Chaos Rings (iPhone) First Impressions

I've had the iPhone (currently iPhone 3GS) since near release.  The platform has put out nothing of interest to me gaming-wise other than bite-sized throw away games.  Sword and Poker was the closest thing to a game I would go out of my way to play.  It's surprising too, because the iPhone/iPod Touch is just begging for turn-based RPGs.  Instead, we keep getting action RPGs that necessitate crummy on-screen controls for fighting.  They are all too basic for my tastes.

Along comes SquareEnix with Final Fantasy I & II.  Two games I can't get back into, but I think we're on the right path.  SquareEnix's follow up?  Chaos Rings.  It's a match made in heaven.  Chaos Rings is a near-PSP quality, original RPG.  The story, characters, and development system are all unique.  The story, interestingly enough, appears to be broken apart by the pairs of main characters you select.  I assume it will require at least two play-throughs to put the whole picture together.

Movement on screen is through the use of an on-screen virtual analog stick.  That's the only use for the on-screen control and that's fine with me.  Random encounters were chosen inside dungeons as you move from room to room.  Puzzles break up the dungeons, basically locking off progress until you figure out how to slide boxes into place (sometimes more complicated than it sounds).  The battles themselves are classic JRPG turn-based.  You poke menu selection on screen and flick through lists as you would expect on the iPhone.

Characters grow through levels like normal, but their skill sets are determined by the monsters that they defeat.  You can equip DNA blocks from the monster (like monkey and elephant DNA).  First you equip DNA to a character, I believe up to four of them.  Then as you defeat more of a given type of enemy, you may learn new skills/abilities from them that get imprinted on the DNA.  It's a pretty cool system, if not a bit random in the way you learn them from fights.  The management of the DNA and which to equip is satisfying though.

During fights, you can choose to fight separate or as a pair, only ever two people in your party.  Pairs seem to do more damage, but a single enemy attack hits both of them.  I haven't found it useful outside of finishing off the last enemy from an encounter.  HP regenerates after every fight, so these random encounters are always dangerous.  Sometimes annoyingly so.  Your MP however does not regen and can only be refilled by finishing the dungeon or returning to the starting point (grinding basically).

Like I said, the graphics and presentation are top-notch.  It really looks close to a PSP game, plus there's a fair bit of voice acting.  It's also the first and only iPhone game where I've played with headphones or even actually had the sound on at all.  All in all, even at $12 (at the time of release), this is no brainer addition for your iPhone/iPod if you are looking for a real game or have been waiting for a decent turn-based RPG.