Price: $1.99 Score: 8/10 Category: Games
Heroes Lore III is the American translation of the RPG title that’s hit it so big in Korea. Set up as a war between nations, it’s your job to join Neo-Solita or Askra and then fight to the end for wealth and honor.
The game lets you pick between a couple characters and different skill sets before sending you into six mapped landscapes and four cities where trading thrives. To start, you get two weapons for your arsenal and you use them in battle as you engage in combat.
The fighting aspect of Heroes Lore III is typical of an iPhone RPG game. The game presents two life bars for you and your opponent, and you tap buttons to swipe out opponents in a semi-detailed landscape. Graphically and sound effects wise, we’re talking about a Super Nintendo level of graphics and display that’s decent but not as detailed as other competing games.
Although you’ll spend your fair share of time wielding your sword, you’ll also spend a bit of time reading character dialogue and figuring out how to find the blacksmith and more. Like any RPG, there’s quite a bit of wandering and self discovery, but if you let yourself fall into the immersive landscape the rewards are plenty.
Heroes Lore III features an intricate weapons upgrade system and gives players the ability to measure up against other players around the world. You also get the opportunity to search for and mix potions to utilize later in the game, which adds to the mix of objectives and intricate details necessary to mastering the title.
There’s value in replaying Heroes Lore III because Heroes Lore III tells a similar story from two different perspectives. All said and done, the game touts more than 30 hours of gameplay. Unless you’re really familiar with navigating RPGs, I might call this a low estimate.
My only major quip with this game are the controls. The main character walks with a kind of side swaddle that’s awkward to begin with, but there’s a sort of kickback effect that occurs with the directional pad that can send you in the opposite direction momentarily before you’re back on track.
This particular movement issue is not only annoying, but also a little dizzying. Because you’re moving back and forth between looking intently at dialogue boxes and feeling that intense screen toggle kickback it’s difficult to play the game very long without feeling a little woozy.
Aside from the controls issue, the game’s two sided storyline and fight-for-your-honor premise are pretty appealing. If you like fighting games or RPGs this is certainly a game that you’ll enjoy.
Bottom Line: Heroes Lore III might not be the most accessible RPG on the iPhone, but it will surely wins is share of cult fans. The story is good but the controls need some improvement.
