iPhone Review – Merlin’s Legacy
by Alex Mangold
Developer/Publisher: Oasys Mobile / Floodgate Entertainment
Genre: Fantasy/ Strategy
Price: $1.99 (Sale Price, regular $2.99), Lite Version
Verdict: Combines RPG elements, turn based strategy and tower defense gameplay.
Pros: Excellent soundtrack, unlockable modes add to replay value, helpful tooltips.
Cons: Slightly overpriced, many battles get repetitive.
In Merlin’s Legacy you begin your quest as a lowly apprentice armed only with the most basic of summoning and offensive spells. Each level consists of a duel with a rival sorcerer whom you must battle to the death. As you progress through the stages, you will unlock additional spells and must then decide which of the three schools of magic to invest in; Druidism, Elementalism or Necromancy.
The basic mechanics of the game should be easy to learn for anyone who’s ever played an RPG before. You have your standard health bar and a magic bar which regenerates mana throughout the duration of the duel and allows you to cast your various spells. Within the three schools of magic, there are also three basic types of spells which allow you to summon creatures, create defensive walls or directly attack your opponent and his creatures. The duels themselves are somewhat reminiscent of Pokémon style battles in that you’ll have to adjust your strategy based on what school of magic your opponent uses and which spell type they focus on. As an example, a foe who mainly uses direct damage spells can generally be overwhelmed by constantly summoning creatures.
Some of the mid level duels may prove frustrating as you’ll still be figuring out which school of magic best fits your style while trying to effectively counter your opponents. After completing the main storyline, you’ll unlock the Tournament and Endless War modes, which in my opinion were more fun than the main storyline. In the tournament mode, you can select various challenges which will reward you with bonuses to your spells once completed, such as additional strength for your summoned creatures.
Merlin’s Legacy actually has somewhat of a bell-shaped learning curve as the middle levels seemed much more difficult than the final ones. The soundtrack in between battles and at the menu screens definitely adds to the fantasy feel of the game and the addition of in-game Achivements significantly adds to the replay value. Overall, it’s a fun game, but it does lose some of the strategic elements once you learn which combinations of spells work best. At the very least, you should pick up the Lite version and give the first few levels a try, because it’s definitely worth checking out. However, at a regular price of $2.99 it’s hard to strongly recommend this title, but the current sale price of $1.99 until the 4th of July is a bit more reasonable.
