Rise of the Tomb Raider: Xbox One Exclusive: Is Crystal Dynamics Making a Huge Mistake?

     There seems to be quite a rage over the poorly announced Crystal Dynamics decision to make the Tomb Raider reboot's sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, an Xbox One exclusive.

UUhhhhh...   This was a terrible idea.

     Obviously as both a Playstation user and a Tomb Raider fan this news is a huge disappointment.  What makes this news even worse is the fact that Square-Enix was complaining about the commercial "sales failure" of the reboot not meeting expectations.  Well I hope they cut down their estimations by two-thirds, because the PS4 is currently outselling the Xbox One 3 to 1 and they've now lost out on a huge market chunk.

     Sure it may be only temporary because it's listed "For Holiday 2015" so presumably they'll be released later for PS4 and PC, but we'll have to wait for an official statement in the mean time.  Head of Crystal Dynamics Darrell Gallagher says that they "aren't walking away from our fans that play on Playstation and PC" because those systems get a consolation prize- Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.  This isn't quite alienating their fanbase, but it is definitely shooting themselves in the foot and wondering why they're bleeding so bad.

     Really, according to their Tumblr post, it seems they think that by limiting the console release will somehow cement the Tomb Raider brand into our hearts.  What I want to know is who is getting money out of this.  Seriously- this seems like a disastrous marketing decision, and limiting it to the Xbox One console is a huge mistake.

     Source [ Tomb Raider Tumblr ]

Thomas Was Alone: Review: PS Vita

     If you were to go back and name your favorite character from the last year or so, there's a good chance you would not name a quadrilateral.  Thomas Was Alone might change that.  I even laughed when I heard that this was a game about "friendship and jumping."  After playing it, I was stunned at its uniqueness took me by surprise.

Thomas was alone. Wow. A weird first thought to have.

     Creator Mike Bithell has gone and given more character to a bunch of four-sided shapes than some entire games do for human ones.  Thomas (an AI) gains self awareness and begins to attempt to free himself from his program and along the way he meets many other sized rectangles with their own personalities and special ability traits.  Who would've thought a bunch of generic names and colors could be contained with 4 tight angles to become entities we can relate to?

    The core game is a platformer reduced to its basic principles.  Getting each AI entity to their specific doorways out.  Sometimes it's one character and one doorway at a time, sometimes it many, many more.  Through simplicity Bithell has achieved a level of artful wonder that is compounded by the humorous commentary narrated by Danny Wallace.  The story, lighting and music are all perfectly meshed together to create a joy in gaming that is hard to match by anything in the Triple A game category.  Even the controls are honed to perfection.  Everything in this game fits together as well as the geometry that comprises it.

     Thomas Was Alone, but not anymore- it's short and sweet, with just the right difficulty curve without becoming frustrating.  The minimalism is so memorable, these quadrilaterals won't soon be forgotten.  Bithell has shown an understanding of games enough to have succeeded in making me sympathize with a handful of colored shapes for a small experience of wonder.  Thomas Was Alone is endearing and heartfelt, and can be considered a modern equivalent of a painting by Piet Mondrian.

     Note: This was from a draft on 04.27.2014

Bay & Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Gets a Sequel Release Date Announcement

     Hot on the tail of an opening weekend box office of raking in $93.7 million globally, Paramount Pictures has announced a TMNT sequel.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 will hit on June 3rd of 2016.

Cowabunga dudes!

     So far writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec will be returning, and Michael Bay's company Platinum Dunes will be producing the sequel as well.  No word yet if Jonathan Liebesman will be coming along in the Director's chair though.

     Maybe we'll finally get some Casey Jones action...

     Source [ Variety ]

     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Bay & Liebesman Movie Tie-in Game) Review for Nintendo 3DS

     Publisher Activision and developer Magic Pockets teamed up once again to give us yet another mundane Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.  That isn't to say it's all bad- this new Nintendo 3DS Bay & Liebesman movie tie-in has quite a few merits, and a fair amount of enjoyability for any TMNT enthusiasts out there.
     I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that this wasn't a Triple A title because there wasn't any marketing campaign for it- hell, the Gamestop staff didn't even know it was available when I went in to pick up my preorder.

     Spoiler Warning!

     The story has little to do with the film, apparently taking place after the film and The Shredder is alive.  April sends the Turtles on a slew of small missions in very linear levels.  It begins with Master Splinter missing and grows from there.  The plot is sparse and spread over the game's 15 story missions and 10 side missions.  Its brevity could've been easier to swallow if there was more action to be had.  The battles become tiresome swiftly and by the 3/4ths completion time I was hoping the end would come much sooner than it did.  What makes the story irritating is the fact there is often repeated phrases by the Turtles that doesn't come close to what the dialogue boxes say and it is super distracting.
     On a good note, they've included some nice takes on a few other familiar faces from TMNT history.  Baxter Stockman, the Rat King, and Slash all make appearances.

     The good part of the game are the near-button-mashing combat.  It isn't as awesome as it sounds, because in later stages combat becomes a slog- you have to be familiar with each individual Turtle's specialties and use each of them to best effect the circumstances at hand.  Then the most annoying aspect of the game is the slowing mechanic employed by many enemies that slow you to a crawl.  It is downright maddening when you are surrounded by enemies and can't move faster than a slug.  To make that effect worse- it is used constantly in the last quarter of the game.  It is a poor decision to use this effect to prolong the late game.  You might think I'm kidding but towards the end you get bombarded with huge amounts of extremely damaging enemies that can eat away your life bar in seconds if you get caught in a "slow" status while being swarmed.

     The skills and leveling systems are quite nice.  Each level gains some skill points to disperse among whatever Turtle(s) you favor and the weapons can either be found or made in a crafting section in the sewer lair area.  Weapons have various attributes and some come with added elemental status effects like poison or electricity, but it really doesn't change much.  (A note about the lair- one really overlooked problem in the game is an inability to change which Turtle you are in the lair itself.  Anywhere else in the game it is possible, so how did they miss it in the lair?!?)
     Each Turtle has unique abilities and it really does change how they are played and how they feel and it adds a nice element of strategy to the game.  Both active and passive skills may be chosen, and it really comes down to your chosen playstyle which is really nice.  Raphael becomes a near-invulnerable tank, Leonardo can cut through swathes of shielded enemies, Donatello is good for horde control, and Michelangelo is perfect for long range attacks.  This gradually increases the ways you can use each character as the game progresses.  Sadly though, each Turtle has a unique way to access "special areas" like Donatello hacking his way through or Michelangelo using chains to go down a manhole- but there are so few of these included that it seems tacked on at the last minute.
     Honestly, once I leveled Mike up, he makes the end levels and the absurdly lengthy last boss fight (and last challenge extra battle being a repeat of this) far shorter than it would've been with any of the other three.  This may sound terrible, but trust me- it is a very, very drawn out battle where you have to fight not only The Shredder, but all the previous bosses (one at a time) and repeated shadowy versions of all the Turtles.  Using Mike's multi-hit shuriken with all its boosts and the boomerang and saved me on tons of boring play time with that lazy end boss structure.

     When the game was over I felt it was a half-hearted cash grab timed to coincide with the theatrical release, but for the $29.99 price tag, I'd say it was worth it.  There's enough here to please long time Ninja Turtle fans, and plenty for the young audiences.  (Although the difficulty seems a tad on the high side for children players.)
     It isn't awful by any means.  And actually I think this is a great improvement over Magic Pockets' Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.  Many small improvements, but at least they are in the right direction- this one is almost a dungeon crawler/beat-em-up/RPG.  Almost.
     Really, I think they need to make a game like the Marvel Lego Superheroes- a massive open-world 4 player action-adventure RPG loaded with little stuff to do (think of a combination of Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto) and designed solely for endless fun.


     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Bay & Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Review

Holy Cow- It's not completely awful.

     Since its announcement Bay & Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has fought an uphill battle against TMNT fandom.  From mild disrespect to outright hatred, I'm sure he got flooded with hate mail.  Many of us had plenty of reservations about the changes to our beloved franchise which only grew in number as more and more trailers were released.
     Eastman & Laird had created something we all loved and it has stood the test of time through each relaunch.  It started out as a joke- a ninja turtle- but became something much, much more.  Somewhere under the initial idea- it contained a grain of genius and grew into something great.
     When Megan Fox was cast as April O'Neil, or even worse- when William Fichtner had been cast as The Shredder, I was horrified.  But as many have forgotten- our long-time turtles have gone through many, many alterations over time.  Some of them far worse than this.  I'm looking at you Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.  So I kept in mind the fact that this was a huge deviation from what I grew up with, and that made a world of difference in my watching the new film, because these Ninja Turtles are for a new generation.  After the recent couple seasons of the tremendously well-done new Nickelodeon animated series TMNT fever was bound to strike again, seemingly on the nose each fourth year of the decade.

     SPOILER WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.

     Bay and Liebesman may have made these four brothers into The Incredible Hulk's smaller cousins, but it really wasn't as bad as I was expecting.  This new incarnation of the turtles is by no means a good movie.  But that isn't to say it's a bad one either.  There were moments of genuine entertainment here.

     For one large surprise- something that was both bad and good for me- was the focus on April.  What they did right was make her a real journalist.  She is someone that wants to make a difference and sets out to get it done while being relegated to having to do low brow journalism on trampolines.
     What they did wrong was two-fold- 1. they made her the object of everyone's gawkery, and 2. they tried to cram her into the origin story of the turtles.  For how far she goes out of her way she is never given credit for her intellect- but always gets noted for her looks.  If they at least gave her more credit for her ideas, the problem may not have seemed so large.  As it is it's purely sexual objectification.
     How did her boss not still let her do the story based on the symbol she found at ALL THE CRIME SCENES?!?  That is a great piece of evidence, even if the rest of her story seemed ridiculous.

     The ogling should've been toned down and the story should've been changed.  Seriously, not everyone needs to be related to the origin, and she certainly has a lot of coincidental ties with the foursome AND the bad guys.  Such implausible connections make a lot of viewers roll their eyes.  Give it a rest, that is lazy and cheap on the writers' part.  We don't need over-complicated plots that lose any sense of semblance.  (Strangely enough, she is more the focus of the movie than the our Renaissance named friends and the movie might've been more accurately titled April O'Neil.)

     Speaking of the Shredder, why did they even bring him in?  The film-makers haven't given us a reason to believe this guy is as capable as we have come to know.  He's become a 7 foot tall Transformer samurai... and might be more if they continue with this storyline if you caught the scene near the end.  Way to jump the gun and give him the ultimate armor before we see how well he does in regular armor.
    Why didn't they give us something that showed how dangerous he really is?  They show us he can take down enemies while his hands are tied, but then he never fights without the suit from then on.  There was no build up- he isn't given room for it because the needlessly fast paced clip of the film.  Even his own daughter Karai felt underutilized.  Maybe it has to do with the fact they tried to tell a fate of the city story, instead of a nicely compact story with the shadowy underworld of New York.  Yet again Hollywood tries to make it too big.  This film is best when it's on the small scale.  When the turtles are taking down Foot soldiers and cracking jokes.  They don't need to save the city or entire world.  Not every tale needs to be of disaster proportions.

      Master Splinter was taken too far- both in looks (he's extra creepy looking here, the earlier design was slightly less so.) and his being their father, despite the fact he's roughly the same age as the turtles when in the lab.
     Splinter does get to see some fighting- and they handled that impressively.  I actually really liked how they incorporated his tail into the mix.  I would like to think that that scene is what my admission price paid for.  It is well executed but should've probably been much later in the movie.  In fact, I may have enjoyed it much more had he not looked like a damn Fu Manchu rat-monster.

Good lord- Splinter is downright grotesque.  I just had to say it.

     Even the blatant product placement is something we could handle if the rest of the film was wrapped up nicer.  Clean up the script, tone down the ultra fast pace- not every scene needs to be constantly in motion!  Give us a smaller story- one of actual family- and make sure it isn't a completely formulaic check-the-box list of things.  We can handle the mythical 99 cheese pizza if we are given reason to.  We can grow used to liking the new brutish forms the Turtles have taken.
     We fans want something that'll move us, in a new and interesting way.  Sure we love the little nods to all the old series but we want real substance.  There needs to be real investment into the future of these Turtles if they want to maintain our fandom.  Give us the heart of the TMNT, not just the muscles and weapons spruced up with witty banter.  It isn't only about the action- that's why the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is the one I regard as the best ever.  It tells a story of a family, not an expositional dump of a story of family.  They are very different things.

     Like I said at the beginning, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn't the best movie, but it isn't the worst either.  If they get their act together and make another one, which will presumably happen due to the nature of their enduring popularity- they should take notes from the Nickelodeon series' writers.  The property has survived many worse iterations, it'll go on long after this film.  I mean they've got a start already- when the Turtles are acting as the tight knit family it works well- particularly the scenes when they first meet April and the elevator ride.  Those moments nailed the characters perfectly.

     The film may be riddled with plot holes and has an overabundance of preposterous things going on that make no sense at all, but you know what- in the end I enjoyed it.  Not all of it of course- Bay and Liebesman don't wield Director's power with the subtle grace of a doctor's scalpel- they use it like a neanderthal's bludgeon- but just enough to keep me from fully fearing the inevitable sequel we'll be receiving.  Mostly because of Michelangelo, who totally steals the show.

     My apologies for rambling on so long here, but perhaps they'll listen to the fans and make something less generic and subsequently more meaningful in the future.

     For my other Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Delver Review (Steam Early Access)

     Delver.  A simple first-person, roguelike dungeon crawler that I've had in my Steam watch list for some time, and picked up during the big summer sale.  Because it's in the Early Access state, there is still a few kinks to work out, and in the time it sat in my watch list is has made major leaps forward.

     Take the role of an adventurer that tries their fate in the dark dungeons (and probably dies horribly). Fight monsters, grab loot, hoard potions, and level up!  

     Quest for the Yithidian orb at the darkest depths of the dungeon and attempt to bring it back to the surface - getting to it may be the easy part. 

     I'm actually glad I waited for this, the graphics got a huge bump up from their original blocky to a more original cartoony look.  When it comes to roguelikes, we have had been inundated with them lately, only a few are greatly notable such as Rogue Legacy, Wayward Souls, and Eldritch - and I think we can add Delver to that list.
     What appears to be merely another generic dungeon crawler is actually a very rich roguelike that has loads of danger and enemies to cut swathes through.  Really, this is almost exactly what I wanted out of the NES version of Might & Magic.

An earlier version of the game.

     Delver contains plenty of light RPG elements such as a small leveling system,  mini-map, and an inventory that due to the never leaving the dungeon with equipment format- requires you to just toss out anything you've used or don't need any more.  Simple art, decent play, and good controls. Having the map and inventory buttons be I and M keys is a poor decision with the WASD directional controls. They should be placed near those keys for quick and easy access.

     With the randomly generated dungeons, you can run into some tough problems- I had a run with 6 Beholders all in one small area in an early level with nothing for long range battle- but for the most part it remains interesting enough to keep you playing after each death.  The gold you gain carries into the next life (for use in the stores at the camp) because once you enter a dungeon, you stay until you die and lose everything else.  That isn't too bothersome though because you never really gain enough health through leveling up or weapons and armor that are too good, so it isn't as detrimental as it sounds.  The cost of death here isn't very high, which only becomes an issue after you beat the boss and start to make your way back to the top floor exit and get rushed by large mobs of freshly spawned enemies.

     For all that Delver offers, it seems to lack that something to reward any progression, because each death results in having to start over.  What really bothers me about this is that the potions change what each one does for each run, so you have to use at least one of each color right away to make sure you won't poison yourself when you desperately need to heal later.  It wouldn't be too awful, but you don't find many as it is.  On one of my earlier trips into the dungeon, I got a poison potion right away and died within minutes of entering, simply to see what kind it was.

All the essentials: a broadsword, potions, a scroll, an ice wand, and most importantly- cheese.

     Roaming the atmospheric levels is a remarkable experience.  The lighting and sound keep you invested in the game and the randomized nature keeps you wanting more.  Even with the small amount of issues the game has tons of replay value.  Each run through is about a half hour of fun and gives you another chance to find a little bit more of the story which is strewn throughout the levels in the form of notes that are occasionally in hidden areas.  While I'd like the game to contain more story, there is something very appealing about how players stumble across small bits of story that fills out the world in the game.

     With a few minor adjustments Delver could easily come to be one of the most addictive and fantastic roguelikes out there, but until then it's just hours of entertainment.  Even making the potions stay the same for all playthroughs would improve the game significantly.  I sincerely hope the developers really hone whatever makes this game so wonderful, it contains a special something that keeps bringing me back.

     With Update #5 comes an interesting fix: The Yithidian Orb is Orbier now.  What else could we want?

     In reality, Delver is still a lot of fun even if you aren't much for roguelike games and worth the price.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review (NES) The Original Nintendo Game

Bebop and Rocksteady.

     The first foray of the TMNT into the video game world isn't one of the brawler beat-em-ups that defined the series right after this installment.  It's actually this top down view with deadly tanks, and side scrolling platformer levels upon entering sewers or buildings game on the original Nintendo.
     This game was more unforgiving and imbalanced than it rightly should've been- creating play that is far from fun and it punishes players for failing to adapt to the horrendous control scheme.  The problem with the difficulty here is that is due to arbitrary problems and poor level design you are forced to fight through wave after wave of enemies that should be menial but aren't.  Dark Souls feels like a lackadaisical stroll in comparison- at least it is fair and the controls are tight.

You get to drive the Party Wagon!!!

     Perhaps if the controls for TMNT were better the tediousness might have been simply a fun challenge, but instead it devolves into pure frustration.  If a player moves a single screen over in the level, every enemy respawns.  An infinitely respawning group of enemies that do massive damage if you even touch one gets to be really irritating while you also have to struggle with the awful controls.  Even worse is the fact that there are plenty of filler stages and places that don't contain anything necessary for progress and serve mostly to deplete what little resources you have.
     The platforming is also a problem as a result of terrible jumping mechanics.  If you bump a ceiling you drop straight down- often right into the line of fire you jumped to avoid.
     Compounding this problem is the fact that while you may choose which of the 4 Turtles you want to play as at any time, Michelangelo and Raphael are nearly useless because their weapons have nothing for range.  Many players just resort to using them in heavy damage taking areas so they can prolong the use of the only two Turtles worth using, Leonardo and Donatello, as they give you much more range.  

Diffuse the bombs.

     Somehow this is an extremely flawed game that I loved as a kid, but not as much as the drastically better TMNT: The Arcade Game, which was released in the same year.  Any fondness I once had was drown in the infamous underwater "Dam Level" that will no doubt go down in history as one of the biggest torments to any children that suffered beneath the waves.

This was a nightmare for many, many children.

     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES is a mediocre game at best, and the difficulty curve proves to be its greatest undoing, most notably because the TMNT should really be aimed at kids.  If they hadn't included a never-ending stream of respawning minions or even a level select option the game might've left young players with better memories, but as it is, nostalgia won't cover its abundance of faults.


     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

TMNT: Turtles Forever (Full Un-Cut Widescreen Version) Review

     With a mere two days until the release of the Michael Bay & Jonathan Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits theaters across the US, I have been rewatching to review a bunch of old films.  Outside of the 1990 Original Motion Picture, the best movie easily goes to TMNT: Turtles Forever.

     Created with a multipurpose design.  It served as the finale to seven seasons of the 4Kids TMNT show and as the 2009 mark of the 25th anniversary in one brilliant combo pack.  What happened is all the right things were brought together to bring generations of Turtle incarnations into one unbelievable movie.

     A teleportation incident on the Technodrome and winds up tearing through dimensional divides and bringing the 1987's Ninja Turtles into the 2003's cartoon's world.  Through a series of world destroying circumstances they wind up meeting animated versions of the original Mirage Comics' Turtles.  All animated in their individual styles.  When you hear this, it sounds like a mishmash recipe for disaster- it sounds ridiculous, silly, and downright stupid.  But this film is far from it.  Far, far from it.

     The creators did an unparalleled job bringing together the Turtle's version of the multiverse.  Every scene shows that writers Rob David, Matthew Drdek, and Lloyd Goldfine clearly not only understand the TMNT, but they understood their changes through time and what made them work so well.  They've captured the essences of three different types of the TMNT and I would be hard pressed to say anyone else has ever matched this fantastic quality.
     They even perfectly portrayed the way the characters handle running into alternate versions of themselves- watching the 4Kids Turtles react to their incompetent 80's counterparts is continuously hilarious as they wonder who they are talking to when they break the 4th wall and speak to the watching audience.  Then the grim and gritty Mirage Turtles arrive and make the 2000's generation seem like nice guys.  Even the Shredder's realization when finding his better, newer, and very different self is priceless.  They've even thrown in a bunch of extra bits and characters in the background if you keep your eyes peeled.

     The 4th wall breaking takes a whole extra step when they realize that destroying the Mirage Comics' TMNT will destroy all of the iterations and everything created from them- heroes, villains, and everything in between.  It would be like Eastman and Laird had never created them in the first place.  A truly defining moment of brilliance in writing for television.

     Any fan of the TMNT should watch TMNT: Turtles Forever, it is a phenomenally handled and clever work of art.  It shows their change through time for new and different generations, it shows that they can all exist together and all be wonderful as well... even if it's the new Bay & Liebesman movie.  When 4Kids Entertainment made this, they succeeded in making something to bridge the gap between parents and children that enjoyed the Turtles in a way that could be shared together across generations.  The collision of three vastly different TMNT worlds has miraculously created something that is absolutely magnificent.  As it stands, this was the perfect tribute to TMNT fandom.


     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

TMNT Nintendo DS Review (2007 Game)

     With the CG animated film being released there were a slew of movie tie-in games.  For some reason the Nintendo DS version got the shaft, even worse than the Sony PSP version which had far superior graphics if I remember correctly.

     Whoever thought this game should be the precursor to all the "Such-and-such RUN!" games should've been fired.  There is the only the most minimal combat in this game and ignoring the TMNT's staple game mechanic throughout the years was this games first and biggest mistake.  In those few moments the controls are garbage- they contain the most pitiful combos I've ever seen.  Since each normal attack pushes you forward quite far, sending you far beyond Foot soldiers if you are even slightly off target, it leaves you wide open to get cut down.  Really, it comes down to spamming the attack button and hoping for the best.

     What comprises a majority of the game is running through the city and dashing back and forth responding to button prompts to jump or swing in the most clunky and sloppy way possible.
     It is a considerable part of the game, to an absurd extent- all you do is push one of three buttons- left, right, or center- ad nauseum.  This costs the game a lot because it eliminates any real exploration they might've had and sapped any enjoyment they could've had in this game.

     To make matters even worse there are corners that cameras aren't fast enough to follow you around, moving jump points that can lead directly to death if the landing point moved, and areas where you have to "charge" a jump by holding the button down for no real reason I could discern.

     The one thing that was kind of redeeming is a mini-game of sorts where one of your turtle brothers shows up and if you can race and catch them, they'll launch you far ahead for a boost in time to complete the level.  Unfortunately the boost only serves to help you retrieve the collectible token letters T, M, N, and - you guessed it - T.  But trying to collect them is a chore because the whole game is awful- so I didn't even bother attempting it, which would necessitate replaying levels to take different paths for the letters I hadn't found.

     TMNT may have begun with an original idea that was initially great, but somewhere along the line it became the befuddling mess we got.  I've played a LOT of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games over the years, and this one is easily the worst.  Even Out of the Shadows is a masterpiece in comparison.

     For more of my Turtles posts [ TMNT ]

Devious Dungeon Review (Android)

     I found this little gem while looking through the recommended games for Wayward Souls.  Devious Dungeon is a super simplistic rogue-like, or at least a rogue-lite because you don't really lose built up stats or stuff.  But that isn't always a bad thing.  Here you are a hero charged with going into the kingdom's catacombs to rid the place of these monstrous usurpers.

     There's the scarcest form of an RPG type leveling system for your character, as well as purchasable (either through IAPS or collecting coins in game) armor, weapons, potions, and jewelry to further enhance your efficacy in monster slaying.  The randomly generated levels through five worlds get to be very familiar and finding any of the "secret areas" is almost a joke because by the end of the game you can usually guess the map because they aren't too large, and are all too familiar after playing them a few hundred times to earn coins.    

     To break up the typical rogue-like structure, there are checkpoints every three levels that makes it much more tolerable of the high number of deaths you'll suffer (even touching an enemy causes damage).  All your purchased upgrades and equipment follow you as well.  This makes it a smoother play for some.

     Somehow, it isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.  Ravenous Games has made something extremely enjoyable for small bits of time.  You can load and play through a level in just a minute or two, and it avoids any chance at boredom by just being short and good.  The controls are superb on the touchscreen, making the platforming action go over easy.

     There is just enough variety to keep players coming back for a little more entertainment.  Every level comes down to finding the key, then the door to the exit, and slaying everything in your way to looting coins and destroying bosses.  It would've been nice to be able to choose other characters or classes, but as it is, the game is great because of its simplicity.

     Devious Dungeon is the simplest platforming action RPG rogue-like possible, but it packs a tremendous replay value for its $1.99 Google Play price.