Enjoy an Ethereal Puzzle Experience in ERMO
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
ERMO ($1.99) by Giuseppe La Torre is a relaxing puzzle game that will charm you with its simplicity. If you enjoyed recent releases like Campfire Cooking and FROST, then you'll love what ERMO brings to the table.
Let's face it — life gets hectic for all of us, and sometimes we just need a breather. Personally, for me, I like to do that by playing puzzle games. That's because I like to relax but keep my mind stimulated, and puzzles do just that. Though I feel like I've gone through every puzzle game there is on the App Store, I always keep my eye out for new releases. When I saw ERMO on the App Store, I knew that it was another game I had to have in my collection.
Campfire Cooking
Layton Hawkes
FROST
kunabi brother GmbH
Visually, ERMO is gorgeous with a simple and clean aesthetic. The game is rendered in 2D with soothing, atmospheric landscapes in the background. If you're a fan of minimalistic design, then ERMO is jam-packed with it. The color palette in ERMO ranges from soft pastels to bold and vibrant tones and even dark shades, depending on the theme you choose to use. Animations are subtle but smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. There's an ambient soundtrack in the background that eases your mind and helps you focus on the puzzles in front of you. Sound effects are whimsical as well, adding to the overall delightful tone of the game.
Like other puzzle games, ERMO has a nice variety of modes and levels. There's a total of four modes available, though three of them must be unlocked first. While some modes include randomly generated stages, the game itself has about 60 unique levels, but hundreds of puzzles are possible.
So far, I have three of the four game modes available to play. They go as follows: Itinerary, Procedural, and Challenge. The final mode must be unlocked by solving level 10 in Itinerary (the main mode). The goal in ERMO is pretty simple: rearrange the blocks so that you have columns of the same color, and match them to the order that is displayed at the top. You only have a certain number of moves to get the right order too, so some thinking is involved.
But how do you move the block to begin with? Each column and row has directional arrows at the end. These arrows let you move the row or column in that direction, which is left and right for rows, up and down for columns, respectively. When you tap on an arrow, the entire line shifts in that direction. Blocks at the end move to the other end since it's all linear.
ERMO starts out pretty easy, but soon you'll find obstacles that halt block lines and other dangers. Once you begin encountering these, the difficulty of the game picks up, but it's still tranquil enough to help you relax. Each stage also consists of several parts, so you have to solve each puzzle to clear the level.
In addition to the different game modes, ERMO has objectives to complete as well. These can range from "collect 100 blocks" to "reach level 10 in Itinerary." They add variety to the game and give players something to strive for while playing. There are also Game Center leaderboards and achievements.
Shift the board to make like colored lines in this puzzle game.
The Good
ERMO is a zen-like puzzle experience that is also challenging. The game's beautiful design is minimalistic yet charming at the same time, and the sounds are done well. There's a lot of variety with the game modes and puzzles, and it's hard to put down once you start to figure it out. The missions are a nice addition, as it helps keep the game interesting over time.
The Bad
For what it's worth, ERMO has a lot going for it, but it's not perfect. I'm not a fan of the fact that the game disables your background audio for it's own in-game music and sounds, so hopefully this can be fixed in a future update. Otherwise, it's a great puzzle game for everyone.
The verdict
As a big puzzle game fan, I love ERMO. The ambience that the themes create is incredibly peaceful, alluring, and soothing to listen to. The gameplay itself is simple but tricky as you get further along, so it's welcome for anyone looking for a challenge. I like the fact that there are so many game modes, as it keeps the entire game fresh and interesting, especially the procedurally generated ones. The goals on top of that just give you more reason to keep coming back, which is always nice. I just wish that the game did not take over my device's audio, because that's a bit obnoxious for those who prefer listening to their own tunes.
I recommend giving ERMO a try if you enjoy puzzle games that make you think. You can find ERMO on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99.
8.9
OVERALL
Replayability 9
Game Controls 9
Graphics 9
Gameplay 9
Sound/Music 8.5
ERMO
Giuseppe La Torre
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Out of Milk: An Excellent Shopping List App With One Tiny Flaw
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
When you're keeping track of a busy life and household, you need help with the shopping. Those trips to the supermarket, department store, and electronics outlet can get expensive if you don't make shopping lists. With Out of Milk, you can kiss most of that worry good bye.
Remember The Milk
Remember The Milk Pty Ltd
AnyList
Purple Cover, Inc.
Todoist: Organize your life
Ist Productivity Ltd.
When you use Out of Milk, you're working with an app that's designed with shoppers in mind. It's simple, fast, and easy to use, allowing you to enter new items with just a few taps and some typing.
Out of Milk supports three types of lists: shopping, pantry, and to-do. Within the shopping list, you're able to jot down things you need to buy, categorizing them and marking how many you need. The pantry helps you keep track of those commonly-used food items (or whatever) that you have on hand. In the To-Do list, you can keep track of those tasks you need to complete and when they're due.
The real power of the app for shopping comes after you've entered something into your list. If you tap on that item, you'll be able to set things like how many of it you want to buy and the price. You can even put in coupons you might have for that item, and whether it's going to be taxed.
You can also categorize your items, specifying things like where you might find them or what they're for. Out of Milk is able to handle as many lists as you want to create, so you can use it for your weekly trip to the grocery store as well as your Christmas shopping, all without any mixups or confusion.
In the pantry view, you can create a list for yourself of what you have in your pantry, and how much. You're able to enter how many eggs you have, for example, or whether your butter dish is full or low.
A shopping budget and list in one app
The Good
One of the nicest things about Out of Milk is its focus on making generating your shopping list quick and easy. Rather than typing everything in that you need to shop for, this app supports scanning UPC barcodes.
That means all you have to do is go through your kitchen, scanning the barcodes for things you want to buy. Of course, if you don't have a barcode handy (or if it isn't recognized), you can still enter your items in by hand.
Out of Milk even maintains a history of things you've had on your shopping lists in the past. So, you can always just search for your things there. There are multiple ways you can add items to your shopping list, and all of them are easy to do.
With Out of Milk, you can also create multiple lists, or a suite of categories to organize your lists. In fact, if you're typing in something that another Out of Milk user has categorized in the past, it will automatically be put in that category. The app is easy to use, intuitive, but it has a simplicity that belies how robust it truly is.
At the store, either virtually or in person, you can start ticking items off your list. Out of Milk even keeps track of how much you're spending. After you add things to your list, tapping on them allows you to tell the app how much each items costs, how much you need to buy, and even whether sales tax applies to that item.
Once that's done, you'll see a "List Total" at the bottom of the screen. It tells you what the total cost should be for all of the items on that list, along with how many things you're looking to buy.
As you tick the things off your list, Out of Milk moves them from your active list to a completed section (called the cart on the Out of Milk website). When you start checking off items, you'll see another section of the bottom of the app's screen start to update — the Cart Total and the Items in Cart.
This section helps you keep track of how much you're spending in the store or in that online purchase. You won't have any sticker shock when you get to the checkout counter or page, because you'll already know the total.
The Bad
The only negative I can find in Out of Milk lies in the Pantry tab. This tab is meant to help you keep track of what you have on hand at any given time.
You can add things to your Pantry, filling in information like the price, how much you have, and the category. Popularly-added items will show up in the bar as you type, so you can often bypass filling in the whole name of the item. Most of these predefined items will also be categorized, making your pantry list quite neat and organized.
So, what's the problem, you ask? Well, while you can quite easily find things and add them to your pantry, keeping tabs on what you might be low on, the way you quickly put those items into a shopping list is counter-intuitive.
To add items to a shopping list, you check them off. That runs contrary to just about everything most people understand about shopping lists, since checking something off usually means you're done with it.
You have to really think about what the Pantry list means. This is a list of things you do have. If you are out of it, you mark it as gone — then you'll have the option to add that item to a shopping list. It requires a bit more thought (or, in my case, experimentation) than is usual, and there's no introductory tutorial when you open the app for the first time to help you understand that.
The verdict
Once you get the hang of using Out of Milk, it's one of the better to-do and shopping list apps available. It has plenty of features, keeps track of prices for you, and allows you to enter items by scanning their barcodes. That makes it one of the easiest shopping list apps to use, and being able to create a pantry list of commonly-used things in your kitchen, then transfer those to a shopping list, shows that the developers of Out of Milk really want to up the ante for their competitors.
8.9
OVERALL
Lasting appeal 10
iPhone Integration 10
Does it well 10
Is engaging 8
User Interface 6.5
Out of Milk - Shopping List
Bonial International GmbH
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Nory's Escape is a Bewitchingly Good Time
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Nory's Escape ($0.99) by Christoph Schnackenberg is an auto-runner game that is perfect for Halloween, or any time of the year really. If you enjoyed games like Dragon Hills 2 or even Canabalt, then you'll like Nory's Escape.
Halloween is definitely one of my favorite times of the year, followed by Christmas ("The Nightmare Before Christmas" is one of my favorite movies). Just something about all of the spooky and eerie stuff gets me excited and happy. Personally, I think this stuff is fitting for the entire year, but I digress. So when I see hauntingly-themed games on the App Store, I can't help but be drawn to them. And today, Nory's Escape is a new favorite to pass the time with.
Dragon Hills 2
Cezary Rajkowski
Canabalt
Last Chance Media, LLC
Visually, Nory's Escape is beautiful with a 2.5D aesthetic that makes things pop. Everything is hand-drawn and it definitely shows. It's a pseudo-3D effect because while the graphics appear rendered in 3D, the game takes place on what appears to be a 2D plane, with blurry backgrounds and sharp foregrounds. The environments in Nory's Escape are gorgeous with the various Halloween-related decor like jack-o-lanterns, spooky vines, giant mushrooms, and more.
The colors in Nory's Escape are bright and vibrant, so it definitely looks eye catching with the contrast. Animations are buttery smooth on my iPhone 8 Plus with no lag or choppiness in frame rate. Plus, the particle effects when you draw your paths are well done. There's a quirky and eerie soundtrack that's perfectly fitting considering the theme, and the sound effects are nicely done.
Even though Nory's Escape is an auto-runner game, it's not infinite as you'd normally expect. Instead, the game is split up into levels, and there are 18 levels to get through. While this does not seem like a lot, the game is fairly difficult, and new game elements get added gradually as you go, so multiple attempts are required on some stages. Don't be fooled — this auto-runner requires fast thinking and reflexes to survive.
So what is Nory's Escape, exactly? Players take the role of Nory, who is our spectacularly average hero — after all, he's just a kid! But a scary witch is chasing after him, and you must help him escape her evil wrath! In order to do this, you'll have to draw magical paths that Nory can run on in his attempt to outrun the witch.
Controls in Nory's Escape are simple and intuitive. To draw a path for Nory, just swipe your finger on the screen where you want the path to be (this is a great use for Apple Pencil). Since Nory automatically runs forward on his own, you don't have to worry about that, just where he's going to end up. The game is clearly designed for touch screens, and it works well. However, each line you draw will only last for a brief amount of time, and once you draw another path, the previous one disappears. Timing is key with the paths, as you'll want to make sure Nory has a seamless path to escape the witch.
Along the way, there are shiny green gems to collect. You'll want to try collecting all of them on each stage if you want to get the three stars. If you don't get them all, you'll only earn a fraction of the maximum stars. So acquiring all stars is a must if you're the perfectionist type. There's also three bonus stages that can be unlocked, given you have good enough skill level to gain access to them.
While the game starts out easy enough, the witch gets trickier as you end up in later levels. In the beginning she will only be chasing after you, but eventually she'll start attacking, such as throwing magical spell balls at you and other tricks. This means you'll need to get Nory away safely while also making sure that he doesn't just run into a projectile launched by the witch.
Nory's Escape is a delightfully charming auto-runner that is perfect for any time of the year.
The Good
Nory's Escape is a nice gem that's fit for the season. I am in love with the cute Halloween-themed hand-drawn art and the music is delightful. The unique gameplay mechanic keeps the auto-runner genre fresh and interesting. And while it seems easy at first, the game proves to be rather difficult and challenging, with even more content to unlock if you're good enough.
The Bad
While Nory's Escape is a good time waster, at the end of the day, it's still just another auto-runner. If you aren't a big fan of auto-runners in general, then this game may not change your mind. Still, if you can get over that fact, then Nory's Escape is a nice gem on the App Store.
The verdict
Nory's Escape is an endearing little game that is sure to delight players of all ages. The developer did a fantastic job with the hand-crafted visuals and amazing quirky music. While I'm mostly over the auto-runner genre, I think Nory's Escape does things differently enough to make the genre captivating, and the levels are fairly intense and challenging. I've only made it to level four so far, and I keep dying in the same spot, so it does require a bit of patience and practice to master. And while it has a bit of the Halloween stuff going on, Nory's Escape can be thoroughly enjoyed any time of the year.
I recommend Nory's Escape if you're looking for an exciting and stimulating auto-runner that tests your skills. You can find Nory's Escape on the App Store for just $0.99. There are no in-app purchases.
8.9
OVERALL
Replayability 9
Game Controls 9
Graphics 9
Gameplay 9
Sound/Music 8.5
Nory`s Escape
TEAM Nory, Hampel und Schnackenberg GbR
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Solve A Robot Disappearance In Subsurface Circular
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
In the futuristic world of Subsurface Circular, robots known as “Teks”, have started to go missing, and it’s up to you to get to the bottom of their disappearances. The game lets you play as a detective Tek riding the Subsurface Circular. Your goal is to question fellow passengers to try to garner any clues regarding the disappearances. The twist is that you’re not investigating under an official capacity, and that may hurt you down the line.
Sorcery!
inkle Ltd
Lifeline...
3 Minute Games, LLC
Thomas Was Alone
Bossa Studios Ltd
Subsurface Circular comes from the makers of Thomas Was Alone, and share similar fleshed out characters. Thomas Was Alone crafts distinct personalities into 2D shapes, and Subsurface Circular takes it up a notch with even more well rounded characters even if they’re just various robots. The entirety of the text is presented as conversations from the different Q & As you pursue. It all comes down to unlocking “focus points”, which are used to ask different questions. For example, you can get a focus point of “disappearances”, and then ask that to different Teks to try to glimmer more about that point. Even though the game is text based, there is an ornate 3D subway that acts as the backdrop to the text.
Solve the case of disappearing robots in this intriguing text based adventure.
The Good
Subsurface Circular really shines by merging the text with the cinematic backdrop bringing the story to life. Each robot has a flat metal face, and yet there is a great deal of personality delivered with all of the communication. The Teks have different jobs, work environments, and more that not only define the character, but also flesh out the futuristic world. There are so many subtle details presented in the course of the conversation which continues to build the thoroughly compelling storyline. The text is also presented in short chunks, so you don’t get lost in a page of text, and it makes it quite easy to keep reading. The best part is that you aren’t simply reading a conversation, and are instead solving puzzles in asking the right questions and connecting answers between different Teks.
The Bad
There is so much to enjoy in Subsurface Circular, and it’s one of the games that you will want to stick with through to its completion. The game is a bit slow moving while figuring out the right question balance for a given set of Teks, and there can be some repetition as you try to solve the given dialogue puzzles. It’s all part of the experience in performing an interrogation through a series of seemingly friendly conversations. Each chapter introduces a different cast of characters as well as storyline subject matter. The investigation becomes much larger in scope than a few missing Teks, and the secrets are given at a good pace to keep you moving on through the slow portions of puzzle solving.
The verdict
Subsurface Circular delivers an engaging storyline presented in an ornate package that is a must have iOS experience.
8.5
OVERALL
Graphics 9.5
Gameplay 9
Replayability 8
Game Controls 8
Sound/Music 8
Subsurface Circular
Bithell Games
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New Adventures Await You in Final Fantasy Dimensions II
November 20, 2020 by RSS Feed
Final Fantasy Dimensions II ($14.99) by Square Enix is a brand new chapter in the Final Fantasy universe. If you're a fan of the franchise or just seeking a great adventure, then FFDII is a worthy addition.
While the Final Fantasy franchise has been around for a long time (30 years this December), I joined the party a bit late. I didn't get really into the series until I was in high school, when I got more invested into video games in general. My first Final Fantasy game was the Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls bundle on the Game Boy Advance, and from that moment forward, I knew I fell in love. Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) became a big part of my life since then, as I was intrigued by plenty of new titles and poured dozens to hundreds of hours into them when I could.
While many of the older Final Fantasy games have been ported to iOS in the past few years, I didn't feel the need to get them since I had most of them on other consoles. But I was excited for FFDII, as it's a game that hasn't been released before. I had to get my hands on it.
FINAL FANTASY II
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
FINAL FANTASY VII
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
FINAL FANTASY V
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
FINAL FANTASY Ⅸ
SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.
Visually, FFDII is gorgeous and a faithful rendition of what you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game on iOS. Those who have played older titles will feel right at home with the 16-bit pixelated character sprites and lush environments. Character portraits for dialogue boxes is beautifully drawn, and the blue text boxes are familiar. The colors in FFDII are a nice range of bold and vibrant hues to dark and muted tones. Animations are smooth and fluid on my iPhone 8 Plus, with no lag or choppiness whatsoever. The game also has the typical Final Fantasy music and retro sound effects, so old-school gamers get a sense of nostalgia when playing this.
Unlike traditional Final Fantasy games with an over-world map, you're not able to freely walk around and explore in FFDII. I was disappointed when I discovered this, but I suppose that's to be expected from a Final Fantasy game designed for mobile devices. Instead, players get a world map with points of interest marked as destinations, and multiple stages in each. These levels consist of waves of enemies, where players engage in turn-based battles with them. You'll earn rewards and experience points for your party members for successfully completing these stages. And with no towns and inns to rest in, all party members' HP and MP are restored after every level.
The combat system is turn-based like the old-school Final Fantasy games. On the left side of the screen is a gauge that shows you the turn order between your party members and enemies. On the right, you'll see the menu of actions that your currently selected party member can do. This consists of the basic "Attack" with their equipped weapon, "Ability," and "Summon."
The abilities that each party member has varies, and they can learn new ones as they level up with their Signet Stones. These stones are earned by defeating Eidolons, who are bosses that you must face off against in trials that test whether you're worthy. Using abilities costs MP to use, with more potent skills costing more. However, they can do much more damage than a regular physical attack, so make sure to take advantage of them when you can, especially since your HP and MP get refilled after battle.
Summon allows party members to summon powerful creatures onto the battlefield to help you out. But like previous Final Fantasy titles, you must find and earn these summons by defeating the creatures in battle first. They'll be tough foes to face, but owning their power to use at your command is well worth it.
The cast of characters in FFDII are completely new and span across different races and eras. Eventually, you'll find items to equip, and can spend the gil you earn to buy more gear for battle. The storyline is your standard Final Fantasy fare, where a great disaster is caused by human error and destroys everything as we know it. Then it's up to you, as a young boy who seeks adventure, to save the world by traveling back and forth between the past, present, future, and even beyond.
The latest Final Fantasy addition to the App Store.
The Good
FFDII is a nice, streamlined Final Fantasy adventure for mobile devices. The art style is true to the older games with the pixel art sprites and settings. The music and sound is a fantastic throwback to the classic games too, and gave me a bit of nostalgia when I hear it. The turn-based combat is simple and intuitive, so even Final Fantasy newbies won't have issues with it, especially with the tutorial in the beginning. The game has plenty of content to go through, so this is one that will take up some time.
The Bad
Even though it can be quite a lengthy adventure, this is still a watered-down version of Final Fantasy. There are no towns to check out, you can't interact with other NPCs, and you can't explore the world freely. If you're used to this from older Final Fantasy games and come in expecting this, you'll be disappointed.
I also think that the price for FFDII is a bit high, considering it doesn't play like a true Final Fantasy game. For almost the same price (give or take a few bucks), you can get other classic Final Fantasy titles like FFV, FFVII, FFIX, and more. Personally, for this kind of money, the real games are a better pick.
The verdict
Overall, I'm liking Final Fantasy Dimensions II, but not sure if it's worth the high price tag compared to other Final Fantasy games on iOS. The art style is lovely, the music and sound brings back memories, and the turn-based battle system is easy to follow. I'm a bit annoyed that it takes away the free-roaming exploration aspect of the long-established franchise, as that was one of my favorite elements. The game itself is good, but I'm not sure if it's worth $15. Perhaps if this was a bit lower, considering that it's a watered-down Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy Dimensions II is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $14.99. There are no in-app purchases.
8.6
OVERALL
Game Controls 9
Graphics 9
Replayability 8.5
Sound/Music 8.5
Gameplay 8
FINAL FANTASY DIMENSIONS II
SQUARE ENIX
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