On iPhone
Game: Eternal Legacy
Price: $6.99
Size: 551 MB
Get it now on the iTunes store:US/UK
On iPad
Game: Eternal Legacy HD
Price: $9.99
Size: 579 MB
Get it now on the iTunes store:US/UK
If there’s one thing iPhone publisher Gameloft knows how to do, it’s take well established console games and bring similar versions to iDevices. The developer has done it with everything from Diablo to Uncharted, and now it has Final Fantasy in its sights. So while Eternal Legacy may not be the most original RPG out there, liberally borrowing ideas from Square Enix’s popular and long running series, it’s still a great mobile experience.
It takes place in a world of magic and technology, where an oppressive government is housed in a rich and vibrant city surrounded by poor and destitute villages. You play as Astrian, who’s part of a rebel cause looking to put the government in its place. Over the course of the nearly 10 hour experience he’ll travel the globe, meet new companions and enemies, learn about powerful magic crystals, and generally save the world from imminent destruction. It’s part sci-fi, part fantasy, all epic. In other words, pretty standard JRPG stuff.
But it’s done very well. The story is actually quite enjoyable, in spite of the atrocious voice acting, with plenty of interesting characters to talk to and quests to take on. It also looks great, with detailed and varied 3D environments. The characters, meanwhile, look like they were ripped right out of FFX. That means spiky hair, skimpy outfits, and absurdly huge swords. And while the turn-based battle system isn’t anything truly unique, it has been adapted to the touch screen controls quite well. The menus are easy to navigate and you’re able to queue up multiple commands, which helps make the battles go by very quickly.
It may not quite be Final Fantasy, but Eternal Legacy is still great. It makes up for a lack of new ideas with quality. It’s lengthy, has a slick battle system, and just plain looks awesome. And if you squint hard enough you can pretend Final Fantasy X is playable on your phone.
Dec 20, 2010
