Across Age
For those that miss the days of Zelda, Across Age brings the graphical style and classic game play of 16-bit console RPGs. In your quest to save the world from an evil magician, you'll take on the roles of Ales the swordsman and Ceska, who along with being a powerful mage in her own right also has the power to travel through time. This interesting combination opens up some rather unique puzzles with some creative solutions.
Across Age is a deep RPG with some tactical elements and it will take a while to solve, so it is easy to get your money's worth with this title.
Order and Chaos Online (MMO)
Order and Chaos Online is Gameloft's attempt to clone World of Warcraft to the iPad, and by all accounts, they've done a pretty good job of it. The game is based on a faction system that pits humans and elves against orcs and undead and has over 500 quests for players to complete. And in true massively multiplayer RPG fashion, players can join guilds, trade loot and even duel each other.
Eternal Legacy
Inspired by games like Final Fantasy, Eternal Legacy combines real-time movement from a 3D point of view with turn-based combat that emphasizes strategy over twitched-based gameplay. Visually appealing, this RPG has you take on the role of Astrian, who is fighting against an evil government while searching for his missing father.
Combat involves putting maneuvers and skills in a queue to be executed in a turn-based fashion. As you gain companions, you'll be able to control their actions as well, bringing out more strategy in the combat. The story is your basic role-playing fight-against-evil, but the narration is well done for the genre, and the world is big enough that you'll have fun discovering all of its secrets.
Eternal Legacy is great for anyone that wants to play a Final Fantasy game on their iPad but doesn't want to pay an arm and a leg.
Final Fantasy III
Speaking of paying an arm and a leg, Final Fantasy III hit the app store earlier this year with a price tag closer to the Nintendo DS version it is based on than the standard price tag of an iPad RPG. But for hardcore fans of the series, there is no substitution for the real thing.
Final Fantasy III for the iPad is based on the Japanese version rather than the Final Fantasy III released in North America. The story starts with four young children who are drawn to a crystal of light, granting them powers and a destiny to restore balance to the world.
Based on a rather high price tag, Final Fantasy III is recommended for those who love the Final Fantasy series and want to adventure through one of the classic adventures again, or for those who love the latter Final Fantasy games but didn't get an opportunity to play the earlier ones.
100 Rogues
One of the best rogue-like games on the iPad, 100 Rogues features the randomly-generated maps and 'hardcore' permanent death that are the cornerstone of games like Rogue, Moria and Omega. The game features 3 different character classes and over 60 different monsters. But despite the hardcore old-school nature of the game, 100 Rogues shouldn't be taken too seriously. Among the mean baddies you'll be going up against are Skybabies, Candy Clowns and Gummy Rats.
A fun game that puts the emphasis on the journey more than the destination, expect to die in 100 Rogues... a lot... but expect to have a lot of fun in doing so.
Avadon: The Black Fortress
The genre of RPGs is divided into many different types, from Action RPGs like Diablo to console RPGs like Zelda to Eastern RPGs like Final Fantasy. And while most of these are well represented in the app store, with even a number of different rogue-like games for those who really like to go old school, the classic CRPG from the 80s and early 90s -- games like The Bard's Tale, Might and Magic and Ultima -- don't have quite as many imitators for iPad owners.
Avadon: The Black Fortress shines as one of these retro 80s RPGs. The emphasis here is on epic role-playing with a world-saving quest, a lengthy story and classic turn-based battles that rely as much on your use of tactics as they do your ability to tap the screen repeatedly. It's a refreshing blast-from-the-past for those of us who grew up on Commodore 64 and Apple IIe RPGs.
