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Handhelds Toys Entertainment Games Hardware

RPG Sorcery PDA Reviewed 108

Posted by timothy from the distraction-all-the-time dept.
shiroi_kami writes "I finally received my long-awaited (and pre ordered) CD-ROM and immediately loaded the game up on my IPAQ (I didn't even look at the PC Extras)." shiroi_kami has written some other PC game reviews; here's his first of a Pocket PC game. Read on below for his thoughts on Sorcery PDA.
Note: Here's a breakdown of the rating system employed in the review:
5. Awesome. Very few flaws. Very appealing. (Overall: Must have.)

4. Strong effort. Pleasing. (Overall: Good purchase.)
3. Good. Flaws and good qualities cancel each other. (Overall: If this is your genre, buy it, otherwise get it as a gift.)
2. Mediocre, or worse. Too many flaws. (Overall: Risky buy.)
1. Awful. (Overall: Don't bother.)

General/Story - 5

The game seemed slow at first running from my storage card but I had six other apps running, and when I closed them the game ran smoothly so no points off there. The game starts out with a unique and detailed storyline (if you bother to go through it and worth it for genre fans. Also, I recommend downloading the player's guide from the website for quick review before playing). Anyway, you're basically following in the footsteps of an adventurer named Falcon--yep, that's right, you're not Falcon (as the game title would have you believe). After setting up your ability scores, the first character you play in Sorcery is a Warrior-young and eager for adventure-willing to follow a caravan into the desert in search of the Orb of Power from a castle in the long-forgotten city.

As chance would have it you end up alone outside of the dark castle you revived from a statue of the dark lord's avatar, with a spell from a wizard named Firlor. The first element of the game acts as a trainer so there's little mystery there after you get through the castle (thanks to Lynn from Sorcery staff for hints), but it gets better then nonetheless. As far as tracking and saving, the game does that automatically for you-you can quit at any time and continue where you left off. You can also restore a game if things gets hairy and there's a nice automatic journal to keep track of important events and completed quests. I love the fertile storyline and it's not overwhelming as taken in bits and pieces (I'm still trying to help Guntok from the Cliffs Town Inn to get his father's axe back from Goblins). I'm still playing the Warrior character so I can't comment specifically on the Dwarf (male), Elf (male), Sorceress (female), and Cleric (female) characters.

Gameplay: (4)

I've read it before somewhere so I can't take credit for the analogy, but the game does remind me a lot of Heroes of M&M crossed with the original Myst. It is sort of turn-based, but you don't have to wait for the game to make moves -- so it's seamless. I understand the PC version will have more of a 3D effect but obviously to fit it on the PPC it's an animated 2D setting with movie animation movement and a battle interface with 3D creatures. Performing feats, actions, and spells are point-and-click (from an abridged menu) and every room has its own animations and sound effects. You can perform an action on an object or from the interface which executes an action on the entire area. You can also click on objects to get a closer look and if the area-to-area movement animations get dreary, you can click on the directionals for a fast Myst-zip-like transition. There are scores of secrets, puzzles, and the overall gameplay allows you free reign almost like playing D&D, but with more obvious outcomes. What's also unique in this game is that performing feats such as searching or hurdling through a door require a feat ability roll--right with your ability bonuses brought up from your character sheet. But you don't manually perform counter rolls such as for surviving a trap, the game does that automatically and even shows you the roll count in the interface next to your character.

That brings me to the character. Like in Doom, when you get hacked up by a zombie or crashed on from a boulder trap, your character gets all bloody and disheveled. At times your sword or axe even breaks. But this is played from a first-person perspective so I'm referring to the image of your character down on the bottom interface. I like the battle interface, you can control different attack movements like slash, stab, and hack, and cast spells, or even retreat (later on this is helpful). There's also a useful monster bio window with background, abilities, and even tips--but this is based on what you know at the time of playing. The detail changes as you gain more wisdom and experience points.

Graphics: (5)

The graphics are undoubtedly the best I've seen on the Pocket PC and when even compared to some lousy PC games. The images are quite crisp and very detailed. At times the animations seem just a little out of place but strangely when tested on my new Xscale PPC they're better placed. Go figure. A lot of work went into the story and graphic design -- some apparently compiled into the game and some pre-loaded as you play.

Sound: (3)

There's nothing wrong with the game sounds but there's also nothing new there. Each area seems to have a different background sound and it's obvious they went with mono wave formats to save space. One good thing, in my opinion, is the lack of background music. I absolutely HATE the same, boring background music in games so Hurrah! for that. Also the sounds sound (pardon the pun) the same on my newer PPC so it's the same average-quality throughout.

Overall Score: (4.25)

Strong effort. Pleasing. Good purchase.

Slashdot welcomes reader features -- many thanks to shiroi_kami for this one.
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RPG Sorcery PDA Reviewed More

RPG Sorcery PDA Reviewed

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  • ObPratchett (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:23PM (#5461354)
    I can't comment specifically on the Dwarf (male)

    Ah, but you just think he's male. You never know with dwarves...

    • Re:ObPratchett (Score:4, Funny)

      by mrtroy ( 640746 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:50PM (#5461612)
      Its because the women have beards.

      You have to throw them to find out, if they spin clockwise its a male (the genetilia weighs it that way) and if they spin counter clockwise its a female.

      Like flushing a toilet to see what hemisphere you are in, but more fun.

  • shoot. (Score:5, Funny)

    by loveandpeace ( 520766 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:23PM (#5461359) Homepage Journal
    there goes all that increased productivity my iPac was supposed to give me.
    • iPaq mah boy, iPaq

      as in Compaq

      who's logo looked much better on a Formula 1 car than HP's ever does

  • Question for the reviewer (Score:5, Funny)

    by unicron ( 20286 ) <unicron@nOsPAm.thcnet.net> on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:23PM (#5461365) Homepage
    On the "Itchy & Scratchy" CD-ROM, is there a way to get out of the dungeon without using the wizard key?
  • 'nough said.

    A Winshit CE palmtop doesn't have the option of just recompiling desktop software.

    • Now on other PDA's! (Score:4, Informative)

      by TopShelf ( 92521 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:30PM (#5461424) Homepage Journal
      Actually, the latest version of Nethack has ports for Windows CE, which you can find right here [sourceforge.net]. Hmmm... I think a bathroom break is coming on. Gotta smack me some grid bugs!

    • Re:nethack on a Linux PDA (Score:5, Funny)

      by unicron ( 20286 ) <unicron@nOsPAm.thcnet.net> on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:31PM (#5461432) Homepage
      You're SO uber 1337 that I'm actually scared right now. I mean, my god, slamming windows on /. that shit was just straight out of left field. I bet you've got an AWESOME name on IIRC don't you!? Like Zero Cool or something. I mean, all my friends use linux but they're not cool like you. For them it's just a method of running applications and games, for you it's a political soapbox. Onward techie soldier! You are truly the hero of this millenium.

      Goosebumps..honestly man..goosebumps.
    • A Winshit CE palmtop doesn't have the option of just recompiling desktop software.

      Yes, it does. You can recompile a lot of apps that do simple Win32 stuff. You can do a pretty simple recompile of a good amount of Linux and Unix software using Rainer's celib cedialogs. You can Run Perl/Tk apps.

      Sure, I can't run all of the stuff that would run on an iPAQ running Linux on my Jornada 720 running Windows CE, but unlike some folks, I continue to use WinCE on my PDA rather than Linux because it's a lot more practical. I'd much rather have a) real PIM/PDA apps and b) power management (wow, what a concept for a PDA!) on my Jornada rather than . I don't mind loosing the ability to run a couple extra pieces of software for which I have no need (other than to show all of my slashbuddies that 1 4m h4rdc0r3!!1) in exchange for a functional PDA.

      A Jornada running WinCE sure ain't as nice and consistent the Newton, but it beats putting in the extra work just so that I can be able to say I run Linux on all of my machines.

  • Two comments (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jgerman ( 106518 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:29PM (#5461415)

    the sounds sound (pardon the pun) the


    Not a pun, just poor writing.


    I would suggest putting the whole title of the game up. I didn't get the Falcon comment until I looked up the game. Some screenshots would have been nice.

  • Answer my question (Score:4, Interesting)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:30PM (#5461421) Journal
    Is there any incentive to get a PDA for gaming, as opposed to a $60 GBA?

    I'm serious, what is the state of game quality on modern PDAs? Is it analgous to PCs vs Consoles, IMO the PC 'scene' suffers from too many crappy games.

    • Re:Answer my question (Score:4, Informative)

      by $$$$$exyGal ( 638164 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:40PM (#5461532) Homepage Journal
      The difference between PDA and GBA gaming is subtle: When I'm standing in line at the DMV playing a game on my PDA, I look like a geek. When I'm doing the same on a purple GameBoy, I look like a dork.
      • And what's the difference between a Geek and a Dork?
        • A geek is an intelligent with horrible social skills. A dork is a male sperm whale's genitalia (although some geeks are six foot long dicks).
        • And what's the difference between a Geek and a Dork?

          http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary [m-w.com]
          Main Entry: geek
          Pronunciation: 'gEk
          Function: noun
          Etymology: probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German
          Date: 1914
          1 : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake
          2 : a person often of an intellectual bent who is disapproved of


          http://www.yourdictionary.com/ [yourdictionary.com]
          dork
          (dôrk)
          n.
          Slang: A stupid, inept, or foolish person: "the stupid antics of America's favorite teen-age cartoon dorks" (Joshua Mooney).
          Vulgar Slang: The penis.


          I have also heard the word dork used as slang in referring to a whale's penis.
    • Yeah. The PDA has a backlight.

      Now, if you're willing to spend $100 on the GBA SP, then you've got a point :)

      I've got a GBA, and while visibilty is crap in some cases, that's more than made up for in the sheer bulk of good games. Now, if you already have the PDA, I suppose there's no harm in grabbing a few games for it...

    • Re:Answer my question (Score:5, Informative)

      by stienman ( 51024 ) <adavis AT ubasics DOT com> on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:50PM (#5461614) Homepage Journal
      The game quality on modern PDAs:

      If all you want to do is play games, then don't get a PDA.

      If you need a tool with which you can schedule, keep track of people, times, places, notes, money, etc which just happens to play a good selection of games when the going gets boring, get a PDA.

      The question you're asking is, "If I can only get one, which one do I get?" The answer is the gameboy if the PDA features are secondary to gaming, and the PDA if the PDA features are more important than gaming.

      The real question is, "If I get my company to buy me a good PDA that will play games, how do I expense the games that aren't free, and where do I get the free time to play them?"

      -Adam
      • You forgot:

        If you want to be reasonable about it, get the cheapest PDA you can find because it does everything a PDA is supposed to be used for. Buying a PDA for games doesn't make you a geek, it makes you a loser.

    • Sure, as long as emulators are factored in, and legality isn't considered that important. The ipaq snes port can run snes rpgs at a reasonable speed, and is one of the main reasons I've been able to get through some of the fan translated games. It's pretty nice to be able to have one on hand if I'm stuck unexpectedly waiting for someone. As far as games actually made for the pda, I don't have any idea. 2D RPGS are my main preference, and it's a pretty ignored genre by American developers. The nes, master system, game gear emulators are great though!
    • The idea is that with a PDA you can get both in one device. I bought a greyscale iPAQ with the intention of using it for a) a PDA b) a portable computer c) a coding platform and d) a means to play emulated games [NES, SNES, GameBoy]. Points A, B, and C panned out, but I ended up not playing too many games, and just wishing I could play the cooler GBA games. But I did play Dragon Warrior IV (for NES) and Pokemon Yello quite a bit. But these emulators suck battery. The greyscale iPAQ actually gets really good battery life compared to the color models, I imagine you get about a 30 minute battery life playing NES games on the iPAQ 36xx.

      In the end, I just bought a GBA so I could play all those new and rad GBA games. I carry my PDA (a Newton 2100 or a Jornada 720 depending) with me most places I go, but not my GBA. I will take the GBA to work explicitly, but I don't like having too much junk on my person at a time.

      For a lot of games, the iPAQ blows though. It cannot register two buttons at once- making it impossible to do the flying racoon thing in Mario 3- holding the D-pad and B. You can use your stylus to hold down B *and* press the D-pad, but that's a huge pain in the ass and not worth doing for me.

      I totally agree, I think the PC scene generally has suckey games. Which is why I played tried and true classic console games. ;)
    • THIS should be the topic!

      The obvious incentive for PDA games is that they are an add-on to your other PDA functions. But these days I find myself using my Visor Neo to play Bejewelled (which is the only shareware game I've ever shelled out money for) more and more frequently. Infact, I think I play on it the most; however it still fills a vital role as my calendar/phone center/note taker/organizer/etc.

      There are indeed a lot of crappy games for PDAs as well as PC's- but all my experience is with the shareware stuff.
      Infact, Popcap/astraware (creators of my beloved bejewelled) have a PDA game pack- so I picked it up. And its across the board. Some of the games are fun and fast on my Visor Neo, but some are bad PC ports. E.g.- Atomica. I loved atomica on my pc, and can't stand it on my PDA (so I deleted it).

    • My take:

      If you want good games, buy a GBA.

      If you want free games, buy a PDA.

  • Huh? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mcmonkey ( 96054 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:31PM (#5461435) Homepage
    "Anyway, you're basically following in the footsteps of an adventurer named Falcon--yep, that's right, you're not Falcon (as the game title would have you believe)."

    How does the name Sorcery lead to think of the name Falcon?
    • If you look at the site it says this is Part I: Falcon's Quest of the game Sorcery. I find following links helpful on occasion ;-)

      • Yeah, I suppose I could have clicked the link. However this was a review. Posting a comment after just reading the review and not playing the actual game isn't the same as posting a comment after reading a summary of an article and not reading the actual article.

        And seeing as my lame-ass comment somehow got modded up to 4, a few other folks may have made the same mis-step. It wasn't entirely clear from the review (other than the one remark I commented on) if this game had a name at all.

        YMMV, so there. :p

    • Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)

      by RaboKrabekian ( 461040 )
      Apparently the name of the game is Sorcery PDA: Part 1: Falcon's Quest. It probably would have been nice to mention that before making such a witty comment.

  • iPAQ -vs- GP32 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Cpt_Kirks ( 37296 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @03:37PM (#5461499)
    I had an iPAQ, they are fine little handheld computers. But as game machines, they leave a lot to be desired.

    The "button problem" (no two buttons useable at once) make most gaming marginal at best (RPGs may be an exception). Plus, the button/D-pad layaout was all wrong for games.

    They also cost too much for game machines. I was always afraid my sons were going to break it, so rarely let them play with it.

    I won't even go into the fact that they run an EEE-VIL OS.

    I own a GP32 [www.emu.pl] now. It's not as fast (133MHZ ARM), but the controls rock (much better than a GBA) and it only cost ~$160USD. It runs lots of emulators (soon GBA too) and is fairly simple to code for. It uses SMC cards for storage.

    Excuse me, I need to go hide in a toilet stall and play Doom now...
    • I think it would be pretty damn funny to do that at work. Co-worker comes into the bathroom, hears "LABEN! BLAM BLAM BLAM" from inside a stall, turns around and leaves.
      • Years ago, I was on a flight and cranked up Doom on my laptop. Even back then, people on an airliner seemed a bit touchy about the sound of automatic weapons fire.

    • Re:iPAQ -vs- GP32 (Score:2, Interesting)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 )
      I was planning to get a GP32, but have held off because the lack of good english games. (If I spoke japanese I'd have GP32 and Wonderswan by now). Is there a decent selection of playable games for someone who only speaks english?

  • A very irrelevant remark... (Score:3, Funny)

    by de la mettrie ( 27199 ) on Friday March 07, 2003 @04:09PM (#5461774)
    The game's main site [sorcerypda.com] features icons for several languages. The Korean icon features the flags of both North and South Korea.

    Now I know this has nothing to do with the game, but somehow the probability of this site being accessed by a North Korean RPG fan strikes me as slightly lower than the possibility of it being accessed by an Afghani teen using a Babbage's Analytical Engine built from spare AK-47 parts and pigeons [sunsite.dk].

    For inmates of the People's Republic of Korea, it is probably even illegal to know there is such a thing as the Internet.
  • Not quite on topic, but the game Wyvern cabochon.com [cabochon.com] is well worth checking out. It is a massively multiplayer online game similar to Gauntlet in some respects. It runs under java, so it tends to be pretty platform friendly.

    • the screenshots are from an 800x600 screen grab

      how well does that translate to a 240x320 screen?

      also what's the battery life like. I can only play PDA Everquest for maybe 2 hours before all the juice is gone.

      I've thought it might be good to use wireless iPaqs to play a multi user game in a city but that's about as far as I got 8)

  • I clicked for the german page. It's hilarious. Like some non-german speaking guy was pulling a leg on the german language. They should have used babelfish. It would have done a better job. :-)
  • Sheri was kind enough to send me a copy of the review for my site too. It incorporates a slight update to the score requested by Sheri, a selection of accompanying screenshots, and further discussion on the game. You can read it here... [pocketgamer.org]

    If you're interested in finding more Pocket PC games (and there are plenty of cool ones out there!), PocketGamer.org [pocketgamer.org] is a good place to start! :-)

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