Song of Swords Review

With its gameplay similarities heavily rooted in titles such as Battleheart, Nautilus' take on the mobile RPG, Song Of Swords, arrives with a highly-visual vector art-style that fits in with the genre almost perfectly. Unfortunately though, that's where my admiration for the game ceases.

Set in the medieval greenlands where its either battle or perish, in Song Of Swords players control their main character by tapping and dragging a physical line to the point on the screen where they wish them to move next. With hordes of enemies incoming one must choose and decide on the best defense strategy in order to move forward. Selecting enemies to commence battle with is achieved by first selecting a character, then dragging a line to a single (or group of) combatant.

Both a player's character and single enemies feature a health bar that floats vulnerably above them, and it's this health level that one will aim to maintain as each battle rages on. To help in this effort, Sirius is at one's service. Sirus is a personal healer who has the ability to heal not only the player character, but also any nearby allies that may be in need. It's just as with one's own special abilities that will periodically become available to act as an aid, however Sirius can only use his magical healing powers in intervals. This healing power will rejuvenate as time goes by, but solely relying on it might be one's eventual downfall. Especially if only Sirus is left standing - the game rapidly becomes less interesting at this point.

Entering the “Battle Map” will see one able to choose which realm of the kingdom they wish to defend next. As each new battle is won, one is awarded with loot, equipment - tradable within the game's Merchant menu - and coins to aid players during the next incoming battle. This is alongside receiving increased XP that can be used to level-up a certain character, and eventually unlock their hidden special powers and abilities. These abilities, once unlocked, will be selectable from the Skills menu.

While little can be said against Song Of Swords' art-style and the amount of battles one will find themselves tasked with winning, something must be said about its overall replayability. I consider myself a fan of role-playing games, but despite this Song Of Swords failed to capture my interest.

The game did get more interesting as further enemies and allies were introduced; ultimately seeing a player forced to manage this defense strategy across multiple characters. The introduction of other RPG archetypes such as the Warrior and Ranger also helped Song Of Swords' overall gameplay somewhat. Sadly, I feel that overall there are better RPG offerings to be had out there from a play perspective.