Game Reviews

Dark Gate

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Dark Gate

While the once-dominant Japanese RPG genre struggles to remain relevant on consoles like Xbox 360 and PS3, it's managed to carve out a fairly successful niche for itself on mobile phones.

Both iOS and Android have been inundated with 16-bit style RPG romps, with Kemco's Dark Gate being the latest example on Google's platform.

Armed with cute 2D visuals, over 70 different job types for your characters to master, and an Xperia Play-driven control interface, this faux-retro offering ticks a lot of the right boxes in its attempt to rekindle the passion of the Super Nintendo golden era, which brought us classics such as Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger.

Rock and role play

For the most part, Dark Gate succeeds. While it's not as visually impressive as it could be, the graphics do an adequate job. The battle engine - which is almost entirely automated - keeps the pace of the game as brisk as possible, which is ideal in a mobile RPG.

The aforementioned job system is also a neat touch, allowing you to toggle the skillsets of your team on the fly, as well as expand their abilities and tackle different challenges.

All of this is backed up by a large game world and a generally well-paced sense of progression. The Xperia Play controls are another massive plus, making it easy to execute commands, navigate menus, and guide your group around the war-torn landscape.

Old skool cool

While the game doesn't take itself too seriously, the dialogue can grate at times. It lacks the emotional gravitas of titles like Final Fantasy VII, and isn't amusing enough to make you overlook its often flat drama.

RPGs of this type often succeed or fail on the quality of the writing, and there are too many times when Dark Gate's chatter borders on the awkward.

Even with this issue, Dark Gate still manages to hit more targets than it misses, and fans of old skool RPGs will find plenty to enjoy.

Dark Gate

Despite moments of dire scripting, Dark Gate manages to provide ample tribute to the classic Japanese RPGs of old, and is ably assisted by a responsive and intuitive Xperia Play-powered control system
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.