather tedious as the game went on with 8 characters in the party.


Graphics:
As you can see, the graphics are a little older and boxy. Seeing as the game came out in 2002, I would say the boxy 3D models with the ability to turn the camera 360° at any time... that's completely reasonable compared to the iconic Diablo II (2000).

I will however say that some of the enemies are difficult to see through all the vegetation and some of the effects can be difficult to catch as well with all that's going on. For the most part I'm quite happy with the look of the game all things considered.


Sound:
I have no complaints about the sound design of Dungeon Siege. There's good feedback on actions being taken and nothing seems very out of place. The only complaint I have is that sometimes that sound bugs out a bit with repeating of earlier played sounds when going back along the path you came for some... unknown reason.


Replayability:
Would I call this game replayable? Sure... if you wanted to try different compositions of groups, whether that be in numbers or types, then yes I would say this game is replayable to some degree. For most people however, this game is a play once and you're done sort of thing.


SUMMARY:
Dungeon Siege seems to run just fine on Windows 10 and is still a fun experience to play through as it was so many years ago. Compared to the newer games out there these days, it's getting a little bit older and is certainly showing its age, but other than that, it's still a pretty good experience and for the low price of only $7.79, it's really not a bad buy to keep a person entertained for many hours of gameplay.

My score for Dungeon Siege at this point of it's life will be 7/10 as it was a well-made game and is still good to this day.

~ DaemonVirus

=== PC Game Review -- Rogue's Tale - Turn-Based Dungeon Crawler - 2/10 ===

What Are We Reviewing?
Now I do like RPG and rogue-like games, and I also like when games are difficult and don't hold your hand, so today we're going to review Rogue's Tale. This is another game that I really tried to like because I do enjoy these types of games, though you'll soon see just how frustrating a game like this could really be.

Released March 28, 2014 and currently available in on Steam for $5.69 CAD, Rogue's Tale is a turn-based dungeon crawler which is meant to give you the experience of playing one of those good old RPG games which used to use the ASCII graphics and more often than not killed you before you got anywhere interesting; that's the same experience when playing this game.

As seen above you get to create your character each time you play and can even start with bonuses IF YOU'VE UNLOCKED THEM though grueling play after dying and dying and dying again.

Of course there is an easy mode where things hurt less and you can sell items without identifying them first, but you aren't able to unlock some things... and why would I want to play easy mode anyways?

Gameplay:
So the idea behind the game is that you're thrown into a randomized dungeon to explore for items and experience until you reach the bottom at which point you can leave and "reset" the dungeon which creates a new one to explore. There are various creatures throughout the dungeon, some of which are happy to live their own lives and some of which will attack on sight. There are also other adventurers and traps which you'll come across and more often than not you'll see one of the following screens:

There really isn't much to say about the gameplay of Rogue's Tale because you just can't get very far into it unless you get lucky and find all the right things for a successful run to get further than the first dungeon. In the time I've put into Rogue's Tale so far, I've only had one run which has been able to make it past the first dungeon... at which point I almost immediately died in the next dungeon.

I actually can't believe it, but I have less to say about Rogue's Tale than I had to say about Mall Empire. Even though it was a buggy game, there was at least some gameplay to get through.

Graphics:
I find the artwork and aesthetics of Rogue's Tale to be very nice. I do like the design and detail that has been put into the things that are seen, though I do find the information presented to be somewhat clunky. There's a lot of stats on the screen and not much to tell you what exactly does what... or why?

Replayability:
As much as I love being destroyed again and again in a game, I at least like to see some progress. Let me give you an idea of just how much progress I achieved throughout playing this game: 0 / 148 achievements. The top achievement is for reaching level 7; only 37.4% of players have ever reached level 7.

So while I would absolutely say the replayability of this game is HUGE, seeing at you enter a different dungeon every time you play and everything is different every time... I think it's the type of replayability that's actually... bad. Of course you want your game to be replayable to keep players wanting to come back and play it more, but we again come to the problem where if there's not progress into the game, then playing it again and again isn't fun anymore, it's just tiresome.

SUMMARY:
While Rogue's Tale isn't an expensive game, I still expect it to be a game worth playing in exchange for my money. I can't talk enough about how the gameplay is lacking for me. I'm sure there are others out there who love this sort of thing (hence why there are quite a few games of this type), but there are certainly better options than Rogue's Tale.

While I didn't enjoy the gameplay of Rogue's Tale, it is a working game that doesn't seem to be filled with bugs making an unplayable game. I'm giving Rogue's Tale 2/10 because I just can't stand bashing my brains against the same thing over and over hoping something different will happen; but it works and there IS a deeper game to be found in here... somewhere.

~ DaemonVirus