But can Gamevil's canny amalgamation add up to more than the sum of its parts?
Wait your turn
Elune Saga is built around a simple isometric turn-based battle system, and stars a cast of cute super-deformed fantasy characters. If you've ever played a JRPG, you'll be right at home.
The story, too, is firmly in Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy territory. Something about dark souls running amok, and four elements... being... elemental. To be honest, it really isn't remotely memorable.
Especially as this tale is told in typical Gamevil style - imperfectly translated, with an obnoxious teen sensibility, and with most female characters rendered in a questionably sexualised fashion.
Card-carrying RPG
Mixed in with this simple take-it-in-turns biff-a-thon gameplay, Elune Saga introduces a card collecting element.
You'll encounter various helpful elemental soul cards which can be bound to your character, adding attack and defence power as well as a recharging your special attack.
These souls have a Top Trumps-like rating, and can have their core stats bolstered by having them consume other, lesser cards.
IAPs explained£1.99 / $2.99 gets you 27 Soulstones. You need 30 to buy a new card, annoyingly.1100 Soulstones cost £69.99 / $99.99. |
Free and easy
This is every inch the free to play experience. There's a hefty IAP system that allows you to buy the game's various currencies which can, in turn, be used to buy new advanced soul cards and pretty much every other virtual object in the game.
There's plenty of free gameplay to suck you in first, but it's questionable whether you'll ever get to the point where you want to spend any cash.
The straight forward 'paper-scissors-stone' battles are mildly diverting, but they never feel tactical, varied, or just plain interesting enough to really engross you.
And as it's these battles that are at the core of the Elune Saga experience, that doesn't bode well for the game's longevity.
