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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Get Your Mobile Bullet Hell Shmup Fix with Danmaku Unlimited 3
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Danmaku Unlimited 3 ($4.99) by Sunny Tam in collaboration with Doragon Entertainment is the latest genuine Japanese bullet hell shoot-em-up (shmup) experience on the App Store. It’s the third major installment of the Danmaku Unlimited series of games, and one that is a must for newbies and veterans alike. If you enjoyed games like DEATHSMILES from CAVE, or even the previous Danmaku Unlimited games, then you will love Danmaku Unlimited 3.
Ever since I got into Japanese culture in high school, I found a love for their incredibly tough-as-nails bullet hell shmup games. I would play these types of games at the arcade, or even at friends’ houses if they had some titles. While bullet hell shmups aren’t for everyone, I fell in love with the challenge of dodging a hundred brightly colored neon bullets at once, and the explosions from blown up ships is just an amazing sight to see.
When Apple introduced the App Store in 2008 and the slew of games that came along with it, I had a feeling that the touch screen was perfect for bullet hell games. I picked up all of the previous Danmaku Unlimited titles, the offerings from CAVE before they shut down, and plenty of other, more Western style shooters. While it may seem like I have had my fill, I can’t help but keep an eye out for new releases. When I saw Danmaku Unlimited 3 was out on Steam a few months ago, I was eager for the mobile release. Now that it’s here, I can say that it was well worth the wait.
Danmaku Unlimited
Sunny Tam
Danmaku Unlimited 2 - Bullet Hell Shmup
Sunny Tam
DEATHSMILES
CAVE Co., Ltd.
Visually, DU3 is downright stunning. While it’s hard to appreciate the true beauty of the game as you’re dodging what seems to be a million bullets at once, believe me, this is superb eye candy. Everything is rendered in 2-D, but there is a bit of depth to the graphics due to the layering of the background, ships, and the bullets.
If you played the older Danmaku games, then you will see the improvement in visuals — everything is much more polished and detailed, including the modernized menus. It’s easy to tell apart your ship from the enemies, and the lasers and bullets are bright and colorful. Enemy bullets are easy to see thanks to the vibrant neon hues, so dodging and grazing should not be a problem. All animations in DU3 are smooth and fluid, with no issues of lag or choppiness on my iPhone 7. To top it all off, DU3 has a adrenaline-pumping soundtrack that will get you going, and it’s a perfect match for the chaos that will ensue.
There are two game modes in DU3: Spirit and Graze. Spirit is the classic Danmaku experience, which means balanced in terms of challenges for players of all skill levels and it’s recommended for beginners. Graze is the more difficult mode, aimed towards veteran bullet hell shmup players. While Spirit features Easy, Medium, Hard, and True difficulties, Graze only has Hard and True. Those of you seeking a real challenge will want to dive headfirst into Graze mode. If you’re completely new, a tutorial stage walks you through all of the basics.
Before players start a game, you’re asked to choose your ship customization. This means picking your primary and beam weapons. Both options have five options, with only the first two (A and B) available from the get-go, and the rest get unlocked by meeting specific requirements. There are 25 possible weapon combinations total, so there is plenty of reason to keep coming back to DU3. There’s also an option to toggle automatic or manual activation of Trance Mode. Once you’re satisfied with your settings, then it’s time to launch.
Controls in DU3 are simple enough, but I recommend viewing the tutorials to understand how to switch between your primary and beam weapons. To move your ship, all your need to do is move your finger on the screen. The ship moves around freely, so having all of that space for your finger means a lot of leeway when it comes to maneuvering and dodging bullets.
Shooting the primary weapon automatically happens without any input from the player. To switch to the beam, just swipe down, and repeat to go back to the primary. You can manually deploy and detonate bombs (stock’s shown on the right) by swiping up. If your ship’s core is about to get hit by enemy fire and you have bombs available, it will detonate automatically but use all of your bombs in the process. Once your ship’s core is hit, it’ll explode and you’ll pick up with a new ship. If you have no more, you can choose to continue, but your score is reset.
The key to DU3 is grazing bullets, which means flying close enough to enemy fire to just barely miss getting hit by them. Grazing bullets adds to your Graze Counter, and once that is full, your ship enters Graze-High mode. This means destroyed ships’ bullets become harmless spirits, and you can collect these to refill your Trance Gauge.
When the Trance bar is full, you go into Trance Mode (swipe up or it happens automatically depending on setting), which powers up all of your weapons to dish out more damage. Another bonus of Trance is the fact that destroyed foes’ bullets leave behind gems, which add to the Graze Counter and lead to high scores.
DU3 features five stages for both modes. While this does not sound like a lot, the game is fairly difficult with the enemies and boss attack patterns. Plus, with the two modes and multiple difficulty modes, there’s a lot of replay value here, so you do get your money’s worth. And if that isn’t enough, there are Bonus Modes for Spirit and Graze, so you can do Free Play or Boss Rush.
Danmaku Unlimited 3 is a superb bullet hell shmup experience on mobile and should be in everyone's game collection.
DU3 is a superb bullet hell shmup experience on mobile, and it feels natural on the platform. The graphics in this new installment are top-notch, so you can expect to get wowed by the stunning visuals on your device’s Retina screen. The soundtrack is excellent as well, so make sure you have good headphones. The controls are simple and intuitive, so anyone can pick this up and play immediately. It also packs in a lot of various levels of challenges for both newbies and seasoned gamers, and the replay level is high.
There’s definitely more good to DU3 than there is bad. However, I do notice that just like other bullet hell shmup games, my thumb still blocks part of the screen, so it may be hard to see at times. But I’ve come to expect this from the genre on mobile, so it just takes a bit of practice to perfect. Perhaps a larger screen works better for the game (I only have an iPhone 7).
The verdict
I’ve been a big bullet hell shmup fan, so DU3 is a welcome addition to my game collection. The visuals are gorgeous and polished, and the music is amazingly fun to listen to. As I’m familiar with the genre already, I just dove right in to the game without viewing the tutorial first, but I still recommend checking it for an explanation of all game mechanics. The customization of your ship, multiple modes and difficulty levels, and bonuses just give this game a ton of replay value. For the price, you totally get your money’s worth here.
I highly recommend Danmaku Unlimited 3 if you’re a fan of bullet hell shmups or just want a fast-paced shooter arcade game. Danmaku Unlimited 3 is on the App Store as a universal download for $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.
9.4
OVERALL
Replayability 10
Graphics 10
Gameplay 10
Sound/Music 9
Game Controls 8
Danmaku Unlimited 3
Sunny Tam
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Affinity Photo Brings Plenty of Photo Editing Power to your iPad
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Photography is big on the iPhone, simply because the built-in camera rivals much more expensive dedicated hardware. To really take your craft to the next level, you need a photo editing app that's powerful and full-featured. For years, that mean Photoshop on the desktop, but several developers have tackled the problem for iOS devices. Affinity Photo, an iPad-only app, brings a wealth of photo editing power to your iPad.
Enlight Photofox (Enlight 2)
Lightricks Ltd.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for iPad
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Affinity Photo for iPad has an intuitive interface, but it's quite complex. Some might say it's difficult to learn. However, the app does come with a wealth of tutorials and sample images to get you started.
Begin with the first tutorial, and work your way through them. You'll get a solid introduction to the interface and controls, as well as the techniques that will make your photos really stand out.
As you progress through the tutorials, feel free to break away and try out your techniques with your own images or the samples. I've found that's a solid way to really learn and embed the knowledge from the tutorials into your mind and muscle memory.
The first fully-featured photo editor for the iPad
One of the most useful tools in Affinity Photo is the dedicated inpainting brush. This allows you to quickly and easily remove objects from your photographs, such as pulling the sailboat out of an oceanscape to get just the beauty of the water.
The app also provides support for layers, layer masks, and every Photoshop feature I can think of. There may be some missing, such as support for plugins. However, the developers make up for that by incorporating features that you'd need a plugin to use in Photoshop.
The integration with Apple Pencil is top-notch. You can use the accessory to make any edits, selections, or refinements you might wish. It makes editing photos on your iPad like working with a Wacom tablet that has the image you're working with superimposed on the surface.
Once you get a workflow down in Affinity Photo, the app becomes even easier to use. It truly is the first fully-featured photo editor for the iPad. It has taken away my need to do any serious image editing tasks on the desktop.
When your project is finished, you can export it into just about any file format you might need. Affinity Photo even supports exporting to Photoshop PSD files and SVG documents.
There's precious little not to like about Affinity Photo. If anything, the menus might be a bit too busy. Finding the export button, for example, can be a tedious chore.
The app also sometimes shows some lag, especially when downloading sample images to work with. That's only an occasional problem, though. Overall, the app is quite snappy and brisk, with complex operations taking very little time to complete.
The verdict
This is one of the most useful and feature-packed photo editing apps I've come across. It offers a wealth of power and capabilities, and turns your iPad into an image-editing workstation. The tight integration with Apple Pencil makes an already excellent app even more of a pleasure to work with.
8.4
OVERALL
Lasting appeal 9
iPhone Integration 9
Is engaging 9
Does it well 9
User Interface 6
Affinity Photo
Serif Labs
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Embark on a Purr-fect Adventure in Cat Quest
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Cat Quest ($4.99) by The Genlebros is an action-packed, real-time dungeon crawling RPG adventure that’s full of dragons, danger, and cats. If you love Diablo-like games such as the Dungeon Hunter series, but want something a bit more lighthearted and full of furry felines, then Cat Quest is the game for you.
As I was going through high school and hung out with my group of friends, I discovered Japanese RPGs and more video game genres than my typical puzzle or platformer titles. Through these friends I found out about Diablo 2, and then my love for dungeon crawling RPGs grew. There was nothing quite as satisfying as slaying hordes of enemies with powerful attacks. After Diablo 2, I loved dungeon crawlers and tried out whatever I could that fell under the category. I’ve even picked up Diablo 3 and have poured hundreds of hours into it. While there are many clones of Diablo, none have really captured my heart like the original. That is, until Cat Quest came along.
I had managed to try out an early demo of Cat Quest during GDC this year, and I fell in love immediately. I mean, you’re combining three of my favorite things into one: RPGs, dungeon crawling, and cats. How can I say no to such an awesome mix? After seeing the demo in action, I could not wait for this game and was eager for it to hit the App Store. Now that it’s finally here, I must say that it does not disappoint.
Dungeon Hunter 5 - Multiplayer RPG on iOS
Gameloft
Visually, Cat Quest is beautiful. The game features 2.5-D rendered graphics, as it has a cartoon-like style but with an angled perspective that gives it plenty of depth. All of your traveling is done on the overworld map, which is gorgeous with lush grass, forests, villages, mountains, caves, and seas. It’s easy to interact with buildings and dungeons, and there’s even more sprawling areas to explore. Cat Quest has a rich color palette with bright and vibrant hues that shift to darker and more muted tones depending on the area. Character sprites are all unique and easily identifiable, from NPCs to enemies. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid, so I had no issues with lag on my iPhone 7. Cat Quest also has a mystical, adventurous soundtrack that fits your journey perfectly, and the sound effects are top notch. Needless to say, Cat Quest is worth getting just for the graphics and music alone.
Since Cat Quest is an adventure game at heart, players discover and unravel the story of a cat hero who carries the mark of the “Dragonblood” on his head. Once the premise of the plot is revealed, you’ll embark on a journey of getting strong enough to defeat the dragons. All of your traveling is done on the overworld, as well as combat. Villages and NPCs reveal themselves to you as the story unfolds. Everything is told through quests, whether they’re main quests relating to the story, or side quests that you can do for experience, loot, and rewards.
The biggest draw of Cat Quest is the fact that everything is done in real-time, so there’s no waiting around. As you move around on the overworld, you’ll see enemies scurrying about around you. You can engage in combat with them on the overworld, or just avoid them altogether if they’re too tough. The overworld also has a pointer that tells you where to go for your quests, and you can zoom out and view the overview map by tapping on the button in the bottom right corner. This is great when you’re lost and want to see exactly where you’re going. Everything is also available from the get-go, so you could go into a high level dungeon super early on, but this is not recommended.
Controls in Cat Quest are easy enough, but may take a bit of getting used to. To move, just tap where you want to go, and the cat goes there. Optionally, you could long press to continually move, but it can get uncomfortable after a while, or your fingers may be blocking the screen. To attack enemies, just tap on one to select them, and then your cat auto attacks with melee hits. If you long press on your cat with the white circle around him, you can select a magical spell or skill to use. Magic attacks cost mana, and you refill the mana by doing regular attacks — it’s an endless cycle.
There’s no way to dodge or block enemy attacks, so you just have to get out of the way. Fortunately, the game tells you the enemy’s attack area before the attack happens, so you have a bit of leeway with getting out in time. There’s going to be a bit of running back and forth during combat in Cat Quest — timing is key.
As enemies fall, they’ll drop gold and experience orbs. Collect these by running over them. You’ll also find random experience orbs and gold scattered on the overworld or in dungeons, so make sure to take advantage of the freebies.
When you find loot in chests or get rewarded with them, they go straight to your inventory. You can access your item stash at any time by tapping on the backpack button in the bottom left corner. You can tap on an item to select it and view the stats, as well as compare it to what you have on now. If you want to change gear, just tap on the green button to equip it. Your cat’s appearance changes depending on what gear he’s wearing, which is cool.
Your cat can also learn different magic spells from the mage. As you get to certain parts of the story and meet the level requirements, you can get new spells to add to your arsenal. Your spells can get upgraded to be more potent, as long as you have the gold to do so. There’s also a feline merchant, who has treasure chests you can purchase that contain random loot.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any health potions in the game, so if you’re low on health, you’ll have to retreat. However, the game does provide plenty of “cat nap” spots (look for pillows at villages) that you can use, which replenish your health, mana, and defenses for free. These are also where you go to save your game progress.
A cat themed action RPG with real time combat on a tapestry infused map.
The Good
Cat Quest is a stunning and addictive dungeon crawling RPG adventure. The game’s distinctive overworld and real-time battle system works out incredibly well, and there’s a lot of loot and magic to discover. The game also has a fantastic sense of humor as well, and there are more cat puns than you can shake a stick at. The graphics and music are amazing, and just add more depth to the journey.
If you are an adventure seeker and love a game that has a lengthy story and plenty of things to do, then Cat Quest fits the bill.
The Bad
While Cat Quest is great, I think the controls could be better. They work, but personally, I found it tiring to hold my finger down on the screen in weird positions to continuously move and not block most of my screen. I would have liked to see an alternative control scheme in the options, or even MFi controller support. Until that happens, this game just falls short of perfection, at least for me.
The verdict
I fell in love with Cat Quest when I first got to see a demo, and I still can’t get enough now that it’s officially out. I bought this title the moment I saw it on the App Store, and have not regretted my purchase. The visuals are superb and the music is fun. The controls work well, though could be better optimized, and the gameplay is addicting.
There’s a lot of loot to discover, and it’s just fun to take out foes and grind for better magical spells. The quest system works, allowing you to either go on with the main story or be a completionist with side missions. Regardless of how you approach it, Cat Quest is a fun adventure that will keep you coming back for more. Plus, who doesn’t love cats and puns?
I highly recommend Cat Quest if you’re a fan of dungeon crawling RPG adventures. You can find Cat Quest on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.
9.4
OVERALL
Graphics 10
Gameplay 10
Replayability 9.5
Sound/Music 9.5
Game Controls 8
Cat Quest
The Gentlebros.
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