Ten years. Ten danged years. That’s how lengthy it has been, minus a few months, since I reviewed the very first Journey to Destiny sport, Quest to the Core. It was a sport with a humble scope, however what it did it did effectively. Whereas not with out its share of tough edges, it was a compelling little turn-based RPG. When the time got here for a full-on follow-up, Journey to Destiny: Quest to the Future cleaned up a lot of the points I had with the unique sport. It’s been round eight years since that sport got here out, and whereas the collection hasn’t been within the deep freeze the complete time (Journey to Destiny: Future Enviornment got here out a couple of years again), we’re lastly seeing one other full-blown follow-up within the type of Journey to Destiny Misplaced Island ($4.99).
So what has modified? , not as a lot as you would possibly assume. We’ve bought a complete new quest right here, in fact. A lot of new enemies to battle, numerous locations to discover, numerous new loot to search out, and loads of fascinating combos of races, lessons, and talents to tinker round with. A giant field of recent toys, and new causes to play with these toys. For many people, that’s greater than sufficient. Significantly given we don’t actually see many video games of this nature anymore. A single, cheap, upfront worth. No IAP. No advertisements. Pay your 5 bucks, get pleasure from your sport. Ten years in the past that was solely slightly unusual. Right this moment it feels as uncommon as hen’s tooth, particularly for a mobile-exclusive launch.
The story of the sport, akin to it’s, is that you just’ve crashed on some sort of bizarre island. You want to discover 4 goobers to get off the island, and every of these goobers is positioned in a unique location. You possibly can’t simply Uber over to them, both. Every of them is ready on the finish of a veritable dungeon’s price of exploration and battling, and if that isn’t sufficient, they’re additionally protected by a bunch of dorks who received’t hand them over with out a combat. Fortunately, combating is the one factor you’re actually good at. Properly, I hope you might be, anyway. You’re going to be doing loads of it.
Like in earlier video games, the exploration a part of Journey to Destiny Misplaced Island is comparatively trivial. There are secrets and techniques to search out and objects to work together with, however the path to your objective is usually linear and merely requires you to maneuver from bite-sized display screen to bite-sized display screen till you attain it. It’s not boring or something, however you received’t want to fret about mapping issues out or something like that. Discovering treasure is at all times time, and working into NPCs and objects like Weapon Forges maintain issues from getting too monotonous. Nonetheless, the meat of this sport lies elsewhere and I feel it’s effectively conscious of that.
Battles! Flip-based battles! That’s what Journey to Destiny has at all times been about at its core, and that’s the place all of the magic occurs. Broadly talking, the interesting facets of this collection and this sport come from three parts. You’ll must study the ropes of all of them if you wish to have a smoother trip by means of the sport, although you’ll be able to to an extent brute power your manner by means of chunk of the sport by grinding in the event you’re pig-headed about it. I strongly advocate not being pig-headed. The primary Dragon Quest sport is true over there in the event you’re in search of that sort of battle system. There are loads of random encounters on this sport, however there are additionally loads of mounted ones and it’s those who will provide you with critical bother in the event you attempt to energy by means of. Anyway, these three bits you must handle.
First, your character construct. Every installment of the collection has given the participant totally different sorts of choices to construct their character with. Misplaced Island basically offers you the kitchen sink expertise. You get ten races, twelve lessons, six crafting specialties, a pair dozen pets, loads of gear slots and tons of cool gear to fill them with, and an enormous variety of expertise that you just’ll earn as you achieve ranges. It goes with out saying when you’ve got this many variables at play, steadiness goes out the window to an extent. However discovering these damaged builds is a giant a part of the enjoyable, and there’s at all times one thing new to problem your self with in the event you’re in search of extra thrills. You’ve got numerous character slots you may make use of, and I like to recommend experimenting to see which of them suit your wants finest.
Subsequent, preparation. This has been a significant a part of Journey to Destiny proper from the beginning, and it’s no much less very important right here. You possibly can solely use objects and expertise that you’ve geared up, and also you’re usually tightly restricted as to what number of of every you’ll be able to have out there to you in fight. Objects are primarily consumable, too. Should you overlook to refill your pockets after utilizing what was in them earlier than your subsequent combat, you’ll be able to simply get caught out. Bringing the right combination of expertise to tackle a tricky battle could make a seemingly unattainable state of affairs greater than manageable. You’ll additionally wish to carry on eye on what gear you’ve got geared up. Pure protection and assault is perhaps the order of the day in most fights, however you’ll additionally wish to make the most of numerous particular results and resistances for sure encounters. You’ll additionally wish to carry on high of your procuring, and naturally handle your well being and talent factors as you make your manner by means of every space.
Lastly, execution. The battles in Journey to Destiny are turn-based affairs, with you and your pet on one aspect and as much as three enemies on the opposite. You’ll have a restricted quantity of stamina factors you may make use of on every flip to take actions with, and so will your pet. You’re taking your flip, then the enemies take theirs. Proceed till both they’re all useless or you might be. And that does imply your character. Your pet can’t maintain the combat going by itself. Don’t let your well being drop to zero otherwise you’ll fall unconscious and get up again at the beginning of the world. In a straight blow for blow combat, you’ll usually be at a drawback. You need to make a plan, use your expertise as finest as you’ll be able to, and achieve the higher hand along with your technique. Fundamental battles don’t drag on too lengthy, however you’ll have to observe your capacity factors fastidiously when issues go on longer.
Frankly, this sport is extremely deep in these respects. I’m most likely making it sound prefer it’s sophisticated, however the actuality is that it’s fairly simple to get began on this sport. It doesn’t offer you too many choices at the beginning, permitting you to get used to the proverbial water earlier than it begins step by step turning up the warmth. The UI makes loads of sense and is completely suited to cell, too. Need one thing you’ll be able to play one-handed in portrait mode? This sport has you greater than coated. Because it’s all about besting every battle, one after the other, it’s simple to dip out and in of. These linear dungeon designs imply that even when you must take a protracted break between periods, you received’t be misplaced. And the blessed sport auto-saves continuously, so if you must come out at a second’s discover you received’t lose a lot, if something in any respect.
Presentation-wise, it’s all fairly acquainted. The Oryx sprites make a return, however they’re not solely fairly scarce as of late however really fairly nostalgic. The UI does its job and offer you all the data you want whereas making it very simple to do what you wish to do. The sport additionally sports activities full VoiceOver assist in order that visually-impaired gamers can have simply as a lot enjoyable as everybody else. No, it’s not going to problem Last Fantasy XVI by way of its manufacturing values. However it will get throughout what it must, and there’s definitely a attraction to its no-nonsense method to the RPG style.
Should you’re an RPG fan who likes battle system or character customization techniques, you’ll discover a wealth of enjoyment in Journey to Destiny Misplaced Island. Should you’re in search of an intricate story, scorching graphics, or a elaborate world to discover, this may not be your cup of tea. You could possibly definitely levy the accusation at Misplaced Island that it maybe doesn’t push its design in new instructions sufficient when in comparison with its predecessor, however what may need felt like going to the effectively one too many occasions in 2018 as an alternative comes throughout as fairly refreshing in 2024. Simply definitely worth the asking worth, and a sport that can do a pleasant job of filling the RPG lover’s time for hours upon finish.
