Third Blade, the side-scroller RPG game of epic challenges
by Toni McQuilken
Mar 1, 2012 1:04 PM –
Install
Third Blade. 3 types of blades—dual wield, one-handed blade, and two-handed sword—can be used to defeat all kinds of vicious monsters as you play along! The ultimate action game filled with endless battles against monsters that keep you immersed in thrill and excitement RPG—Third Blade!
Price: Free
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Low Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Runs pretty smoothly.
- Has great graphics.
- There is a story element to the game.
- As you level up, you can unlock different skills and have access to new equipment.
Cons
- The levels start to feel a bit repetitive after a while.
- There are a set level of monsters on a level, but they spawn all around you. I’d rather have more on screen at one time, and keep moving forward.
- When you attack, you move forward a step, and a few times I accidentally went to the next stage of a level before I had cleared the current one and collected all the coins.
- Coins disappear after a set time, which, since you’re all over the board killing things, is really annoying.
Features:
I’m a huge RPG buff, so I try almost all of the offerings that come out onto the Android Market, hoping to find something that will fulfill the Final Fantasy geek that lives inside me. Third Blade is a good game, but it felt more like a side-scroller than an RPG to be honest. There is a story, but you get that in cut scenes rather than through play, and the gameplay itself is just clearing a few stages of monsters. You walk forward to a new stage, walk around that stage until it’s clear, then move to the next one, where you do the exact same thing.
As you level, you pick up coins, which are used to purchase new equipment as you progress, like you would in any RPG. You unlock new skills as you progress as well, although you need Runes to upgrade those. Third Blade is another Tapjoy app, where you can earn something for free for installing and running various apps, or you can get them through a variety of one-time actions such as checking out the other games Com2uS has to offer. After that, my impression is that you have to buy them, but frankly, after searching around the app, I couldn’t find where to do it. So that was a little frustrating. Coins aren’t hard to get as every monster you kill drops them, but they do disappear fairly quickly. Considering you have to keep going back and forth across a stage to kill everything, it gets a bit frustrating as well when you realize you’re going to lose most of the coins you earn in a level, unless you are really focused on that instead of killing things.
Each level has a few stages, with a set number of monsters that will spawn in each. You can move forward without killing them all if you wish – the path way will open after you hit a certain number of kills – but I’m one of those people who like to completely clear a stage before starting the next one. A few times, I accidentally went to the next stage without wanting to, since it takes you there automatically when you get to the far right of the screen and walk forward. Using your weapon will always make you move forward a step, so I was in the middle of killing a monster that had spawned near the edge, and lost all the kills and coins I hadn’t finished yet. Since you can’t move back, only forward, that had me frustrated at times. 
I wish there was more to this game than just watching cut scenes for story elements, and killing monsters in stages that feel the same after a few times. The monster types might change, but I think of an RPG as being more than just moving in a straight line killing things. I wanted more from the game since it calls itself an Role Play Game (full disclosure, I hate leveling in true RPG’s too, and do as little of it as possible to not die.) As I mentioned before, it’s really more of a side-scroller with some story elements than an RPG.
Watch on Mobile
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Third Blade Gameplay
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Third Blade Map
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Third Blade Death Screen
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Third Blade Level End
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Third Blade Shop
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Third Blade Skills
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Third Blade Splash
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Third Blade Options
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Third Blade Loading Ad
Fun Factor:
I have to be honest, after a few levels, I started to loose interest in the game. Because all the levels feel the same, and you’re not really doing anything different – even the different skills, honestly, weren’t enough differentiation – it gets kind of boring. The graphics are great, and the gameplay isn’t bad, it’s just repetitive.
Addictive:
If you enjoy the side-scroll game type, then you’ll enjoy this one. It does have elements of an RPG, and things like the ability to upgrade equipment and skills makes for a nice touch. It isn’t a game I see someone playing for long stretches of time, nor is it the type of game you can play for five minutes then walk away. Think of this as that game you play when you have a 10 or 15 minute train ride to kill, for example.
Graphics:
The graphics are actually pretty nice. It’s a cartoony style, but well done and I was impressed with this aspect of the game. The menus are also well designed, making for a seamless experience as you move through the game.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The soundtrack fits with the type and style of the game, which is always a plus. The game uses the touch screen to control the character, so there’s no accelerometer needed here, nor is there any need for vibration controls. It would just get distracting if it had them, honestly.
AndroidTapp.com Rating
(3.8 out of 5)
Should you Download Third Blade? When someone calls something an RPG, I expect certain elements, such as the ability to explore a little, discover items and places, get quests, etc. There is none of that in this game, which is a side-scroller with a story and some upgrading. However, if you enjoy that style of gaming, then this is a pretty good example. I’d say it’s worth checking out and playing a few levels, at least, before you decide if it’s for you.
Tags:
Action RPG,
Android App,
Android Apps,
Android Game,
Android Tablet Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Com2Us,
RPG,
Third Blade
Categorised in: Arcade & Action
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