For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Switching Pompo: Backpack Heroes from developers Tae won Go and Dave Studios on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I checked the App store on Friday and saw this newly released game topping the Free to Play Charts on the Japanese App Store. i was really curious as to why this was doing so well so that's why i've checked out Pompo: Backpack Heroes.
The game starts strong with a story introduction that hints that this group of characters might be accidental heroes. But the next hour or so with the game almost ignores all of that. what i played didn't match the set up at all. if the game hadn't started so strongly with it's story and characters, then this wouldn't have been much of an issue. but because it does and them seemingly ignores so much of it, it really sticks out as a waste.
A new world is introduced to us by a character who seemingly knows about it. But that's it. the game makes little to no effort in tiring the game's mechanics into the world it's introduced. For example, the game introduces miners as a way to earn extra money. but this isn't done via a story beat, it's not done via a tutorial either. it's introduced as a mission that needs to be completed, there are no explanations as to who these miners are, where they are, or how it ties into anything in the game.
Pompo: Backpack Heroes is simple a bunch of mechanics tied together with great art and ease of gameplay. The game has a character who seems to know the world, but that character never acts as our guide or even helps with a tutorial. The weirdest part of the gameplay is how we started with a group, lost the group, and then spend no time trying to find our friends. instead a summon mechanic is added. and like most things in this game, there's no reason given for it, it's not tied into the story or the game world, and there's no summon animation.
But Pompo: Backpack Heroes is mostly easy to play at a basic level. there are menus and abilities and power ups that i never touched in this first hour and it didn't seem to matter. that's not to say they won't in the future, but for now the game's lack of a tutorial and explanations don't seem to matter much as we're able to stumble through the opening section. However, a major mechanic, that i didn't expect, was introduced near the end of the video called Rebirth.
This concept is one i know of as it used to be popular in mobile and idle games a decade or so ago. but it's not one i've seen much of nowadays. essentially put, when the game starts to plateaux and you're unable to make any more progress or level up you're meant to use the Rebirth mechanic to rest some of your stats and gain a new currency that can be used to enhance your team. But with no tutorial on how best to use it, i can only hope that the game's missions are designed well enough to force the player to do it at the appropriate moment.
Pompo: Backpack Heroes looks great, with our team looking like Pixel Art but the world having a more water color look to it and there are giant monsters that look huge and very different to our team. the music is nice to, tho the gaps between songs/loops could've been dealt with better. the screen is smartly used, too. i only noticed one small issue with the Dynamic Island and a small issue when levelling up the miners. the placement is smart and enabled me to play most of the game with just one hand.
Pompo: Backpack Heroes is a fine game but there is so much wasted potential. if you're looking for an idle game that's easy to quickly pick up and play that maybe feels a little "retro", then this would do fine. but understand that even tho it makes a fantastic first impression, that's the only time any of that matters. it's possible the game will remember it's story later on, but in this first hour it doesn't and i can't guarantee it will.
Version 1.0.4 Played.
