For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Ascent Spire - Roguelike RPG, from Terrier Games, on my iPhone 14 Pro.
It was the game's App icon that initially grabbed my attention when i was browsing the store. When i checked out the game's store page i knew i wanted to try this. the art for the Spire, mixed with the game's black and white aesthetic, looked great. thankfully there was art of the gameplay too and whilst i wasn't too familiar with this style of RPG, i still wanted to check it out.
The store page also gives some nice details regarding the game's story and initially i was concerned that the game itself wouldn't be able to tell this story, that it was relying on the user to have read it's store page. thankfully the game starts with the story, going into more depth than the store page, whilst also not revealing everything.
Our character seems to be nameless with no story, but it's possible this is revealed in greater detail the further up the spire we make. there's no story as to why we're able to be reived either. but if we consider that no one seems to know anything about the spire, it's not too hard to imagine that we're coming back because it's a feature of the spire.
Each run is different. Even when the art and the scenario are exactly the same, you can pick the same outcome as before and get a different result. On one hand, this makes smart use of limited art assets but on the other it does become noticeable when we're getting the same background and text combo. It's the same with the music. it's nice, but it's very noticeable when it repeats as there's a pause. The art and music here is great, but for long play sessions, or repeated play sessions, it starts to become noticeable when it keeps repeating.
I thought Ascent Spire - Roguelike RPG was quite accessible even though it doesn't have a tutorial. all the commands needed in a moment are on screen. when you fight, the controls are on screen. instead of pressing arrows to move around, we have to read the options given to us. this is usually a single button but there are time when we're given the choice to, for example, follow or head towards something or to go in the opposite direction. the first time a QTE event happened caught me a little off guard. there wasn't too much extra time to read what my choices were before they were nearly gone. But it was fun in this game that i came across a point where the best choice to make was to not make a choice.
The Roguelike aspect of the game seems lite, and i mentioned above that the why isn't explained. with each run we get a reward and when we have enough of it we can spend it on permanent upgrades for our character. my concern is that some of these upgrades are very expensive and that it may take a long time to fully level up our character. i wonder if the game is built that this isn't needed and, whether by luck or design, we're able to beat the boss/complete the game many different ways.
The art, music, approach to story, and simple combat make Ascent Spire - Roguelike RPG something i'd recommend to gamers of all experiences. it's something i'd recommend trying at least one because it's something i so very rarely see on the app store.
Version 1.0.4 Played
