MovieMusic Review
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Music is a more powerful storytelling tool than most people realize. It’s the vital seasoning that makes every movie, TV show, advertisement, and internet video meme work how it should, manipulating your emotions in exactly the right way.
The problem is, using an existing piece of music involves paying exorbitant fees or drawing on classical pieces that everybody has already heard a trillion times.
MovieMusic aims to solve that problem for you by providing a library of compositions that you can dip into for every conceivable dramatic context.
These tracks, which have been written by a company of jobbing professional composers and performed by a live orchestra, tend to be around a minute long. They fall into 70+ albums, with titles like “Attractive”, “Badness”, “Excitement”, “Light”, “Christmas”, and so on.
The tracks themselves have titles too. In the “Love” album, for instance, you’ll find “Bond”, “Bliss”, “Longing”, “Intimacy”, and more. Each album contains 30 tracks, meaning there are over 2000 in all.
There are a couple of chapters of Orchestral Tools as well - subtle accents to create mood rather than full-blown musical compositions.
The first two tracks in each chapter are free, while the remaining 28 cost 99c a pop. The reason MovieMusic is able to sell its music so cheaply is that the files are restricted to a bitrate of 128kbs, and the tracks are licensed for personal, non-commercial use. So if you’re looking for a cheap way to score your next Hollywood project, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
The Good
MovieMusic is simple to use and it works surprisingly well. The Christmas music sounds Christmassy, the Comedy music sounds suitably quirky and upbeat (think Curb Your Enthusiasm), and the Disgusting music, somehow, sounds disgusting.
A bit of imagination is required when it comes to the individual track names, such as “Baking” (“Bright pizzicato helps show off the intricacies of the expert in full flow”), but on the whole MovieMusic provides snippets of music that intuitively belong in their categories and do what they’re supposed to do.
Every single one of the app’s 2000+ tracks is in the same key and tempo, too, so you can in principle blend them into a seamless orchestral score. It’s very clever.
This really helps when navigating the 2000+ tracks, as does the simple preview - or “audition” - facility that lets you listen to each track in full before deciding whether to spend money on it.
It’s also worth mentioning that each track in MovieMusic has three versions: Cinematic (the default), Intimate, and Modern. While the quality levels of the different versions naturally vary according to the track, in general we find that Cinematic is the one to go for.
MovieMusic has a seamlessly simple interface. You just choose a chapter, pick a song, and tap the play icon to listen. Once you buy and download a song you’re given the option of sharing it via iMessage, WhatsApp, Mail, or even opening it in iMovie or another video-editing program. It couldn’t be easier.
The Bad
While MovieMusic’s interface is intuitive and easy to use, its presentation is functional rather than enjoyable.
You could argue that the same applies to the music itself. This isn’t a criticism of the compositions, all of which sound polished and professional. But the wall-to-wall orchestral arrangements don’t reflect the breadth and variety of music right now.
There’s a bit of digital percussion overlaid on the tracks in Modern mode, but few other nods to contemporary musical styles. If you’re looking for a traditional sound, it’s perfect. Otherwise, you may struggle to find what you’re looking for - even in the Technology chapter.
Overall
MovieMusic is a slightly odd proposition. While asset libraries are usually for commercial use, this one is just for fun.
But it’s a fun tool that will add a pleasing sheen to your personal and non-commercial YouTube videos. It’s incredibly easy to use, too, and it contains a generous supply of musical morsels.
8.4
OVERALL
User Interface 9
Lasting appeal 8.4
iPhone Integration 8.5
Is engaging 8.1
Does it well 8
MovieMusic | Music For Videos
Gothic Projects
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Athenion: Tactical CCG Review
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Athenion might not have the pedigree of some other deck-building card games available for mobile, but that shouldn't put you off. This is a game that's packed full of bright ideas, fresh new gameplay modes and enough content that you can lose hours of your life to.
Battles take place on a 4x4 grid, and see you taking it in turns with your opponent to lay down cards. You draw up to five cards from your deck of forty at the start of every turn.
These are the units you're playing in the fight, and they range from hulking monsters to flighty fairies, from magical trees to fearsome undead dragons.
Your cards have arrows on them that you show you which direction they can attack. You'll also notice a bunch of other numbers on the cards. These let you know the hit points a card has, how powerful its attack is and how many soul points it grants you.
Those soul points let you attack your opponent and they're the key to victory. The first player to lose all of their own hit points is the loser.
There's a lot more going on than that though. For one thing you need to pick from one of six different factions before you even get to the fights.
These factions have different strengths and weaknesses and figuring out which of them best suits the way you want to play is the first step of a pretty long journey.
Different factions have different special moves as well. Some let you link together cards to make them more powerful, others are all about sacrificing weaker units to create pockets of dark magical energy. One lets you build giant rock walls that you can use to protect some of your units or power up others.
There are single-player challenges, regular events and much, much more as well. You're never short of something to do in Athenion, and the pace of the matches lets you get a lot of them in in a single setting.
The Good
There's a staggering amount of depth to Athenion. It's going to take you a good while to get to grips with the basics and once you've done that there are layers and layers to peel back. Every time you win you'll figure out a new strategy and every time you lose you'll be trying to find a way to right that wrong.
The game looks amazing too. The cards all sport a brilliant anime art-style and you'll want to collect all of them just so you can check them out. The speed of the fights is a massive plus too - they deliver huge chunks of tactical action in the sort of short-blast sessions that are perfect for mobile play.
On top of that there's a brilliant community to the game, and you never have to wait long to find an online battle. There are a number of different modes that let you practice with different decks, take part in intriguing events and fight it out in ranked and casual multiplayer matches.
The Bad
There's a pretty steep learning curve here, so if you're not in for the long haul then you might be better finding your card-based fun somewhere else. Even when you've got the basics down you've still got a lot to learn and it can be punishing to come up against an opponent who knows more than you do.
There are also a lot of currencies, crafting materials and other rewards to figure out. The game does tell you what they do, but the tutorials are pretty brief and you're left on your own for a lot of the time to try and get to the bottom of things.
Overall
Athenion might not be the easiest game to understand, but once things start clicking it becomes something really rather special. There are some brilliant ideas here and they're woven into a bright tapestry of gorgeous visuals and wonderfully paced mobile play.
It won't be to everyone's taste, and it's fair to say that some players are going to put it down before they've even got to the good bits, but this is one CCG that it's well worth sticking with.
8.2
OVERALL
Replayability 8.1
Game Controls 8.2
Graphics 8.7
Sound/Music 8.2
Gameplay 7.8
Athenion: Tactical CCG
ZERO-bit Company Limited
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Enjoy Explosive Tunnel Shooter Action in Space Cycler
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Space Cycler ($1.99) by Sung Liwen is a retro tunnel space shooter arcade game that's as challenging as it is fun. If you enjoyed games like Danmaku Unlimited 3 and AKA TO BLUE, but wish for some classic Tempest shooting action, then Space Cycler is perfect.
When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time playing computer games while I was hanging around my siblings' PCs. I ended up playing whatever games were on them at the time, which usually involved Solitaire, Classic Pinball, Asteroids, or Tempest. I loved arcade games back then, and I enjoy them even more now. It's hard for me to find good space shooters on the App Store, let alone a tunnel-style one that's reminiscent of Tempest. So when I was perusing the App Store for some new entertainment, I stumbled on Space Cycler, and am glad I found it.
Danmaku Unlimited 3 - Bullet Hell Shooter
Sunny Tam
AKA TO BLUE
TANOSHIMASU CO.,LTD.
Visually, Space Cycler has a lot going on for it. The game is rendered in 3D with a quirky and cute cartoonish art style that makes me think of Saturday morning cartoons when I was younger. The space backdrops are what you'd expect from this kind of game, and the textures are nice. Enemies and bosses are pretty detailed and all of them have their own unique appearances and behavior patterns, while your ships have distinctive aesthetics based on the primary weapon type. There's a lot of fun and exciting explosions to witness, and it's easy to spot the incoming enemy bullets and attacks, which tells you when you need to move to dodge them.
Space Cycler is full of bright and vibrant colors, and the animation is smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The upbeat music is quirky and charming, fitting with the rest of the game's eccentric nature. The sounds are also fun and fit the typical space ship noises that you'd expect from cartoons.
You can play Space Cycler solo or with a friend in the local co-op mode, so one device is between two people. There are five planets to fly and fight your way through, but you unlock them in chronological order. So to get to the second planet, you must clear out the first one, and so forth. Each planet counts as the main stage, but there are multiple waves for all of the planets, including challenging boss fights. Once you unlock a world, you can start new games from there, rather than starting from the first world. However, your score won't be as high this way, so keep that in mind.
There are three space ships that you can choose from in Space Cycler, though only the first one, Bullet, is available at first. To unlock the other two styles, you must reach a certain point threshold. Each ship has a different primary weapon type and unique ultimate attack. You earn points by defeating enemies, as well as collecting the stars that they leave behind. The more you get, the better. Fallen foes can also leave power-ups behind, which you want to collect to upgrade your weapon, giving it more firepower.
Controls in Space Cycler are simple and allow for one-handed play. A slider towards the bottom of the screen lets you move your ship clockwise or counterclockwise on the screen, with the enemies coming in from the middle of the circle. When you move, your ship automatically shoots its primary weapon, so you don't need to worry about a separate attack button.
For the most part, the sensitivity on the slider should be decent enough for most people. However, I wish that there was an option to adjust sensitivity, since you can either move too fast or too slow during more intense fights, like with bosses. I felt that sometimes my ship moved too slowly, or I zoomed across the circle and end up hitting something else I didn't notice. Perhaps I just need more practice, but I feel like adjusting the sensitivity would help out most people.
The co-op mode is a neat feature, as it lets two people play on a single device. This is probably better on an iPad than an iPhone, but it works on both. The second player can just tap to jump in, choose their ship, and then you're both off. You can save your partner from the verge of death, but watch out! It's entirely possible to collide on the battlefield, so you need to be careful and coordinate with each other appropriately to defeat the enemies.
Space Cycler is highly entertaining with fun graphics and challenging on-rails tunnel shooting gameplay, and there is an awesome local co-op mode.
The Good
Space Cycler is a lot of fun and has plenty of replay value. The game is full of vibrant, eye-catching visuals and the music is well done. While five worlds doesn't seem like enough at first glance, when you consider the fact that each area is broken up into several challenging waves of enemies, it's actually a lot of content for the price. Plus, the game gets progressively more difficult, so it does take time to master and beat them all.
On top of it all, Space Cycler's co-op mode is a delightful surprise that works, and is perfect for those who enjoy local co-op with friends.
The Bad
For what it's worth, Space Cycler is a hidden gem on the App Store with a lot of good things going for it. However, again, I would like to see options for control sensitivity, as it would help with better reactions to enemy behaviors and attacks. Hopefully the developers can consider this in the future.
The verdict
Space Cycler is not a new game, but it was recently released and a nice surprise for me on the App Store. I love distinctive graphics that separate games from the rest of the pack, and Space Cycler has that. The music and sound are fun too, and the intuitive controls work well for one-handed play. The stages are challenging, and I can definitely see myself playing this for a while, especially with the co-op.
Space Cycler is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.
9.2
OVERALL
Sound/Music 10
Replayability 9
Graphics 9.5
Gameplay 9
Game Controls 8.5
Space Cycler
Sung Liwen
Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews
credit : midatlanticconsulting
See Things in a New Perspective and Get Creative with .projekt
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
.projekt ($1.99) by Kyrylo Kuzyk is a minimalistic puzzle game that makes you see things from a different perspective. If you liked titles like Monument Valley (and the sequel) and FEZ: Pocket Edition, then you will enjoy what .projket brings to the App Store.
Most of my gaming time has been with Monster Hunter: World in the past two months, but every now and then I need a break. That's when I look for delightful games on iOS to keep me occupied when I'm not monster hunting. And for relaxation, I find nothing better to calm my nerves than puzzle games. So when I saw .projekt in the recent releases this week, I knew I had to give it a spin for myself. As a fan of the rising trend of perspective shifting optical illusion games, .projekt does not disappoint.
Monument Valley
ustwo Games Ltd
Monument Valley 2
ustwo Games Ltd
FEZ Pocket Edition
Corporation Polytron Inc.
Evo Explores - Perspective Puzzle
Kyrylo Kuzyk
Shadowmatic
TRIADA Studio LLC
From a visual perspective, .projekt is simple, clean, and oozing with minimalism. Everything is in shades of black, white, and gray, and it's rendered in 3D with grids and cubes. It's sharp, crisp, and appealing to the eyes. Plus, the hues of white, black, and gray seamlessly blend into each other in gorgeous gradients, giving everything a silky smooth appearance. Animations are fluid with no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The ambient soundtrack is rather atmospheric and soothing, helping players focus and immerse themselves in the puzzles themselves. The developer is familiar with optical illusion games (Evo Explores, their other release, is clearly inspired by Monument Valley), and it's been taken and applied here for a different kind of perspective shift puzzle experience.
Like many puzzle games, .projekt is level-based. At the moment, there are 60 stages total in .projekt, but the developer already has plans for more in the future. While the game takes a more relaxed approach to solving the puzzles, since there are no points or stars to earn, you'll still have to complete each level before moving on to the next. And there are no hints or in-app purchases, so you'll need to solve them on your own. Fortunately, though, the puzzles themselves aren't too hard, and provide more of an unwinding experience than anything else.
The goal in .projekt is to place cubes on the center grid to create and match the silhouettes that appear on the two walls adjacent to the grid. It's pretty simple and straightforward, but the game has a tutorial in the beginning to show you the ropes. To place a cube on the grid, just tap on the space you want it to go. It'll materialize right on the grid, and then you'll see the silhouettes forming on the wall. You can also put cubes on top of cubes, or even on one of the sides. To get a better perspective, drag your finger on the screen to rotate the camera. When you need to get rid of a cube, just long-press on it and it vanishes.
Again, since the game is more about tranquility above all else, the puzzles are not difficult to solve. In fact, if you get stumped, it usually just takes a few attempts and some trial-and-error to figure things out. The thing with no points to worry about or stars to earn mean you can solve these puzzles at your own pace, which is always nice.
Once a puzzle's solved, the cubes you've placed, which are originally in grayscale with black outlines, become solid dark gray. There's also an animation that shows the cubes matching up with the silhouettes and kind of melting together to form one solid piece, which is fun to watch.
Then you're whisked away to the next stage and a new set of silhouettes to match. As you get further along, the puzzles get more interesting, forcing you to think outside the box. You'll need to use all of the basic controls to get the silhouettes to match up, such as what appears to be cubes floating with nothing underneath them for support. How do you make this happen? Hint: long-press to delete.
.projekt is a fantastic meditative puzzle experience that's reminiscent of Shadowmatic and allows you to unwind and think creatively.
The Good
For a meditative puzzle experience, .projekt is fantastic. The visuals are minimal yet appealing, and the music is soothing. The controls in .projekt are intuitive and easy for anyone to pick up. Puzzles are not too difficult, but this means it's just a great game to relax and unwind to. You can play it at your own pace, and there's no in-app purchases.
The Bad
For what it's worth, .projekt is great. But it's not the game you want if you're looking for challenging puzzles that truly make you think. This one is more about seeing things in a different perspective, and thinking creatively to solve them. Also, since the game isn't meant to be difficult, it's easy to get through all of the current stages, so hopefully new content comes sooner rather than later.
The verdict
I play puzzle games to unwind, relax, and just take a breather from life. With .projekt, I get just that. I'm also a fan of minimalism, so the graphics are lovely to me and the music delightful. The intuitive controls make the game easy for anyone to play and enjoy. And when I want to unwind with a puzzle, I don't like to be pressured or rushed, so the whole play at your own pace thing works well for me. This is definitely a game I'll be going through until I clear all of the stages, and then I'll eagerly await more content.
You can find .projekt on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $1.99.
9.0
OVERALL
Sound/Music 10
Game Controls 9
Graphics 9
Gameplay 9
Replayability 8
.projekt
Kyrylo Kuzyk
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Become a Master Ovenist and Roll in the Dough in Good Pizza, Great Pizza
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Good Pizza, Great Pizza (Free) by TAPBLAZE is a pizzeria business simulation game. If you enjoy games like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp or Diner Dash, but have a fine appreciation for the art of pizza making, then Good Pizza, Great Pizza (GPGP) would be a perfect match.
I've only had a short stint in fast food over a decade ago, but I never made a pizza in my life. However, as I was going through college, I had grown to be grateful for pizza. It was always the easy meal or snack when I was busy crunching a bunch of information into my head the night before an exam, or when I needed energy to stay up all night writing a paper. It was cheap, fast, and almost always available (get that order in before they close). Pizza was also very common around the newsroom when I was working at the school paper. But still, being a pizza connoisseur is not the same as being able to make your own pie, but I was still intrigued by GPGP. I had to give it a try, especially after reading the developer's story on the App Store. I'm definitely not disappointed, and quite surprised at how delightful this game is.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Diner Dash
Glu Games Inc
Visually, GPGP is fairly impressive, as it carries a cartoonish aesthetic that is reminiscent of series like Adventure Time and the like. The game is rendered in 2D, but you can customize how your dining area looks, so it's like pseudo 3D with that. Each character that you come across with in your pizzeria has a unique appearance, and they actually have some rather funny, humorous stories behind them when they order. The pizza-making process in GPGP is pretty accurate and realistic, since the designer based it off his years of experience working at Costco's pizza kitchen. Animations are smooth and fluid, with no issues of lag or choppy frame rates on my iPhone 8 Plus. The soundtrack is upbeat and quirky, and the customers also have distinctive voices and sounds. The Pizza News Network (PNN) broadcasts that occur after each business day are pretty entertaining as well.
Like all simulation games, you'll be starting your business from scratch, from the ground up while also facing some stiff competition from across the street. Your rival will pop in every day to scope out your pie-making skills and throw some insults and taunts at you, though he pretty much shows you the basics in the beginning.
All-in-all, GPGP is pretty straightforward. Your shop is open from 12-9 pm, and customers come in one-by-one and order. Their dialogue tells you their order, along with a humorous quip every now and then. If you get confused on more complex orders, just tap on the receipt to see what they wanted again. You can do this as much as you need to in order to make sure the pizza is right. Sometimes, though, you'll have to think about what the customer is ordering and translate it, because sometimes they're rather...odd.
The pizza assembly line is easy to follow, even if you've never made a pie in your life. On the left is your pre-made dough — no spinning required. Just tap on one to put it on a pizza board. In the assembly line, you'll start out with tomato sauce and cheese. Just tap on the one you want and then use your finger to get the desired amount onto the pizza dough. As you make cash, you'll be able to purchase more toppings, and then they'll appear in the assembly line. Select the toppings you need and put them on the pizza one-by-one with your finger.
Once you're done with toppings, throw the pie onto the conveyor belt and it goes through the oven. Sometimes you'll need a pizza to go through the oven twice to get it extra crispy or well done, but don't do this unless a customer asks for it. After oven, put the pizza on the cutting board and slice it up! The default should always be six slices, but customers can request no cuts or a specific number, so watch out for that.
At the end of the day, you'll see how much you've received in total tips, along with all of the expenses you needed to take out to run a business. Your net profit appears at the bottom. You can use this opportunity to watch some ads to make at least $10 more in tips, which is optional. This is also the time to make upgrades to your shop, ranging from decorations to toppings to repairs.
There are several categories for decorations, and they change how the backdrop in your pizzeria looks. Adding toppings is essential to satisfy more customer needs, and there are some special days in town that focus on one ingredient or you need to make a lot of half-half pizzas, so keep an eye out on what toppings you need to add. Upgrades affect various things in your pizzeria, such as customer spawn rate, longer hours, and more. Repairs are also important to get, as your equipment wears down over time and needs maintenance to keep it running smoothly.
GPGP holds your hand in the beginning, but it gradually removes the training wheels and becomes a rather challenging game. The topping and slicing guides end up becoming expensive upgrades if you really want to keep them around, but with that cash, you'll want to focus on other things to improve business. The game has a story to help you keep track of your progress, but only time will tell if you end up becoming enough of a master ovenist to beat your rival, Alicante.
The game is free, so you can play to your heart's content. The ads are optional if you want to get more cash tips, or if you want to use the Oil Booster on the oven, which improves the baking speed. The ads are not intrusive since they occur after the in-game day. If you're short on cash (it can be hard as a new pizzeria), you can buy more funds through in-app purchases. But again, it's not necessary.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a simulation game that has you appreciate the art of fine pizza making.
GPGP is a cute and charming little simulation game that's challenging and humorous. The art style is simple but still unique, and the character quips, dialogue, and appearances reveal a lot about a person. The assembly line is intuitive and accurate, from my understanding, and not too hard to get used to. Plus, the pizzas have a nice texture to show the cheese and other toppings, so it's full of fine details.
Eventually, as you make more and more pies, it becomes second nature. There are also a lot of upgrades to your shop that you can make, but of course, they must be earned. The optional video ads are a unique approach, and makes sense.
For a game about pizza, I was hoping that I'd be able to spin the dough. I'm just a tad disappointed to see that the dough is already made, ready to be turned into a pizza. Maybe the developer can add this in the future, as a mini-game or something.
And some of the customers are a bit annoying, in my opinion. They ask for very specific pizzas, and you work with what you have and they still get angry. Or their order description is too vague. I understand that this is probably supposed to resemble the designer's real-life pizzeria experience, but it just shows that there's no satisfying some people. I feel like I need a translation for some of the orders, but hey, I'll work with what I have.
The verdict
I don't wish I worked in fast food or pizzerias, but Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a fun simulation of it. The art style is eccentric and full of personality, the game is rather humorous, and at the end of the day, it's pretty challenging. The assembly line controls are intuitive and easy for anyone to pick up, and once you get the hang of things, it just starts to feel natural. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go eat pizza...I've got a sudden craving for it.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free. There are in-app purchases.
9.1
OVERALL
Replayability 9
Game Controls 9.5
Graphics 9
Sound/Music 9
Gameplay 9.1
Good Pizza, Great Pizza
TAPBLAZE
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credit : appadvice
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