Chaos Rings: iPhone/iPod Touch Square-Enix RPG out now! ($13) iPad ver. incoming

Lunker · March 2010

Time for the wailing and gnashing of teeth: Square-Enix recently unveiled a new project called Chaos Rings, a brand-new, full-on RPG exclusive to iDevices. Details are still pretty scarce, and I don't quite know where Touch Arcade's details are coming from, but seeing as how the game is pretty close to complete, we should get a full report fairly soon.

It looks and sounds like a long-lost PS1 JRPG; it's a turn-based menu-driven RPG that has you controlling one of five pairs of characters entered into a battle tournament and fighting for your lives, and the other duos that you don't control work against you, so there are five different scenarios to play through. It vaguely sounds like a dungeon-crawler; there's a main tournament arena that you can fight in, but there are also outside dungeons and loot to obtain. (It sounds very SaGa-ish to me, but I don't have much experience with those games.)

I can't tell if the framerate is as janky as it looks in the video, or if it's just the video quality. And pricing hasn't been mentioned in the least; there's a rumor floating that this will be expensive (as in pushing past the $9.99 mark), but with iPhone games it's very tough to tell until it actually lands on the App Store.

JP trailer

Touch Arcade forums wrote:

Background
- Brand new Square Enix RPG
- Polygonal characters overlaid on hand drawn backgrounds, fully polygonal in battles
- Developed by Media.Vision (Wild ARMS, RIZ-ZOAWD)
- Producer is Takehiro Ando (producer of Crystal Defenders)
- Story by Yukinori Kitajima - scenario writer of 428 (sound novel) and Okamiden (Okami 2)
- Character designs by Yusuke Naora (art director of FFVII, VIII, X)
- Music by Noriyasu Agematsu (composer for some songs in Wild ARMS 5)

Premise
- The story of Chaos Rings revolves around a battle tournament "Arka Arena"
- Five teams of two enter into the tournament for a forced fight to the death
- Shadowy spokesman for the tournament promises eternal life and youth for the winner
- The game is made up of five scenarios (playthroughs) in all
- Each playthrough revolves around one of the five teams of two
- The pairs you are not in control of face against you as rivals
- To uncover the full story all five playthroughs must be completed

Progression
- The main progression is in the tournament arena called "Arka Arena"
- The Chaos Rings title refers to this multiple zoned arena
- Outside of this arena, special doors lead you to different dungeons around the world
- In each dungeon you open treasure chests and combat enemies to gain experience
- At the heart of each dungeon lies a final boss

Gameplay
- Battles are turn-based
- You control both partners within the team
- Attacks divided between "solo" and "pair" commands
- Pair attacks execute special combo skills and greater damage, but opens up both partners to damage
- Strategic play is promised as HP is only replenished after a battle
- Fights can be against multiple enemies at once
- Once enemies are defeated, you can acquire their genetic information
- These genes can then be equipped to grant skills
- Genes can evolve after use in battle and produce new skills

Screenshots
http://www.facebook.com/notes/square-enix-dlg/chaos-rings-new-rpg-for-iphone-ipod-touch/379199831300

Official website
http://dlgames.square-enix.com/chaosrings/

Other Links
The title "Chaos Rings" trademarked by SquareEnix for Europe: http://www.siliconera.com/2009/12/03/square-enix-and-the-chaos-rings/
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/03/17/square_enix_iphone_rpg/
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178392[/quote]

Sigtyr · March 2010

So..

Why exactly is this only being released to the iPhone? And I want another Wild ARMs.

Lunker · March 2010

Sigtyr wrote: »

So..

Why exactly is this only being released to the iPhone? And I want another Wild ARMs.

S-E has been fairly prolific with its iPhone and mobile projects; FF1 and 2 were retooled versions of the PSP remakes, there's a few other games like Song Summoner and another one I can't remember, along with Crystal its tower-defense Crystal Defenders. I'm assuming they optimized this for a touch interface and didn't feel like porting it to PSP; I wouldn't rule out an appearance down the road, and the way the game is set up (especially in that first shot, where not-Zack battles a not-Behemoth) makes me think it's built off of a repurposed Crisis Core engine.

But really, PSP software sales are so soft worldwide that I doubt it'd be worth the cost to port it. This looks like S-E testing the waters further to see how the App Store receives its wares. It looks really promising, too; I love the FF1 remake on iPhone because it's built for quick bursts of play, with auto-save up the wazoo.

EDIT: Apparently Square Enix has a official subdivision called SE Downloadable Games, so I guess that's why it's an App Store-native setup. Maybe a PSN release down the road, but in order for that to make sense you have to think the PSP Go was a good idea.

Lunker · April 2010

Game is out now in NA! $12.99, apparently, and Square-Enix putting all of its other games on sale to celebrate launch of Chaos Rings

Here's a non-trailer gameplay video, and the framerate looks a lot better than in the trailer:

Chaos Rings gameplay

I'm seeing some preliminary impressions of Chaos Rings on GAF and it sounds pretty good.

Alright, ive played the game for about 40 minutes and anyone who's on the fence in regards to performance on older devices can proceed to safely shell out for Chaos Rings. Im playing it on an Edge 2G iphone and the performance is quite good. The framerate is perfect during cutscenes and battles. However, it'll feel like its chugging a bit every so often when youre runnin across the field, but it's not a dealbreaker as its not terribly noticeable. The sound never stutters either.

As it stands, the game is much better than what i was expecting. The graphics and music are obviously very good but the story and characters seem interesting as well. To top it off, the battle system has an interesting twist to it, as you pair off with a partner and at the start of a turn you can choose to act alone or in a pair. Acting in a pair allows you to combine attacks with your partner but also leaves both characters open to an attack during a turn as well. There is also some kind of point system that grants a limited advantage to either the player or the enemy depending upon the choices made during the course of battle. Although thats not quite as frenetic and engaging as XIII's Paradigm deck switching, its more than what i was expecting.

So yeah, if youre wondering if its worth shelling out for, As someone else mentioned, this game has more effort put into it than comparative titles on handhelds selling for three times the price.

I've played about 30 minutes of the game so far. My sentiments mirror everyone elses so far. It definitely has the charm of the old school PS1 S-E turn based RPGs and I'm digging the battle mechanic where you can either choose to fight solo or as a pair. The job and gene system look to be very interesting as well in regards to building your character. Good stuff. I started off with Eluca, so it'll be neat to see how different the story is in comparison to Escher's.

Now for performance, that also reminded me of old school PS1 SE RPGs. I have a 3G and it performs rather well when cutscenes are abound, but once crazy particle effects start showing up, framerate takes a nosedive. I wouldn't call it gamebreaking, but those who have a 3G and expecting consistently smooth framerate are going to be somewhat disappointed. I'm sure people with the 3Gs and iPad are going to have a much better experience. Regardless, I'm really enjoying the game so far with the battle mechanics and its dungeon crawling.

So wait. Is this a dungeon crawler RPG or one that is more story driven (towns, NPCs, etc.)?

You enter different zones and have to find a ring in each, usually from a boss and on the way you get the story just like any other square rpg. For a portable it's done very well, no one has got far enough yet to say if any other places open up.

After each area so far you return to the hub which is a bunch of rooms you are forced to stay in with your partner, but there is a store with npc you can talk too.

I don't know if I'm going to get right away, but only because I'm approaching finals week and I don't fucking need this right now.

Anyone bite?

Tairu · April 2010

Does anyone have this yet?

I'm stuck on the boss of the second dungeon.

I tried to outlevel him until I realized he levels up WITH you. He is impossible, goddamn! He has every elemental attack, so it is too dangerous to attack him with magic, but he is weak to magic! HROIEKJVDLNVLKJDV32HBVOJBSHJBKLVBKLSF

Shaggy · April 2010

I just heard of this a few hours ago. I am intrigued and I think I will probably pick it up for some quick play on my iPhone. Honestly though, a new game is probably the last thing I need right now. What are your impressions of it Tairu?

jeddy lee · April 2010

Man I really want the ff1 for the iPad, but I fear the iPhone version enlarged would just look terrible.

Lunker · April 2010

People are also chatting about this in the general iPhone games thread, but impressions are super-favorable so far. Feels like a lost PS1 game, etc. etc. Will probably check it out later next month once I have more time on my hands and have caught up on other games on my backlog.

EDIT: An iPad native HD-ed version is on the way!

Lunker · April 2010

Well, I got tipsy last night and impulse-bought this (the darker side of digital distro!

), and I've only put maybe 30 minutes into it but it seems really solid so far. The presence of logic-esque puzzles in the dungeons are a little ... peculiar, but otherwise it has a really SaGa-esque feel to its presentation and the way you seem to have multiple characters all interacting with each other.

Adda · April 2010

Tairu wrote: »

Does anyone have this yet?

I'm stuck on the boss of the second dungeon.

I tried to outlevel him until I realized he levels up WITH you. He is impossible, goddamn! He has every elemental attack, so it is too dangerous to attack him with magic, but he is weak to magic! HROIEKJVDLNVLKJDV32HBVOJBSHJBKLVBKLSF

Just wait for him to cast while using mental wall and single melée then use a pair magic of whatever he's week against. This can end up hitting him for 2-3k in one shot.

Big Red Tie · April 2010

i really like that there are puzzles (but i hope they get more difficult later on, i want to get really stumped)

also yeah, there's this elephant boss that is hella strong (but i probably just need to keep the chain bonus up)
got critical super effective chain boosted divine fisted by an elephant. one shotted both of my characters

Tairu · April 2010

Adda wrote: »

Tairu wrote: »

Does anyone have this yet?

I'm stuck on the boss of the second dungeon.

I tried to outlevel him until I realized he levels up WITH you. He is impossible, goddamn! He has every elemental attack, so it is too dangerous to attack him with magic, but he is weak to magic! HROIEKJVDLNVLKJDV32HBVOJBSHJBKLVBKLSF

Just wait for him to cast while using mental wall and single melée then use a pair magic of whatever he's week against. This can end up hitting him for 2-3k in one shot.

How do you get Mental Wall?

Edit: I guess only Escher gets that ability? I am using Eluca.

Adda · April 2010

Tairu wrote: »

Adda wrote: »

Tairu wrote: »

Does anyone have this yet?

I'm stuck on the boss of the second dungeon.

I tried to outlevel him until I realized he levels up WITH you. He is impossible, goddamn! He has every elemental attack, so it is too dangerous to attack him with magic, but he is weak to magic! HROIEKJVDLNVLKJDV32HBVOJBSHJBKLVBKLSF

Just wait for him to cast while using mental wall and single melée then use a pair magic of whatever he's week against. This can end up hitting him for 2-3k in one shot.

How do you get Mental Wall?

Edit: I guess only Escher gets that ability? I am using Eluca.

Hmm it should be available to any mage character (it reflects magic casts.) But maybe it's not there until a later stage in the game, ironically it may not be available until you beat the second boss

Ragnar Dragonfyre · May 2010

HOLY CRAP. I just finished Escher's scenario and wow, the twist at the end is magnificent. I honestly feel like this is Square's best work, story wise, in years. It took me about 10 hours to finish the first scenario... probably could have done it a little faster if I hadn't grinded a little bit. The best part is that there is still 3 more scenarios to play through.

If you have an iPhone and are hesitant to pick this up, don't be... it's so worth the price.

Dragkonias · April 2012

So...I've heard this game got an Android release in Japan last year...have they said anything about one for the states or am I pretty much SOL?

astronautcowboy3 · April 2012

It might still have English in it, or you could play it in Japan - if there's a way to "import" it. I'm actually trying to figure out if this is possible myself. I have US and Japanese iTunes accounts running on my iPhone - is such a thing possible on Android?

Penny Arcade

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Chaos Rings: iPhone/iPod Touch Square-Enix RPG out now! ($13) iPad ver. incoming

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