"If there is an app for that"

Resident Evil Village review

November 10, 2023 by RSS Feed

I posted some first impressions of how Resident Evil Village plays on iOS a few days ago, and I stand by most of what I wrote there if you are curious about how it plays and the effort that went into the port. The only thing I now disagree with is how I close the piece supposing that I won't have much to say about the game once I finish it. Now that I have completed Resident Evil Village, I definitely have thoughts, and the prevailing one is this: It's a fine enough AAA game, but--with the distance I have put between myself and that kind of game over the past 15 years or so--returning to it feels surprisingly (and disappointingly) familiar.

What year is it?

The source of my disappointment doesn't come from Resident Evil Village being a poorly made or even bad game. In fact, it's pretty fun. You get dropped into a world of creepy goings-on and try to figure out how to survive against all kinds of otherworldly horrors and solve mysterious puzzles while piecing together why this is happening to you and your family. The game does a pretty good job of creating spooky tension and making you feel somewhat vulnerable despite the fact that the game is ultimately still a power fantasy.

The disappointment comes more from the fact that if Resident Evil Village had actually originally released around 2007 and not 2021, I would have very little problem believing it. This game may be fun, but almost all of it comes from making a lot of very safe and risk-averse decisions that follow a blueprint that was fresh over a decade ago. Does it still work? Sure! I beat this iOS port and had fun doing it (with a controller only), but as someone who hasn't really put much time into AAA single-player experiences in about the same span of time, it's just shocking that so little has changed, at least when it comes to this game specifically.

Horror-flavored CoD

I do have some familiarity with previous Resident Evil titles, and in fairness to Village there are things in this game that are new for the series. As opposed to the watershed releases in the franchise like Resident Evil 4, Village plays in first-person and makes a bunch of other little changes to make combat feel more difficult, including a good amount of enemies that you simply have to run from. Eventually, though, you get so comically well armed that by the end of the game it just feels like you're playing a series of Call of Duty setpieces instead of a Resident Evil game.

Village is at its best around the middle section of the game, where you have somewhat of a free rein to wander between locations, scavenge for supplies and treasures, and solve puzzles. There is also a certain area where your ability to fight is completely stripped from you, and it is easily the most tense and satisfying section of the experience. The rest--again--is fine, but the game only truly feels like it's taking some creative chances and trying new things (that aren't just new for Resident Evil) in about 10% of the overall game.

Should you play it on mobile?

I don't know how enthusiastically I'd recommend Resident Evil Village on any platform, but seeing as how this is an iOS-focused site, I'll just say that the iOS port might as well be the other versions of that game but on limited hardware. It won't look as nice or run as well as it does elsewhere, but it is that game and I ran into no issues with crashing or device heating or anything else that can come when trying to bring something so technically complicated to mobile.

This is all somewhat moot to say, though, because anyone with a device that can run the game can try it out for free if they'd like. The free portion of Village is essentially the entire opening act of the game and provides a very good look at what the game has to offer so you can decide for yourself if you want to sign up for 10 or so hours of more of that without spending any money.

The bottom line

It is certainly impressive that Resident Evil Village exists on iOS, and it's perfectly enjoyable provided you have the right hardware for it (including a controller). That said, "enjoyable" is about as far as I'd go in describing my feelings for it. Village checks off all the boxes to make a compelling AAA single-player game, or at least the ones that passed muster over 10 years ago, and otherwise only has glimmers of inspiration.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/resident-evil-village-review/

Illuminaria review

November 02, 2023 by RSS Feed

Illuminaria is a real-time strategy game that explores the idea of being able to build multiple bases of operations that persist and interoperate throughout the course of a campaign. It's a really neat idea that I'm surprised I haven't come across earlier, and this novelty definitely goes a long way for it. That said, a lot of this game's challenges feel like they lack both variety and depth, which definitely take away from the experience.

Craft campaigns

In Illuminaria, you command an army of robotic drones as they carve out spaces within rock caves, harvest resources, and ultimately try to fight back against enemies of darkness to restore control and harmony to your lands. It's a pretty cliche setup but luckily there's no long exposition you have to sit through or anything. You can hop straight into the action and get to building up bases.

What all of this looks like is unfamiliar, but it feels a lot like a semi-automated version of fairly standard real-time strategy (RTS) game mechanics. Your drones work as resource gatherers and builders and you begin most matches by having them build segmented rooms within an empty space that--once fully closed off--can house resources of your choosing. As you build up resources, you'll also be able to create "research" that can advance a tech tree and unlock the ability to build weapons on special nodes within these cave structures that can either provide defenses from potential invaders or produce units for potential invading. Your goal in any given region is to build up your resources in order to launch an attack that takes over all the enemy bases.

Supply chain of command

What sets Illuminaria apart from being just another RTS is that each region requires you to conquer and build out multiple different caverns to reach the enemy bases, and the fact that all these cavern bases are interoperable, meaning your drones can teleport between bases you've previously built to retrieve, harvest, or build structures as you continue trying to advance and complete other caverns. While this is mostly a boon to you as a player (as it allows for a lot more resource gathering and crafting potential to eventually create your fighting force) it also means needing to build defenses for multiple bases that you need to hop between as needed to fend off threats.

Another interesting wrinkle to Illuminaria is that some of the most important resources to craft with can't be produced within your bases. At certain points, you will have to send drones out on expeditions to retrieve special loot, which suddenly transforms the game into a very slapshod dungeon crawler, where you can select nodes along a branching path to encounter treasure chests, traps, combat, and more, though all of it feels about as deep and varied as a mini-game.

Create, crush, repeat

There are quite a few things to research and build in Illuminaria, and there's some fun to be had in trying to optimize your various bases so that you can have a smooth operation of production, but beyond that the game feels pretty flat. Enemies attack in very predictable ways that are very easy to defend and there's no real incentive to try different strategies for attacking bases. This leaves a lot of the joy to be found in Illuminaria resting solely on the building aspects of the game and way less so on the combat.

Across the game's multiple regions, none of them really feel different. They have different aesthetics, but their sub-objectives are all some flavor of researching a particular craftable item, all of which are just slight variations on units or ammo types you've been able to develop from the beginning of the game. As you make your way through each one, some light story moments crop up upon completing expeditions for the first time, but they don't feel like they add much to the story and are (thankfully) pretty brief.

The bottom line

If the idea of tweaking multiple bases into optimized resource factories sounds fun, then Illuminaria might be right up your alley. This aspect of the game is really what sets it apart from other RTS games. The rest of the experience feels kind of samey and barebones, so don't look to pick this up if you want any kind of deep or compelling combat systems.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/illuminaria-review/

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/02/2023

November 02, 2023 by RSS Feed

Color Pro Picker , CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner , The Invoice Create and more

iPhone:

The Invoice Create ( $0.99 → Free ) Ilya Klimenko The Invoice Create is a convenient and quick way to create professional invoices. The app lets you do business on-the-go and invoice customers in seconds. You’re able to add details such as payment dates, discounts, signatures, payments, notes, and more. You can instantly view all outstanding payments on your Home Screen, making it easier stay on top of your financials.

Color Pro Picker ( $5.99 → Free ) Nicolas Cook Leon Color Pro Picker lets you alter or create colors from scratch using high-precision values. You’re able to use the eyedropper tool to grab a color from an image or photo from your Camera Roll. The app supports both digital and ink modes. It also lets you adjust the bit per channel using percentages, floating-point values, and 8,10, or 16 bits.

CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner ( $4.99 → Free ) Adsetus LLC CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner makes it easy to remove unnecessary photos, videos, and contacts. This will improve your battery life and keep your device from bogging down. The app includes extra features like smart cleaning, internet speed tests, and fun charging animations.

Routinery & Behavior Tracker ( $3.99 → Free ) Evrim Demir Routinery & Behavior Tracker is a habit tracking app that uses the “breaking the chain” method. Get to know Mandi, the motivational wizard within the app. He will help you set goals and stay on track until you achieve those goals. By implementing and taking a few small steps you’ll be well on your way to a new and improved you.

AI Generated Art ( $3.99 → Free ) Viet Ho Duc Use your imagination to come up with the words and let the app draw the painting. Don’t like what you see? No problem. Just generate again or come up with new words. You can keep your art within the app or save it to your camera roll.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/01/2023

November 01, 2023 by RSS Feed

Color Pro Picker , AI Generated Art , CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner and more

iPhone:

The Invoice Create ( $0.99 → Free ) Ilya Klimenko The Invoice Create is a convenient and quick way to create professional invoices. The app lets you do business on-the-go and invoice customers in seconds. You’re able to add details such as payment dates, discounts, signatures, payments, notes, and more. You can instantly view all outstanding payments on your Home Screen, making it easier stay on top of your financials.

Color Pro Picker ( $5.99 → Free ) Nicolas Cook Leon Color Pro Picker lets you alter or create colors from scratch using high-precision values. You’re able to use the eyedropper tool to grab a color from an image or photo from your Camera Roll. The app supports both digital and ink modes. It also lets you adjust the bit per channel using percentages, floating-point values, and 8,10, or 16 bits.

AI Generated Art ( $3.99 → Free ) Viet Ho Duc Use your imagination to come up with the words and let the app draw the painting. Don’t like what you see? No problem. Just generate again or come up with new words. You can keep your art within the app or save it to your camera roll.

CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner ( $4.99 → Free ) Adsetus LLC CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner makes it easy to remove unnecessary photos, videos, and contacts. This will improve your battery life and keep your device from bogging down. The app includes extra features like smart cleaning, internet speed tests, and fun charging animations.

Routinery & Behavior Tracker ( $3.99 → Free ) Evrim Demir Routinery & Behavior Tracker is a habit tracking app that uses the “breaking the chain” method. Get to know Mandi, the motivational wizard within the app. He will help you set goals and stay on track until you achieve those goals. By implementing and taking a few small steps you’ll be well on your way to a new and improved you.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 10/31/2023

October 31, 2023 by RSS Feed

Color Pro Picker , AI Generated Art , CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner and more

iPhone:

The Invoice Create ( $0.99 → Free ) Ilya Klimenko The Invoice Create is a convenient and quick way to create professional invoices. The app lets you do business on-the-go and invoice customers in seconds. You’re able to add details such as payment dates, discounts, signatures, payments, notes, and more. You can instantly view all outstanding payments on your Home Screen, making it easier stay on top of your financials.

Color Pro Picker ( $5.99 → Free ) Nicolas Cook Leon Color Pro Picker lets you alter or create colors from scratch using high-precision values. You’re able to use the eyedropper tool to grab a color from an image or photo from your Camera Roll. The app supports both digital and ink modes. It also lets you adjust the bit per channel using percentages, floating-point values, and 8,10, or 16 bits.

AI Generated Art ( $3.99 → Free ) Viet Ho Duc Use your imagination to come up with the words and let the app draw the painting. Don’t like what you see? No problem. Just generate again or come up with new words. You can keep your art within the app or save it to your camera roll.

CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner ( $4.99 → Free ) Adsetus LLC CleanApp Pro: Storage Cleaner makes it easy to remove unnecessary photos, videos, and contacts. This will improve your battery life and keep your device from bogging down. The app includes extra features like smart cleaning, internet speed tests, and fun charging animations.

Routinery & Behavior Tracker ( $3.99 → Free ) Evrim Demir Routinery & Behavior Tracker is a habit tracking app that uses the “breaking the chain” method. Get to know Mandi, the motivational wizard within the app. He will help you set goals and stay on track until you achieve those goals. By implementing and taking a few small steps you’ll be well on your way to a new and improved you.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free