Thread: Chaos Rings II

The Chaos Rings franchise is the RPGequivalent of the Saw movies. Chaos Rings II starts on a guy namedDarwin magically kidnapped and sent to a trippy mansion where he isforced into a series of battles. Although Chaos Rings regarded teamsfighting to the death, this sequel rather than follows Darwin like heis asked to sacrifice a group of people from his past, ostensibly tosave the world.

Chaos Rings II has the same basic mechanicslike the original. Battles are turn-dependent on parties of only two.Random encounters initiate battles in the wild and, as other recentSquare EnixRPGs, the end of each battle fully refills HP and cancelsany status ailments. The Genes of the first game have now beensubstituted by magic skills called Sopia, as well as Adventabilities, which are specifically typical RPG summons. Characters caneven fill a meter throughout battle for their own unique Awakeskills, which let for massive attack damage or rapid healing. Everycharacter earns additional Awake abilities like they level up.

Chaos Rings II is far morefully-characterized as compared to the original. It is visuallystunning, the battle system has been expanded, and there is more towatch and do. Switching among the new types of abilities adds amuch-required amount of variation to battles, and combining differentSopia to offset enemy strengths and weaknesses takes a complete newlayer of strategy.

Although game play has been refined, thestory never rather reaches its potential. It is interesting followingDarwin's quest, learning about his involvement on each of the peoplehe must sacrifice, but the tale is told nearly completely via clunkyexpository dialogue. Chaos Rings II features voice acting, but merelyin Japanese, and not being able to understand conversations preventsthe game from having any form of major emotional impact.

However,exploring the game world more as compared to makes up for any storydeficits. The environments are perfectly gorgeous and fully distinctfrom one another. From forests to Japanese villages to dilapidatedcities, the levels are varied and complicated enough to makeexploring feel like absolutely anything could be around the nextcorner. Characters each have their own unique traversal abilities,increasing replay-ability by encouraging players to return to eacharea to access lastly unreachable sections.


Although that is undeniably high forthe App Store, the game is robust sufficient to justify the pricetag. This is easily one of the best JRPGs available on iOS, on parwith similarly priced offerings on Sony or Nintendo handhelds. Thatsaid, it is however a steep price point, and whether or not that buyis desire it will depend on how much you love traditionalturn-dependent battles.