Chaos Rings is the Square Enix RPG we’ve been waiting for. After months of second-rate iPhone games like Crystal Defenders, Vanguard Storm, and Sliding Heroes, the iPhone finally has its own triple-A Square Enix RPG that actually reaches the heights of a Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. With an epic storyline and deep gameplay, Chaos Rings should be at the top of your iPhone wish list.
The game begins with a solar eclipse that whisks away five couples to a mysterious place called the Ark Arena. A monstrous, robotic Agent gives them clear instructions: They are to fight to the death, only within the Arena, and a refusal to fight is grounds for immediate disqualification (also, death). The winning couple receives immortality and eternal youth.
A few of the captives decide to test the house rules, and five couples quickly become four. At this point, it’s safe to think of the plot as a combination of the Japanese action movie Battle Royale and the NCAA Championship brackets.
Who doesn't?
You can take control of either one of the game’s two main couples at first, though the other two couples are also unlockable. Before you can fight the other couples, you’ll have to train by exploring lush environments that are accessible through the Ark Arena. These feature random battles with monsters, treasure chests to raid, and a handful of puzzles to solve.
Anyone who has played a recent Final Fantasy game will be familiar with the RPG character progression and basic controls in Chaos Rings. You move through the world with a virtual analog stick that appears wherever you press down your thumb, and when in combat, the turn-by-turn action is all menu-based. Either one at a time or as a duo, you can cast spells (called “genes”), use items, and attack your opponents.
Chaos Rings’ complex gameplay is almost too deep to describe here. As you beat enemies, you’ll gain access to their genes, or abilities that include spells and passive attributes. You can equip three of these genes at a time, and part of the fun is figuring out which genes you’ll need for the battles ahead. For example, a crocodile gene can give you tough skin and the ability to cast water-based attacks.
Experiment with animal DNA.
There are three magical elements: fire, wind, and water, which are strong or weak against each other in a rock-paper-scissors like formation. And finally, as you earn money you’ll be able to buy new equipment from a freakishly funny creature in the Ark Arena named Piu-Piu.
A single play through the game takes about five hours, and then you can replay it to see the story from the point of view of the other main couple on the ship. The story is dark and engrossing, and offers plenty of surprising twists. You’ll battle huge monsters and expert warriors, giving you lots of chances to develop a preferred strategy, and you can increase the difficulty between stages by selecting higher-level enemies.
Chaos Rings handily manages many of the trickier aspects of a hardcore Eastern RPG. You’ll quickly gain the ability to turn off random encounters, for example, so you can fight only when you want to level up. A meter in the corner of every battle tells you which side has the advantage, so you know when to run and when to press home the attack.
We may be out of our league.
Chaos Rings also feels right at home on the iPhone. The game will save automatically when you are interrupted by a call, and you can save at any time when you’re not in battle. It’s a game well-suited for both quick bursts and long, involved play sessions.
All of the attention to detail, masterfully designed gameplay mechanics, and great music and visuals add up to create one of the best iPhone games you can currently buy. It may cost top dollar, but in this case, you absolutely get what you pay for. Chaos Rings is a 3D RPG masterpiece that fully demonstrates Square Enix is still at the top of their game.
37 Comments
iPad please.
If I recall correctly the developer stated on Squeenix's Facebook page that if the iPhone version does well they may consider an HD version. As it is, though, it looks great on the iPad.
Blown up 2x on an iPad, you can definitely see all the "jaggies", low-res textures, and other visual noise. This game was really meant to be enjoyed on an iPhone. An HD version would be awesome, though.
For the record, I'm going to need to disagree with the Chrono Trigger statement since that game holds the crown of best RPG of all time to this point. But I digress, this is going to be tough to beat for Game of the Month. Superb job, Squeenix!
Reaches the heights of Chrono Trigger lol
Righhht...
It's good, not just good for the iPhone, but actually GOOD. But it's not that good.
It's good in the the name of goodness and all that's good though, and that's PRETTY good, wouldn't you agree?
Its too early to tell if its reached the height of Chrono Trigger because that game was a masterpiece definitely one of the top RPG's of all time.
But so far so good there's been only a few negatives with Chaos Rings, we'll see as the time goes by how this game fares with the gamers.
I totally dissagree with the review. It's a good dungeon hunter game extremelly repetitive and short. The storyline is good but doesn't make sense to me. After playing 3 hours I've been doing the same over and over. Fights occurs fast, you can win or die in an instant! Strategy is not his heviest point.
What I think is pretty good is the fact that it's been made thinking carefully how a game should work for an iPhone, which makes this game a pleasure to play in short periods of time.
Overall, the game looks phenomenon, sounds good and it's the first time a game comes close to a final fantasy's stereotype. But not the storytelling, just the visuals.
A good game, but not a chrono trigger, don't make me laugh! Have you ever played that game? Sure not!
So there won't be an iPad HD version released anytime soon? If that's the case I guess I'll have to get this one.. Too bad
What an amateurish review.
Write your own - we'd love to read it.
totally, or perhaps actually sign up for the forums instead of being a cowardly forum troll! Personally, I think this is a great review.
To elaborate about "K"s comment - There's too many ppl who come to this site to criticize the writing, and offer nothing positive. At least sign up to the forums so people/staff writers can properly respond to your comments. If you can't write a better review, save the negative comments.
Jordan, i find your generalization very offensive. just because i haven't signed up for the forums I'm a "cowardly troll". I excuse me if i misinterpreted, but if that's what you meant I'm offended
Oh no, the generalization police!
the point is moot now, since i signed up.
Can't wait to see this on freeappaday.com!! Yeah right...the game looks great, but $12.99? This is a new low for iPhone gaming (or high, agh whatever!). I'll just boot up my chrono trigger rom on the ole emulator (legal of course!)
Nick,
we need to break out of the $9.99 bracket in order to reel in more high end devs and bump up the quality of iPhone gaming as a whole. As it stands, the average iPhone game goes for around $2.50 or so... we need that to be higher if we want to move up and away from the $0.99 phenomenon.
tim
You have to figure a lot of developers are upset about downward pressure on prices for iPhone games. It takes a big company with cojones and/or a major license to price a game at $10 or above. If you're not happy with the prices now, just wait a few months, and it'll be on sale eventually, because there is so much competition.
I'm going to have to disagree with you there. I've enjoyed many $0.99 apps and games, and those that are good enough to make it onto the top 25 can make a TON of money.
Stupidly excited for this game, definitely going to download when I finish work!! Looks like they have done an awesome job, and whilst at first I kind of want to slap people who say "its worth more money" I do agree with Tim's comment on breaking the '$9.99' bracket to reel in higher end games on the iPhone like this title.
I guess what I mean is I don't really want to pay this much for iPhone games, but If it reels in more premium content then it's worth it. And I've been told (from reading other reviews) that all of the characters are playable where this review says only one is?! So im guessing the mass of other reviews is correct and this incorrect, there must be around 30 or 40 hours or gameplay in total, and for this price you can't really complain.
There are two playable "teams" from the start (each with two characters). But in the "scenarios" (achievements) section there are unlockable goals for four different teams, which makes me think the rest will be released in a future installment.
If you play through the game twice to see the other side's storyline there is probably 12-15 hours of content in the whole package.
oh i see! thanks for clearing that up. just started playing it seems like its going to be amazing, but from initial impressions I really do agree with the reviews negative on the undecipherable map :(
I'm loving this game, definitely one of the best iPhone RPGs. Definitely doesn't touch Chrono Trigger on any level, but it's still a must-have for any iphone/ipod touch owners. There's so much game here! Great review Mr. Podolsky!
Just wanted to let you know that the other two couples are unlockables once you beat the game with each of the orignal couples. And they have different storylines too, so this game can be played more than it is first apparent.
Thanks for clarifying! I had only beaten the game entirely with one couple and wasn't sure how to unlock the rest.
haha I just read this. looks like i wasn't the only one confused! good news though.
This game is close to perfection!
By far the best iPhone game to date. The story is simple but fantastic. The characters are great. Presentation is stunning with some really creative enemies and settings. And the controls are perfect for the iPhone. SE did such a good job here.... I'm a huge, HUGE fan of this game. Last time I felt this much in love was with FF7 :)
Yes! I agree. I love this game too.
Why are you all freaking out about his statement about it reaching the heights of Chrono Trigger? It's called an opinion.
The game is great, but why doesn’t Square get the word out about this game. They should have been previewing it on all the game sites (not just iphone gaming sites), and they should be making a big deal about a big budget Square game for the iphone/ipod touch. How is it going to sell well with so little publicity. I want to see more AAA games on the iphone, but how are they going to sell the big numbers needed without putting any effort into advertising. Hardly any of my gaming friends even seem to know this game exists. The only way I know is because I go to iphone gaming sites like this one.
I really hope it sells well.
It will sell well without much publication. Good product sells itself, especially when it reaches TOP 25 Grossing/Paid, which it already does in my country. That's how I know about it, by the way :)
I am looking forward to play this :)
The 5 hour remark is off. To get the actual ending you have to beat it with all 4 couples: beating it with the first 2 gets you the rest of the game....more story, an actual challenging boss, etc. Might want to try the rest if you have the time, or at least update the review.
Hey, I thought that I might give everyone a hint that as I finished the game with first couple, I started over again seeing that I could not continue the scenerio. Then I thought, what would happen if I loaded the game after I beat it and saved it and wah lah! This is how u continue the story. Right I am finishing off with the third couple and will be moving on to the last and hopefully I will be able to unlock the final part of the scenerio. Hope this helps everyone! :)
I just came here to say that, even after you defeat the final boss and if you defeat every secret boss (from a couple), you have access to an Ultimate Boss, even harder than the Last Boss himself. I shall not spoil it, but I'll only say this for the people who already played the game at a certain point: yes, it's him and he's really hard.
Now, this is not a spoiler since it won't ruin much the story. But I found out something funny but equally stupid where you all ask «What the hell was Square Enix thinking?». Here it goes: do you know those enemies (firstly a boss) Tree Turtles? Well, one of the bosses ou have to defeat to access the ultimate boss is called Sephiroth. A Tree Turtle called Sephiroth??
amazing game. epic storyline, and it took me 60 hours (and a lot of new game+) to finally beat the ultimate boss with all characters. was just really disappointed that a 108% completion rating only gives you a changed main menu picture. boo.
9.5/10
my favourite game...it is pretty cool!!!
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