Back in December, I reviewed Square Enix’s monster-collecting RPG for Switch. I loved my time with it, despite its many technical issues. I expected it to return to PC like , one other Nintendo Switch exclusive, but I didn’t expect a mobile release. Square Enix’s latest release on iOS, Android, and Steam brings the entire previous paid DLC to the sport at a lower entry point, but removes one feature. That’s the real-time online multiplayer battles. Beyond that, there’s already a a lot better experience on Steam and mobile, simply as a result of its lower cost and included content, but is the sport value your time during this crowded release period and given its high price? That’s the query I’m going to reply in my mobile review, which will even include the sport on Steam Deck.

If you’re not accustomed to it, it’s a spin-off series of the major games with turn-based combat, but as an alternative of the major player fighting, you catch, raise, and nurture monsters to fight for you. When I played it, I enjoyed it, but I used to be told it was a “Monsters-lite” game, so when it was announced for Switch, I used to be excited to play it. I ended up loving it, as you possibly can see from my review linked above, but I feel it’s a really strong monster-collecting RPG with turn-based combat, whether you prefer it or not. What was much more interesting was that it seems like a side story and prequel to . It also had a seasonal feature where the monsters would change depending on the season and the world you were in.

Story-wise, the bits and pieces from IV already made it more interesting than a daily spin-off, but I focused more on getting my dream team of monsters than worrying in regards to the plot. I’m super blissful with how well thought out the mechanics are and the way the massive zones, lots of of monsters, and combat made me wish to keep playing, even on Switch after I first finished it, let alone on iPhone, iPad, and Steam Deck. Aside from the traditional turn-based battles and recruiting recent monsters, Synthesis in is sort of a Shin Megami Tensei fusion, and there is just a lot you possibly can do together with your skills. The seasons here not only change the monsters, but additionally the areas you possibly can explore with changes to the map. This implies that a body of water you possibly can’t cross will probably be frozen during a season, providing you with access to a brand new secret.

Combat in games like this will be repetitive, so I’m glad to see loads of quality-of-life features here, like a tactics menu that works similarly to the unique, direct commands, and more. You’re not only here to defeat enemies, but additionally to scout them, to bring them into your team and grow to be stronger. Ultimately, I didn’t test out the web multiplayer on Switch much, so I am unable to comment on how much of a loss it’s here, however it’s still a game mode that was cut. If you’ve got played it on Switch, keep that in mind, as it is the one area where the mobile and Steam versions are inferior to the Switch.

already shipped with loads of content, however the DLC just upped the experience level. This DLC was sold within the Digital Deluxe Edition or as a standalone DLC for the bottom game. The DLC alone cost over $25 on Switch, so getting the complete base game with all of the DLC for $24 on mobile makes it an incredible deal, but I’ll get to that in a moment. This DLC included The Mole Hole, Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym, and Treasure Trunks. The Mole Hole was a dungeon that allowed you to scout (recruit) monsters you’d fought before, making it much easier to max out as you played. The DLC was also good for speeding things up, as you would also easily scout monsters that only appeared during a selected season or through synthesis.

Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym DLC has randomly generated maps and is supposed to be post-game challenges quite than in-game experiences. The final DLC is just a chest that will be opened once per hour, containing a complete of 10 items. It’s type of a cheat DLC, so to talk. I didn’t find it great to have useful game modes or content in paid DLC, but that is now not a difficulty because it’s all included on iOS, Android, and Steam for the bottom price.

Now let’s move on to the features of the mobile port. With Square Enix you possibly can never make sure what features will probably be in the ultimate game. There isn’t any controller support. This is beyond disappointing for the reason that game is literally a console title ported to mobile devices. I attempted 6 different controllers without success to make certain. In addition to controller support, there may be cloud save and a couple of graphical options on iOS. Cloud save works tremendous.

As for the controls, I used to be surprised at how well the touch controls felt. It uses the floating joystick on the left for movement and the jump button mainly for exploration. The only minor issue you may run into is that among the touch targets are a bit small on non-Plus/Max phones. They’re not an issue on iPads though. The controls are good, but Square Enix must have left full controller support since it is a console game ported to mobile.

One of my only real issues with the Switch was the technical side of things. The frame rate was poor at launch, and the graphics weren’t great either. The former has been addressed to some extent, unlike , however the latter was never fixed. I didn’t have any major issues with graphics or performance on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 12, and even iPad Pro. There are some hiccups on the iPhone 15 Pro when running at the best graphics quality setting and navigating certain areas, however it’s nowhere near as bad because it is on the Switch. The game feels a lot better on iOS. Check out the comparison of the high and low graphics options on the iPhone 15 Pro below:

On mobile, there aren’t any specific visual or frame rate settings beyond the resolution option within the display settings. This enables you to play at low, medium, or high graphics quality. These presets also affect other settings, corresponding to the frame rate limit and post-processing. This setting can only be modified from the title screen on mobile, while on PC you possibly can adjust it on the fly. I stuck to the high setting on all of my iPhones. Unfortunately, it has some minor performance issues even on the iPhone 15 Pro, as I discussed above. The low setting seems unusable as a result of how blurry it’s. On my 2020 iPad Pro, the high preset has more regular frame drops than the iPhone, and it also seems to work with some tweaked settings. Overall, even the older iPad Pro runs well with it, but not in addition to the iPhone 15 Pro as expected. Every device I tested it on, including the iPhone 12, ran a lot better with it than on the Nintendo Switch.

Visually, it looks much cleaner than the Switch even on older iOS devices when playing at a high level. Square Enix didn’t just do a bare-bones port here. It has full-screen support for gameplay on my iPhone 15 Pro, and even has a pattern or graphic to fill the screen in areas with pre-rendered or static 16:9 elements. This pattern or graphic is especially used on my iPad Pro, because it doesn’t support full-screen gameplay there. This also applies to Steam Deck to make up for that aspect ratio in parts. I’m glad Square Enix put within the work here to make certain it still looks good no matter aspect ratio.

Impressions from the steam deck

On Steam Deck, no matter my settings, I could not get the sport to run at a locked 90fps even with the low presets, while playing at 800p. I made a decision to go for a 60fps goal, and it was much easier to attain. One of the eccentricities is that the sport doesn’t let you alter the resolution while playing normally on Steam Deck. You can do this by forcing the resolution in the sport properties before launching it. On PC, it enables you to change the graphics quality (low, medium, high), anti-aliasing (off, low, medium, high), maximum frames per second (from 30 to unlimited), toggle v-sync, and adjust the display mode (windowed, fullscreen, borderless). If you are playing at 60fps, I like to recommend setting the Steam Deck OLED refresh rate to 60 to avoid judder as well.

I’ve played it on iOS, iPadOS, Steam Deck, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite, so there’s little question that the Switch version is the worst of the bunch, despite the incontrovertible fact that the web mode has been faraway from mobile and Steam. The massive performance boost and improved graphics with all of the DLC available for download at a much lower cost make the sport even higher. It’s value noting that the sport is listed as Steam Deck Playable, not Verified, because Valve claims that among the text in the sport is small and will be difficult to read. I had no issues with this, and it seems to me that Valve has previously marked games with smaller text as Verified. Either way, you possibly can safely buy this game to play on Steam Deck.

If you’ve skipped Switch, the brand new mobile and Steam ports are the method to go. While the mobile version without controller support is disappointing, it’s still a game I play frequently as a result of its improvements over Switch and the improbable core gameplay loop. All the included DLC means you’ll have enough content to last you even longer. If you value controller support in a game like this, Steam Deck is the method to go. Hopefully, Square Enix will bring more games to mobile in the long run. Right now, the iOS version is definitely among the finest mobile releases this yr.

September seventeenth, EA hosted its annual Investor Day event. Here the company shows the way forward for what it’s working on, discusses the way it plans to expand its franchises and tries to persuade the many individuals with money that they’re profitable and price further investment.

You could have missed it, because it doesn’t offer the level of pleasure of E3. But some things were announced, each at the event and as a part of the media blitz outside of Investor Day. So here’s all the essential news you may be excited by.

not happening, but the franchise doesn’t end

It could seem strange, but EA has no plans to create one anytime soon. Kate Gorman, EA’s vp and general manager of it has been said to be ushering in a “new era” for the franchiseand doesn’t want to interchange old games with latest ones, forcing players to restart the game.

“We don’t want to reset your progress. So it’s not so much about the numbers in the games, but know that the future of the franchise looks more like maintaining progress, maintaining things across titles and really having a continuous experience, rather than a stop-start experience between products,” Gorman said.

EA will proceed to update and improve while also releasing other related games, including previously announced ones what isn’t but as a substitute something more focused on multiplayer. The goal, it seems, is to stop replacing games with latest games and support things longer.

“We’re not going to be working on replacements for previous projects; we’re just going to be adding to our universe,” Gorman said. “What you’ll see is that there are more ways to experience s on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, a lot of great offerings in that universe.”

the film is being shot and Margot Robbie is in it

Meanwhile, EA also confirmed that a movie is in the works. The game publisher is partnering with Amazon MGM and star Margot Robbie’s production company LuckyChap. The film might be directed and co-written by season one director Kate Herron.

EA says it’s “very excited” about the film, but doesn’t have much to say about it yet. “It’s too early to talk more about the film, but stay tuned for updates as we celebrate our 25th anniversary next year!”

in energetic development and is the end of the series

The next installment of the award-winning Respawn and Lucasfilm series is currently in development, in line with EA during today’s Investor event. This may also be the end of the trilogy and series.

“More than 40 million fans have connected with Cal Kestis and his story of his journey to become a powerful Jedi,” said Laura Miele, president of EA Entertainment and Technology, during the event.

And that story will proceed in the third game, which Miele confirmed is in energetic development. “Respawn is working hard to deliver the final chapter of this exciting story to players,” Miele said.

EA didn’t provide any details about the next game during the event.

Previously, and director Stig Asmussen said that he all the time envisioned these games “as a trilogy” and that the team had plans for what would occur after them 2023 Asmussen left Respawn in September 2023 and won’t be involved in the work on the third a part of the trilogy.

We learned so much about the next essential match

Ahead of Investor Day, Respawn CEO and EA Studios Group CEO Vince Zampella I talked to about the future. And the bottom line is: Did you prefer it? Well, they’re doing it again.

“I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle, it’s that … era where everything was modern,” Zampella said. “And I think we need to get back to the essence of what it is and do it amazingly well, and then we’ll see what comes of it.”

Zampella confirmed that the next game will cast off specialists and return to the classic class-based system present in older FPS games.

When can players expect the next installment? EA is not saying. Zampella hinted at a community testing program next 12 months, but didn’t reveal a release window for the full game. It seems EA is in no rush to release one other game after reception below expectations. You can read more about this game here.

The reboot will begin in 2025

The Internet Can Finally Stop Asking EA for a Release Date, Publisher Confirms September seventeenth that the reboot will finally arrive in 2025 as a part of Early Access.

The publisher didn’t have much else to say about the latest entry in the beloved skateboarding series, but that’s okay. I’m excited to be back next 12 months. I can’t wait to crash 200 times attempting to land that one perfect kickflip over the stairs. Read more about the news here.

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This is a post I’ve known about for some time, but that doesn’t make it any easier to write down. After over 16 years, TouchArcade will probably be closing its doors and going out of business. There could also be an extra post here and there in the approaching weeks as we attempt to honor any previously agreed-upon commitments and in addition prepare a correct farewell post, but for now, our normal day-to-day operations have ceased. The reason we’re closing is probably not surprising: Money.

Many of you who’ve been following TouchArcade for some time are well aware that we have now struggled financially for a few years, and truthfully, I believe it is a miracle that we have now managed to survive this long. The truth is that a web site like ours simply doesn’t earn cash anymore. To our own detriment, we have now resisted things like obnoxious, intrusive ads, blatant clickbait headlines, or ethically questionable sponsorships, that are unfortunately the varieties of things that also earn cash on the web today.

There are many other reasons which have contributed to us getting thus far, but I’d slightly not go into details now. TouchArcade has been an establishment for hundreds of thousands of individuals for the past 16 years, and I’ve been working full time for the past 14+ years. A solid third of my life. In some ways, it’s like one in every of my children, and it’s totally hard to say goodbye to it. I’d really slightly concentrate on all the good times we have had, than dwell on the things we won’t change.

Also, as a person with a wife and two young children, a mortgage and all that adult fun, this is the tip of my life, and though they’re technically “freelancers”, so are the opposite two individuals who were at the guts of TouchArcade, Shaun Musgrave and Mikhail Madnani. Which brings me to my next point…

HIRE US!

The job market isn’t great anywhere, and finding a brand new job is tough, especially within the gaming industry. If you’re reading this and wish some very capable gaming industry veterans like us, please reach out to us.

Jared Nelson – That’s me! Of course, I actually have over 14 years of experience working in the course of the mobile gaming boom at TouchArcade. Writing, editing, managing staff, traveling to conventions. I’ve done all of it. I even have a fairly diverse work history prior to TouchArcade, including management positions, which I believe gives me a very well-rounded skill set. You can reach me at LinkedIn or via email at jared (at) toucharcade (dot) com.

Shaun Musgrave – Shaun has been with TouchArcade for a bit over 11 years, but has been in skilled gaming media for over 25 years. He is by far one of the vital talented writers I actually have ever met, and if we would have liked a review of an enormous, necessary game and needed it on very tight deadlines, Shaun was all the time reliable. He also uses his vast, almost uncanny knowledge of video game history to search out interesting angles to write down about games that only he could find. Shaun lives in Japan and is fluent in each Japanese and English, which also makes him a terrific candidate for localization work. Contact him at muzkind (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Mikhail Madnani – As a member of TouchArcade for over 7 years, Mikhail is the workhorse of our team. Publishing most of what you see every day, our website wouldn’t have been capable of run for so long as it has without Mikhail’s contributions. An expert at sniffing out interesting news and publishing it in a timely manner, but in addition capable of create huge features like in-depth interviews and multiplatform reviews. His header images stuffed with coffee are also legendary. If you wish someone who can reliably and consistently publish video game related content, I can’t recommend Mikhail enough. Contact him at hello (at) failgunner (dot) com.

What will occur now?

If there’s a silver lining to all of this, it’s that for the foreseeable future, the entire content ever published on TouchArcade will remain online and accessible to everyone. Over 33,000 articles published, including over 4,000 game reviews, not to say all of our annual Best Of content and Game of the Year picks. Hopefully, all of this content will live to tell the tale in the longer term for reference and to easily look back on and see how drastically the mobile gaming landscape has modified over the past decade and a half.

We hope to proceed our podcast, The TouchArcade Show, which recently celebrated its 600th (!) episode. Just a few co-hosts have come and gone over the course of the podcast (shout out to Brand and Mike!), but Eli Hodapp and I actually have been a continuing presence on the show for the reason that starting, and it’s truthfully crazy that we’ve spent over 13 years of our lives putting out an hour-long podcast (almost) every week.

So it’s possible you’ll be wondering, our Patreon. Our Patreon support has been by far the biggest contributor to TouchArcade’s existence since we launched in June 2015, almost a decade ago. Our thoughts are to redirect Patreon donations to support the podcast, and possibly the occasional post or special feature written by the team here. Maybe a random “SwitchArcade” or a review of a very high-profile mobile game launch. Maybe we could even squeeze in a Game of the Year this yr? It’s only a germ of an idea for now, however it can be pretty cool to see TouchArcade live to tell the tale, even on this small way.

Regardless of how this ends, I will probably be clearly changing the wording of our Patreon to state that it is not about supporting the web site, and if people resolve to stop donating, that is completely comprehensible. If individuals are giving us money every month, I need to be completely transparent about where it is going. Either way, search for more news on this in the approaching weeks, and on the very least make sure that you follow us as a free member on our Patreon to stay awake thus far. If you may have any questions or concerns, you possibly can contact me at suggestions (at) toucharcade (dot) com or leave a comment below.

Well, I believe that is it. Speaking on behalf of all of us who’ve helped run TouchArcade over the past 16 years—from co-founders Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson to our first full-time worker and future editor-in-chief Eli Hodappa, and the handfuls of other writers and freelancers who’ve helped make TouchArcade what it is—we just wish to sincerely thanks for reading our site, listening to our podcast, or attending one in every of our events. It was an absolute pleasure to have such a beautiful audience that appreciated what we did, and we’ll all be without end grateful for the time we got to spend together.