Heroes Lore: Stigmata of Gaia

It's hard to deny the allure of old skool role-playing games. There's something in the pixel sprites and 2D environments that evokes a warm nostalgia.

Heroes Lore: Stigmata of Gaia captures that vibe, yet it also catches the same touch control troubles that have plagued nearly all iPhone and iPod touch role-playing games.

Control foibles together with average gameplay and competent storytelling result in a game that's playable but unlikely to floor you.

Fashioned in the same style as the classic 16-bit role-playing games of yesteryear, Heroes Lore features two playable characters from different sides of an escalating conflict.

19 year-old Kei is a member of the relatively small Neo-Soltia kingdom, which is at war with the nation of Askra, of which Rits, the second lead, is also a member.

Kei is inexperienced and finds it hard to deal with his impending coming-of-age, while Rits is a battle-hardened mercenary who wants nothing more than to destroy Neo-Soltia and line his pockets in the process.

Although the storyline is typical, the fact that it’s possible to experience it from both sides is intriguing. The two protagonists are clichéd, but they’re different enough from each other to make the two stories compelling.

It's good to talk

Heroes Lore is divided into two distinct sections: peaceful towns and fields fraught with danger. When you’re in a settlement you interact with locals, engage quests, purchase items, and customise equipment by visiting a blacksmith.

Once you’re away from the safety of a town you switch to Combat mode. You're armed with two weapons, which can be used in concert for devastating combination attacks.

Targeting is automatic as long as you're within range of an enemy, which makes battles a matter of mashing the attack buttons. It's a simple unsophisticated battle system.

Felled opponents drop useful items, such as armour, potions and components which can be given to the blacksmith and transformed into even more valuable commodities.

It's a decent-looking title, aping the classic look of famous role-playing games like Final Fantasy V and Secret of Mana, even if the animation is awkward, with your character walking around as if he's got pockets full of rocks.

The music is also hauntingly atmospheric, boasting quaint tunes for peaceful village locations but stirring themes for battle events.

By far the biggest single issue with Heroes Lore is the touch controls. The virtual D-pad obscures the bottom-right corner of the screen and feels skittish and imprecise, especially when you try to navigate your way around a cadre of enemies because you’re dangerously low on health.

Additionally, the two 'attack' buttons are too close together, which makes it hard to properly regulate your offensive moves.

This issue is mitigated by the fact that hammering the buttons is an effective strategy, but as your character’s skill level rises so too does the effectiveness of their attacks and skilfully combining your two weapons is key to unlocking deadlier combos. That’s hard to do with such controls.

Thankfully you're given ample time to acclimatise to the foibles of the interface, with around 30 hours of gameplay spread across both storylines. There's also a local multiplayer option, although the aforementioned control issues rob it of much of its enjoyment.

Despite the poorly conceived controls, Heroes Lore is still enjoyable. With plenty of gameplay, straightforward battles, and nostalgic graphics, it has real value as long as you keep your expectations low and tolerance of its shortcomings high.