ZENONIA® 3 Review

By , on April 29, 2011


ZENONIA® 3
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Polished KRPG gameplay; complete with the usual crafting and in-app store bonuses.
  • 'Classic' RPG visuals with multiple outfit designs per class.
  • Four classes to master; two ranged, two melee.

CONS

  • Standard gameplay we've come to expect of the genre; basic button-mash to win tactics.
  • Weak story; still suffers from some minor translation issues.

VERDICT

Zenonia 3 is just as strong as its predecessors and a great starting point for anyone interested in the KRPG phenomenon, though after two years it'd be great to see more gameplay evolution instead of more fetch quests.


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It's clear that GAMEVIL are at their most relaxed when creating KRPGs and the anticipated release of Zenonia 3 goes to show just how much of an impact the earlier releases had on gamers after something with a bit more meat than the average App Store fare. This time around players are placed in the middle of a war between the tribes of heaven and hell, giving you ample opportunity to kick some rather obscure monster-butt.

In this, the third installment of the series, several minor tweaks have been made to the basic RPG gameplay, resulting in a streamlined interface and item/skill/upgrade system. Combat is still tied to the fairly repetitive attack button, however some creatures (and especially boss fights) demand a lot more finesse as you dodge attacks while sneaking in a few hits in turn. The d-pad and button setup is up to the task, though the rigid 4-way movement can make the character feel cumbersome.

There are four classes to choose from, though the choices really boil down to two melee and two ranged with the fine details of each really only boiling down to an aesthetic choice; Do you want to be a death knight or a rogue pirate? Or do you want to be like Megaman or a voodoo shaman? Leveling up provides the usual split between distributing points in to one of four different statistics while skill points unlock active and passive abilities to help against tougher enemies.

What's so disappointing about Zenonia 3 is that we've already seen all of this before and while the polishing and tweaking makes for a better experience, it's a shame to see so little improvement after two years of being at the top. While it's fantastic to beat up monsters in a visually stunning world, the lackluster story and paint-by-numbers RPG system only really shows improvement by relative comparison instead of through true innovation.

Although it's easy to ask for more, Zenonia 3 is still a fantastic example of how the KRPG can dominate on the App Store and fans of the series will enjoy the smaller tweaks to the game, making it an easy to recommend title for those after a new RPG.

Screenshots

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