Ember - Game of the Week @ TouchArcade

[HiddenX]

TouchArcade elected Ember as their game of the week:

[...]

One of the coolest aspects of Ember is its combat system, which is a hybrid real-time system that sees you hacking and slashing your heart out but does give you the ability to pause time during a battle and choose a certain spell or item from your inventory without fear of the enemy pummeling you to death while you're distracted. The combat is extremely enjoyable, and this style lends itself very well to a mobile game and especially to a touchscreen device.

Another interesting thing about Ember is that it's also available on the PC, but this isn't a port. In fact it was developed from the ground up for both platforms simultaneously. Seeing as the default control scheme on the PC is almost entirely mouse-based, this translates really well to the touchscreen. The one area I'd probably criticize is that on my current iPhone 6S the text and many of the UI elements are a bit small. Not unplayably so, but enough to be occasionally be annoying. This is likely not an issue on the iPad or even the larger Plus model iPhones.

[...]

More information.

 

[Darkheart]

I had to take a break from Enderal for a bit, so I started Ember. Quite a nice game, but it is not too deep and quite casual. Not too much tactics involved.
The story has a nice theme nonetheless (world using embers as fuel for everything, which are actually sentinent beings and the world dies because of it).
For the price it is definitely worth it and a nice game to squeeze in, when you needsomething lighter.

 

[Hak'n'Slash]

I've got 16 hr. in the game and I'm really enjoying it. It's not Divinity Original Sin deep, but I wouldn't call it casual, either. I'm just at the point where you have to craft your own gear if you want something nice. The interface for everything is pretty simple and easy to use. In fact, the mechanics of the whole game are that way. Which makes the game fun, IMO, rather than work. I've certainly used tactics in the game; character placement in combat, gear selection (your skills come from your gear), resource management (health and energy). It took me three tries on normal to beat the boss in the Dragon Hunter quest, trying different tactics each time. There's a decent amount of exploring to do, too; although that can lead to encounters with mobs too high level for you to handle. All in all, a very good game with a decent story behind it. And, if you like lore, there are more books to read than you would believe. All well written. The only negative I'v seen is that the controls can be clunky and imprecise, at times. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying the game, though.

 

[Deleted User]

Sounds cool. Do they plan to do an Android version?

 

[Darkheart]

@hak' n' slash
Sure it's not mobile-game-easy, but still there is not much thinking involved. I play on hard and fights against mobs that have up to +2 levels on you are easy. Much higher level mobs are simply unbeatable, no matter your approach. Single enemies can be stun locked, if they are not immune (what most bosses are). Otherwise you will be ganged and killed.

I think I had two levels on the Dragon Hunter Boss and killed him in seconds on hard... No obligatory fight with a party wipe so far. The skills you choose don't really matter, as long as you have at least one party member with a heal spell.

As I said above, still an entertaining game!

 

[Hak'n'Slash]

Sounds cool. Do they plan to do an Android version?

Not that I know of.

 

[Deleted User]

Not that I know of.

Bummer. This game would be great on Android, imo. Android has some pretty cool RPGs but could always use more.

 

[Hak'n'Slash]

@ Sentinel
I wasn't disagreeing with you, just giving another viewpoint. You're right; if you're the kind of gamer who plays on hard and looks for a real challenge, this won't provide it for you. I just like to relax and have fun, but still have a bit of a challenge. BTW; I was about 2 levels below that boss when I took him on. I'm glad we both came to the same conclusion; a good game. Actually, it's kind of an amazing bargain, at that price.

 

[ElderGnome]

I'm glad this little game is getting attention, I loved it. Took me about 26 hours to complete a play-through on the normal setting. I found it charming and relaxing.

 

[crpgnut]

I'm at 29 hours and I just reached Pinnacle...again. Okay, I'm actually at 58 hours total but I started over after reaching Pinnacle the first time. I'm an uncover everything type player though. I also craft after each bump in levels. I really like the game as a break from deeper game systems. This just has a few but they're all done well. My biggest gripe is that alchemy is ridiculously expensive compared to everything else. Making your own potions really isn't worth the cost. I hope they fix this, but they may not even see it as a problem.

 

[JDR13]

Is there a trick to positioning your characters in combat? When I send my archer to a spot to get him further away from the melee, my melee characters will break off and follow him to that spot. It's like they're tied together with invisible string. What am I doing wrong here?

 

[crpgnut]

This is one of the limitations of the game. You can't get too far from each other. I found that placing my archer a few feet behind my mages would keep her happy. Much farther than that and everyone groups up. Coren, however, will sometimes run into melee quite a distance from his support. Idiot!

Something that kinda works for archers is to give them teleport. It is low energy and you can force them to get out of melee that way.

 

[JDR13]

I'm still playing this game and trying to enjoy it, but it has, by far, the worst combat controls of any party-based game I've ever played. I spend as much time battling the controls as I do the enemies.