Forged Fantasy simplifies the core high fantasy action RPG formula to flow well on mobile, while adding some unique twists. Calling back to genre shapers like Champions of Norrath and The Witcher, Forged Fantasy provides all the bone-crunching, flesh-searing, armor-piercing action you could crave, but in a simple package with bite-sized missions and a gacha system, making it a quintessentially mobile take on the genre.
Background: Players booting up the game will be greeted with a tutorial starring a mountain of a man wielding a massive fire sword. The simple tutorial only asks players to tap enemies to attack, and allows players to turn the camera by moving their finger around the left side of the screen. These two core interactions form the bulk of the gameplay. Aside from moving the camera and attacking, you’ll also unlock skills over time as you level up and enhance your heroes.
Each hero plays a bit differently, even if they have those core controls in common. There are faster melee heroes who can strike quickly and switch targets, there are ranged heroes who can aim at enemy weakpoints, and there are magical heroes who can use just the right spell for the occasion to blast multiple enemies, exploit elemental weaknesses, or heal their fellow heroes.
Beyond that core gameplay, most of the strategy comes in the form of optimizing hero enhancements to your play style, and building the right team. You’re given an archer, a mage, and a heavy swordsman during the tutorial, but once you’re free to go, your team makeup can be whatever you want it to be.
The main game mode is a single player campaign, but the other modes are where things get interesting. PvP pits one or more of your heroes against an enemy team head to head. Co-op raids, meanwhile, see multiple teams working together to take down large enemies or armies, and will require you to know about all the heroes present so you can synergize properly. There are other modes to enjoy, making for a varied game experience with tons to do.
Impact: Though things are pretty simple once you’re on the field, this game is surprisingly deep on the back end, and gives players a lot of tools to customize their experience to fit how they want to play. You can heal two charging meathead warriors and provide magic support, you can smash enemy lines with an archer and a mage behind you, or you can pick enemies off one by one with focused efforts, to name just a few possibilities.
This one is similar to Iron Blade from Gameloft in some ways, the chief being that you do not have freedom of movement. Your characters being railroaded or having their movement controlled automatically is not uncommon in mobile games, but it’s the little refinements that make such an experience more than a mere shooting gallery. This game has those little touches in spades, and presents a serious contender in the fantasy RPG segment of the mobile gaming world.
